become a wine connoisseur

A spectacular dinner on business at Troquet in Boston. Two unbelievable wines served with one of the best dinners I have ever had. Scott is a genius with food.

Although I’ve had a few Montrachets in my time, the Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet has consistently made a bigger impression on me than any other white burgundy. It deserves the rave reviews it gets on the wine rags.

Golden yellow color, delightful nose. Complicated in the extreme, the nose continually changed and evolved, rolling through its flavors over time. Pear and Lemon were dominant for a while, giving way to minerals and oysters, fading to toasted oak and butter, fading to butterscotch, which drifted back to lemon, and then pears again. Unbelievable to smell.

On the palate, this wine is also remarkable. Sure, it doesn’t have the thick mouth-feel of a Montrachet, but it has all the complexity with rich minerals, fruits like citrus, lemon and orange, and beautiful butterscotch, but also a dry, dusty flavor of limestone that truly sets the Chevalier Montrachet apart from its sister vineyards. The finish was, literally, longer than a full minute, rolling through the flavors as the time passed.

the wine was able to stand up to Foie Gras, Scallops, Oysters, Caviar, wasabe and even madeira sauce. It couldn’t beat onions, though.

I consider this wine among the best I have ever consumed. 10/10 overall, 10/10 for its price. Yes, it’s expensive. But this is what all good Chardonnay aspires to taste like.

Saturday night we dined with some friends who are quite experienced in Italian wines. We drank a few bottles of very respectable wines, but the two big buys we had with dinner were:

1995 Riserva Brunello di Montalcino- Vasco Sassetti

This was an elegant, reserved, and well rounded wine, drinking perfectly. Rasberry and strawberry on the nose, giving way to heavier fruit on the palate. Very long, graceful finish. The oak was perfectly blended with the fruit, making it a quaffable, great wine. Rating 9/10 overall, and 8/10 in its price range.

1997 Tenuta Secolo Barolo, Cerequio vineyard – Guiseppe Contrato

A fine, fully developed Nebbiolo in its prime. I was worried the wine would be tight and backwards, but a couple hours after decanting, this wine was fully opened and wonderful. Jammy and mouthfilling on the palate, with heavy plum and tar balanced with oak. Rating 9/10 overall, 9/10 in its price range.

Bordeaux, France, $45. on release

Tasted 12/24/07, with dinner (prime rib)

This is an outstanding bottle of wine, drinking perfectly now, but with the potential to go another 20 years.

We decanted the wine well before dinner, so it had time to open up, and I’m glad we did. It’s a huge wine, with great power and completxity. The nose is a lovely cassis and cedar, with a bit of iodine which faded over time.

It is mouthfilling and jammy on the palate, with dark cherry and cassis fruits, fading to a lovely finish of cedar, tobacco and a hint of vanilla. Classic Lynch-Bages, this vintage will go down in the books as one of the best examples of the style and wine.

Tons of fruit, balanced nicely with soft tannins. This wine is at its peak right now. It will continue to drink well for another 20 years, but I recommend going for it now.

I rate this wine 10/10 overall, and 9/10 for its price range.

Single Vineyard bottling: Te Muna Road Vineyard, Marlborough, New Zealand. $20.

Tasted 12/24/07, before dinner.

This wine is excellent to outstanding. Truly the first “sure thing” wine recommendation I’ve found.

Beautiful lemony Sauv. Blanc nose, with slight toast and nuttiness. Clean, though, with only a hint of oak. Fresh, forward fruit on the attack, with lemon fading to a grassy Mandarin orange, then back to lemon/lime tart and passion fruit on the finish. Big, acidic flavors, but fading to balanced fruit on the finish. Long, herbal, fruity, balanced, a wonderful drink. I wish I owned more.

In the interests of indexing my wines, this one gets an 8/10 overall, and a 10/10 for its price range.

Ok, so it’s time to move into the digital age, and keep my tasting notes on-line.

Doing this via 43T will also give me the impetus to actually keep my notebook up to date.

I searched the various wine-related goals, and this one seems the best match for my wine notes. I’m also looking forward to reading other peoples’ postings on the wines they are drinking and what they think of them.