Eclectic (meaning a bit of everything) dinner notes.
With some amuses bouches:
1998 Pol Roger Brut Champagne – medium colour, excellent mousse, complexity in the nose already, very nice!
With West coast seafood soup:
2000 Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur – light in colour compared to the bubbly, with a nice stony nose, smooth on palate wit slightly elevated acidity.
With spicy mussel pilaf:
2000 Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim – interesting match of food with this particular wine, as the wine shows a peachy colour, nose of apricots and ginger, and a viscous mouth feel with very long but off dry finish, well balanced.
With stuffed quail and capellini frittata:
1986 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet – I’ve had somewhat variable results with this over the last few years, but this was one of the best bottles I recall. A very nice fully mature cab with leaves and mushroom in the nose as well as mature fruit. Now getting a bit pale in colour, with a hint of bricking at the edges, the wine has lost some midpalate fruit but showed some nice complexity. Certainly better a few years ago, but also certainly still enjoyable now.
With vol au vent of escargots and watercress:
1995 Ch. Musar – I was a real admirer of the older Musar vintages in the 70s and 80s, but had stopped buying them more recently as they seemed to have lost their way a litte. This one was certainly on form and quite enjoyable. Carignan, cinsault and cabernet and a strange nose that would throw you in a blind tasting as it doesn’t quite resemble anything else in particular. Cocoa and pine resin, and full flavoured in the mouth with a spicy end.
With chicken saltimbocca:
1978 Torres Gran Coronas Black Label Reserva – this was from the period before they started calling this wine Mas la Plana, but is after the early days when they bended a bit of Ull de Lebre (Tempranillo) into the cab. I have seen tasting notes of older vintages calling the wine Mas la Plana, but that is simply incorrect, as that name had yet to be created (I don’t recall when they started using it – c. 1982-3?). Good colour, sweet oak nose, vanilla on palate, smooth with the sweet oak coming through in the mouth, with a long pleasant finish with decent acidity. The wine will probably show much like this in another decade. At this point, they were using American oak for 18 months. I have always felt that the old label was far classier than the plainer new label, too.
1998 Torres Mas La Plana – not as forthcoming in the nose, but hints of wood (by now they were using French oak) and dark fruit. The wine seems still tight, but well integrated and fairly heavy in tannin. It will be interesting to see how it develops with another decade or so of age.
With apple flan and several different white cheddar cheeses:
1978 Barros Colheita Porto – this was an odd one. Very light colour, much like a tawny, with a hot sweet nose, and the heat carried through in the mouth. Medium sweet, at least fair length but on the simple side and not very interesting.