Just a few notes from an informal dinner at BYO haven King Fung II in Brookline last month. We feasted on Peking duck and I don’t know how many other dishes—too many to even recall. As always, the food was great and the ownership friendly and welcoming. We were happy to have our friend Tom drop by and join our crew of adults and kids and enjoy the food and wine.
Whites:
2004 Domaine Weinbach Gewurztraminer Reserve Personnelle. This wine started us off with a wonderfully-spiced bouquet of honeysuckle, rose water, lychee, peach pit, granite and baking spices. In the mouth, there is a slick streak of brown spices and cool mica minerality framing light and airy flavors of lychee, peach and honey. It has a nice oily texture through the middle, but the weight of the wine shows a certain light-footed quality and it almost seems to evaporate off of the tongue toward the back of the palate. Yet, the flavors display solid punch and the inner mouth perfume lingers a good while. It is not overly-sweet by any means and in fact is countered by some bitter twinges throughout. I think the wine is still a bit young, but offers pretty fine drinking today, as well.
2006 Marc Brédif Vouvray. I thought this wine gave a very strong showing this night—opening up with a very effusive and overt nose featuring aromas of wax, candy cigarettes, stone, lemon peel and Juicy Fruit gum in a cool, even-keeled and easily-balanced blend. In the mouth, it is welcomingly expansive and really fills the mouth with flavor. For all that, it is very adroitly-balanced with its gentle crunch of acidity countering an easy-going and mild sweetness. It is not racy, but quietly complex and complete for good food-friendliness. The finish of wax, stone and citrus pulls in a faint bit of petrol for a finishing touch that keeps it interesting.
2005 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese *. The bouquet of this wine slowly unfolds over time, eventually reaching an impressive crescendo featuring aromas of gasoline, peach, nectarine, smoke and minerals that combine very nicely indeed. In the mouth, it leads with a fine spear point of sweet fruit and takes a bit of time to show its acidic balance, though all’s well that ends well, as the wine finishes really nicely. There is also a certain tingly vibrancy to it toward the back of the palate that I’d love to find through the middle and almost surely will a few years down the road. I love the flavor profile of sweet applesauce, peach preserves and poached pear that also displays a bit of red strawberry or cherry fruit, as well. Overall, this has a lot going on and the fruit is just beautiful. I also really like the way it comes together on the finish. I think this needs a few years but will be a true delight.
Reds:
2007 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Vin de Pays du Jardin Cuvée Granit. The nose of this wine is real interesting—offering up aromas of raw leather, horsehide, cool stones, dark cranberries, black cherries, mountain meadow flowers, menthol leaf, chestnut and tea leaves. On the palate, it is super-earthy and decidedly crunchy in an overt mineral-driven fashion—making it feel tensile, savory and cool. The mid-weight flavors of stones, earth, cranberries, licorice, smoky black currants and black tea are cut with taut acidity and really do seem to have bite and crunch to them. On day two, the finish smooths out a bit but otherwise this doesn’t budge from its core personality. It is a fairly unique and wine-geeky drink that I like a fair bit, though hardly for hedonistic reasons.
2006 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot Noir Walker Bay. The nose here shows off aromas of mocha, cherries, briery blue and black berries, charcoal, red clay, smoky tea and some green leafy bits—all overlaid with toasted spice notes. In the mouth, it is a big, brawny, mouth-filling Pinot, but is not overly-sweet or flabby. Instead, it is drier than I recall from my last bottle and has a bitter smoky edge to the earth and cherry flavors. It has just enough twang to keep it fresh and tangy on this finish, which is perhaps a bit clipped and abrupt for my tastes. I’d like to see greater length and finesse, frankly, but I admit I like this a bit better today than I did 2 years ago.
2003 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf du Pape La Crau. Notes on CT are all over the place on this wine and I admit that when I review my own impressions, my notes convey personal confusion. The nose shows a lot of rubber (which I dislike), but also earthy nettles, black olives and later on some lilac floral notes and warmer fruit notes of macerated cherries, fruitcake and figs. In the mouth, I don’t find the fruit to be cooked or roasted, but I do find the alcohol to be aggressive early on and the tannins to be dry and toughly astringent right from the get go. Otherwise, though, it is pleasantly chewy and warm-fruited and the acidic presence is fine. But, overall, it is a bit messy and has too many negative elements for the rich fruit to overcome. Am I right to doubt this, I don’t know?
-Michael