WTN: Cristal, Cheval, Santa Duc, Clape, Palmer, Caymus, Grahams...

Lunch notes:

2005 Cuilleron St. Joseph ‘Le Lombard’ – interesting wine that we fumbled about with, understandably, as it wasn’t quite like any common varietal (this white is a mixture of Marsanne and Roussanne). Soft mellow nose, with a hint of lanolin and roast nuts (which headed ME off in the wrong direction), medium weight, good length and a minerality on palate that was refreshing. Ready to go – an early drinking wine

With crab and shrimp cake on cauliflower puree, sweet chile aioli and papaya cilantro coulis.

1990 Roederer Cristal – I thought at first this must be a 1985 given the complexity it was showing, but 1990 fit as well. An interesting combination as it was very fresh on the one hand, with excellent mousse, but was also very complex, more so than the Pol Roger that I recently tasted. Champagne doesn’t get much better than this. Odd that the bottles have no punt – anyone know why?

2002 Felton Road Pinot Noir (NZ) – this came across as very Burgundian with a slightly funky cherry nose, clean, perhaps a tad simple, but it is young. Good showing.

with steak tartare and shoestring potatoes

2002 Cheval des Andes (Arg.) – Cheval Blanc making wine in Mendoza. I had never tasted this before but was impressed. Mint and pine tar nose, medium to full bodied, this cabernet, petit verdot, Malbec wine was not very Bordeaux like, but was obviously very well made and it will be interesting to see how it ages.

2001 Vergelegen Cabernet – I was very pleased to find that I had some of this in the cellar after tasting it. Big minty nose, medium body, smooth on palate, with excellent length. This one has a future – great Cape wine.

1998 Santa Duc Gigondas Hautes Garrigues – I liked this a lot and was surprised at its maturity. Medium colour, pure fruit nose, elegant on palate, with exceptional length. This wine is ready to drink, at least based on this bottle. I got the usual anise and cassis in the nose, but the wine seemed less weighty than I recalled and much more refined. Sadly, I do not own any of this, as I loaded up on the excellent 1995.

1996 Pesquera Reserva – high toned nose with a bit of vanilla at first, that bloomed into full bore oak assault as it opened up, big bodied wine with a dry finish and good fruit. From magnum.

with lamb shanks

1997 Clape Cornas – I am a big fan of Cornas, but am more used to the traditional sort that comes across as rough and untutored in youth and needs a lot of time to take on complexity and tone down the animal element. This was very approachable and wonder of wonders, could actually be called almost elegant. Dark bright wine with slightly warm fruit and leather in the nose, good midpalate fruit and smooth finish with quite soft tannins. I was disappointed when I gave the group a big hint. I told them that if I had 12 bottles of this, it would be of medical significance. Only one of the crew was able to deduce that in such an event I would clearly have a case of the Clape….

1993 Caymus Cabernet – this was the year they made no special selection and all the grapes went into the regular cab, resulting in the best regular cab I can recall from them. The usual big minty nose, and Cal-cab giveaways, drinking beautifully now and no point holding much longer.

1982 Ch. Palmer – oh yes! We usually see quite a bit of Bordeaux at the December lunch as people pull out something just a bit more special, but this year everyone, presumably not wanting to be part of a Claret parade, went for other things. It was great to stick your nose into this glass! The nose was unaccountably funky but certainly Bordeaux, the wine medium bodied, fully mature and drinking perfectly. If anything, it wasn’t as big as I’d have expected a 1982 to be, which sent us looking at 1985 or 1983.

With cheese

1975 Grahams – a long time since I’d tasted this Port, and in the meantime it has lost some sweetness as well as a lot of colour – it looked like a tawny or an old LBV. It was also showing a bit hot, but a very pleasant end to the meal.

1990 Roedered Cristal [...] Odd that the bottles have no punt – anyone know why?

Besides being insecure, Tsar Alexander was also borderline paranoid and felt that his admiring subjects wanted to assassinate him. He requested that his Champagne be bottled in clear crystal so that his favorite liquid did not mask an explosive charge or dagger. Roederer responded to the challenge by having a Belgian glassmaker produce a thick lead crystal bottle with a flat bottom.

The clear glass bottles were so strong that they did not need the punt (the indent on the bottle's bottom) to withstand the Champagne's pressure.

Source

This is the explanation I have heard. I wonder what other explanations there are...

Though I'm more into Renaissance Choral Polyphony than (c)rap, I have very much enjoyed the few Cristals I've had. I think they can at best be very pure and elegant. Thanks for the notes.

-O

Roederer responded to the challenge by having a Belgian glassmaker produce a thick lead crystal bottle with a flat bottom.

So, if one were to come across an ancient bottle of Cristal, one should certainly die of lead-poisoning upon drinking it?

[Jenise]

My notes:

2005 Cuilleron St. Joseph ‘Le Lombard’ Very pale color. Soft, like entry shows a lot of malo character, loads of minerals help mask the acidity. I'm thinking chard, Bill's thinking chenin--we're both wrong. Very nice wine.

1990 Roederer Cristal Although I fully understand and normally agree with how well champagne goes with crab, I was mildly perturbed that Adam didn't serve this as an aperitif as I'd intended. Somehow putting it in the lineup after anything else just deflated the sense of celebration. IOW, crab or no, I would always serve bubbles FIRST--is this not a tradition in Canada? That question aside, it was as you report, with all that lovely toasty brioche thing sparkling wines from nowhere else on the planet have, accented by the caramelized flavors of age.

2002 Felton Road Pinot Noir (NZ) – I was so engrossed with this wine that I failed to write down anything except "fabulous". What I found so engrossing, having been on a pinot binge lately, was that this didn't fit into any of my recent memory pigeon holes. It seemed young, with more openness and less acidity than I'd expect from a Burgundy of this age, and yet it was not as sweet as a New World wine normally is with this kind of concentration. In another class from other recent kiwis I've had. Excellent.

2002 Cheval des Andes, Argentina Most perplexing wine of the day: a big purple baby with a sweet dusty nose, lots of mint, blackberry fruit, huge body and viscosity almost like ground skins. Tight on the midpalate and needs time to open, but initially it reminds me of nothing I've ever had from anywhere and the way in which everyone was flailing about in the dark trying to guess it suggested I wasn't alone. The reveal was certainly surprising. A Michel Rolland production.

2001 Vergelegen Cabernet A wine at the perfection of middle age with enough primary fruit to read the grape and yet fully into secondary development. Leathery and sensuous. One of my favorite wines of the day.

1998 Santa Duc Gigondas Hautes Garrigues Another producer who, every time I have one of their wines, I wonder why my cellar isn't loaded with them. This was no different: a truly gorgeous, elegant Giggie, and just full of that garrique character which, sadly, made the wine that followed it a real Plain Jane.

1996 Pesquera Reserva What you said.

1997 Clape Cornas – Nose of spiced cherries with powdered sugar and violets--has to be syrah, has to be a Cornas. Excellent wine, just gets more complex in the glass. Was just showing hints of tar as I took my last sip, and I'm sure there were more good changes to come.

About this part: "I gave the group a big hint. I told them that if I had 12 bottles of this, it would be of medical significance. Only one of the crew was able to deduce that in such an event I would clearly have a case of the Clape…" Believe me, the rest of us were only about five seconds behind Sarge.

1993 Caymus Cabernet The nose was sweet and minty, and there was even a tartness there that made me think we had Heitz Martha's. But after a few minutes, the violet perfume showed up, and when they're in the glass it's Caymus. Outstanding, drinks perfectly now.

1982 Ch. Palmer Like you, and not that I was suffering considering the quality of the other wines, but what's a Friday lunch without at least one Bordeaux, especially for the holidays? The Palmer-ness wasn't so obvious to me, possibly because of the perfume on the Caymus, but what a lovely nose. Bordeaux at last. So I hate to be critical of it, but there just wasn't quite as much there on the palate as I expected from the nose, especially for the vintage.

1975 Grahams What you said.

Too bad you left before the bonus round. Someone else's notes will show that Manny was on a roll and whipped out an absolutely terrific, outstanding Austrian stickie. I wasn't able to stay to take notes on it as one of our group's taxi hadn't shown and I volunteered to get him downtown where he needed to be by a certain time, but I have a feeling the party only stopped when Manny finally ran out of playmates. [/b]

Neat explanation Otto. I do think they are a little harsh on Alexander II with the borderline paranoid label: there were several major attempts on his life:

1866 -- in Petersburg by Dmitry Karakozov.

April 20, 1879 -- Alexander Soloviev fired five times at him and missed.

December 1879, Narodnaya Volya (People's Will), bombed the railway from Livadia to Moscow, but they missed the Tsar's train.

February 5, 1880 Narodnaya set off a bomb under the dining room of the Winter Palace, in the guard's resting room; the Czar was late for supper and escaped. 67 other people were killed or wounded.

On March 13, 1881, one bomber missed him, a second bomber killed him, and a third bomber was captured in the crowd after the successful hit. A wonderful memorial was built on the spot, which we visited this summer:



Jancis Robinson confirms the basics of the story, although she doesn't mention fear of assassination as a reason for the bottle design:

The original company was founded by a M. Dubois around 1776; Louis Roederer joined in 1827, becoming owner in 1833. By the second half of the century, russia had become the major market for Champagne Louis Roederer: 666,386 bottles out of a total company production of 2.5 million were exported there in 1873. In 1877, the special Cuvée Cristal Louis Roederer was commissioned by Tsar Alexander II, who wanted his champagne in clear glass crystal bottles so that it would stand out. The bottles were so strong that they did not need a punt. The creation of Cristal (sold in clear glass bottles without a punt to this day) strengthened links with the imperial court, but in 1917 the Russian Revolution brought an immediate 80 per cent loss of its market. Camille Orly-Roederer, widow of the great-nephew of Louis, rebuilt the company after this blow, in particular by strengthening Roederer‚s vineyard holdings at a time when other houses were selling, a move many later regretted.

Extract from OCW3rd.

Regards, Bob

The clear glass bottles were so strong that they did not need the punt (the indent on the bottle's bottom) to withstand the Champagne's pressure.

Source

This is the explanation I have heard. I wonder what other explanations there are...

Though I'm more into Renaissance Choral Polyphony than (c)rap, I have very much enjoyed the few Cristals I've had. I think they can at best be very pure and elegant. Thanks for the notes.

-O[/quote]

Otto, you are a gentleman and a scholar, or at least a scholar.

I wanted to thank you for the interesting link and information.

F