Wine (alt.food.wine) Devoted to the discussion of wine and wine-related topics. A place to read and comment about wines, wine and food matching, storage systems, wine paraphernalia, etc. In general, any topic related to wine is valid fodder for the group.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)   Report Post  
Jim
 
Posts: n/a
Default TN: Four burgs and a funeral (for a Loire)

Here are some tasting notes from a few recent dinners in Tokyo. I've
posted writeups on these meals (and a few others) on eGullet at
http://tinyurl.com/4zlcx that would put the notes below in a little
better context.

Le Bourguignon --

The wine list is not enormous, but is very well selected and fairly
priced. Had a 2002 Maison Alex Gambal village Chassagne Montrachet. I
don't often buy negoce wines for home, but the better ones often
provide good value in restaurants. Gambal is one of my favorite
negociants. As he has now built good relationships with his sources, he
is able to work with about 60% fruit and 40% must for the whites. He
also has a good degree of control of the viticulture. His wines are
made in a traditional style, without excessive cooling, extended soaks
or maceration, or loads of oak. This wine had a lot of color for its
age, which was backed up by strong pineapple and lanolin nose, and a
little sense of sweetness on a young round palate. It was in its sexy
blush of youth and had just enough apparent acid to balance the
richness of the foie/eel dish.

Also had a 1991 Simon Bize Savigny les Beaune Grands Liards. This was
nicely mature, with a faded but bright red core and a little thinning
at the edges. Bright pinot (beetroot/cherry) and tart berry fruit on
the nose, along with a little hint of earth. Palate showed a little
remaining greenness, along with solid plum and red berry fruit. The
1991s from the Cotes de Beaune have been much maligned and came out
very, very green at release. This was perhaps a little dilute and still
a little green, but it had developed very nicely for a small wine from
such a vintage. I'm liking this vintage more and more each time I try
it.

Finally, had a 1976 Moulin Touchais with cheese and dessert. This is a
good value on the list and I love mature chenin blanc. Bottle
variation, however, has long been a problem with this producer and this
most recent bottle had little acid structure left and a fair degree of
oxidation. Okay to drink and not bad enough to complain, but very
disappointing compared to the younger tasting, fresher bottle I had
last time I was here.


L'Osier --

The other three people began with a kir royale, while I began with a
glass of the house Champagne. I never managed to ask what it was, but
it was a damn fine house pour. May or may not have been a blanc des
blancs, but was definitely at that end of the spectrum. Very fine
mousse, good acid, piercing white fruit, more nuttiness than toast.
Precise, delineated, but still very light (in all the best ways). Can't
imagine it could have been Salon as a house pour, but was very much in
that vein. Maybe the best house Champagne I've ever had.

Based on the sommelier's recommendation, we went with a '98 Domaine
Cordier Pouilly Fuisse Juliette la Grande. First course was a tough
match, with my oysters, the seared foie, and foie ravioli with truffle
pave. '98 white burgs had nice sexy fruit and started drinking well
very young, but were a bit blowsy in general. That was actually a good
call with the three foie dishes, in a complement rather than contrast
way. It was less good with the oysters, though the sweetness of the
fennel helped bridge the gap a little. The wine was extremely open,
advanced in color development, with a little more apparent oak
sweetness and vanilla on the nose than I might have liked. Not my style
exactly, but strongly concentrated with very ripe white and citrus
fruit on both nose and palate. A little more acid and a little less oak
and I would have been thrilled. As it was, very well made and very good
showing for the vintage.

Any concerns about the match with my oysters went away when they
brought me a glass of '96 Clos St. Hune without my asking (or paying).
Just a nice thought? Or second guessing the Cordier recommendation? The
Clos St. Hune was a perfect match, with great acidity, good riesling
steeliness, but the generosity that only comes out in Alsation
riesling. No petrol, but mineral galore. Great wine.

I wasn't ready to hear any recommendations from the sommelier on the
red, as there was a '93 Montille Pommard Pezerolles on the list at a
pretty reasonable price. Both Montille's wines and the 1993 vintage in
Burgundy are controversial, but I happen to love both. Besides, I
couldn't imagine a better match for my pigeon! For once, I was right.
This wine had matured the way we always hope burgundy will. The tannins
had receded way to the background, the acid was bright and strong, but
very much in balance, and the secondary aromas of earth, mineral, and
flower essence were coming on strong. Montille wines can be almost
painfully austere when young, but the signature Montille acid provided
a great structure to hold up the Pommard fleshiness. This one is
drinking great right now, but should have 3-5 years development left
(and a nice little holding period after that). I think the general
consensus on this vintage is just going to get better and better as the
wines mature. I really wish I had some of this in the cellar and will
buy some if I can find it with certain good storage. Bright, clear,
fleshy, getting more and more complex and oh so detailed with nice
persistent finish. There are so many good winemakers in this
Pommard/Volnay part of the world -- Montille, d'Angerville, Lafarge,
Pousse d'Or -- and they often represent such good value on restaurant
lists.

Take care and sorry for the long post,

Jim

  #2 (permalink)   Report Post  
DaleW
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks for notes (I checked out the eGullet, too). I'm coming to Japan
next month, but from my understanding of wine QPR, I'll be drinking
water!

I thinkGambal has improved a lot over last couple years, I used to not
be impressed.

  #3 (permalink)   Report Post  
Jim
 
Posts: n/a
Default


DaleW wrote:
> Thanks for notes (I checked out the eGullet, too). I'm coming to

Japan
> next month, but from my understanding of wine QPR, I'll be drinking
> water!
>
> I thinkGambal has improved a lot over last couple years, I used to

not
> be impressed.



Dale:

I don't have much older experience with Gambal. I think he just
started in '96 or '97 or so, didn't he? Anyway, what I have been told
is that, as he has established himself in burgundy, he has been able to
solidify sources and gain a lot more control over the inputs. Thus,
each year the wine is a little more reflective of his
capabilities/preferences. I've only had a couple of wines from a
couple of vintages, but I've been happy. I've heard good things about
his village Chambolle, but haven't tried it. I've not seen him at
retail here -- only in one restaurant and in friend's houses. I do
understand he's getting a bit of buzz in the US.

Tokyo wine prices are indeed high relative to the US. I'm a little
jaded though, as I was in Bangkok and Seoul before I was here.
Compared to those two cities (each of which I love for a myriad of
other reasons), Tokyo is cheap and has great availability.

Please let me know if you'd like to try to get together, whether for a
wine offline or just a good local meal.

Take care,

Jim

  #4 (permalink)   Report Post  
Ron Lel
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Jim" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Here are some tasting notes from a few recent dinners in Tokyo. I've
> posted writeups on these meals (and a few others) on eGullet at
> http://tinyurl.com/4zlcx that would put the notes below in a little
> better context.


Jim, I don't think the problem is with the producer, rather I think the '76
is just tired. I have drunk two bottles recently - the first in January and
the second two weeks ago. The Jan bottle was in poor shape and quite
oxidised. I couldn't drink it. The second wine was considerably better but
still not great. Yes it was also disappointing and pretty much fits your
description of the wine.

I still have a number of older examples - some '70s and a 45 and a 47. The
last time I drank the '47, about 3 years ago, it was still in perfect
condition.

Ron Lel

snipped


>
> Finally, had a 1976 Moulin Touchais with cheese and dessert. This is a
> good value on the list and I love mature chenin blanc. Bottle
> variation, however, has long been a problem with this producer and this
> most recent bottle had little acid structure left and a fair degree of
> oxidation. Okay to drink and not bad enough to complain, but very
> disappointing compared to the younger tasting, fresher bottle I had
> last time I was here.

snipped

Jim
>



  #5 (permalink)   Report Post  
Cwdjrx _
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I still have some Moulin Touchas from 1949, 1959, and 1976. The 49 was
still holding quite well a few years ago. The 59 probably is the best of
the three, is holding well, and is a very full wine. I will have to open
a 76 soon to see how mine is holding. It has been stored properly since
shortly after release. In the US, I seldom trust an old wine, especially
a white wine, bought at a restaurant to be a good indicator of the
maturity of the wine that has been perfectly stored. Moulin Touchas
sometimes can last a long time. Michael Broadbent found the 1928 still
drinking well in 1981.

As good as Moulin Touchas can be, for my taste it is quite a way behind
a top Vouvray in the very few years that allow production of one. Huet's
Vouvray Cuvee Constance Moelleux 1989 might just be the best Loire since
WWII. Broadbent gave it one of his very rare 6-star ratings. It has
10.9% of alcohol and 162 g/l of residual sugar. The juice before
fermentation had about 390 g/l sugar content. I was able to obtain three
bottles of this shortly after release before the price climbed too much.
I expect this wine to last much longer than I do.

Reply to .



  #6 (permalink)   Report Post  
DaleW
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Please let me know if you'd like to try to get together, whether for a

wine offline or just a good local meal."

Jim, sorry for the late reply. Please let me know if you have a free
evening the third week of May. I arrive the 16th I think, and leave
23rd. My friend Joe Bongiorno (bass player), Betsy, and I were talking
re doing some meals in Tokyo. The only night I know wouldn't work is
the 19th, as they have a performance (I think there's one on 22nd, but
a matinee). If you wanted to do a small offline we'd probably be up for
it. Are there restaurants in Tokyo with reasonable corkage? Joe and I
could bring something interesting.

If this doesn't work for you, sorry for late notice. I took some notes
on one of your eGullet posts (less about the French places than the
Japanese), will see how they fit with our hotel. Joe was also talking
about some pork restaurant that was supposed to have a decent
Rhone/Languedoc list.

cheers!
Dale

Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
TN: Champagnes, Burgs, Ca, Loire, etc DaleW Wine 2 08-02-2017 07:58 PM
TN: Burgs (including Beaujolais), Loire, Mosel DaleW Wine 2 22-08-2012 11:50 PM
TN: Bdx, Burgs, Loire, and Alsace DaleW Wine 0 13-02-2012 07:22 PM
TN: Many many wines, mostly Loire and Burgs, but a few Bdx and 1Rioja DaleW Wine 2 27-01-2009 02:04 AM
TN: lower end Burgs, Bdx, Rhone, Loire DaleW Wine 7 30-01-2006 06:38 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:30 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 FoodBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Food and drink"