Summer in DC, a scenic jaunt. That may sound funny, but our dinner tonight surely qualified on all levels. A quick trip to the capital for me, and I was lucky enough that Bob, Maureen, Jonathan, and Yule came out to the Tabard. (No words about those that didn't make it).
We had several rieslings on deck to open, but started with the 2001 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese which was richer and broader than I was remembering/imagining for 2001 (yes even for Spätlese Jonathan), but I still found it fun enough, ripe, decently-defined, with zesty mineral notes, and it was a great match with the soft shell crab in mango and pink grapefruit sauce. Delicious!
In honor of The Guest That Wasn't, we moved onto the 2007 Overnoy/Houillon Arbois Pupillin Poulsard. Pale and trembling and as red citrusy fun as we expected. This was not the most electric bottle of Overnoy I've ever had but maybe the Tabard was subduing it. I also preferred it cooler than others did. But there's no accounting for (other's) taste.
At this point we had main courses and the 1999 G. Roumier Chambolle-Musigny, 1999 Bertheau Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru, and 1999 Lignier-Michelot Morey St. Denis Aux Charmes.
Hard to rank/compare these wines because they all changed over time. At first I was skeptical of the Roumier because it seemed to have some funky non-fruit (was that brett, oak, something else?) elements and was the biggest of all the wines. But by the end of the evening (and I swear not aided by Maureen's suggestions) it was also the most focused. I guess it has a lot more ahead of it?
I liked the Lignier-Michelot a lot during the middle of the evening, it was bright, tart, layered, textured and fine enough on the palate, even if not profound. It had plenty of merits.
The Bertheau was fun throughout the evening, more fragrant ethereal and joyous in the mouth than the others. But really, why choose when you have three glasses.
That will be my motto.