November Wines: a Laundry List

Here are the wines I drank in November that have not, even in passing, appeared recently on this blog. The "excellent" group consists of wines that are truly memorable, wines that inspire me to seek out and buy these and wines like them. The "excellent" and "very good" groups are wines that I would happily buy at the given price. All other wines, even if I liked them, are not wines that I would buy today given my recent experience with them. Doesn't mean that I think they are bad, just that there are other wines I would prefer to buy with that money. Within each group, I will list the wines in the approximate order of enjoyment.

Excellent Wines
2009 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Senior Faß 6, $24, Mosel Wine Merchant. FANTASTIC. Full disclosure, my friend Dan Melia represents this wine. But forget about Dan, the wine is great.
(2004) David Léclapart Champagne Cuvée l'Apôtre, price and importer unknown. Sick Blanc de Blancs.
2009 Guy Bossard Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Expression de Granite, $18, Kysela Imports. You're crazy if you don't try this wine.
2007 Michel Brégeon Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine, $12, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant. Just a few years and this wine goes from aggressive acid and rocks, to beautiful.

Very Good Wines
1998 Domaine de L'Arlot Nuit St Georges Clos de L'Arlot, price unknown, Michael Skurnik Wines.
2006 Domaine de la Tournelle Ploussard de Monteiller, $24, Jenny & François Selections.
NV Gutierrez Colosia Fino Sherry, $23, Bon Vivant Imports.
2006 Gatti Piero Brachetto d'Acqui, $12 (375 ml), importer unknown.
2007 Binner Saveurs Printanières, $17, Jenny & François Selections.
2009 Günther Steinmetz Riesling trocken, $15 (1 liter), Mosel Wine Merchant.

Good Wines
2000 Auguste Clape Cornas, $50, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant.

These, I Had Problems With
2005 Huët Vouvray Pétillant Brut, $26, Robert Chadderdon Selections. Inexpressive.
2009 Château Jean-Pierre Gaussen Bandol Rosé, $19, Moonlight Wines Imports. Pleasant, if not terribly complex wine, and lacking in the acidity that I think this kind of wine needs in order to be successful.
2005 Mark Angeli Anjou Blanc "La Lune," $27, Louis/Dressner Selections. Felt tired and out of balance. I should have drunk this years ago.
2009 Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clos des Allees, $14.50, Louis/Dressner Selections. This vintage is not the racy and mineral driven wine that I remember and love from years like 07.

The Denver Blues

I love traveling, but I don't love traveling for work. I don't have to travel very often, but when I do, I always hope for good restaurants or something like that to make it a bit easier to be away from home. Last month I was in New Orleans and although it's never easy to be away from the wife and kids, I had a great time eating while not working.

This week I've been in Denver. Can some one please tell me - what is going on in Denver? I've been here twice now, been in a few restaurants, and I have yet to encounter a bottle of wine that I wanted to order. It's all poorly chosen California wine. I've seen the odd bottle of Guigal Côtes de Rhône, perhaps a Jadot Bourgogne, but essentially only American wine and none of it particularly interesting. Denver has great beer, a lot of it local. Do they just not bother with wine? Am I looking in the wrong places? Are Dressner's or Lynch's or Rosenthal's or wines of that ilk even distributed in Colorado?

Last night after our meetings were done I went with my colleagues to dinner at an upscale Mexican place. There were 6 of us. I keep my work life and my wine life separate, not for any particular reason at this point, but wine is a hobby that I don't trumpet. If it comes up or if asked, sure. But situations like the one at this restaurant make me nervous because I HATE drinking crappy wine, and yet if people at the table want wine, I'm going to drink it with them. And there is no conceivable scenario in which I would say to these people that I do some work for but don't know well, "Hey, give me the wine list and I'll pick something." The host will pick and that's that. You've been there too - you put your own stuff aside and roll with the group.

When the server came to take our drink order the women at the table ordered wine, and then one of the guys, and I was getting ready to accept my oak-chip-deep-purple 15% Cali-cab fate. But then, a miracle! The next guy, the host, ordered a Margarita, and specified some or other gold Tequila. A wave of relief washed over me, and I smiled and said "That sounds good - I'll have one too. Make mine Herradura silver, rocks and salt." I had more work to do later that evening, so I had only the one, and let me tell you that I savored every sip.

One other thing - I have this superstition that compels me to open a good bottle of wine with my wife before I go away on a trip. This time I took another shot with the 2006 Domaine de L'Arlot Clos des Forêts St. Georges, which I bought on closeout for $50, Daniel Johnnes Selections/Michael Skurnik Wines. The last bottle was corked, but this one was beautiful. Yes, it's very young and it's showing only a fraction of what it will become, but what's here now is completely delicious. The fruit is primary and dark, very juicy and sweet, and the wine shows great balance - good acidity, firm but gentle structure, everything is working. After about 20 minutes in the glass the telltale sauvage character of Nuits St. Georges emerged. I think this wine is going to be great 8 plus years down the road, and I'm psyched to have another bottle to save.

Assuming there are no delays, I'll get home to Brooklyn tonight, too late to see my kids or my wife, but let me assure you that tomorrow night I will open something good to help chase the Denver blues away.

Open Something Good Before Leaving

I'm traveling for work this week. I have this superstition that compels me to open a really good bottle of wine the night before I leave, something special to share with BrooklynLady. On Sunday night we at a version of Osso Bucco, ours braised with fennel, carrots, and orange peel. We opened a bottle of wine that I had planned on cellaring for many years, the 2006 Domaine de L'Arlot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forêts St. Georges, $55-85, Daniel Johnnes Selections/Michael Skurnik Wines.

Last year at about this time I visited Domaine de L'Arlot, stayed at the estate in Prémeaux-Prissey actually. I was very much impressed with the wines - very pure and full of character and complexity. The Clos des Forêts St. Georges is a monopole of the domaine, and sits next to the famous Les Saint-Georges, the great vineyard in Nuits St. Georges that is considered by many to be of true Grand Cru quality. Domaine de L'Arlot's Clos des Forêts St. Georges can be similar to the wines of Les Saint-Georges, showing a dark fruited muscularity, a sauvage pungency. I'm a recent but adoring fan.

Although this wine will clearly repay a decade and more in the cellar, it was utterly delicious on Sunday evening. The oak is quite prominent on the nose, but the true character shines through. Deeply and darkly fruited, firmly structured, and with an inner cylinder of pungent animal perfume that emerges on the midpalate and gently pushes through the finish. Really a beautiful wine, a lot of character. And I'm confident that the oak will integrate with time.

And then guess what happened...maybe 30 minutes in, while still putting the finishing touches on dinner, I poured another splash from the decanter and I noticed that the wine smelled corky, ever so faintly, but corky. Was it just that one whiff, was it a pungent note that resembled TCA? We sat down to eat 15 minutes later, I poured us each a glass, and there was no mistaking it - the wine was corked. Not savagely so, but corked indeed, and the aromatics had been overwhelmed. Isn't that wild? The TCA didn't show itself until the wine had spent about 30 minutes in a decanter. It was gorgeous before that point.

We opened a bottle of 2006 Chandon de Briailles Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile des Vergelesses, $43, David Bowler Wines, instead, another wine I had planned on cellaring. It was lovely, more subtle and subdued, its stems more apparent. We both agreed that this wine, as lovely as it was, was difficult to drink after the first half hour of that beautiful Clos des Forêts St. Georges. Oh TCA, how I despise you, let me count the ways.

Lest you think this corked wine somehow jinxed my trip, that's not the case. Everything is going fine so far. And when I get home I'll open something nice with BrooklynLady.

Domaine de L'Arlot

I asked Peter Liem where Domaine de L'Arlot stands in the pantheon of Burgundy and he said "People who really know and love Burgundy love Domaine de L'Arlot." He didn't mean that you must be a vastly experienced Burgundy lover in order to appreciate them. They're lovely wines and anyone would enjoy them. I think he meant that the wines are often overlooked amidst the many huge names in Burgundy, but are never overlooked by those who have extensive experience, the cognoscenti, if you will.

Southern wing of the Domaine, where we stayed.

Although Domaine de L'Arlot owns vines in Romanée St. Vivant, the exalted Grand Cru, and also in 1er Cru Les Suchots in Vosne-Romanée, it is probably best known for wines from two relatively large 1er Cru vineyards, both monopoles of the Domaine, both located near the southern end of the vineyards of Nuits St. Georges. The vineyard Clos de L'Arlot borders Mugnier's Clos de la Maréchale to the south, and is known for red fruited wines of elegance and finesse. The Domaine also makes a 1er Cru white wine from this site, a rarity in the Côte de Nuits. Wines from Clos des Fôrets bear some of the muscular and savage character of its more famous neighbor to the north, Les Saint-Georges.

From the living room window, the Clos de L'Arlot under gray skies.

Vineyard and winery work is rather old school at Domaine de L'Arlot, which is a good thing. Vineyards are plowed and harvested by hand, and whole clusters are used in fermentation. Since 2003 Domaine de L'Arlot has been practicing biodynamic throughout the entire estate. As you might expect, these are wines of freshness and purity, with an elegant lightness of color that belies the depth and complexity within. I could share more background information, but I would basically be quoting from these two fantastic online sources: Bill Nanson's piece from Burgundy Report in August of 2005 does a great job of detailing the history of the Domaine and also vividly portrays the unique vineyard that bears the name of the Domaine, the Clos de L'Arlot. Peter Liem's piece also provides great contextual information, and describes the recent tasting he attended in which he sampled wines dating back to the creation of the Domaine in 1987.

Peter Liem worked harvest at Domaine de L'Arlot in 1998 and has remained friendly with the staff ever since. It is because of this friendship that Peter stays at the Domaine when he visits Burgundy, and it is because of this friendship that Olivier Leriche extended to me the generous offer of staying there as well. Domaine de L'Arlot is in Prémeaux-Prissey, a village I have never heard of until just now. All the while I thought we were staying in Nuits St. Georges. To my foreigner's eyes, the villages in France can really blend into one another...

So, in early December I stayed at Domaine de L'Arlot while visiting Burgundy. My accommodations were pretty sick - a large and beautiful room with an attached bathroom that is larger than my bedroom in Brooklyn. I'm talking two sinks, a heater, several windows, a bidet, all class and grace. And of course, no toilet. The toilet is in the water closet in private hallway outside of the bedroom.

Bathroom alone: $1.25 Million in New York City.

We tasted the 2007's in barrel, many of the 2005's and 2006's in bottle. Here are some notes from our tasting:

2007 Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de L'Arlot - tastes nothing like any other NSG wine I've had. All silky red fruit and flowers, gentle, good acidity, lots of finesse. Very pretty.

2007 Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos des Fôrets Saint Georges - meaty animal wildness, dark fruit, big tannic presence, rich fruit, juicy and dense. Should be brawny and beautiful in maybe 8 years.

2007 Grand Cru Romanée St. Vivant - nose of dark spices, maybe cloves, a bit animale. Intense dark fruit in the mouth, firm tannins, but the overall effect is suave and gentle. This wine is still quite closed, but there is evident depth and complexity here hiding in the shadows.

2006 Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de L'Arlot - meaty sauvage character on the nose this time, with floral dark fruit. Light and elegant in the mouth, but powerful, tannins are silky. Unusual for Clos de L'Arlot maybe, but a beauty.

2005 Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de L'Arlot - vibrant red fruit on the nose with savory brown sugar notes. Ripe fruit on the palate, ripe, ripe, ripe, but good acidity keeps it in check. Nice length, strong tannins, this wine has class. I'd love to taste it again in 15 years.

2005 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots - gorgeous nose, elegant floral perfume with deep red fruit and earth tones. Tight in the mouth but generous fruit, a great mix of pwer and finesse. This is a real beauty.

2006 Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de L'Arlot Blanc - delicate layers of white flowers at the core, tangy citrus and minerals. Just lovely. Some pear in there too. Very precise and cut with firm tannins and a zesty bright finish. Very impressive indeed.

After our tasting and a brief rest, we enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by wine maker Olivier Leriche's wife Florence, and attended by none other than Jean-Pierre de Smet, the original wine maker at L'Arlot.

Olivier Leriche and his lovely wife Florence in their kitchen. That's Tista in the background.

Dinner was a beautiful fillet of beef roasted in the kitchen fireplace and served essentially raw. There was also a nice green salad, purée of winter squash, roast potatoes, and a lovely fruit tart. It was the end of a long day that included a huge lunch and a lot of wine. This did not exactly enhance my ability to speak and comprehend the French language, but I enjoyed trying to decipher the various conversations nonetheless. We drank some pretty good wines at the dinner, by the way.

Fallen heroes - they shall not be forgotten.

Thank you again, Oliver and Florence, for your generous hospitality, and for an experience that I will never forget.