Pierre Gimonnet Cuis 1er Cru
A lovely B de B Champagne, floral, mineral; elegant mousse, quite strong fruit but still a lovely crispness.
Since we were eating at Restaurant Carelia I had their legendary entrecôte and we shared a couple wines:
G. D. Vajra Barbera d'Asti 2006
Also lovely, if showing a bit of a hot year character. Ripe, plump fruit, but lovely tanginess, a bit lower in acid and higher in alcohol than ideal, but it worked perfectly with the food. This isn't one of the over-worked, over-oaked Barberas that sadly seems to be the norm of "serious" examples of the grape; instead I see no oak and nothing to suggest over-working. Lovely.
Taupenot-Merme Gevrey-Chambertin 2008
This one I didn't so much care for as it had rather obvious oak. Otherwise, it seemed like a nice wine with bright Pinosity and some nice sorrel and lingonberry aromas. Good body, nicely tannic, bright acidity. A shame to use so much oak on such nice material.