Mike Evans
Mike Evans
A group of us gathered at St. Cecilia in Atlanta for a long-awaited tasting of Loires and Beaujolais. Two last minute cancellations reduced our numbers to five intrepid souls, but we bravely soldiered onward. The food and service could not have been better, and complemented the wines beautifully. It was an exceptional tasting and almost all of the wines showed very well. The quality of the company surpassed the lofty levels set by the wine and food, and five hours passed in what seemed like moments. I only took cursory notes, focusing more on the experience, but I hope they are at least somewhat helpful.
I bought excessively wide and deep in the mid- to late-1990s, so I selfishly asked most of the others to limit what they brought so that I could work through the abundance left in my cellar. I ended up opening nine bottles from my cellar, all of which bore the distinctive Louis/Dressner back label (though some producers are no longer part of the LDM portfolio), as did all but two of the bottles brought by others in the group. Toward the end we paused to lift our glasses in memory of Joe Dressner, the brilliance of the wines he introduced to us 20 years or more ago, and the legacy of joy from those wines that will continue for years to come.
Muscadet and Sauvignon Blanc
We started with a hamachi crudo with slices of strawberry and serrano pepper, a Copper River king salmon crudo, and raw oysters, all of which were perfectly fresh and delicious, as was a wood-grilled octopus. The hamachi paired particularly well with the Clos Roche Blanche, bringing out a bright strawberry element in the wine. We also had a dish of Stracchino cheese with farmer peas, salsa verde, and bruschetta as we transitioned to the Chenin Blancs that paired well with both flights. This flight was incredible, with both Sauvignon Blancs drinking exceptionally well. All of these wines came from my cellar.
1997 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Vieilles Vignes Clos des Briords - Honey colored, but showing nice roundness and complexity from the age. Still holding together well.
1999 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Chavignol Cuvee Buster Les Monts Damnés - Rich with a little roasted lemon, intense with great acidity, white melon and flowers, and a little nuttiness, fabulous but slightly overshadowed by the Clos Roche Blanche.
2000 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon Touraine - Still showing very young, dazzling melon, strawberry, and hints of citrus, it keeps unfolding to show more complexity, simply unbelievable, one of the greatest Sauvignon Blancs I've ever had.
Chenin Blanc
We finished the Stracchino cheese with these, along with a nice cheese and salumi plate before a very good shrimp and chanterelle risotto that was a perfect pairing for the wines. I was surprised at just how well the Clos de Coulaine Savennières, which came from my cellar, was showing.
1997 Ch“teau Pierre-Bise Savennières Clos de Coulaine - Tangerine and tangerine pith, a little quince, ripe and round but well balanced by acidity. One of the best mid-1990s dry Loire Chenins I've had in recent years, I was pleasantly surprised how well it showed.
2009 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Vouvray Sec Les Caburoches - Lanolin, white melon, a little floral, young but with great promise and still delicious with air.
2011 Domaine du Collier Saumur Blanc - Fun and funky, great cutting acidity with tangerine, lovely acidic structure, delicious.
Pineau d'Aunis and Gamay
This flight paired very well with swordfish with grilled lettuce, chili aoli, wheat berries, and crispy capers, and with agnolotti stuffed with red wine braised beef short rib, with parmigiano crema and sage. Both younger gamays exhibited a fair bit of reduction and didn't show as well as they should have. The Desvignes, my gamay contribution, was double decanted a few hours before hand and held up well. A friend who took the rest of the bottle reported that it was drinking very well for lunch the next day, so it still has plenty of life left in it. The Le Verre des Poètes, a very old vine franc de pied Pineau d'Aunis, was just brilliant.
2013 Domaine Montrieux Le Verre des Poètes - Ancient franc de pied Pineau d'Aunis, it is incredibly concentrated for Pineau d'Aunis, with the classic white pepper and celery seed, tightly wound with a fair bit of tannin, very nice now, but it needs time. It brightens up with air, and more acidity joins the tannin, it should have a long life ahead.
1997 Louis Claude Desvignes Morgon Javernières - A little reduced on the nose, but sweeter and cleaner on the palate, it is drinking by well now. It stays a little funky in the nose, but it fleshed out on the palate, and was worth aging.
2012 Noëlla Morantin Gamay Touraine Mon Cher - A little reduced and spritzy, it needs more time in the decanter or cellar, but shows nice tart cranberry fruit.
2011 Julie Balagny Fleurie La Carioca - A little reduced, tasty cranberry but it isn't firing on all cylinders tonight.
Côt and Cabernet Franc
This was a spectacular flight, pairing brilliantly with the agnolotti and perfectly cooked rack of lamb. The Côt continues to amaze me with its purity and vibrancy. Both Cab Francs were outstanding, with the Filliatreau showing more complexity and the Breton more intensity, and while I preferred the intensity tonight, both are great wines. All of the wines in this flight came from my cellar.
1998 Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Cuvée Cot - It smells purple, with a little herbaceousness, with phenomenal purity of fruit and freshness, well-endowed with silky tannin, still in the bloom of youth it remains one of the most entrancing and indescribable wines I've ever experienced.
1997 Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Cuvée Buster Vieilles Vignes - Beautiful bell pepper and red and black fruit. It blossoms with air, lovely and complex, though the pyrazine-sensitive may not like it as much as I do.
1997 Catherine et Pierre Breton Chinon Les Picasses - More fruit driven and intense than the Filliatreau, though not quite as complex, with blackberry and a hint of green pepper. Amazing.
Dessert
Based on past experience, we started with the Pinon, another participant's generous contribution, as its understated elegance can suffer next to bigger, sweeter, more exuberant dessert wines. It paired well with a sweet cream panna cotta with strawberry cremeux, pink macarons, chantilly, strawberry, and micro mint, which wasn't too sweet. The Bonnezeaux from my cellar, on the other hand, was a much better match with two sweeter desserts: kataifi with walnuts, citrus, honey, and cinnamon ice cream and a tre latti torta with hearth roasted pineapple, coconut rice gelato, and chantilly lime.
1990 François Pinon Vouvray Cuvée Botrytis Limited Release - Essence of fresh caramelized quince. Understated and subtle beauty, the acid balances the sweetness so well that the wine doesn't show as that sweet. Great with a not-too-sweet panna cotta with strawberries, I wouldn't open it with a big, sweet exhuberant wine unless I poured this first and took a good bit of time exploring it first.
1997 Domaine des Petits Quarts (Godineau) Bonnezeaux Le Malabé - Big, rich, and sweet but balanced, loaded with apricot and a touch of ginger, just stunning.
I bought excessively wide and deep in the mid- to late-1990s, so I selfishly asked most of the others to limit what they brought so that I could work through the abundance left in my cellar. I ended up opening nine bottles from my cellar, all of which bore the distinctive Louis/Dressner back label (though some producers are no longer part of the LDM portfolio), as did all but two of the bottles brought by others in the group. Toward the end we paused to lift our glasses in memory of Joe Dressner, the brilliance of the wines he introduced to us 20 years or more ago, and the legacy of joy from those wines that will continue for years to come.
Muscadet and Sauvignon Blanc
We started with a hamachi crudo with slices of strawberry and serrano pepper, a Copper River king salmon crudo, and raw oysters, all of which were perfectly fresh and delicious, as was a wood-grilled octopus. The hamachi paired particularly well with the Clos Roche Blanche, bringing out a bright strawberry element in the wine. We also had a dish of Stracchino cheese with farmer peas, salsa verde, and bruschetta as we transitioned to the Chenin Blancs that paired well with both flights. This flight was incredible, with both Sauvignon Blancs drinking exceptionally well. All of these wines came from my cellar.
1997 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Vieilles Vignes Clos des Briords - Honey colored, but showing nice roundness and complexity from the age. Still holding together well.
1999 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Chavignol Cuvee Buster Les Monts Damnés - Rich with a little roasted lemon, intense with great acidity, white melon and flowers, and a little nuttiness, fabulous but slightly overshadowed by the Clos Roche Blanche.
2000 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon Touraine - Still showing very young, dazzling melon, strawberry, and hints of citrus, it keeps unfolding to show more complexity, simply unbelievable, one of the greatest Sauvignon Blancs I've ever had.
Chenin Blanc
We finished the Stracchino cheese with these, along with a nice cheese and salumi plate before a very good shrimp and chanterelle risotto that was a perfect pairing for the wines. I was surprised at just how well the Clos de Coulaine Savennières, which came from my cellar, was showing.
1997 Ch“teau Pierre-Bise Savennières Clos de Coulaine - Tangerine and tangerine pith, a little quince, ripe and round but well balanced by acidity. One of the best mid-1990s dry Loire Chenins I've had in recent years, I was pleasantly surprised how well it showed.
2009 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Vouvray Sec Les Caburoches - Lanolin, white melon, a little floral, young but with great promise and still delicious with air.
2011 Domaine du Collier Saumur Blanc - Fun and funky, great cutting acidity with tangerine, lovely acidic structure, delicious.
Pineau d'Aunis and Gamay
This flight paired very well with swordfish with grilled lettuce, chili aoli, wheat berries, and crispy capers, and with agnolotti stuffed with red wine braised beef short rib, with parmigiano crema and sage. Both younger gamays exhibited a fair bit of reduction and didn't show as well as they should have. The Desvignes, my gamay contribution, was double decanted a few hours before hand and held up well. A friend who took the rest of the bottle reported that it was drinking very well for lunch the next day, so it still has plenty of life left in it. The Le Verre des Poètes, a very old vine franc de pied Pineau d'Aunis, was just brilliant.
2013 Domaine Montrieux Le Verre des Poètes - Ancient franc de pied Pineau d'Aunis, it is incredibly concentrated for Pineau d'Aunis, with the classic white pepper and celery seed, tightly wound with a fair bit of tannin, very nice now, but it needs time. It brightens up with air, and more acidity joins the tannin, it should have a long life ahead.
1997 Louis Claude Desvignes Morgon Javernières - A little reduced on the nose, but sweeter and cleaner on the palate, it is drinking by well now. It stays a little funky in the nose, but it fleshed out on the palate, and was worth aging.
2012 Noëlla Morantin Gamay Touraine Mon Cher - A little reduced and spritzy, it needs more time in the decanter or cellar, but shows nice tart cranberry fruit.
2011 Julie Balagny Fleurie La Carioca - A little reduced, tasty cranberry but it isn't firing on all cylinders tonight.
Côt and Cabernet Franc
This was a spectacular flight, pairing brilliantly with the agnolotti and perfectly cooked rack of lamb. The Côt continues to amaze me with its purity and vibrancy. Both Cab Francs were outstanding, with the Filliatreau showing more complexity and the Breton more intensity, and while I preferred the intensity tonight, both are great wines. All of the wines in this flight came from my cellar.
1998 Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Cuvée Cot - It smells purple, with a little herbaceousness, with phenomenal purity of fruit and freshness, well-endowed with silky tannin, still in the bloom of youth it remains one of the most entrancing and indescribable wines I've ever experienced.
1997 Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Cuvée Buster Vieilles Vignes - Beautiful bell pepper and red and black fruit. It blossoms with air, lovely and complex, though the pyrazine-sensitive may not like it as much as I do.
1997 Catherine et Pierre Breton Chinon Les Picasses - More fruit driven and intense than the Filliatreau, though not quite as complex, with blackberry and a hint of green pepper. Amazing.
Dessert
Based on past experience, we started with the Pinon, another participant's generous contribution, as its understated elegance can suffer next to bigger, sweeter, more exuberant dessert wines. It paired well with a sweet cream panna cotta with strawberry cremeux, pink macarons, chantilly, strawberry, and micro mint, which wasn't too sweet. The Bonnezeaux from my cellar, on the other hand, was a much better match with two sweeter desserts: kataifi with walnuts, citrus, honey, and cinnamon ice cream and a tre latti torta with hearth roasted pineapple, coconut rice gelato, and chantilly lime.
1990 François Pinon Vouvray Cuvée Botrytis Limited Release - Essence of fresh caramelized quince. Understated and subtle beauty, the acid balances the sweetness so well that the wine doesn't show as that sweet. Great with a not-too-sweet panna cotta with strawberries, I wouldn't open it with a big, sweet exhuberant wine unless I poured this first and took a good bit of time exploring it first.
1997 Domaine des Petits Quarts (Godineau) Bonnezeaux Le Malabé - Big, rich, and sweet but balanced, loaded with apricot and a touch of ginger, just stunning.
