WTN: Burgundy and Rhone

[Brad Ballinger]

Several of us in the Twin Cities found occasion for a BYO night out.

The crew at Bakery on Grand were as accommodating as always. The food was first-rate, although they were holding onto our entrees while we took forever to finish our starters. When the starters were brought to the table, the aroma of truffles filled the entire room, and it may have been difficult to discern the finer, more secondary aromas in the wines. Two of us ordered langoustines and chanterelles in a truffle mornay sauce and two more ordered the black truffle sandwich. And, we, with no Piemontese wines. Oh, well. What we did have…

1996 L. Jadot Batard-Montrachet. We passed it around and poured. We swirled, sniffed, and inhaled deeply. Some of us started to look at each other, trying to catch another’s eye and communicate non-verbally what no one wanted to utter aloud – yet. We swirled again. We sniffed again. We deeply inhaled again. We cast furtive glances again. Finally, I said something like, “Oh, I hope this isn’t what I think it is. Maybe it’s blowing off.” Someone quickly jumped in, “It’s not blowing off of my glass.” With extremely ferocious swirling, I could get the volatiles in the wine to overcome the TCA that was present. And even in the mouth, the pedigree of the vineyard did its damnedest and showed some strong lemony character. Valiant attempt on the part of the wine, but it was a losing battle. Slowly, the TCA took over, and we dumped. A damn shame; a crying shame.

1996 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Reserve. This wine was opened five years too early, and seemed to be the foreshadowing of the night’s uber-theme. If you’re a rock-licker (and I am), you will love this wine. Lots of mineral, earth, and diesel on the nose. Texturally, the wine had a balance between chalk and wax. After an extended time in the stem, some stone fruit and even tropical notes began to emerge, but they were firmly encased in a mineral package. An impressive wine whose better days are yet to come. Alas, if I only had more.

We then poured a couple of Burgundy Grand Cru wines, one of which was far more ready to drink than the other. Those in the know will figure it out on name of the wine alone.

1996 Dom. Arlaud Charmes-Chambertin, Cuvee Unique. A North Berkeley wine. Yes, it’s fruit and oak intensive, but I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of funk I first get on the nose. While it is somewhat approachable now, I would think this wine still has a bit of development ahead of it that will add some complexity to the flavor profile. There is tart cherry fruit here with a little bit of smoke and spice. Texturally, the wine is soft initially, but starts to reveal more acid as it is exposed to air. What it also shows, though, is a faint medicinal quality on the nose and on the finish. Again, although approachable now, it may be best to revisit in a couple of years.

1996 Dom. Thomas-Moillard Corton Clos du Roi. It would’ve been great if there was something left in this bottle because it might actually be starting to open up in a couple days. I had two stems with me, and left this wine in one of them from the initial pour until the end of the evening. It started to come out of its shell, but only started to. My notes, written in dim light, read “earthy, funky, tannic, monstrous, fierce.” Toward the very end of the night, some black cherry fruit emerged. The grip the tannins had on the wine showed no sign of abating. It is a truly terrific wine that has everything kept under wraps at the moment. Revisit in ten years (or more).

2001 Fontodi Pinot Nero Case Via. This was brought just for the hell of it. And hell is right – as in why in the hell are they growing Pinot in Tuscany? Both on the nose and on the palate I’m overcome by dill, no doubt from the oak. I’m told it improved by the end of the night, but I never went back.

We then went to Rhone.

1978 Rostaing Cote-Rotie. No first name shown on the label, but we mused that it must be Rene’s father? A likely candidate for WOTN by most of the crowd (although I may have it share honors with the Corton on that wine’s potential alone). Color was lighter than any of the Pinots. The nose showed the ideal maturity of the wine – meaty, peaty, smoky, earthy, spicy, fungal. Yet, the fruit is not absent. The berries are bright and lively, and there is plenty of acid to give the wine lift and vibrancy. It did start to fade after about 30 minutes, but I was finished with my leg o’ lamb by then so who cares.

1990 Dom. de Fauterie (Sylvian Bernard) Cornas. I believe this was the first vintage for this label. It’s in the same ballpark as the Rostaing, but it’s on the other team. I confess to not enjoying this wine as much as the others at the table. The aromas were pleasant enough – there was a nice olive element – as was the fruit. But I found a texturally soft/flabby interval where the wine sort of laid there until some acid emerged. The oak also seemed to be its own element, and not wholly integrated into the wine.

1998 Dom. Vieux Telegraphe “La Crau” Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Tight, it also needs a couple of days to open up. I’m going to have to defer to the others that night since my experience with VT is that it has disappointed me since three terrific bottles from 1993, 1994, and 1995. I find the alcohol to have been amped up, and it is noticeable tonight with some heat in the rear-palate. There seems to be a hollowness here, but that could be that the wine dearly needs time to develop.

1997 Banfi Excelsus. Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend. This was brought as a backup wine, but looked so alone with it's cork still in the bottle, so the cork was extracted. And that’s not all that was extracted. For such a ripe vintage in Tuscany, I’m befuddled as to why there was a need to oak this wine to the degree it has been oaked. It would be a pleasant enough choice on a steakhouse wine list, and in a blind tasting I’m not sure I could pick it out as Italian. This, too, finishes on the hot side.

Lastly, dessert.

1997 Chateau Pierre Bise Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu. Light amber color. Initially, the wine was a little cloying. There was a viscosity to the texture, but one that seemed to weigh the wine down rather than facilitate it to all corners of the mouth. With some air time, it started to open up and become brighter. There is some botrytis on the nose along with caramelized pears, quince, and golden delicious apples. It seems to me that this wine, too, needs more time in bottle to develop. It’s lip-smacking good now, but still has a bit much baby fat for me.

Edited January 16, 2004 by Brad Ballinger (log)