You know you’re drinking some great Burgundies when the DRC shows up and it’s not even in the top ranks of the night’s wines! That’s what happened last night at the Chef’s Table at the Edgewater. Ron, Bev, Linda and I took over the back room for the evening for an amazing tasting of old Burgundies (and a couple of Bordeaux). The lineup had originally not included any DRC, but we added a couple bottles at the last minute, and decided to skip the originally planned ’71 Bonnes Mares.
When opening an old, nearly labeless Burgundy from the 20s it’s always a crapshoot, but tonight we came up a winner, as the first red wine of the night proved to be the Wine Of The Night, and one of the greatest Burgundies I’ve ever had. In fact, this was a night when the oldest bottles were fresher than some of the younger ones (although nothing was really young, as the most recent red was from 1979).
The wines were accompanied by a sampling of the small plates from The Tasting Room. Amazing service was provided by Taren, who also introduced us to her cocktail making skills and gave us a sample of her housemade bitters.
My notes:
Veuve Clicquot (Chef’s Table)
Very balanced 90 pts
2008 Chateau “Y” (Steve)
Butter, honeycomb wax, hint of botrytis, 93 pts
1923 Henri de Behegre Clos Vougeot (Steve)
Bacon, smoke, sweet, blackened sugar, Creme brûlée, candied crab apple, balsamic dressed mushrooms, dark buttered brown sugar toast, toasted nuts, burnt marshmallow, started to fade after 90 minutes, then a comeback, curry, 100+ pts
1934 Francois Martenot ( Dr. Barolet) Chambole-Musigny (Ron)
Sour cherry, orange rind, bug spray, minerality, high acid, iron, smoke, orange bitters, cedar sawdust, forest floor, held up 2 hrs+, 100 pts
[My previous note on the above wine from last year at Peperoncino:
Very light, orange rind, rust, spiced meat, sweet, coffee, candy, tobacco, cigarette smoke, red licorice ropes, cherry, pine needles, great fruit, mint, refreshing acidity, 100 pts]
1949 Charles Vienot Corton-Bressandes (Steve)
Young fruit, anise, cherry licorice, fennel, earth, pine needles, noodles in soy sauce, devolved into sewage/cheese smells after 30 minutes, 88 pts
1949 de Sylou Grands-Echezeaux (Ron)
Young fruit, chocolate, vanilla, gravel, forest floor, pine needle, high acid, 96 pts
1979 DRC Echezeaux (Steve)
Carmel, bacon fat, seemed a bit simple compared to the previous wines, 94 pts
1972 DRC Grand Echezeaux (Ron)
Mushroom, very closed, this wine didn’t really show up for work, flawed bottle? 86 pts
1978 Haut Brion (Ron)
Gravel, bright fruit, solid tannins, chocolate milk duds, coffee, it’s interesting that this year, originally so tannic, is now drinking great, 93 pts
1979 Château La Mission Haut-Brion (Steve)
Wax, tight tannic, cotton candy, silky, 91 pts