WTN: Holiday Dinner with Harry Cantrell (amazing)

[David M. Bueker]

Due to a combination of happy circumstances that all began ten years ago on the WLDG, Laura and I were invited to a Christmas dinner at Harry Cantrell's house on December 26th. In addition to the fact that it was my introduction to Flannery steak (exceptional filet mignon) and that the pumpkin soup, crab cakes, cheesecake and yes the vegetables (!) were all exceptional (did I mention the mouthwatering gorgonzola bread pudding?), Harry opened a set of wines that would be hard to beat under any circumstances. This was a "bottle of pain" dinner put on out of one cellar.

We unfortunately arrived after '96 Bollinger Grande Annee was drained ( ), but a 1996 Veuve Cliquot was salve to our dissapointment. It was essentially mature and quite open while retaining great freshness.

At the dinner table Harry served two Chadonnays to accompany the soup & crab cakes. The 2005 Peter Michael Chardonnay Point Rouge may have been the best California Chardonnay I have tried. The oak was integrated & the fruit was ripe but also very bright. This was something of a revelation for me. The 2003 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard was also very good, but it had more obvious, spicy oak (good match with the soup!) which was less to my taste. Of course any other California Chardonnay would have had a hard time following the Peter Michael.

While the steaks were finishing we poured the first two reds. The 1990 Chateau Conseillante (Pomerol) was delightful and open with plenty of red fruit and still considerable structure. I would have very much enjoyed spending time contemplating its charms had it not been followed by the 1990 Chateau Latour which was beyond magical, beyond profound and bordering on being of mythic proportions. I have had '90 first growths in the past, but this particular bottle was in fact one of the ten best wines of my life, maybe in the top five. From the incredibly complex aromatics through the finish that needed an hourglass this wine was a study in perfection. Bravo to Latour and thank you ever so much to Harry.

Now I enjoyed the Conseillante, but Harry was not happy with it, so he opened the "backup" bottle of 1993 Harlan which was rich, opulent and stil much too young to be fully appreciated. It had class in the same degree as the Latour, but had not yet hit its stride. Time in the glass brought more aromatics and indeed great pleasure, though on this night the Latour held sway.

Dessert brought yet another stunning bottle, the 1998 Zind-Humbrecht Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain Pinot Gris Selection de Grains Nobles. Essence of honeyed Pinot Gris is the only way to describe it. There was great depth and again great richness that actually stood toe to toe with the scale of the Latour but in a totally different arena. Stunning wine - though my second favorite on this night.

There cannot be thanks enough for a dinner like this. Bravo Harry!

David, it was our pleasure to have you and Laura for the Holiday Dinner. A few impressions: 1-you forgot the 2002 Doennhoff Niederhauser Hermannshoele Spatlese. I did not get to taste this as my sister and Laura bogarted this bottle, but I decanted for a few hours and the nose was typical and wonderful. My impressions of the other wines:
1996 Bollinger Grand Annee: Pale gold. Fine bubbles. Nose of brioche and citrus, vanilla. Taste was the same, smooth. I think it is at plateau (95/100).
1996 Jacquart Blanc de blancs Millisime. Odd. Nose was off, but hard for me to describe. Taste was slightly off balance, and it was only with the retronasal smell/exhale where TCA was noted. I think my first where TCA was in the taste more than the smell. NR.
1996 Veuve Clicquot Brut Gold. Medium to fine bubbles. Nose of toast, vanilla. Taste was smooth, yeasty and vanilla. I think time to drink up. (92/100)
2005 Peter Michael Point Rouge Chardonnay. Pale Yellow. Nose was a tropical fruit salad, mangoes, papaya, citrus, flowers. Mouth was amazingly smooth and Cal Chard mouthfilling. Just glorious. (97/100)
2003 Aubert Ritchie Chardonnay. Yellow. Nose was smooth, rich, vanilla, winter spices a hint of oak still. Taste was similar. Very good. (93/100)
1990 Chateau Latour Grand Vin. Garnet,deep. Nose was Pauillac with tobacco, dried spices, licorice. Taste was the same taken up a notch. Wonderful, but I see Parker's point that this should be closer to the magic 100 but it seems to still be slightly closed. (96+/100)
1990 Chateau La Conseillante. Garnet. Odd nose that was all over the place. Black fruits, tobacco, vanilla. I couldn't really get a handle on it. Others liked it better than I. Taste was an older mellow Bordeaux, kinda hard to place where it was from. (88?/100)
1993 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet. Nose was closer to a middle aged Bordeaux than Cal Cab Cult. Taste was smooth, nice, mouthfilling. (94/100)
1998 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain SGN. Gold. Nose was a Rose parade with spices thrown in. Taste was mouthfilling that wouldn't let go, moderately sweet with caramel, spices, vanilla ice cream. A majorly great wine. 98/100).

[David M. Bueker]

Ack...I did forget the Hermannshohle. I must be losing it. It was delicious, though I think it needs 2-3 more years (from a cold cellar) to really come out and play.

Quite a lineup, and nice comments from each of you.
I really like the 90 La Conseillante, it was my fave in a good lineup of 90s a couple years ago.
Happy New Year.