Notes from our annual Christmas dinner at Kitt and Klaus Schroeder's elegant home. This has become an annual tradition for our group and it has always been held at the Schroeders' Lemuria restaurant. This year however, as the restaurant was fully booked, they opened their home to us but had the chef of the restaurant over to supervise the dinner.
I didn't take notes on all the wines but did take noes on wines I was having for the first time.
Champagne Drappier Blanc de Blancs Signature NV - Remarkable nose and flavor of hazelnuts and milk chocolate. Reminds me of Nutella. Deep flavor but probably could gain some complexity with a bit more aging. Medium bodied. There is a touch of yeastiness but it is rather faint. Refreshing lemony finish. Good length. Excellent Champagne.
Chateau Palmer 1996 - This bottle was supposed to have been dropped off earlier in the day so I could decant it well before dinner. Unfortunately it arrived just before dinner and didn't get the decant time it needed. Decanted at around 7:30 and served at 9:00. Inky black. Aroma of soy sauce at first. By 11:00 the cedary notes started to come out. The wine is quite tight and not giving too much on the palate. Graphite, grilled meat and black berries mostly. Tannins are fine and dusty but still rather firm. The wine isn't ready yet and needs at least another 5 years before trying it again.
Chateau Rayas 2004 - Pale ruby. Sweet raspberry and strawberry with a dried herb component mixed in. Already soft and ready to drink. Good length. Showing very well tonight. Excellent.
Jean-Claude Lapalu Beaujolais Villages Le Rang du Merle 2009 - Medium ruby. Served a bit too cold so it was difficult to get anything on the nose. Good flavor, ripe berries with just a touch of chocolate. Soft and juicy. Alcohol at 14.5% but no heat at all. Very nicely balanced. Good wine but I prefer Lapalu's 2009 Brouilly. I served this blind and asked for guesses. Some thought it was New World. One said it tasted like Amarone. It got narrowed down to France but everyone guessed Rhone. Big surprise to everyone that it was a Beaujolais.
Muller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Spatlese 2008 - More like an Auslese than Spatlese. Tropical fruit salad wine - mango, papaya, peach, persimmon. The richness is well-balanced by a good dose of acidity so it doesn't seem all that rich and in fact, it's a rather easy drink. Excellent.