WTN: Wines with Cassoulet at La Sirene

Ramon organized a nice group to dine on cassoulet at La Sirene last night, good to see old friends and meet new ones. An assortment of wines, all French, and pretty good showings all around.

As we were gathering, a few whites were opened:
2000 Trimbach "Hommage a Jeanne" Pinot Gris
I liked but didn't love this at first, but love came at the end of the meal when I retasted. From the beginning it showed nice pear fruit, floral notes, good finish. But after about 2 hours it really sang, with more depth, minerality, and richness. Good weight, but nimble. Lovely wine A-

2000 Burn "Clos Saint Imer La Chapelle" Goldert Gewurztraminer
I had brought a second white because my red was a cheapie and I remembered tasting this years ago with Jay Fruitisnotneccesarilyaflaw Miller, wanted to revisit with him. Turns out half the table had tasted recently, oh well. But in any case I enjoyed, much more than on release. Great nose of litchis and apricots laced with a hint of diesel, gets more musky and floral with time. Someone notes that palate doesn't quite match up, but it's still a nice Gewurz, with enough acidity to match the richness and hint of sweetness. B+/A-

(note: I hope I got the names right on the wines that weren't mine. The combination of dim lights, my aging eyes, and some script/fonts that were more about style than readibility made me less than certain)

1998 Clos Thou Jurancon sec
Brisk, strong acids, young. Someone says oxidative, but I don't really get that. Needs food, but very nice (and young) ). Very interesting. B+

2007 Brana Ilori Irouleguy
Good acids. citrusy fruit, a just slightly offputting lemon furniture polish note. Very young, and again food would probably help, but for now my least favorite of the whites. B-

On to the reds. Somewhere in midst of reds I had a calamari dish that needed white,but too many wines to go revisit. Then we had the cassoulet,
which really hit the spot for me, and went well with the hearty reds.

1999 Potel "Clos des Guettes" Savigny-les-Beaune 1er
Black fruit, a little tire rubber, medium to full bodied, maybe a bit closed. B-

2000 Rollin 'Iles des Vergelesses" Pernand Vergelesses 1er
Served a bit chilly, not showing a lot at first. I save some (hard with the rush of reds), and am delighted with result. A Volnayesque feminine style, good acids, light but not without concentration, black cherries and a touch of forest floor. Jay, I'm a convert. A-

1982 du Cedre Cahors
I think others liked this a bit more than I did. Pretty young black fruit, nice length, but there's a little iodine/medicinal note on finish that I can't get past. Others say they see what I'm talking about, but it doesn't bother them. I still like, but without that note it would score higher from me. B-

1993 Tempier "la Tourtine" Bandol
Blackberries, black plums, just a little ass in the glass, leathery. Very nice and showing well now. A-/B+

1999 Le Galantin "Longue Gard" Bandol
Sweet black fruit, a little brett, slight metallic note on finish, ok but I prefer the Tempier by a long shot. B-

2004 Allemand "Chaillot" Cornas
I think my cassoulet came about here and with lack of space my plate rested on my paper, I made no notes. But I remember it as lovely though young, solid fruit, beautiful herb and pepper notes. A-/B+

1988 Fonsalette "Cuvee Syrah"
Bill worried this might be old, but it really showed nicely, and held up fine for hours on table (though he had slow oxygenated most of day). Black currants, berries, coffee and black pepper. Nice wine. A-/B+

1995 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape
I've had variable experiences with this wine, and this time it didn't shine. Certainly pleasant, with low to moderate acidity, resolved tannins, but fruit seems a tad muted compared to recent bottles. Maybe some air did this some good, but I never retasted. I think others liked more than I did. B-

1995 Montus Madiran
Still some tannins, classy black fruit, tasty. I wrote B/B+ , but I think that was before a retaste at end of night, I think it showed better and I would have upped a tad. B+

1997 Laffont Madiran
I couldn't find the Madiran I was looking for, so brought this. A $5 buy from PC years ago, it was tannic as hell then. Still showing some tannins, ok dark fruits, I prefer the Montus. B-

2001 Negly Porte du Ciel (Coteaux du Languedoc)
Big, powerful, modern, still showing some vanillay oak. Blueberries, blackberries, mocha. Undeniably potent wine, just not the style I prefer. Might have liked better with a big steak. B-/C+

Fun night with fun group, thanks Ramon for organizing and all for your contributions.
EDITED TO UPDATE CUVEE INFO ON TEMPIER AND ALLEMAND

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.  

Interesting choices for cassoulet. I'm probably as guilty as anyone of drinking the wines I want without too much thought to pairing with the food, but was there any particular rationale behind the lighter Burgundies? I thought conventional wisdom was that cassoulet needs tannin?

The Burgs were served first, way before the cassoulet. I think the logic was (a) the good Jay Miller and I were discussing Savigny and P-V a while ago, he said he like Rollin, I said I'd not tried one, he thought he'd bring last night so I could; (b) Salil saw that lone Burgundy sitting on the list looking lonely, and thought it needed a match.

I think most people had Rhones, Bandols, or Madirans in their glasses with the cassoulet.

What a great and interesting lineup! Sorry to have missed it and also a chance to say hi to the real Jay Miller.

I've always been curious to try a properly aged du Cedre.

Thanks for the notes Dale.

I think the logic was (a) the good Jay Miller and I were discussing Savigny and P-V a while ago, he said he like Rollin, I said I'd not tried one, he thought he'd bring last night so I could; (b) Salil saw that lone Burgundy sitting on the list looking lonely, and thought it needed a match..

I think that logic is as good as any.

I've only had a couple of bottles of Rollin but seems like someone worth buying.

Negly has quite a following in Europe, I have only ever seen/tasted the white "La Brise Marine". Lovely!

Plus the Burg was the most 'rustic' red wine I had available - only other options were slightly oaked up Gaillard Cote-Roties, which I didn't want to inflict upon any of the oak averse and new world Syrahs/Mourvedre which would have stuck out like sore thumbs in the other company. (I've liked Gaillard's CRs in the past, but I know quite a few others find them to have too much wood for their tastes.)

That said the Potel did have the stuffing to hold up to the cassoulet. Just wasn't a particularly interesting wine. The Rollin P-V wasn't quite as good a match for the cassoulet, but was a delightful wine and I'm glad to have tried it.

I'm in agreement with Dale on most of the wines, though I liked the Allemand Cornas more than he did (that was probably my favourite wine of the night with a gorgeous combination of olives, currants, herbs, leather and mineral notes) and enjoyed the Cahors more as well - I also found the iodine element on the nose/back end, but I thought it blended in nicely with the other fruit and herbal flavours and gave it an interesting edge. Quite a tasty wine and my first experience with Cahors; I will have to look out for more of those wines. In fact had a lot of 'firsts' this evening - hadn't tried a "proper" Cornas before (only Tardioak Laurent and JL Colombo), and had a great introduction to Madiran and Cahors.

Many thanks again to Dale for bringing the two Alsace whites as well to start - the Trimbach Hommage is absolutely gorgeous; I had a chance to drink this at a PDH Riesling/etc dinner a couple of months ago where it was equally stunning, and it was great to enjoy that again. The Burn Gewurz was also lovely with great aromatics and good balance, although surprisingly sweet and rich - I found it almost like a Vendange Tardive.

Was a seriously fun evening - thanks again, all.

Wines With Cassoulet
La Sirene Bistro, NYC
October 22, 2009

My take on the wines:

Whites

2000 Trimbach “Homage a Jeanne” Pinot Gris
Aaaah. What a way to be greeted with after a rush-hour subway ride from midtown to Soho. Big, slightly honeyed, mineral, grapefruit, with a nice touch of RS. B+

2000 Ernest Burn “Clos Saint Imer” La Chappele Goldert Gewurztraminer GC
Golden-tinged, lychees, some pineapple, talk about balance. Very good (and thanks, Dale). A-

1998 Clos Thou Jurancon Sec “Guilhouret”
Some brett(?), earthy nose, high acidity, lime. B-

2007 Brana Ilori Irouleguy
I have some familiarity after tasting a few Irouleguy with Zach in the same venue last year (also drank quite a bit of during a visit at the Pays Basque region). This is a stern wine, lime, full-bodied and rich. Long finish. B

Reds:

1999 Nicolas Potel Savigny-les-Beaune “Guettes”
Leafy, herb, acidity, quite fat, sour cherries and some hard edges. Quite similar to a few 1999 CDBeaune’s that I’ve had, lately. B

2000 Rollin Pernand-Vergelesses ‘”Iles des Vergelesses”
Ripe yet lean, minerals, nicely-structured, smooth. I wish I have some of these. B+

1982 Chateau du Cedre Cahors
I liked this wine. My first mature/aged Cahors. Meaty notes, medium bodied, smooth, blueberries. A-

1993 Dom. Tempier “La Tourtine” Bandol
Meat and blood on the nose. Red and black fruit with slight milkiness, mineral, long finish. Easy and nice to drink. More accessible than the one, from the same purchased lot, that I had early this year. A-

1999 Le Galantine “Longue Gard” Bandol
Mineral/earthy nose (mouverdre?). Some bitterness, alcohol, with tinge of cream. Potential to round out nicely with bottle age. B

1995 Ch. de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape
There’s the slight brett and garrique nose. Lean, with layers of red and black fruit, medium length finish. Consistent with my last taste in a Rhone tasting sometime late last year. B+

1988 Ch. Rayas Fonsallette Cuvee Syrah
Peppery, austere and quite backward, earth. I like this one and it seems to have more good years ahead. B+

2004 Thierry Allemand “Chaillot” Cornas
Bacon, young wine, but with that sourness. I seem to be on the minority, but this bottle may be a bit too advanced at this point. B

1995 Ch. Montus Madiran
Meat notes, floral, bursts of cherries, full middle. B+

1997 Dom. Laffont Madiran
Mostly cherries, but detected some slight vegetal/green notes. B

2001 Ch. de Negly Porte du Ciel
My first from this producer. In-your-face fruit, peppery specks, big. I could easily mistake this for something from California. B-

I liked the good array of wines that we had. A lot of them went well with the dishes from La Sirene. The cassoulet was up there amongst the better ones that I’m (normally) served in this restaurant. It was a pleasure to be with this fun and enjoyable company. Thanks to all for the wines.

Ramon

1993 Tempier "la Tourtine" Bandol
Blackberries, black plums, just a little ass in the glass,
  

Now I'll have to look out for that with my remaining bottle.

1993 Tempier "la Tourtine" Bandol
Blackberries, black plums, just a little ass in the glass,
  

Now I'll have to look out for that with my remaining bottle.

I totally missed that.

1995 Ch. de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape
There’s the slight brett and garrique nose. Lean, with layers of red and black fruit, medium length finish. Consistent with my last taste in a Rhone tasting sometime late last year. B+

I wish I had tried this again. I liked the same bottle as you last year, I should have spent more time giving this a chance

The cassoulet was up there amongst the better ones that I’m (normally) served in this restaurant. It was a pleasure to be with this fun and enjoyable company. Thanks to all for the wines.

Indeed, great company, though as always I could only really talk to those nearest me. I thought the cassoulet was very very good. The calamari is ok, but for me the best appetizer choices there are pate, mussels, or the chevre tart (if you're drinking Cotat).