Every couple of months I get together with my younger brother and father for a night of food, wine and conversation. These are special evenings that I look forward to with great anticipation and excitement. As my father approaches his mid seventies, I’ve learned to enjoy our time together more than ever. My father has done immeasurable sacrifices for my brother and I and I’ll always admire him for this. Though he is not a wine geek, he does enjoy good wine. For the man that has everything, one of the few things I can share with him is fine wines.
Our most recent dinner was at Providence in Los Angeles. Our table ordered the 9 course tasting menu. Though I will not detail all the courses, I can say with confidence that our meal was extraordinary. I have some trepidation when faced with tasting menus as some can come off as unfocused and poorly conceived, not to mention that I often leave hungry. Providence was both well thought out and nicely portioned. Based on this meal, I would rate them as in the top 5 of Los Angeles restaurants at the moment.
In traditional fashion, I am relegated to supplying the wines for the evening. Here’s what we had.
- 2004 Adegas Valmiñor Albariño Rías Baixas - Spain, Galicia, Rías Baixas
We wanted a wine that was not too complex and somewhat palate cleansing. I chose a 2004 Albariño from Rías Baixais by Valminor. This was a nice wine to start with and was the perfect interlude between the champagne and white Burgundy. Clearly made for immediate consumption and not very complex, it proved to be a great match with the oyster course. There is a prominent note of salinity making this wine somewhat reminiscent of Muscadet, yet with more weight. The nose displays a flinty citrus characteristic. On the palate, the wine shows more of an herbal quality with a strong minerality presence. A very refreshing wine with food.
- 1990 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut - France, Champagne
This champagne showed a golden, orange raisined hue, which I suspected might be due to some maderization. The nose displayed wonderful aromas of brioche, chopped nuts with hints of orange peel. On the palate my suspicions were confirmed a there was a definite maderized flavor of raisins, though this did not immediately distract from the other notes. There is a creaminess to the sweet fruit that envelopes the tongue. A fine mouse contributes more layers of texture. The finish lingers, fading to a wonderfully. With some time the wine showed more oxidative characteristics. It’s a shame this wine was flawed. Though some of the wines qualities came through in the first 45 minutes, it eventually was overcome by the oxidation. We none the less moved forward to our next wine.
- 1997 Olivier Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet
This was another great candy store find. This was my first experience with Olivier’s Batard. A previous bottle of ’96 Folatieres showed quite well. The Batard was opened and thankfully showed no signs of oxidation. Initially the wine was shy showing restrained noted of citrus requiring almost an hour to really hit its stride. Fortunately we opened this up along with the champagne, allowing it time to open and gain weight. After about an hour, it became much more exciting. There were wonderfully complex notes of crushed flowers, crème brulee and lemon. The nuttiness you get with older white Burgs was evident. There is a slight lanolin quality to the texture. The wine really became lush half way through with terrific length to the finish. I don’t often get to drink Grand Cru and this wine did not disappoint. It was also a pleasure to watch my father and brother drink this wine. Both are accustomed to California Chardonnay. I’m certain this was an eye opening experience for them.
- 2003 Louis Latour Pommard - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard
Because the restaurant’s focus is seafood, I didn’t think we would need any red wine. Fortunately, I miscalculated and as we were indeed having a pork belly and buffalo loin. We were pretty filled up at this point, yet we all wanted something to pair with the red meat. The only half bottle from Burgundy on the menu was the ’03 Latour Pommard. Bring it on. I was both excited to try another ’03 from a vintage I bought very little and happy that I would have a red Burg to enjoy with the meat courses. Let me just say that this ‘03 village wine was rich, well focused and very enjoyable. Certainly as one would expect, the fruit was ripe and concentrated. It was difficult to place this as Pommard as the rusticity and profile was absent for me. The vintage seemed to interfere with the wine’s sense of place. That said, it was clearly Burgundy and very enjoyable. Very lush and long in the finish with some acidity holding things in place. There seems to be a future for this one. Even my father and brother thought it was good. I never thought I would see the day when my father would comment favorably on French wines as well as enjoying a fine meal with him, absent of domestic wines. There comes a time!
It was a great night that I know will be repeated many times.