WTN: cassoulet w/RIeslings, Madiran, Bdx, and more

Salil organized a group for (mostly) cassoulet at La Sirene last night. A couple of last minute cancellations, but a very convivial group ended up with good food and good wine. The leeks vinaigrette just surpassed the mussels as my favorite La Sirene appetizer (I pretty much always get cassoulet there, but the starters are more uneven). The restaurant is tiny and cramped, so excuse my poor notes (had to keep moving paper off table).

The whites
2008 Robert & Barnard Plageoles Ondenc (Gaillac)
Ondenc is the varietal. Floral, some onion skin notes, light and fresh, could use more acidic zip. Not a bad summmer sipper at all. I assumed it was one of those $10 Gaillac, but Zak says it was over $20, at that price not on my list. B-

2008 Keller Kirschspiel Riesling
Big, bold, citrus and peach fruit with a wooly edge. I think I liked this more than table, but it's a $60+ bottle, and again at that price I'm not a buyer. As I noted, for dry Riesling CFE is more my style, at considerably less. I will say that revisited with the leeks it was more appealing, definitely a food wine. B+/B

2008 Willi Schaefer "Graacher Domprobst" Spatlese (#5)
Absolutely lovely, racy, exciting wine. Sturdy body, but light on its feet with plenty of zip. Upfront citrus and apple fruit, loooong mineral finish. WOTN for me. A-/A

1990 Max Ferd. Richter "Erdener Treppchen" Riesling Spatlese
Really nice nose of petrol and apple blossoms, with a touch of dates/figs. On the palate it's lacking maybe a bit of concentration, but a perfectly acceptable mature Riesling. B+

The reds
2005 Le Pech Abuse
I meant to write down more details for label, but forgot when I later retrieved my reading glasses (La Sirene is dark, and I'm getting old). I think Zak said this was called "abuse" because they were in conflict with authorities (I'm not even sure what region this is). I know he said it was a Bordeaux blend. Fresh raspberry fruit, a little prickly note, earth. Nice and interesting wine. B/B-

1998 Ch. du Tertre (Margaux)
Jay had won the prize I had offered in the Haiti charity raffle, and I carried down 2 of the 4 bottles he had won. He promptly opened this one (not a bad deal for me, I give it away, and then drink it!). This is really entering a nice place right now. Medium-bodied, good acids, fresh cassis and red berry fruit. The little bit of overt vanilla I had gotten in earlier bottles is way in background here, behind some earth, flowers, and cedar. Not a blockbuster, just a pretty Margaux entering prime time. B+

1991 Tahbilk "1860" Shiraz
Salil knows I don't get exposed to much cooler climate Aussie Shiraz, and I thank him for bringing this. Nice balance of fruit, acids, and tannins, good length, a little menthol note. Nice wine, though for my tastes there's still just a bit too much "sweet Shiraz" to the flavor profile, despite climate. Still, that's a quibble, and I'd happily drink this any time. B

1989 Ch. Montus "Prestige" (Madiran)
My red of the night. Still some tannins, but hey we ARE eating cassoulet. Solid Bordeaux ringer, rich cassis fruit, cigarbox, spice. Good length, savory, delicious. A-

2001 Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny
This was the other bottle I carried for Jay (a substitute for Bordeaux he wasn't interested in). I said we have too much wine, take it home and enjoy. But suddenly cork was out- thank Jay. Pretty tight. Some black cherry, earth, but not showing much this night (I think it was originally a bit warm, and then went in an icebucket, and was a little too cool). Nice wine lurking underneath.

1970 Ch. Calon Segur (St. Estephe)
I debated double decanting this before travel, decided no, and think I made wrong choice. No danger of this fading, the red and black plum fruit is quite young. But even after sitting a while it seemed a bit less precise than a previous bottle, and I noticed some very fine sediment in glass. Still, a solid and enjoyable bottle of Bordeaux, with classic mature notes of leather and forest floor. B+/B

Fun night, with fun people. Slow trains made for a mad dash at the end, and the last of my beloved Zachys cardboard carry boxes broke, but 3 out of 4 Schott Zweisels survived (thanks Salil for helping me grab my stuff).

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.  

That was a really fun evening, though I couldn't make it through the entire cassoulet. Food was very good, nice mix of wines and really great company.

To add my own 2 cents on the wines...
The 08 Keller Kirchspiel Grosses Gewachs was incredibly boring. At a price like $15-20ish, it would be perfectly acceptable - but considering the actual price and the hype surrounding this, this really doesn't deliver much. Air didn't help much either - started out a little lean and monotonic, with time became heavier, more aggressive but still monotonic. I'm just saving my trocken budget for Austrian producers or the likes of Van Volxem from now on.

Really loved the Schaefer, thanks Jay for bringing that - that just kept getting better over the course of the evening (and I think that may have been the only bottle we finished during the evening, which says something).

The Tahbilk was surprisingly young (it was the 1991 Tahbilk 1860 Vines Shiraz, not the 97) - quite nice, though still more fruit than I'd hoped for and not much sign of development yet. Good structure and balance though, so I'll hold onto my other bottles for a while longer.

The Montus Madiran was awesome - that's a wine I would try and seek out more of, except that I've been buying way too much recently. Really great balance, depth, perfect match with cassoulet.

Dale, glad you made your train in time and that most of the glasses survived the drop! (Thanks again for covering me on stems - unfortunately my stems weren't as sturdy when I dropped them at New Haven.)

1989 Ch. Montus "Prestige" (Madiran)
My red of the night. Still some tannins, but hey we ARE eating cassoulet. Solid Bordeaux ringer, rich cassis fruit, cigarbox, spice. Good length, savory, delicious. A-

And this was dirt cheap back then also. Even the Prestige I believe was a sub $15 bottle when the 1989 was released.

Salil,
thanks- edited my post.

And Zak provided this info on the Le Pech Abuse:
Le Pech Abuse is from Buzet, a small southwestern appellation. The domaine is Domaine du Pech, and they make wine that is markedly better (and therefore "atypique") than the wines made at the Buzet cooperative, which controls the AOC. Pech was refused the AOC Buzet status one year, so their response was "Le Pech Abuse" -- which also is a pun on "Le Pech a Buzet", though they now have regained their AOC status.

The whites
2008 Robert & Barnard Plageoles Ondenc (Gaillac)
Ondenc is the varietal. Floral, some onion skin notes, light and fresh, could use more acidic zip. Not a bad summmer sipper at all. I assumed it was one of those $10 Gaillac, but Zak says it was over $20, at that price not on my list. B-. 

I've liked the Ondencs and the Mauzac whites from Plageoles, and I found them great fun at the cheaper sub 10euro France/domaine prices. For something different in the 'summer sipper' mode. But I have not been moved to buy any in the States and I agree that they face tough competition at $20plus.

The whites
2008 Robert & Barnard Plageoles Ondenc (Gaillac)
Ondenc is the varietal. Floral, some onion skin notes, light and fresh, could use more acidic zip. Not a bad summmer sipper at all. I assumed it was one of those $10 Gaillac, but Zak says it was over $20, at that price not on my list. B-. 

I've liked the Ondencs and the Mauzac whites from Plageoles, and I found them great fun at the cheaper sub 10euro France/domaine prices. For something different in the 'summer sipper' mode. But I have not been moved to buy any in the States and I agree that they face tough competition at $20plus.

Great dinner.

I liked the Ondenc ok. I preferred another varietal Ondenc I recently tried by Causse-Marines, called Dencon. Causse-Marines, like Domaine du Pech, also is a casualty of AOC whimsy, having had some of their wines denied AOC Gaillac status. Domaine proprietor Patrice Lescarret's response has been to flout the system by inverting the wine names: DencOn, ZacMau, etc. the Dencon is apparently aged in neutral oak for a short time, which adds some richness to the texture. It also was around $25.

[David M. Bueker]

Welcome Zachary!

Thanks for the notes Dale. That 1989 Montus Prestige sounds like my kind of wine.
Now I'm really itching to get my La Sirene fix soon.

I mostly agree with Dale though he's too kind to the Keller - an unfriendly wine. Loved the Schaefer and surprisingly the Montus. I'm not generally a Madiran fan but this was a fantastic showing for the wine.

I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed the du Tertre, not at all spoofy and just a delightful mid-range Bordeaux. Good to know they were still good as late as 1998.

I also really liked the '01 du Tertre a year or so ago in Singapore; thought it was very pretty and well balanced and not spoofy at all.

Thanks for posting Jay.
I definitely upgraded my opinion of the Keller after re-trying with the leeks, I originally written B-. I keep saying I'm not consistent!
As to du Tertre - my vague impression is that after so so showings in late80s-early 90s, they improved in 95-98 period, then seemed a tad more modern in 1999-2002, then yet another step from 2003-2005. But still not extreme. How much of that is real is hard to say, as vintage character can be hard to distinguish from style (for me). If I was placing on a 1-10 scale of modernity I'd say they went from a 5 in 1996 to a 7 in 2005.