WTN: DDO, du Tertre, ZH, Selene, Cazin etc at a nice dinner

We've been trying for ages to find a night that Betsy's bowmaker and his wife could come over, we finally made it happen last night. Some other friends joined us too, and we had a lovely mousse to mousse meal. Really good conversation, nice people, good food, good wine.

While we chatted before going to table, with a trout mousse on pumpernickel we had:
NV Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs
This is a pretty good argument for cellaring non-vintage Champagne. I've had this in cellar for 2-3 years. While I've always liked this wine, this is best showing yet. Apples, pears, and allspice under a heady aroma of bread dough just beginning to bake. Good acidity, fine mousee, lovely. A-

First course was shrimp, little timbales of shrimp, garlic and wine with a crust (this is a new fallback recipe for us, Betsy can put together way in advance, only takes a little time in oven at end).

1996 Cazin (Le Petit Chambord) "Cuvée Renaissance" Cour-ChevernyI love this wine, though it's not a good match. The sweetness is more than I recall, though there is truly zippy acidity. Minerals, citrus, and apricots, a little botrytis I think, great length, infanticide. B+ for the wine, C+ for the match.

2005 Selene Hyde Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (Carneros)Very good acidity for a California Chardonnay! Oh wait. Sorry. Melon and tropical fruit, lots of body, a fair dose of oak. This actually goes better with the shrimp than the Romorantin, its not my preferred style but I actually like it. I'll say B/B+, but if one were grading for varietal correctness a C.

Main course was the Zuni roast chicken with bread salad (Betsy felt she had burned the bread, but it was fine by me) and Brussels sprouts with garlic.

1979 Ch. du Tertre (Margaux)
Opened an hour before dinner, decanted right before main course. Another good showing for this wine (for my tastes, I don't think fruit-loving friend liked as much). Nice mature midweight Margaux, floral nose with black cherry fruit, on the palate more blackcurrant with a touch of leather. Cedar & cigarbox get more intense with time, some forest floor notes, holds up well and I enjoy a glass while doing dishes 4+ hours after decanting. A-

2001 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir (Willamette)
Pretty cherry fruit, lighter style than I remembered, more elegant than exciting. A bit of sandalwood with time. B/B+

We had a cheese plate (Drunken Goat, Cashel Blue, and Zamarano- all leftovers, I had hoped to supplement with maybe a Munster but my local cheese shop was mysteriously closed for the day), and chocolate mousse (with little crystalized flowers that she made on top). Not the ideal dessert for the dessert wine, but I always enjoy by itself:

1999 Zind-Humbrecht "Clos Jebsal" Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Nobles (375)
I had been saving this for Yung to come to dinner, as he's a ZH fan. I'm not really a fan of ZH table wines, but have a weakness for ZH dessert wines. This is pretty damn tasty. Ripe peaches and apricot, honied botrytis notes, ginger and those little candy orange segments that my grandmother used to keep. I really like this, even if I enjoy bashing ZH as much as the next guy. A-

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

NV Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs

I am not a real fan of bubbly but my wife loves it. However, we both agree this is one of the best if not the best NV Champagne we have had.

1996 Cazin (Le Petit Chambord) "Cuvée Renaissance" Cour-ChevernyI love this wine, though it's not a good match. The sweetness is more than I recall, though there is truly zippy acidity. Minerals, citrus, and apricots, a little botrytis I think, great length, infanticide. B+ for the wine, C+ for the match.

Dale, the last time I tried this was a couple of years ago and I noticed it had a slight petrol smell, almost like a middle aged riesling. Did you notice anything like that in your bottle?

What food do you think would match this wine? Maybe a mild curry or a different seafood dish?

Thanks,
Marc

Brian, agree, great for NV

Marc, it seemed more Chenin-y to me. First time I had it was with spicy salt and pepper shrimp in Chinatown, went well. I would say mild curry would be an excellent bet

NV Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs
This is a pretty good argument for cellaring non-vintage Champagne.

A producer that I enjoy very much also! Was this the straight NV or the Cuvée de Réserve NV? Have you tried their Extra Brut? Even better IMO!

The DDO is the only Oregon Pinot we have (erm ... had) available here and I liked it very much. It seemed to speak the language of the earth even though I have so little experience with Willamette Valley that I can't really say if it is true to the terroir. But the Pinosity and its earthiness won me over. I loved it.

I've really loved the 1979 Bx's I've had in recent years - they are great value also, because I don't think they got good reviews earlier?

-O-

I just looked in recycle bin, it ws the Cuvee de Reserve (neck tag), didn't know they did more than one NV BdB Brut.

I've liked a lot of 79s recently, but it is an uneven vintage, so one must tread carefully. I'd take the du Tertre, Gruaud, or Pichon Lalande over the Lafleur, which most think is the WOTV (Wine of the Vintage, if Paulo reads this).