Good wines and great food helped to make up for some disorganization of the wines at the place settings. All nine wines (four red and five white) had its own glass but the glasses were arranged by producer, rather than by whites to reds so the order would have had us drinking two reds from Nuits-St-Georges followed by a white N-S-G, etc. This was upsetting to the people at my table which included a wine distributor or importer and Laurent Drouhin. The producers present at the luncheon were Christian Moreau (Chablis), Bertrand Ambroise (and his daughter I think) of Maison Bertrand Ambroise (Nuits-St.-Georges), Laurent Drouhin of Joseph Drouhin, and Bernard Hervet, general manager at Domaine Faiveley. At our table we started with the Chablis wines and drank in a very different order than the placements, shifting the glasses around as necessary. The event was on the deck of the White Elephant Hotel. The chef was Brooke Vosika of the Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel of Boston.
The food was superb starting with an amuse bouche of watermelon and feta cheese in a sorbet? with virgin pistachio oil. The 1st course was a white gazpacho with avocado sorbet, grapes and toasted hazelnuts. With this we started in on the white wines.
2012 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis "Vaillon" 1er Cru and 2009 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis "Les Clos" Grand Cru (Clos des Hospices dans les Clos). At last year's Nantucket Wine Festival a Christian Moreau 2010 Grand Cru Valmur was my favorite white wine of the festival but I wasn't similarly impressed with the Christian Moreau wines this year. Perhaps the 2009 was from too ripe a vintage or too young to show its potential. I did find the Grand Cru Clos des Hospices to show more depth than the 1er Cru Vaillon, maybe more rounded and a bit less flinty.
I then went on to taste the 2011 Domaine Bertrand Ambroise, Nuits-St.-Geroges Blanc "Les Terres Blanches" 1er Cru. This was very nice with a balanced oak treatment. It exhibited a touch of lemon curd but was not very tart or acidic on first impression.
I then had the 2011 Joseph Drouhin Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot 1er Cru "Marquis de Laguiche." The vineyard goes back to the 14th Century. Nice nose with some vanillin, lanolin and apple notes.
The fifth white wine was the 2011 Domaine Faiveley Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru. Others at my table appreciated this more than I did. Again, probably too young to really impress.
The second course was braised short rib of beef, with black garlic puree, king oyster mushrooms, and green garbanzo risotto.
The third course was potato "marrow," melting Brie, and delicate spring greens with shaved asparagus.
The reds we tasted from Bertrand Ambroise were the 2011 N-S-G "Rue de Chaux" 1er Cru and the 2011 N-S-G "Les Vaucrains" 1er Cru. I liked both but found the "Les Vaucrains" more robust with cherry nose and flavors. I went to a Bertrand Ambroise tasting at the festival last year and was impressed with the wines as we progressively went from village to higher designations.
The nose of the 2011 Joseph Drouhin Beaune "Clos des Mouches" 1er Cru seemed unusual at first sniff--maybe earthier or funkier than I expected, but it revealed pleasant cherry notes on the palate.
The final red was 2009 Domaine Faiveley Corton "Clos des Cortons Faiveley" Grand Cru. This was stuffed with cherries and berries with a touch of tartness but still easy drinking. Perhaps my favorite red of the four.
Our dessert course was a delicious, decadent cake with chocolate mousse and caramel layers.
Hopefully, next time the wines will be set out by the most appropriate drinking order and pairing with the dishes rather than by producer. Still, I really enjoyed the luncheon.
