Monday, February 25, 2013

Benjamin Leroux's Overachieving 2010 Burgundies



Benjamin Leroux, the brilliant, young régisseur and winemaker at Comte Armand Domaine du Clos des Epeneaux in Pommard, is quietly making small batches of wines under his own name. The fruit is purchased from small parcels owned by growers whom he closely works with. He's converting their vineyards to organic viticulture, but meanwhile everything is farmed sustainably, or lutte raisonnée.

We have been selling Benjamin Leroux's wines since he debuted impressively in the 2007 vintage. Each vintage confirms the refined quality of his wines from the Bourgogne to the grands crus in both reds and whites. The 2010 vintage, given the quality of the raw material, is marvelous for Benjamin Leroux. Those looking for values in 2010 Burugndies should load up both his Bourgogne Rouge and Volnay. On the humblest appellations Leroux always overdelivers.

Benjamin Leroux's 2010 Bourgogne Rouge is a joy to drink. Scented with cut roses and fresh cherries, with flavors of stunning richness and concentration. Open and expressive, it wears its heart on its sleeve. As in previous vintages, the fruit is declassified premiers crus from Santenay and St.-Aubin. What a bargain!

The Volnay is put together from various Volnay vineyards of which about 60% is from the Volnay Premier Cru Ronceret, and so this is a village Volnay of surprising power!

But for someone who made his name making Pommard, I'm blown away by how brilliant Benjamin Leroux is in crafting white Burgundies. Since starting to make his own wines under his label with the 2007, his flagship wine has been the Auxey-Duresses Blanc. Anyone who wants to check out how good Benjamin Leroux is should simply taste his Auxey-Duresses Blanc. This is a marvelous wine with a richness that hints of its Meursault proximity, but with a sharpness and finesse that recall more a Puligny, especially in the 2010 vintage. The wine comes from a vineyard that borders Meursault, lying on a slope at an elevation of 350 meters facing east/southeast. The sunny morning exposure and stony soils of white marl over a limestone base is an excellent terroir for the Chardonnay vines to produce wines with finesse. This expression is clear in the 2010 Auxey-Duresses, a wine with fragrance and depth and tingling tension on the fruit.


Bourgogne Rouge, Benjamin Leroux 2010 $31.00 (Click to buy!)


Volnay, Benjamin Leroux 2010 $55.00 (Click to buy!)


Auxey-Duresses Blanc, Benjamin Leroux 2010 $39.00 (Click to buy!)

Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Porcellian


Last night's whole roast pig--a lechon to be exact--bacchanal was in the true spirit of that most venerable final's motto Dum vivimus vivamus--While we live, let us live.


Laurent Perrier's multivintage (1996, 1997, 1999) flagship Grand Siecle Champagne. LP's response to Krug's Grand Cuvee. About 50-50 Pinot Noir-Chardonnay from a complicated blend of many grands crus vineyards, aged at least seven years. Since being launched in 1959 there have only been three winemakers. This release shows stunning freshness and depth of flavors, a clear statement that Champagne is a most versatile drink with any food.


Wow! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this Swan Oyster Depot seafood cocktail of crab claws and smoked salmon. What a treat from Steve and Tania! Perfect with the Champagnes.



1996 Ployez-Jacquemart Liese d'Harbonville, the flagship Champagne of the house. Mostly Chardonnay the rest Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, vinified and aged in barriques. Less than 500 cases are made. Tightly wound, this was obviously still too young, but it's bone-dry precision, razor sharp flavors, herbal fragrance, and pure energy were nothing short of electric.




With three different Champagnes being passed around, we demolished the plates of fried rolls--Chinese and Filipino styles--without effort.



Ah, Jacques Selosse. We drank the VO cuvee, according to the Dennis a non-dosé, and it almost feels like that, except for a surprising core of sweet fruit blending deliciously, as well as mitigating the oxidative notes. What a ravishing Champ the more I sipped it. Effortless to appreciate. The finish is long and very lovely. Selosse could be quite controversial and be often the subject of much geeky Champagne debate, until everyone starts sipping, then there is silence.



I had the honor of being served first so I didn't hesitate to fill my plate with the crisp, succulent lechon and other goodies such as pancit, fresh lumpia, and the avocado/mango/arugula salad. Amazing how everything came together. And here we go with the Pinot Noir part of the evening!

The 1990 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambertin Clos de Beze comes from a tiny parcel less than acre in size. Even in riper years like 1990, it is always a more elegant, structured, high acid style of Chambertin that makes it such a very long aging wine. This vintage is still an infant, but I enjoyed its rose petal, cherry perfume, its brilliant, energetic fruit that kept unfurling.

An immortal 1990 was the Domaine Faiveley Corton Clos de Corton from magnum. The nearly 3-hectare parcel at the top of hill of Corton is a Faiveley monopole and has been a family possession well before the appellation system was created in 1930. A muscular wine of depth and power that's even more pronounced in this 1990 vintage. Decanted, it was definitely drinkable but still hiding in its shell. Like the Groffier Beze another infant. Why do we keep opening infants?! We should drink a 1928 Vosne-Romanee Les Gaudichots, instead, next time. Or so I dream.

Well, finally, the third Red Burgundy was a bit more mature. Apparently Maison Coron Pere et Fils still exists, but this negociant perhaps is more well known to Burgundy collectors for various Burgundies they produced from exalted vineyards during the 1930s through the 1960s. Their 1957 Musigny from a pristine bottle was still youthful, quite dark in color with hardly any sign of bricking and flavors that were fully intact. A difficult growing season, Henri Jayer's notes on the vintage said: "The acidity was high with very little substance. Thin and lacking good texture, these wines did not capture the attention for very long." Clearly, the 1957 Musigny was chaptalized, as I expect every wine in this vintage must've been, and it's evident on the nose and palate. Though the nose lacked the Musigny intensity, the wine was savory and imbued with the bright energy of Chambolle.



Steve, happy and satisfied with the food and wines, as his three ancestors in the background gazed at the goings on approvingly.


While at the other end of the table Tania has broken into an infomercial demo of her latest gadget, enthralling the girls who totally ignored the magnum of Faiveley in front of them.



Cupcake time! Tania made them and they were so irresistible, many times more satisfying than store bought versions.



By this time I wished I had a second stomach. But. Can't. Resist. Dessert. And. 1958. Port.



It's only appropriate that Vintage Port was very good in 1958. Port was my Damascene wine moment, it made me consider wine seriously for the first time. I think I was 18.  I've never had Tuke Holdsworth before and, apparently, the company had centuries of history in Oporto. This was again pristine and drinking very good--typical 1958, on the lighter side, almost like a Vintage Tawny, but darker in color, of course. Its fruitiness was lovely, the freshness--a hallmark of the year--was perfect.



The banana turon, a popular Filipino snack, is a native, peasant take on the Spanish turron, which is totally different and was a favorite imported treat of well-to-do families in Old Manila. The banana turon mimicks the Spanish turron's sweet filling and, instead of being covered by a thin layer of wafer, is wrapped in rice paper. I love banana turon and so I asked my brother to pick up some from a Filipino restaurant.




And so here is the lineup of wines we drained during the evening. I almost forgot to mention, Sandy brought a magnificent bottle of 1986 Chateau Rausan-Segla, Margaux, a very good year in Bordeaux's left bank. The nose was a bit subdued, but this was very classic Margaux, soft and velvety, with a sweet, fleshy fruit.

Evenings and celebrations like this night remind me with each bite, with each sip, and with every laughter that the world is fleeting. It's best to make the most out of life.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

恭禧發財 Happy New Year!

Gung Hei Fat Choy!
Ancient Chinese wisdom says a snake is a good omen because it means that one's family will not starve. Not wishing to starve a group of us welcomed the Year of the Snake with a banquet of propitious dishes accompanied by an equally charmed range of wines. By the time I finished the final tenth course and drank enough wine to make the poet Li Bai (Li Po) proud, I staggered fulfilled out of the restaurant, walking beneath an almost moonless sky.

A trio of Champagnes accompanied our starters. The magnum of Pierre Moncuit Blanc de Blancs NV was sharp and crisp, quite light, perfect to get the palate going for this feast. The next two Champs were more suitable with food. The 1996 Duval-Leroy, a Champagne house in the Cote des Blancs, had a beautiful crystalline purity with rich, nutty flavors; an elegant, classy wine. In contrast, the 1996 Lenoble Blanc de Blancs offered the broadest flavors. It struck me how fresh and youthful it still is.

Amusing Myself

Facing my wine, I did not see the dusk,
Falling blossoms have filled the folds of my clothes.
Drunk, I rise and approach the moon in the stream,
Birds are far off, people too are few

-Li Bai
 


The large surf clam, which occupied the entire plate, was probably my favorite dish of the night. It was a treat, steamed and flavored with ginger and scallion sauce. I enjoyed it even more with our bevy of Champagnes.


No respectable Chinese banquet should be without China's most famous dish: Peking Duck. Fat is good. As can be expected, this was delicious with the two red Burgundies.


Acquired by Maison Jadot in 1996, the venerable Chateau des Jacques is one of the great Beaujolais estates, with cellars dating back to the 16th century. Jadot revamped the cellars and, today, vinify the wines as they do in Beaune with their Cote d'Or wines. Long maceration in tanks at high temperature, punching down the caps, and pumping over as if it's a grand cru. The 2005 Chateau des Jacques Moulin-a-Vent had terrific concentration and was surprisingly youthful.

Domaine Francois Lamarche is an old Burgundy estate with some of the most glittering parcels in the heart of Vosne-Romanee. The 2003 Clos de Vougeot as one might suspect in this heatwave vintage was so dark and ripe, its flavors laced with violets and blueberries, hinting more of Syrah. There is good structure to keep aging it. I'm intrigued by how this Burgundy would evolve in 15 years.

Drinking in the Mountains

Mountain flowers open in our faces.
You and I are triply lost in wine.
I'm drunk, my friend, sleepy. Rise and go.
With your dawn lute, return, if you wish, and stay.

-Li Bai


Soup is one of the hallmarks of Cantonese cuisine. Delicacy, texture, and subtlety of flavors are prized, like in this crab and shark's fin soup.



Wrapped foods are so natural--using your hands instead of utensils--I'm sure they're one of the earliest forms of dishes. Minced squab in a lettuce cup: classic, simple Chinese; very delicious and always fun to eat.


Riesling and Gewurztraminer are always the two kinds of wine that people bring when going out for Chinese. To be honest, though I think they do go well with many Chinese dishes, I had refrained bringing them because the pairing got overdone. There are a lot of other wines out there that are beautiful to drink with Chinese food. But these days I return to these favorites. I see so many Chinese drinking almost exclusively big red wines, even with steamed fish!

A Vindication

If heaven loved not the wine,
A Wine Star would not be in heaven;
If earth loved not the wine,
The Wine Spring would not be on the earth.
Since heaven and earth love the wine,
Need a tippling mortal be ashamed?
The transparent wine, I hear,
Has the soothing virtue of a sage,
While the turgid is rich, they say,
As the fertile mind of the wise.
Both the sage and the wise were drinkers,
Why seek for peers among gods and goblins?
Three cups open the grand door to bliss;
Take a jugful, the universe is yours.
Such is the rapture of the wine,
That the sober shall never inherit.

- Li Bai


Braised abalone with black mushroom and bok choy, a holy trinity, sometimes sea cucumber is added to the medley. A dish rich in flavor and texture. It calls for the Alsatian. The rich, unctuous 2004 Domaine Ehrhart Hengst Gewurztraminer was utterly perfect with this dish.


What I also appreciated about our Chinese banquet was that the dishes were sliced and filleted ready to eat with utensils, then individually plated. I very much like this refinement, this bow to fine dining, which one rarely experiences when eating Chinese, or even at many restaurants these days. I call it the tyranny of the family style. Who wants to get just the remaining half-wing or the odd fish tail, or ruin the harmony and integrity of the dish?

The fillets of steamed black cod, sandwiched between slices of black mushroom was the most ethereal dish of the evening. It also arrived towards the end, after the seventh or eight course, when I felt like I can't possibly have any more room for another dish. And then this delicate thing comes along. And to help wash it down, the refreshing, equally ethereal 2009 Selbach-Oster Riesling Spatlese Graacher Domprobst.


 To finish the dinner, with the cold mango pudding, we drank a true California classic the fizzy, sweet Moscato Louis Martini Amabile. What a palate freshner! After ten courses I'm ready to start all over again.

Wine

Drinking, I sit,
Lost to Night
Keep falling petals
From the ground:
Get up to follow
The stream's white moon,
No sign of birds,
The humans gone

-Li Bai


Happy and fully sated, our fun little group welcoming the Year of the Snake. Gung Hei Fat Choy!


Remembering Li Po

Po in poetry is without equal;
Soaring, his thought is uncommon:
In pure freshness a Yu Kai-fu;
In surpassing excellence a Pao Ts'an-chun.
North of the Wei are spring trees;
East of the Kiang evening clouds.
 When with a jar of wine may we
Again closely argue about writing.

-Tu Fu

Friday, February 8, 2013

Wine of the Week: 2010 White Burgundy of Benjamin Leroux


Benjamin Leroux, the brilliant, young régisseur and winemaker at Comte Armand Domaine du Clos des Epeneaux in Pommard, is quietly making small batches of wines under his own name. The fruit is purchased from small parcels owned by growers whom he closely works with. He's converting their vineyards to organic viticulture, but meanwhile everything is farmed sustainably, or lutte raisonnée.

For someone who made his name making Pommard, I’m blown away by how brilliant Benjamin Leroux is in crafting white Burgundies. Since starting to make his own wines under his label with the 2007, his flagship wine has been the Auxey-Duresses Blanc!

Anyone who wants to check out how good Benjamin Leroux is should simply taste his Auxey-Duresses Blanc. This is a marvelous wine with a richness that hints of its Meursault proximity, but with a sharpness and finesse that recall more a Puligny, especially in the 2010 vintage. The wine comes from a vineyard that borders Meursault, lying on a slope at an elevation of 350 meters facing east/southeast. The sunny morning exposure and stony soils of white marl over a limestone base is an excellent terroir for the Chardonnay vines to produce wines with finesse. This expression is clear in the 2010 Auxey-Duresses, a wine with fragrance and depth and tingling tension on the fruit.

Leroux makes just a few barrels of this wine, yet it's very modestly priced for the quality. Always terrific buy, but particularly so in this great 2010 vintage!


Auxey-Duresses Blanc, Benjamin Leroux 2010 $39.00 (Click to buy!)
From a parcel consisting of three vineyard sites (lieux-dits) on the border with Meursault. Lying on a slope with a sunny exposure and stony soils of white marl over a limestone base, the terroir is excellent. This discernment is, of course, something to be expected from Benjamin Leroux, one of Burgundy's brilliant winemakers. Citrus, mineral notes with a hint of oak. Clean, precise flavors with a lovely tension and a piercing finish. Made by Benjamin Leroux, the brilliant winemaker at Domaine des Epeneaux in Pommard. This outstanding wine combines some of the richness of Meursault with the tension and raciness of Puligny. is terrific buy at such a modest price!

“An attractive baked apple opulence engulfs the nose of this wine, though this favourite cuvée of Benjamin’s is much tighter on the palate before a lovely finish.” Jasper Morris MW

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

2009 Sauternes Successor to the Great 2001 Vintage

If you love great Sauternes then you must scoop up 2009 Sauternes. The virtues of this magnificent vintage have been clearly outed at the recent Southwold tasting
The Southwold Tasting holds a tasting each January of the Bordeaux vintage bottled 18 months before. For this year held just two weeks ago, it was the 2009 vintage's turn.  I believe it is the most definitive tasting of young Bordeaux, far more reliable than wine critics' scores, and here's why. One, the participants consist of some of the sharpest tasters, professionals from the leading British wine merchants that are the top traders of Bordeaux, plus they are joined by three of the most influential British wine writers (Jancis Robinson MW, Neal Martin of the Wine Advocate, and Steven Spurrier of Decanter). Two, all the wines are tasted blind during the three days of tasting.

The hugely popular 2009 Bordeaux vintage is lauded for the reds, with Pauillac and Pomerol standing out at the tasting. However, the biggest surprise of the tasting weren't the reds but the sweet wines of Sauternes! Bill Blatch, the tasting's organizer, described the Sauternes tasting on the last day of the event:
"Stars of the show for the reds were on the Pauillac and the Pomerols, and the Sauternes ruled the whole roost, they were dramatic, there was silence in the room, people were genuinely moved to be tasting such great wines. Probably the successor to the great 2001s. 2009s have everything: they have the power, they have fatness, they have the richness, they have the sweetness. Potentially enormous longevity."

Prices of 2009 Sauternes will doubtless climb, especially after this eye-opening tasting. Here are two of the best buys in 2009 Sauternes that we offer. I don't think you'll find better buys.

Sauternes, Chateau Filhot 2009 $38.00


Sauternes, Domaine L'Alliance 2009 $39.00 500ml


Sunday, February 3, 2013

Glera From Bisson



Glera is the grape variety for Prosecco. Bisson makes two kinds of Prosecco, one labeled Prosecco with the common cork closure, and this one simply labeled Glera but in a crown cap. Strange, but if you want to be sure you're popping great Prosecco get this Glera in the crown cap.

Vino Frizzante Trevigiana IGT Glera, Bisson 2011 $19.00