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Wines with Duck, Duck and More Duck

Vinotas

By Vinotas
in Wine

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Vinotas

Vinotas

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On Thursday evening, after a long day of bouncing from wholesaler to wholesaler, showing, tasting and spitting my wines, I joined my tasting group for our long-awaited (and long-delayed) End of the Year Dinner. Yes, I know, we’re a wee bit behind the times, so I told everyone we were celebrating the end of the Chinese New Year. Or something like that. In any case, it sounded reasonable.

We found ourselves at Peking Duck House in Midtown, looking forward to the famous Peking Duck. The theme was “Great Wines That Go With Duck”. Actually, it was just “Bring Good Wines”, but the former sounds a lot more important and pompous, right?

I do have to say, I am really lucky, my tasting group is composed of great guys who are not only very generous with the wines they share but are also really good friends. We can talk about a lot of different things besides wine. Now this may sound normal, but I’ve been to dinners where the participants can’t talk about anything else but wines. That can get real boring, even for this wine geek.

In any case, I haven't laughed that much in a long time, and it felt good to be able to share some nice wines with good friends. Isn't that what this passion of ours is supposed to be about?

We were joined by two friends, one from San Francisco who’d flown in for the Ruinart extravaganza earlier in the week, the other from New York. It was easy to decide what to order for the main course: two ducks, of course. We took our waiter’s advice and ordered a tasting plate of appetizers, all of which were delicious. With this, we began popping corks, starting with a magnum of Champagne that I’d brought, a 1990 Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale. Still youthful-looking after 18 years, this belied its age with a surprising vivacity, fruitiness and minerality. Very little of the usual caramelized notes one gets in older Champers, this had aged gracefully. While it wasn’t an earth-shaking experience, it was quite nice.

Next came a 1997 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain that smelled great, with that slatey, petrol note that older Rieslings get. The palate was full of ripe peach and apples on a fat frame that danced lightly on the palate despite its size. Still thirsty for a white, Bill opened a 2001 Jobard Meursault Poruzots. This was full of soft hazelnuts, popcorn and almond skins on the nose with a truffled accent that made it quite sniff-worthy. Heck, I could have done lines of this all night it smelled so good! However, the palate was tight as a nail, just retreating into itself and not coming out to play until very late in the evening. I really hate it when a wine teases like that.

With a sudden flourish, the ducks appeared in all their golden glory. A very large Chef appeared bearing a huge knife and began moving with quick, deft movements. With every pass, another paper-thin slice of succulent duck was placed on a plate, then expertly wrapped in thin pancakes with some crunchy condiments and a dab of sauce. The smell alone was worth dying for. Deliciously moist with that earthy duck flavor and crispy skin, we couldn’t stop eating our friendly fowl. Finally, after much consulting, we actually ordered a third duck!

Well, what goes better with duck than Burgundy?

I grabbed three glasses and began pouring the Burgs, starting with the 1996 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes Chambertin, then moving to the 1997 Hubert Lignier Clos de la Roche, and ending with the 2001 Leroy Vosne Romanée les Beaux Monts. Aaaaah, I shuddered in delight as I smelled each one, different yet glorious in its own way. The Geantet was dark and slightly oaky with lots of sous-bois and dark cherries and lots of power, the Lignier also powerful with bright cherries and earth, and the Leroy, well, it was Leroy after all, with that spicy Vosne note that I love. That said, the Leroy was completely tight and offered nothing but structure, far too young. The Lignier was beautifully framed with tart, earthy ripe cherries and a gorgeous, velvety body, while the Geantet was big, with bracing acidity and dark, ripe, slightly oaky, earthy cherries and sous-bois. All had long finishes, and all were delicious in their own way, but my favorite was the Geantet-Pansiot (despite the oak).

We moved west to Bordeaux, filling our glasses with a 1985 Léoville las Cases, a classic example of aged claret, with leather, cassis, earth and cigar box notes, ending in a long finish. Lovely. We zipped east for the next wine, a big and bruising one with tons of acidity and dark, meaty fruits: 1996 Chave Hermitage, from the Northern Rhône. Also quite nice.

For dessert, a half-bottle of 1997 Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ere Trie, Clos du Bourg was opened, a sweetie redolent of candied oranges and apples on a fat frame. Alongside this we poured a 1998 Rieussec Sauternes, another delicious sticky that was full-bodied and slightly oily on the palate, with tons of crème brulée and orange marmalade and spices. Yummy!

Another great night in the city.

Cheers!

PS: A big thanks to Brad Kane for bringing his camera and letting me use his great pictures, which can be seen HERE.

http://vinotas.blogspot.com/
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