WTN: Ponsot, Voge, Jade MtDominus, Warres, Fonseca, Essencia

Lunch notes (blind tasting)

With spot prawns in pirirpiri sauce

2003 Alain Voge St. Peray Fleur de Crussol – this white made from 70 year old Marsanne and iven5 months in oak was reall exceptional. Lots of colour, and a lovely old Marsanne nose with wax and peach. Smooth and almost viscous on palate, with very good acidity, this is the best white St. Peray I can recall tasting.

With steak tartare

2004 Ponsot Chambolle Musigny Les Charmes – another interesting one from an excellent producer. This had a nose that showed blood, iron and cherries in the nose, and while there is still significant tannin it has good development and drinks well now. Good acidity.

1995 Jade Mountain Mourvedre – this turned out to be pretty interesting as wwell as a bit of a poser, though I didn’t expect them to get it. Mint, black currants and rose petals in the nose, smooth and with good length in the mouth. Needs to be drunk, but still in good shape and showing more complexity than the other 99% that was probably drunk up in the first 2 years.

with duck confit, breast and purple potato gallette

1999 Clos du Mount Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape – oddly enough almost all of us swore this must be Italian based on the very nebbiolo nose. The edges showed some lightening, and it was medium weight, good balance, with a long juicy finish and good structure, ready to roll. Outperformed expectations.

1990 Dominus – this bottle was so French that when we were told it wasn’t, we (that includes myself) floundered around the rest of the world before even thinking about California. Excellent fruit, well balanced, some cedar and currant in the nose, and smooth and long on palate. I could easily have believed it was a Bordeaux of the same vintage. Modest tannin and good acidity.

with cheese

1976 Monimpex Tokay Essencia – sweet Maderised nose and the colour of old amber, tailing into light brown. Sweet but also had lots of acidity so it drank very well.

1977 Warres Port – from a half bottle, this was getting rather pale and sadly was showing a hint of what 2 of us were sure was TCA but others thought was just mustiness. Either way, it detracted from what the wine could have been. Not bad though. I must pull a whole bottle of this sometime soon (assuming I can find it) to compare.

1994 Fonseca – I also have this in full bottle (this was also a half) and I’m glad I do, although this was veritable infanticide. Quite a ripe nose, dark wine, not too sweet, I got a lot of different things in the nose including mushroom and anise. Quite raisiny. Needs time but will be very good.

2003 Alain Voge St. Peray Fleur de Crussol Smooth and almost viscous on palate, with very good acidity, this is the best white St. Peray I can recall tasting..

What do you think about Clape's version?

Different style I suppose, it is not usually as 'viscous'.

[Jenise]

Oh damn...I missed this. Though I too had steak tartare at my little spot across town, I washed it down with but sparkling Pelligrino. (Pardon me while I take a few sniffs of self-pity over missing the Ponsot and 90 Dominus.) This must not have been our usual haunt as we have not seen the likes of purple potato gallettes there.

What do you think about Clape's version?

Different style I suppose, it is not usually as 'viscous'.

Haven't tried it. We get very little St. Peray in this market so it is catch as catch can. The Voge wines tend to be on the expensive side so they bring in very small amounts and the Clape we get is usually just the Cornas - when we are lucky!

This must not have been our usual haunt as we have not seen the likes of purple potato gallettes there.

Nope, usual place. Probably had a visit from a peripatetic purple potato pusher.

Haven't tried it. We get very little St. Peray in this market so it is catch as catch can. The Voge wines tend to be on the expensive side so they bring in very small amounts

The Clape St Peray is not 'cheap' in the States either. I don't know about the Voge, but I think I saw the Clape St Peray for high $20s or low $30s the other day. Not outlandish but not cheap, considering what it is. Although, now that I think about, considering the general price of wine, that probably was a good price and I would have bought some but I really don't need to buy wine in the next week before moving.

1977 Warres Port – from a half bottle, this was getting rather pale and sadly was showing a hint of what 2 of us were sure was TCA but others thought was just mustiness. Either way, it detracted from what the wine could have been. Not bad though. I must pull a whole bottle of this sometime soon (assuming I can find it) to compare.

I plan on opening my last bottle of the `94 LBV during the festive season. Will be down in Medicine Hat again with some non-wine geeks around so plenty for me!!

Lunch notes (blind tasting)
With steak tartare

2004 Ponsot Chambolle Musigny Les Charmes – another interesting one from an excellent producer. This had a nose that showed blood, iron and cherries in the nose, and while there is still significant tannin it has good development and drinks well now. Good acidity.

1995 Jade Mountain Mourvedre – this turned out to be pretty interesting as wwell as a bit of a poser, though I didn’t expect them to get it. Mint, black currants and rose petals in the nose, smooth and with good length in the mouth. Needs to be drunk, but still in good shape and showing more complexity than the other 99% that was probably drunk up in the first 2 years.

This brings up an interesting question: what's the best wine paring for Steak Tartare? It's my favorite dish, and after many attempts I still don't think I have the right answer (not that there is any one "right" answer, but you know what I mean).

Lets assume, arguendo, that you're dealing with classic french steak tartare. It presents some challenges. It has sort of a piquancy from the onions and capers, acidity, a richness from the quails egg, and then the sweet, but mild, meat. I've found Cabernet S & F to be a bad match- the cassis and herbal flavors clash like hell with the dish and there's nothing to stand up to the tannin. I've had decent luck with burgundy, but much more so with the gamey, meaty renditions than the fruity/perfumed style which I prefer in general. In fact, I've done really well with Bourgogne's which I later learned came from lieut-dit's in the CdN.
But my best luck has come with young, early drinking Rhones. The real vins de garde aren't a match because there's nothing in the tartare to handle the tannin; That rules out many of the better appellations. But to my palate, at least, there are two real winners: decent Crozes-Hermitage and Gigondas/Vacqueyras. My sense is that the more meat-centric tartares go better with the Grenaches, but tartares with more accoutrements are better paired with the Syrah.

So that's been my experience....I haven't tried too many non-French pairings because I always order this at brasseries that tend to have much stronger French options. That being said, I doubt many New World wines would have the kind of gameyness that I think pairs best with tartare.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Young Rhones is a good suggestion. We also found that Madirans, particularly traditional ones with lots oif Tannat work well.

Based on experience with carpaccio, I hold out some hope for traditional Italian reds with high terminal acidity - I've had great Barbera matches, but have yet to try it with steak tartare