Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze

23 Jan 2012: Chinese New Year Day.  French bistro-themed dinner and everyone brought a bottle.  Rachel brought us some really delicious home-made pissaladière (3 types - plain onion, with anchovy and with olive), accompanied by a 1979 Lanson in magnum (48% Chardonnay and 52% Pinot Noir).  A bright lemon colour, with fine bubbles and a creamy mousse.  Tasting very fresh on entry, with complexities of brioche, ripe pear, marzipan and a little savoury on the nose, but a little simple on the palate.  Still pretty remarkable for its age to show such verve and freshness.  

1983 Corton Charlemagne, Louis Latour was a golden colour, but did not taste madeirised at all, just a mature bouquet of honey, apricot and oatmeal, rather characteristic of a vintage that delivered a bundle of over-ripeness to healthy Chardonnay grapes (evidence of noble rot in certain patches).  The richness was perhaps not matched with sufficent acidity to give the wine the ideal balance, now that the wine was almost 30 years old.  I found it rather cloying and this certainly did not go well with the much-praised jambon persillé (from Monsieur Chatté), complete with dijon mustard and cornichons! Drink now! 15/20


The reds


The still robust structure, with the still to be resolved, yet fine-textured tannin, of the 1988 Pommard Les Vignets, Leroy was true to form.  It showed some rustic characteristics, meaty and earthy, but also managed to retain remnants of the rich fruit of the vintage, with some spicy nuances.  Good level of acidity.  This wine is drinking now, further development in bottle would probably help integrate the residual tannin, but I am not so sure the fruit will hold out that long!  16/20

The 1978 Volnay, de Montille was one of the star performers of the evening.  It showed a bright ruby-garnet colour.  A raspberry and mocha bouquet, infused with minerality, and some hints of caramel.  The feminine characteristics suitably delivered in the soft silky texture.  The palate lifted by the just right amount of acidity.  A divine expression of Volnay and testimony to the very fine and ripe fruit from the vintage of 1978, with a lot of ageworthy material.  This wine was made to last the ages and this fine example at the Village level just went to show what a fine craftsman Hubert de Montille was!  Drink now and with at least 6 - 8 years ahead of enjoyment at this peak.  17.5/20

Finally, we had two vintages of Chambertin Clos de Bèze, Rousseau to go with Richard's coq au vin: 1985 and 1995.  The 1985 showed a completely tertiary bouquet of mushroom, gamey and savoury notes,with some nuances of Asian spices.  The velvety palate, though very approachable and appealing, revealed a less robust structure, less stuffing, for this wine to age much further.  Long finish.  A beautifully aged wine for drinking now and over the next 8 - 10 years.  (I thought the wine collapsed a bit in the glass after about 2 hours.)  17/20

The more youthful 1995 version was totally different: pure red fruit of strawberry and raspberry, violet, spicy and toasty oak, with some Asian spices.  A lot of energy still contained inside the robust structure of ripe tannin and a medium level of acidity, with plenty of complexity on the palate.  A wine graceful and elegant on the one hand, and powerful and structured on the other.  Drinking beautifully now and will continue to drink well for next 10 - 15+ years.  18/20

Continuing with the theme of bistro style supple, we had lots of cheese (Maroilles, Epoisses, Comté, Mimolette and Wasabique) served with proper bread (all the way from L'Atelier de Robuchon - thank you Eric!).  And then my pear tart!

My pear tart!

To finish, I served a half bottle of Autumn Glory from Chiltern Valley Winery in Hambleden, England.  I cannot really remember the grape variety, was it Huxelrebe or Seyval Blanc??  Herbal, grapefruit, white chocolate and nougat.  Luscious, well-balanced.  Finish a little on the short side.  Not a shabby effort at all for an English dessert wine!