Monday 29 April 2013

Tasting Dinner With Stunning Food & Wines

It was time again for our tasting group semi annual tasting dinner. As always - great food, stunning wines and lots of wine talk....and laughter. Can´t wait until the next one!
Some previous dinners here and here.

All wine tasted blind (except the one I brought...)

With a mini tasting of foie gras - two different French ones and one Hungarian - we were served three fantastic bottles of Champagne.


NV Initial, Jacques Selosse
Always a beauty, this version of Initiale (degorced 2012-09-20) didn´t disappoint. The nose is young with lots of substance and notes of hazelnuts, white currants, brioche, lime juice and lots of crushed rocks. Very fine.
The taste is young, fresh and lively with notes of lemon and lime peel, white currants, dried flowers and wet stones. A high, refreshing acidity. There is a touch of bitterness in the finish, just like the white in a grapefruit peel. Very, very long. Very, very fine, but not as exquisite as the one tasted a year ago.
91p   (tasted 2013/04)

NV V.O., Jacques Selosse
To my recollection, I have never tasted the VO before. And after this I have to get me some, for this was some serious juice. The nose is captivating in its elegance, structure and balance with notes of lemon peel, green apples, fish stock, ginger and freshly washed clothes. So, so elegant and deep.
The taste is tight, elegant and luscious with notes of sour/sweet lemons, cucumber, licorice and lots of crushed slate. Long, balanced finish with creamy acidity. So pure and fine. Breathtaking!
96p   (tasted 2013/04)


NV Substance, Jacques Selosse
A big, creamy, mature nose with lovely notes of yellow apples, peach ice cream, dried honey and some mushroomy notes. Deep and intoxicating. Very fine.
The taste is round, ripe and ready for prime time drinking, with its notes of dried peaches, white raisins, yellow apples and sweet minerals. This beauty was degorced 2010-12-21.
92p   (tasted 2013/04)


Next up was a Thai infused soup with scallops and tiger prawns and it went perfectly with three of the four bottles in front of us.


2006 Kiedrich Gräfenberg Riesling Spätlese, Robert Weil
A fine, light, elegant nose with notes of lemon grass, wet asphalt, lemon peel and gravel. It has a penetrating yet cool character. Still young. Very, very good.
The taste is laid back and elegant with fine notes of sweet lime, red apples, peach candy, earth and a touch of band-aid (in a positive way). A sleek acidity. Very fine.
91p   (tasted 2013/04)

1999 Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese, Egon Müller
This semi mature Scharzhofberg has an interetsing nose with notes of gooseberries, licorice, ripe pears and lots of chalk. There is a hint of petrol. Very deep. A gorgeous elegance. Really fine.
The taste is tighter than the nose leads on with notes of grey pears, lemon peel, grapefruit and lots of minerals. A long, sleek, elegant finish. A gorgeous, fresh acidity. This still needs another 3+ years in the cellar. Great.
92p   (tasted 2013/04)


2003 Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese, Egon Müller
The younger Scharzhofberg is a tad warmer and not as sleek as the 99 but there is fine notes of peaches, hay, chalk and a fine after-the-rain on the nose. Very good although not that deep.
The taste is tight, round and fine with crisp notes of grey pears, sweet lime, earth and grass. A fine, medium long finish. Very nice but in the company a bit short handed.
88p   (tasted 2013/04)

2007 Kiedrich Gräfenberger Riesling Auslese, Robert Weil
To ne honest, this didn´t go with the food. It is to sweet. But what a wine! The nose just explodes from the glass with stunning notes of ripe peaches, red apples, hand cream, cap gun smoke, licorice and lily´s of the valley. Very deep and intoxicating. Lovely ripe fruit.
The taste is big, intense and laser focused with notes of honey, dades, ripe pears, wet asphalt, sweet minerals and a touch of tobacco (!). The acidity that cleans up the mouth is amazing. The finish goes on and on and on...
94p   (tasted 2013/04)


The main course was a breast filet of corn feed chicken stuffed with foie gras, truffels and thyme. Exactly the food to match four Burgundy´s.

1990 Clos de Vougeot, Henri Rebourseau
A deep, decadent, ripe nose with lovely notes of mature raspberries, lingonberries, boiled vegetables, veal stock and cigar ashes. A fine maturity. Maybe a bit loose in the edges but this gives much pleasure.
The taste is mature, tight and pure with notes of dry raspberry jam, wet earth, herbs and old leather. Even a touch of wet dog. Medium deep, decadent and very good.
90p   (tasted 2013/04)

1990 Clos-Vougeot, Château de la Tour
A big, tight, mature, sweet nose with notes of ripe strawberries, dark chocolate, autumn leaves, pan fried herbs and some animal touches. Deep, mature and just fantastic. Gorgeous fruit.
The taste is big, tight and intense with notes of raspberries, strawberries and lingonberries with some balsamic vinegar, licorice and root vegetables added. The finish is long, fresh and just lovely. Gets better and better all night long. Great stuff!
94p   (tasted 2013/04)

2009 Clos de Vougeot, Jean Grivot
A nose to kill and die for! Just the nose gets 100p, easy, but... Well, how do justice in words to this nose? Deep, sweet and concentrated with extraordinary notes of the sweetest rasp- and blueberries imaginable, licorice, rosehips, forest floor, new leather, parsnips, fresh herbs and the most ethereal flowers that ever blossomed. Holy f...k! It is worth the prize just to sit and sniff on.
The taste is very good, make no mistake about it, but compared to the nose it is brutal, tight and uncompromising. The tannins steamrolls over the tongue and there are fine notes of red cherries, raspberries, leather, cigar ashes and forest floor. But the lasting impression is of tight tannins and a hard acidity. If this comes together in 8-12 years, you´re looking at perfection.
94p   (tasted 2013/04)


2010 Clos de Vougeot, Lucien le Moine
My notes have some vulgarity in them and will spare them from you, but this is as ripe, voluptuous, decadent as you can imagine, but with added complexity, charm and grace. The nose is packed full of notes of raspberries, summer flowers, expensive perfume, root vegetables, a full herb garden and some dark chocolaty notes. Very, very deep and just magnificent.
The taste is tight, concentrated and focused with notes of perfumed blue- and raspberries, spices, moist forest floor, rosehips, rose petals, licorice and Cohiba cigar. The finish is counted in minutes. Still very young. A really stunning wine!
96p   (tasted 2013/04)

After that impressive line up we went on to dessert - and more Riesling!

1976 Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Beerenauslese, J. Lauerburg
A mature, big, sweet nose with notes of dried apricots, lime cream, rubber boots, canned mushrooms and wet asphalt. A fine maturity although not very deep.
The taste is mature, fine and rather concentrated with notes of dried fruit, petrol station, dried honey and some rubbery notes. A good acidity. Ends semi dry. Very good.
87p   (tasted 2013/04)


1999 Rüdesheim Berg Rottland Riesling Beerenauslese, Georg Breuer
A deep, concentrated, fresh nose with notes of lime juice, peach ice cream, apricots, warm grass and a hint of detergent. Deep and elegant. Very, very good.
The taste is tight, concentrated and deep with massive fruit concentration and a matching acidity. Notes of dried tropical fruits, banana peel, lime juice, warm grass and a fine perfumed note. Very, very long. Still young. Wait another 10+ years...
90p   (tasted 2013/04)


And as a finishing touch, before the hard liquor..., Mikke produced a bottle of Madeira.

NV Aguilar´s Old Reserve
A deep, tight, lovely nose with notes of pan fried nuts, dades, tea leaves, autumn leaves and mushrooms. Some old wood notes. Medium deep and rather elegant. Become deeper and more focused with air. Very fine.
The taste is tight, pure and just stunning with lovely notes of green raisins, nutmeg, tea leaves, dried lime leaves, milk chocolate and a high octane acidity that cleans the palate. The finish is two minutes long. Very, very good. Going by the sweetness I would guess a Verdelho or a Bual, but who knows?
92p   (tasted 2013/04)

7 comments:

  1. Sounds lika a lovely dinner and some seriously good wines. However, perhaps you should consider not serving tiger prawns considering the production methods. I know some people (quite a few acctualy) who would have objections against fois gras as well, but, hey, you have to draw the line somewhere! Just too good to miss! Tiger prawns however - in my opinion their cullinary qualities does not justify the environment issues.

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    1. Hey, I draw the line at my enjoyment! :-) But I hear you - will have that in mind. And thanks for the comment.

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  2. Well, the prawns (gambas) served were from southern atlantic ocean and not from asia. I would not be able to distinguish them from tiger prawns in a blind tasting but the source is reliable (of course you can always complain we are eathing the food of the africans but then we are eating their sugar snipes as well). So before you put down on our dinner, clear things up first. Other people are actually quite up to date also.

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    1. Ah, well the text said tiger prawns, so naturally I assumed they where from asia. Most people (and buissnesses) does not distinguish between tiger prawns/gambas/scampi. So these prawns where caught in the wild?

      Anyway, I'm sure you had a lovely dinner. I did not mean to raise any hard feelings, and everyone is entiteled to their own opinion and taste. My opinion is that we have at least some responsibility towards other people, the environment and other species, a responsibility that does not stop at the dinnertable. But, if I where to implement this in the extreme, I would have to become a vegetarian and probably stop drinking wine as well as lots and lots of pesticides are used in the production of most wine. This is not a step I'm willing to take. Tiger prawns however.. and eel. I will never eat eel again.

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    2. Thanks for the comment! It was Håkan and Roderick that made that dish, and I assumed - as you did - that it was tiger prawns. My fault...
      And of course we should take environment considerations, but I for one is not ready to go back in time and live in a cave...

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    3. Of course not! Although a nice, cool cave should be good for cellaring wines I guess...

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