V&A Chef’s Table 60s Bordeaux

Our focus was on Bordeaux from the 1960s at the Victoria & Albert’s Chef’s Table on Saturday. Ron, Bev, Keith, Parlo, Linda and I assembled a collection of wines including some big names from 1961 and 1964. Perhaps it was just the incredible wines we had at V&A last week, but I was a little disappointed that these famous wines didn’t show a little better. Still, it was a fun evening, and true to his word, Chef Scott came up with a completely different ten course menu from the one we had last week.

1998 Le Grand Dame Champagne (V&A wine list $380)
Lemon creamy, surprisingly simple; quite overpriced for what it was, I thought, 90 pts

2002 Perrier Jouet rose fleur bottle cuvée belle epoch (Paula)
Dried flowers, yeast, 91 pts

1994 Ramonet Batard Montrachet (Ron)
Baking spice, intense burnt lemon rind; a stunning wine from a great producer, 95 pts

2005 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne (Ron)
Waxy, soft, butter, great match with the lobster, 92 pts

1964 Ch. Cheval Blanc (Ron)
Iron, herbs, cab franc, tar, rich, marine, iodine, spicy, vanilla; a great wine, but probably not a good example of just how great this particular wine can be,  93 pts

1964 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou  (Steve)
Classic Bordeaux nose, slightly woodsy, emerging floral character, soy; unremarkable, 89 pts

1964 Ch. Mouton (Keith)
not much fruit, coffee, over the hill; possibly not well stored prior to purchase in Italy, I suspect this wine can be better than this, 88 pts

1964 Domaine René Engel Clos Vougeot (Steve)
Bacon, smoke, mint, smoked meat, leather, paint, raisin, earthy; a good but not great Burgundy in the earthy style, 92 pts

1964 Faiveley Latricieres Chambertin (Ron)
Simple and thin as poured, developed a bit of iron, then with some air developed wood and caramel, black pepper, black cherry, game, young, acid, rhubarb; much more fruit emphasis than the Clos Vougeot, 92 pts

1961 Ch Ausone (Ron)*
Youthful, rare meat, graphite, gravel, iodine, chocolate; a great wine but considering the stellar vintage, maybe not as good as it could have been, 94 pts

1961 Château Lynch-Bages (Steve)*
Bug spray (blew off immediately), big dark fruits, mint, coffee, iron, elegant; I’ve had this wine many times, and this bottle was the least impressive in my experience, the wine might actually be in a dumb stage and need a bit more time, 94 pts

1961 Ch Gruaud Larose (Keith)*
Sweet, cherries, kirsch, sawdust, dust, Very integrated, very complex, mint, olive; a truly intriguing wine that was very atypical for Gruaurd Larose, 95 pts

*All three 61s will age many more years, but the Lynch Bages especially is age-worthy. I don’t think it would be possible to duplicate the Gruaud Larose.

1964 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve (Steve)
Cedar needles, redwood, pine, sweet, caramel, youthful, smoke, mint, fruit, raisins; probably the most redwoody BV I’ve had, it’s nice to see this so youthful, as several I’ve tried recently were faded, 92 pts

1958 Biondi Santi Brunello (Keith)
Meat, a bit short on fruit, Acidic; not my style, 84 pts

1975 Ch Ducru Beaucaillou (Keith)
Classic 75 Bordeaux nose, a bit of wax, coffee, tight; will the fruit out last the tannin so this can achieve balance? 90 pts

1975 Ch Pichon Lalande (Keith)
Corked, seems tight, no score

2005 Malescot Exupery (Paula)
Earth, tannin, tar, brush, chewy, feminine, meat, vanilla, needs 10-20 years; a very nice wine, cut down in its youth! 94 pts

1988 Grange (Ron)
Tight, high alcohol, very tannic, not ready to drink yet, good fruit, high acid, a lot of wood; this wine was controversial as Ron like it a lot, but I found it unyielding; it’s so hard to find a Grange that’s ready to drink, no score

90 Ch Suidiraut (Ron)
Medium brown, slightly oxidized nose, Creme, caramel, spicy; a nice enough wine by itself, but it seemed very tired next t the Yquem, 90 pts

96 Ch d’Yquem (Ron)
Lucious vanilla, great acid, long, balanced; well, it’s always superb, isn’t it? 97 pts

The new lobster dish was a hit.

 

This new dessert was beautiful, but I still think dessert is V&A's Achilles heel.

 

This was the busiest I've ever seen V&A. The ordinarily calm kitchen seemed on the edge of frenetic.

 

Victoria & Albert’s Dining Room

We usually go to the chef’s table or eat in the Victoria Room at V&A, but Ron invited us on the spur of the moment to bring some nice wines to Victoria and Albert’s for dinner, and only the dining room was available. As it turned out, the venue was terrific. Israel provided the same wine service we’d get at the Chef’s Table, and Anita was our server. Chef Scott came up with an eleven course menu that was mostly new to us, and every item was a home run. He also indicated that there won’t be many repeats when we return next weekend for the chef’s table, so that will be interesting.

One of the reasons for the event was so that Ron and Bev could use an overnight stay they bought at a charity auction. But the other reason was to get together and enjoy the “other” Burgundy. By “other,” I’m referring to the remaining wine from a pair Ron bought from a store a number of years ago. The first, an 1899 Clos Vougeot, was the greatest wine I ever tasted. Its mate, an 1893 Corton, was a wine we’d long anticipated sharing. I did my best to match it, with a 1929 Bonnes Mares, but there was no stopping the Corton. It has been elevated to my new bench mark for best wine ever. You can tell from my notes that there was no stopping it. For three hours it evolved in the glass.

Of course, we still haven’t learned our lesson to serve the Burgundies after everything else, and some otherwise great wines, like my 1959 Lynch Bages, paled in comparison. Oh well, a good problem to have.

It was a great evening, and I’m sure we’ll repeat this approach, since the dining room worked out so well. What a terrific restaurant.

2006 Leroy Duval Champagne (purchased from the wine list)
Beautiful bottle, a bit of toast, green fruits, 93 pts

2007 Lynch Bages Blanc (purchased from the wine list)
Sauvignon blanc nose, soft on the palate, flinty, lemon, chalk, soapy floral finish, 92 pts

1939 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve (Steve)
Medium garnet, delicate old fruit, varnish, medium bodied, sawdust, leather, gained in weight with some air, 90 pts

1893 Corton (Ron)
Lemon, vanilla, caramel, ash, Twix bar, fig newton, full of fruit on the palate, charred green wood, like drinking caramel sauce, soy sauce, floral, cherry, orange rind, very long, amazingly youthful, perfect balance, bacon, 100 pts

1929 Boisseaux-Estivant Bonnes Mares (Steve)
Iron, chocolate covered cherries, dust, huge fruit, blackberry, beef blood, drinking like a 1980, 98 pts

1955 Château Lynch-Bages (Ron)
Corked, excellent fruit very youthful, no score

1959 Château Lynch-Bages (Steve)
Very young, extremely balanced, meat, vanilla, coffee, meat, tobacco, cigar box, short, 92 pts

1978 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (Ron)
Very pronounced Cabernet Sauvignon character, peppers, coffee, chocolate, mint, vanilla, red fruits, cherry, 95 pts

1990 Ch. Suidurat (Ron)
Balanced, honey, great match to the apple dessert, 93 pts

Green Beans and Bacon

This is a dish we used to have all the time, but had forgotten about. Maybe if I put it here it will remind me to fix it more often, as it is extremely succulent.

Ingredients

3/4 lb Green Beans
5 strips of Bacon cut into squares
1 Medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/8 cup Rice Wine Vinegar

Preparation

Cook the bacon until crispy. Remove to another dish with a slotted spoon.
Saute onion in bacon fat until lightly brown.
Add both vinegars, cover and steam for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve with crisp bacon on top.

 

 

Four Decades of Margaux

It had been many years since we did a vertical of a first growth. Linda and I have been collecting Chateau Margaux for almost 30 years, and decided it was time to give them a try. I split our collection into two tastings. This first batch begins in the middle, a tough time for Bordeaux and Margaux in particular.

We tasted the wines in reverse chronological order, from 1975 to 1949. Margaux was a property in decline during the 60s and 70s, and the first seven wines really reflected this. Even the 70 and 75 were uninspired. The 75 is probably the worst price performance ration of the bunch. The 66 and 64 were the first wines I would actually have consumed!

The reward was at the end While the most famous Margaux is perhaps the 59, it has never blown me away, but this was an excellent example. However it was eclipsed by the other three. 62 is an often overlooked year, having occurred in the shadow of the great 61s. This 61 did not disappoint. Despite an extremely low shoulder, it was a beautiful wine with many flavor profiles. But the stunner was the 1949, an extraordinarily fresh, feminine and complex wine that evolved in the glass for hours. A real treat to end on.

In September we’ll complete this tasting with vintages from 1977-1990.

1975 Ch Margaux Smoke bacon, tart, sour finish 84pts 432
1973 Ch Margaux Overripe fruit, stewed, sweet finish 85pts 175
1972 Ch Margaux Sawdust, oak 88pts 286
1971 Ch Margaux Face powder, cherry, balanced, coffee 89pts 225
1970 Ch Margaux Bug spray, ashes 88pts 212
1969 Ch Margaux Candy, funky, chemicals 83pts 220
1967 Ch Margaux Madeirized, bacon 84pts 158
1966 Ch Margaux Eucalyptus, mint, dust 89pts 188
1964 Ch Margaux Big fruit, wood finish, much disagreement about mildew, chocolate, caramel, the group was vehemently split on this wine, with some hating it 90pts 293
1962 Ch Margaux Fruity, young, violets, red fruits 94pts 629
1961 Ch Margaux Extremely low shoulder yet beautifully fresh, roses, sawdust, soy, earthy, waxy 97pts 910
1959 Ch Margaux Young and fresh, smoke, waxy 93pts 1,167
1949 Ch Margaux Cherries, bright fruit, light color, cinnamon, crisp, apple 99pts 1,643
6,538

Other wines:

2008 “Y” Steve botrytis, very fruity, dry but doesn’t seems so, semillon 99pts
1981 Alzeyer Sybillenstein Spatlese Ron medium amber, mint, floral, surprisingly sweet 89pts
2006 Adobe Road Pinot Noir Steve Varietal, cherries, leather 90pts
2006 Chateau Beaucastel CNDP Dick Cherries, vanilla 92pts
2000 Clos de Papes Ron Menthol, tar, cherries 94pts
2001 Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova Brunello di Montalcino Dick tar, chewy, black fruits 95pts
2006 White Oak Syrah Andy Vanilla, meat 90pts
2001 Marquis Phillips S2 John Syruppy, canilla 90pts
1999 Pride Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Ron Wood, a bit uni-dimensional considering its pedigree 95pts
2002 Torbreck “The Factor” Ron Black fruits, vanilla, bacon 92pts
1992 Hacienda Henline Conquistador Port John This wine was made in 1992 by John Henline from grapes from a vineyard at Martin’s old house that were planted by Steve, Linda and Martin. It is no longer a port, although I don’t know where the sugar and alcohol went. It’s now a medium weight fairly dry red. Amazingly, the Conquistador has retained its color, and the wine was quite drinkable, an impressive feat for such an old hybrid. 83pts