Out for dinner with some friends last night to co-celebrate two birthdays, mine (1/22) and good friend Eli's (1/24). We had a lot of good wine to drink, but two stood out for me.
The first was the Champagne Soutiran NV Rosé. I was introduced to this producer by Randy & Eve when I was in Pareis, when they poured the delightful Blanc de Blancs. This was my first taste of the Rosé, but it won't be my last. The wine is a very bright pink/red, so much so that when it foams on pouring the foam is vivid pink. Very pretty wine. There's just so much fruit - strawberry, cherry, raspberry - that it's like drinking a dry and much mroe precise & elegant Bugey. I could drink the stuff all night (Laura did). Fantastic. It's not a low-dosage Champagne, so don't buy it if either a touch of palate sweetness or overt fruit bothers you, leave it for me!
The other standout was the 2004 Chevillon Bourgogne. 2004 has been knocked in many places for a green streak, and this wine had a green element, but in a fresh herbal accent way, not an underripe, unpleasant way. There's dark cherry fruit, earth and those herbs on the nose & palate, good depth for the level of the wine, and it's a wonderful partner with food. Sure the 2005 is a better wine, but this is not a wine to just dismiss. It was thoroughly enjoyed around the table.
We also had a very nice 2000 Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken, a 2000 Riesling Smaragd that I liked a lot from Rudi Pichler (don't recall the vineyard site), a very good Evesham Wood Pinot Noir, a corked 2005 Clos des Briords (alas for my proposed sushi match) & a tasty 2006 J. J. Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett that seemed a little out of place in the lineup, but was very tasty on its own.
If Eli sends me the photo he took with his camera phone I will post the sushi "cake".