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Cote Rotie..... Clos Vougeot..... Gevrey - Clos St. Jacques.....

9-July-96

Special dinner for five to lighten up the mood of a friend about to undergo a serious operation.

Goose liver in wild forest-fruit sauce
1990 Cote Rotie, Chapoutier
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Roast beef and creamed potatoes
1985 Clos de Vougeot, Gros F&S
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Cheese plate
1971 Gevrey - Clos St. Jacques, Clair-Dau
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Baked figs in vanilla


Cote Rotie 1990 Chapoutier

7/96. Bought in London March-96 for $20.
Always hard to match wine to liver dishes (goose or otherwise), this 'simple' Rhone wine proved a very successful choice.
COLOR: Dark red. Full, opaque and impressive. No clearing around the rim.
NOSE: Rich nose of black fruit, black pepper and some Bordeaux-style tar or pencil-tip. Very pleasant aroma that is 'full of presence'.
TASTE: Lots of fruit on the palate too, again with discernible spicy tones. Extremely tasty and mouth-filling, though maybe not endowed with depth and complexity. Went very well with the rich goose liver course.
LENGTH: Nothing to write home about.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Full bodied though not heavy. Excellent balance between fruit, acidity, alcohol and tannins. Not too many 'hidden qualities', but what's wrong with up-front ones?
OVERALL: Excellent! An unpretentious wine that delivers much more than I expected. Very drinkable now, and will stay so for a couple of years at least.
MARK: 17/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.


Clos de Vougeot 1985 Gros F&S

7/96. Bought in auction Oct-95 for $73 (imported for $84 net).
The second time we open this 'weird' wine. Made from one of the choice sub-plots of the byzantinian Clos Vougeot vineyard, Gros F&S rendition is surely on the Grand Cru level (something that cannot be said for most Clos Vougeot). Grand Cru for sure, but is this a (B) Grand Cru?
The first bottle we had of this wine was obviously marked by cold-maceration. Deep dark color very un(B)like. Concentrated, jammy nose and taste, almost devoid of any (B) hallmarks. Will this bottle be the same?
COLOR: Deep dark color right up to the rim. Not an iota of sediment. Yes, very un(B)like...
NOSE: Tons of raspberries and cherries, so concentrated it reminded me of a confiture. Almost no 'Bourgogne Nose' or 'terroir' to speak of. Very very pleasant aroma, but could easily fooled me in blind tasting. I am not sure I'd guess this is a (B) wine at all, let alone Clos Vougeot.
TASTE: Again, superb taste with high concentration. Both acidity and tannins add to the statement on the palate. Nothing delicate about this wine. It is big, bold and mouth-filling. Almost dominated the tender roast beef in rosemary...
LENGTH: Reasonably long aftertaste. With sweetish, almost cloying finish.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Big wine in every respect. Almost out of balance in a weird way. Flavors, acidity and tannins overshadow the wine itself! (I know this may sound strange, but that is how I felt).
OVERALL: Extraordinary and unusual. Not sure this is what I look for in a (B) Grand Cru, but just as a bottle of wine - it is extremely interesting and highly recommended.
MARK: 19/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.


Gevrey - Clos St. Jacques 1971 Clair-Dau

7/95. Acquired from London December-95 for $75 (Imported for $85 net).
A year ago I bought one bottle of this famous 1er Cru wine from the superb 1971 vintage, made by the (then) distinguished domaine of Clair-Dau. I bought the bottle (for $10 less < g >) just as a curiosity. Having tasted it a couple of months later, I was so much taken by it that I did two things: a) I gave it 20/20 mark b) immediately order the remain of the stock from my supplier (all of two bottles). Now let's see...
COLOR: As one would expect a 25-years (B) to look like. Pale red-brown, significant clearing towards the rim, and massive sediments in last third of the bottle.
NOSE: Delicate, perfumed, enticing. Can hardly find the proper words. A great old mature grand (B) no doubt. Dried prunes, green olives(!), but most of all - that elusive (B) scent that combines delicacy with richness in a way no other wine in the world can. The intensity of the nose stayed strong for only about half an hour. Then it faded slowly together with the taste, into the final resting place of all the great nectars of this world.
TASTE: Delicate (have I used that term already?), lacy, silky. Rich, multi-layered, complex. Extremely tasty with surprising amount of tannins to give the impression of a much younger wine. A wine to be had on its own with nothing more pungent than a cracker, so as not to distract from the myriad of nuances it offers.
LENGTH: Very very long finish, with aftertaste as complex and as ever developing as the taste itself.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Smooth, soft, yet rich and stylish. Hard to speak of this wine in normal terms of balance. People don't normally drink 25-years old (B), as 99% of them are long dead at this age. This wine - fully mature as it is of course - was anything but dead for first half hour or so. Then nature took its course...
OVERALL: Almost divine! I say 'almost' as, compared to the bottle we had eight months ago, this one seemed just that tiny bit over its top. Now is the time to drink up this precious and rare nectar if you happen to have a bottle.
MARK: 19+/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.


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Jacob "Yak" Shaya.