MD Cru May 31, 2008: A night of Northern Rhones

What is a Northern Rhone? France’s Rhone Valley is home to some of the best wines in the world including the renown wines of the Southern Rhone’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape region. But it is in the Northern Rhone region that the best Syrah’s in the world are produced. Though it is true that Syrah and Shiraz are one in the same (as far as grape is concerned), the Syrah’s of the Rhone are vastly different than their Australian (or elsewhere) Shiraz counterpart. Whereas the New World style creates wines with subtle spice notes, more concentrated fruit flavors and often more “oak” influence, the Old World Syrahs of the Northern Rhone tend to be more “terroir” driven wines with subtle earth and more moderate spice and pepper notes.

The MD CRU. This past weekend a group of friends (who happen to be fine food and wine enthusiasts) met up to share old stories and of course some Old World Syrah’s. These monthly outings, or off-lines, began years ago with a small group of laid back and generous friends meeting up through the Wine Spectator forums. Years later, many of the faces have changed (Kim and I are new to the group as of October 2007) but the main idea hasn’t: great food and wines shared at either a restaurant or someones home amongst a group of the most unpretentious and outgoing wine lovers this side of the Chesapeake.

The “pot-luck” dinner was organized by our more than gracious host, Lentini, who with his wife (and beautiful children) welcomed us into his home for more than a few hours on Saturday night. As you can tell from the menu below, we ate quite well.

Starters

• Assortment of cheese and toasts
• Spanish Family Gazpacho: Klymkev’s Secret Recipe: 1 part Ingredient X to 1 part garlic clove…delicious!
• Strawberry/Almond Salad: Dinwiddie put together a great starter salad. Light, semi-sweet with an outstanding vinegerette dressing. Went great with a ‘96 Riesline Auslese
• Crab Cakes ala Festiva: Crisply broiled, loaded with crab and great with the sauce.

Main course and sides

• Grilled Pancetta Wrapped Asparagus: Crisp pancetta, tender asparagus- a great appetizer or side
• Roast Potato Medley: Roast red, white and sweet potato’s courtesy of Wegman’s (we still don’t have a kitchen!)
• Sibster’s Truffled Orzo: Perfectly cooked, nice texture and good flavors. Very nice accompanying the beef.
• Grilled beef loin in a shallot/shiitake port reduction sauce: Perfectly grilled tenderloin with an outstanding sauce- well done by our host, Lentini (who didn’t even flinch when I mentioned I left the grill on for 3 hours!).

Dessert

• La Berte Noir (flour-less dark chocolate cake): PH’s recipe with an outstanding raspberry reduction. Decadent, rich, concentrated…and I had two pieces!

Each dish was delicious. My dish of the night goes to the tenderloin, but a close runner-up was the garlicky gespacho which was poured from a milk jug and served with an assortment of garnishes. My hats off to everyone for putting together an orchestra of culinary delights. I promise by the June “offline” our kitchen will be done and our potatoes will come from our oven (not Wegman’s). At least the asparagus worked out OK (thanks Kimmy!).

I felt especially attached to this month’s theme since I picked it! Kim and I (pictured here enjoying a Riesling) have been drinking a lot of Northern Rhones lately which along with Burgundy are two of her favorite wine regions. We both appreciate how terroir-driven the wines are and love pairing the spicy reds from Cote-Rotie and St. Joseph with grilled meats, chicken and a variety of veggie dishes. If you aren’t familiar with the region, be warned that Northern Rhone’s can be quite expensive. That said, there are some great values out there, especially in Crozes-Hermitage and St. Joseph’s.

But this night wasn’t a night of value wines, it was a night of great wines. And on that note, it was a huge success.

The first Five wines below aren’t from the Rhone, but one is from France’s Loire Valley, two were Champagne to start the night, and one was a German Riesling I slipped in to try and “wow” the group ($16 bottles of wine tend to turn some heads!).

Overall my top wines of the night were:

1. 1997 Jean-Michel Gerin Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places
2. 1998 E.Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde
3. 1983 Delas Frères Hermitage Marquise de la Tourette

The ‘97 Les Grandes Places in my opinion was the most balanced wine in the group. Good amount of fruit, earth and spice, great balance, good concentration. It’s a wine I’d like to come back to in 5 years to see how it matures. The ‘98 Guigal is still young and has many good years ahead of it. The ‘83 Marquise de la Tourette was a joy to drink; fully mature with good balance and spicy tannins, though the fruits were slightly fading in my opinion (which dropped it down from being my wine of the night). For what others thought on these wines or more on the evening, check out the accompanying

Wines (in order of which they were poured):

2005 Francois Blanchard “Violoncelite” Cab Franc: So youthful and quite tannic, but the wine had great balance and elegance that promises great rewards for patience. Not Rated

NV Champagne Jacquesson Cuvee N 732 Brut: Grapefruit and apple flavors, light and crisp, overall quite refreshing. A bit weak on the finish and would benefit from a little more acidity. My rating: 89 pts

1996 Lanson Brut Champagne Gold Label: Really nice golden color. Nose of lemon zest, green apple and sweet yeast notes. On the palate the wine starts off subtly, then there is an explosion of grapefruit, lemon, sour apple laffy taffy with supporting caramel and toasted vanilla flavors. Good complexity and weight, long lasting finish. Quite enjoyable. My rating: 92 pts, VGV

1996 Grans-Fassian Riesling Auslese: Nice aromas of tropical fruits, light mineral notes, slightly frizzante which was nice. Not overly sweet, but noticeable honey and melon with a very nice finish of lemon. Good mouth-feel and nice level of acidity left in this wine. My second bottle of this with consistent notes. My rating: 89/90 pts, OV

2003 Christoffel Riesling Auslese ** Treppchen: Crisp apple flavors, lemon, citrus. Young. No formal notes taken. Not rated

1983 Delas Frères Hermitage Marquise de la Tourette: The most serious sediment I’ve ever seen in a bottle: literally caked around the entire bottle. Very interesting and complex nose of dried cranberry, sour cherry and earth. On the palate there is subtle cherry but really nice mouthfuls of grilled red pepper. The tannins are mature and highlighted by grilled peppercorns and chalky fruits that lead to a medium length finish. My rating: 92 pts

1998 E.Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde: Outstanding nose of cherry, earth, pepper, smoked meats and spices. On the palate the wine is still youthful with layers of dark red fruits, spice and peppers. Medium tannins and good acidity, this wine has a few years until it peaks and with proper cellaring will drink great for another 15 years or more. My rating: 93 pts

1995 M. Chapoutier St.-Joseph Les Granits: A very traditional St. Josephs profile of dried soil and fresh ground black pepper notes with cherry notes. Nothing overly complex, but overall good balance and drinking well now. My rating: 90 pts

1997 Jean-Michel Gerin Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places: The most elegant wine in the bunch. Rich flavors of sour cherry , dried blueberry, smoked wood chips, and a touch of zesty hot peppers. My rating: 93 pts

1995 Rene Rostaing La Landonne: An interesting grassy/leathery/cherry component with crushed red pepper and subtle black and red fruit. Good age on this bottle that was quite enjoyable. Earthy tannins and medium finish. My rating: 90 pts

1999 Domaine de Monteillet Côte-Rôtie Fortis: More reserved nose of red pepper, dried cherries, blackberry with black cherry and earth on the palate. There was a nice spicy BBQ flavor in this wine as well. Good acidity, less structured than the ‘00 Ogier. My rating: 92 pts

2000 Domaine Michel Ogier Cote-Rotie: Young, young, young. Big ripe cherry, blackberry, concentrated fruits, cedar, tobacco, spice on the nose. On the palate there is a good amount of ripe sour cherry and spice notes. Complex and youthful, medium tannins, would revisit in 5-10 years. My rating: 92 pts

2000 E. Guigal Hermitage: Corked. Not Rated

2001 Domaine Belle Hermitage: Red and black cherry, blackberry, spice and pepper notes as well as smoked meats. Good structure, light acidity, a bit off balance but still quite good. My rating 89 pts

1983 Cockburn Vintage Port: Good amount of alcohol on the nose. The heat was high in this on the palate as well, masking flavors of cherry, blackberry, and chocolate, maybe some crushed cigars. Still needs a good amount of time to come together - decanting longer may have helped. My rating: 89 pts