Thursday night meant getting together with five young men void of Female Companions for the evening and enjoying the company of Red Burgundy.
Frozza Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Col dell'Orso
This was the one wine served non-blind, to whet our whistles and it did a fine job of that. A bit tight and foamy and probably needed more air to gain precision and reveal its secrets (if it has any), but for our purposes of palate sharpening it worked very well.
All the rest of the wines were served blind.
2003 Saintsbury Chardonnay Brown Ranch
Our host was Trent Ward, son of Dick Ward, so it was not difficult to guess the label here, with plenty of thick California fruit in the middle, although a nice crisp minerality around the edges. I had never had this wine before and found it pleasant, if not what I would reach for in my own cellar.
2005 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie
A small half bottle to get us "on our way" to Burgundy although at first the crispness had me thinking Loire cab franc. No, that is just stern tannic 2005 Beaujolais, difficult to drink right now, and it does show juicier and fuller later in the evening, but at that point there were too many other glasses on the table.
2004 Nicolas Potel Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuées
This was my contribution, based on the 2000 version which I enjoyed quite a bit. However tonight this was showing very weird, which at one point was a virtue for Filippo who lauded its originality and difference, but by the end of the evening it was just too disjointed and sloppy to find anything redeeming. Perhaps it will show better with more time in the bottle?
2004 Sylvain Cathiard Chambolle-Musigny Les Clos de L'Orme
This was a curious wine, showing so dumb on the nose that I thought it was corked, but no, there was plenty of delicious and relatively dense material brooding underneath. Over the course of the evening this had the most dramatic evolution, as it got clearer and clearer and by the end was a very lovely, poised, and focused glass of wine. Would like to taste this again in the future.
2004 Hudellot Noellat Chambolle-Musigny
This was probably my favorite wine of the evening for drinking now, as it was so expressive, giving plenty of joy in a loose, brisk, but still crisp and "classic" way. It was probably the only 2004 on the table with a slight green edge, but it worked for me in that Apple Orchard Burgundy sort of way. Very fun.
2004 Saintsbury Pinot Noir Toyon Farm
While the weight and alcohol were obvious, this didn't scream California and had most of us thinking it was an ambitious and modern Burgundy. Until Trent revealed he had been unable to find a 2004 Chambolle during his trek through dozens of London's finest wine shops and had to pull something from the cellar, and we immediately pegged the label. My first experience with the Toyon Farm (not surprising, I understand the fruit was only planted a few years ago) and it was a rich, viscous but relatively firm and poised wine that was probably a very good example of the genre, although I don't drink much/any California pinot noir to really place it well.
2004 Geantet Pansiot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
This was most people's favorite of the 2004s, as they felt it had the best fruit and the most depth and complexity. It also had the toastiest most pungent oak to my tastes, and I found it difficult to get past the flavor profile. So, while I could acknowledge the quality of the fruit, I didn't find it very fun and would instead place my bets on the Cathiard Les Clos de L'Orme, which seemed to have more class (and apparently cost quite a bit less as well).
2001 Sylvain Cathiard Vosne Romanée Aux Reignots
This had been opened the night before, when it apparently did not show as well, but to my tastes it was muddled and murky and not showing very well at the moment either. The disjointed alcohol, sleek structure, and raisiney stewed fruits (admittedly I was the only one to find the flavors stewed) actually had us thinking hot year Barolo, so it was very interesting to see the foil come down on this one. Difficult to really evaluate.
2000 F. Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Estournelles Saint Jacques
This was also quite nice, and along with the Hudellot Noellat was the best for drinking tonight. It was predictably supple, easy and not terribly complex or long, but the lovely finely-knit fruit had enough depth to make us plead with Jeremy not to drink the rest of his 18 bottles too soon. I took a few re-pours of this.
Our goal had been to get some sort of a read on 2004 in Chambolle. Not sure we did that. But we did have fun. Which is even better.