My good friend Cosme invited me over on a Friday evening "for a glass of wine". A rather innocent invite, but there was more than a single glass of wine on offer and this was no ordinary wine. You see, Cosme's palate has drifted over to (and is now stuck in?) Burgundy, which is good news for me...Cosme has been a huge buyer of the '05 vintage, and started us with the 2005 Domaine Chevalier Père & Fils Corton "Le Rognet" Grand Cru. An unbelievably gorgeous and powerful nose, so fragrant that I was able to smell the wine while holding the glass at my waist and walking outside on a cool fall evening! Pretty truffles, sweet raspberry, spice (nutmeg or cinnamon) and ashen notes, simply beautiful. Tangy acid, silky tannins and minerally rasperries danced across the palate, lengthy but a bit tightly wound. So young, fresh and drinking so well today, but this wine needs time to unwind in the cellar and should be even more beautiful in a few years. Score: 18.5+/20
After this delicious pour we turned to Lloyd's 1998 Le Macchiole "Paleo", unfortunately a corker - too bad, there was some good stuff hiding in there...So Cosme returned to his cellar and pulled another Burgundy, the 2005 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune "Clos de la Mousse" 1er Cru. Sharp on the nose, with spicy oak and smokey new leather, sulphury raspberry notes as well. The earthy palate of velvety tannins was tight, awkward, at first, but it opened up nicely in the decanter. Should also benefit from some cellar time. Score: 17/20
A special thanks to Cosme and Rebecca for the delightful selection of cheeses and terrine that were a perfect match for tonight's Burgundies.
(PS- perceptive readers may have noticed a legendary J.L. Chave Hermitage in the background of my (shitty bberry) picture above, the theme for Saturday's get together of our tasting group. Stay tuned...)
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6 comments:
Yum. Chave is god. I blew my budget for a month by buying one of the 3 05 Chaves in the province. I hope in 20 years it was worth the price.
Hi Shea - you're going to have to wait for the notes, but you may not like what you hear...
Well I'll have to wait and see what you have to say. Hopefully not the 05. And, if so, perhaps too young?
Hi Shea - it was an '03, and youth would likely explain some of the "issue"
Hm, ya 03 is not a great year for Northern Rhone. Not horrible, but not great. Looking forward to the note. I also read Chave saying that if you don't drink his wines within around 4 years from bottling then they close up for a long time.
Hi Shea - I will absolutely not rule out that the wine was closed, but I have seen some other writers just as perplexed. I would say "I'll check it out in another few years", but I just can't afford these things - maybe in 15 years some rich friend will pull out a second bottle...
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