Bordeaux, German and Loire Wine Dinner

[Bucko]

We had our good friends Mitch and Julie (Mitch posts on occasion) over for dinner last night, on a rare sunny winter day in the Pacific Northwest.

We opened with 1986 Pol Roger Brut to accompany Shrimp Francis, always a nice match. The Brut turned out to be a nice Champagne, with lovely aged, ripe apple fruit, slight toasty nuances, finishing with refreshing crispness.

In between courses, we opened up a 1989 Chateau de Montgueret, Coteaux du Layon to enjoy by the fireplace. We thought that it must be slightly corked because the wine was in perfect balance, but there was just little to no aged Chenin fruit flavors, just some mineral tastes. This should not be dead at only eleven years of age. Anyone else had this wine?

Next course was tomato bisque soup with a 1996 Lucien Thomas Sancerre, Clos de la Crele. A lovely wine with steely citrus and gooseberry flavors, crisp acidity that matched the soup very well, with a moderate finish. This wine seems to be at its peak right now. A favorite of mine.

The main course was rack of lamb and potato gratin, served with the 1989 Palmer, Margaux, and the 1990 Duhart-Milon, Pauillac. Both wines were delicious, with the edge clearly going to the Palmer. The Duhart has modest lead pencil flavors/aroma, rich black fruit, in a medium-bodied wine that still has years to go. The Palmer is rich, concentrated, seductive with its soft mouthfeel, with tannins noticeable at the end of a long, smooth finish. Years of life left in this beauty.

To accompany an apple tart dessert, we opened a 1983 Josef Drathen Bectheimer BA. These Rheinhessen wines to date have been a disappointment for me except Gunderloch. A sound wine, just no zip, nothing to keep you coming back for more, for lack of other words, simple. So the bottle was set aside and we opened a 1983 Bert Simon, Herrenberg, GKA. Peaked and going down the other side, so drink up. Much more class than the BA, this wine is still holding on to some decent Riesling fruit, with petrol and balanced acidity. The bottle was drained.

Nice night, good friends, lovely wines, ahhhhhhh......