Wines of the French Laundry, part II

We all make impulsive decisions. And quite often they come back to haunt you. Let's buy expensive outdoor furniture and ruin it immediately that winter. Did we need a flat screen TV that wouldn't really fit in our large car? Or truer to home, why am I picking up 5 cases of wine everytime I hit the Wine Club? But on occasion the impulses work out. As in buying decent wine at decent prices from regions and for varietals I'd heard were supposed to be good. And then laying them down for several years. So I'd have respectable wine to choose from.

As I pondered what to select and dug through my collection, I was having more fun than my ga-ga colleagues. I was hip deep in my own red mess and loving it. Mind you, the vast majority of my bottles were too pedestrian to bring. And the good stuff was good enough, but most of it just wasn't ready yet. The good stuff that needs to age usually needs 8-12 years. And I've barely been collecting nice stuff for that long. My earliest Bordeaux's were from 2000, which was borderline. My only pre-2000's were some vintage ports and a few Columbia Crest Merlot's from the late 90's, which I need you to remind me to try.

What I really needed were a few wines to set the foundation upon which I could build. And the obvious place to start was France. This was their Laundry. And their wine list was mostly French, and it seemed like a good idea to respect their overall guidance. And who can turn their nose up at a good French wine? Even the French can't because it is their own wine. Luckily, I started buying French wines a bit back before I even liked them a whole lot. I've been an impulsive sucker for good scores at low prices and this paid off.

And so it was that a Sauternes (a very sweet botyrized honey yellow wine from Bordeaux, that still has acidity (like a fine balsamic vinegar)) was my first choice. I'd loaded up on the 2001 vintage a bit back in one of those impulsive moments, since the scores were so outrageous and the prices relatively low. The trick was finding one that was ready. Most would just be drinkable in 2009 or 2010. But the 2001 Guiraud was "best after 2008" and this was late 2008. Good enough for me. Check. Got this 96 point WS, 94 point Parker for $50 back Sept 2005.

The next was a lovely Italian wine, the Fanti 2001 Brunello Montalcino. It was still a bit young ("best after 2010" according to WS) but I had several bottles and it the #23 wine in the WS 2006 Top 100 wines. This wine was the bedrock of my foundation. It was old, it was European and it was more than good. It was truly an unassailable choice. Except that this exact wine was already in the French Laundry wine list. Curses! (Good thing the Mac PDF viewer has such a great search feature, else I would have missed this.) It was a perfect choice and they had already made it.

There are rules about bringing a wine to a restaurant.

1. Firstly, it cannot be on their wine list. Period. If it is on their list, then bringing it either means you are cheap (trying to save money) or stupid.
2. The place must have a corkage policy. Some nice places limit the amount of wine you can bring. For example, Gary Danko limits you to 2 bottles per table. So read up on the policy. Occasionally a place will waive the corkage if you buy another bottle off their list, but don't expect this.
   
3. The wine must be appropriate for the restaurant. So Yellow Tail or Fetzer or Woodbridge is out at a lot of places. (My friends always bring up Two Buck Chuck as their example, which shows just how "useless" they are in the world of real wine snobbery.)
   
4. Ideally, the wine should have special meaning to you. This is hard for most people. Unless you squirrel away wines as an obsession, wondering when the right moment to open something is. So I was covered here.
5. If the place is fancy enough to carry multiple vintages of the same wine, then you can arguably relax rule #1, allowing yourself to bring in a wine they have, but not of the vintage you have.

Back to the selection. Next, something from the Rhone region (of France). The obvious choice was a CdP (Chateauneuf-du-Pape). CdP to the Rhone is like Napa to California. I had two magnificent 2004's and after careful consideration chose the Domaine du Pegau via eeeny-meany-miney-moe. Most of my wines are at my "remote" cellar, namely a friend's basement, Only after I got back home did I discover this exact wine was also on the French Laundry wine list. Disqualified, again. Argh. What was I thinking with that "miney moe"?

But the bedrock wine came from an unexpected place. A white. That I had never had before. And had only one bottle of. But like the Fanti, it was an unassailable choice. The Baumard 2003 Savennieres Trie Speciale. A Chenin Blanc, known as a delicious box wine, from the Loire. WS 92 for $30 back in Nov 2005. "Seems bone dry at first, with steely white peach, mineral and quince notes held in check by vibrant acidity. Long, bracing finish unwinds in the glass to show more depth, with hints of orange blossom, lanolin and fig. A backward wine that needs cellaring. Best from 2007 through 2017." This is not a trophy wine. Who wants a bone-dry steely white with notes of lanolin in a white that needs to age. Huzzah!

As I sifted through the bottles finding lost treasures, I dawned on me that 4 or 5 bottles was not enough. Hmmm.. why, I know, I'll bring a case of wine and we shall select what to drink there. I was done being cowed by the wine list. This was my own wine list. I'd have to break this new news to my companions... and despite their ga-ga fever, this seemed a tiny bit dicey.

But back to the selection. What would you, gentle reader, have chosen if you went nuts and were bring a case?

My goals were

• 3 whites, 7 reds and 2 dessert (sauternes and port)
• a variety of styles, including bordeaux, a pinot noir, a Australian shiraz and a zinfandel, since the organizer loves Zin.
  
• emphasis on Europe

(( Warning, BBB (blog becoming boring) alert. I'll grind through the wines I chose until the pictures at the end. ))

The other wines came a big quicker. The only problem was there were too many to choose from.

1. Baumard 2003 Chaume de Quarts. Another Chenin Blanc from the same Loire producer but this one is semi-sweet and gets outrageous scores (WS 96). And since it was an obvious choice, it was also on the wine list, but fortunately it was the year earlier, the 2002.
2. I wanted a elegant fruity Australian Shiraz with some acidity that wasn't too big. The Langmeil 2004 Barossa Valley Floor was perfect. WS 94 for $20.
3. The Pinot was problematic as I didn't have anything really good that was old enough. (One of the greatest Pinot I've had was a 2002 Andrew Rich from Oregon a year ago). So I picked the WillaKenzie 2002 Willamette. WS 90 and $16 (?)
4. For the Zinfandel, I went for old. A super bottle I'd been saving probably too long. The Rosenblum 2003 Rockpile Ridge. The highest scoring Zin from WS until 2007.
   
5. I needed another white. Given the light nature of the food and their likely emphasis on vegetables (and one of us would get the vegetarian menu), I wanted an intense but not overly rich Chardonnay. The Devil's Lair 2005 Margeret River Chardonnay from the very remote southwest of Australia was ideal. WS 92, $17. I wish I had bought more of this.
6. A friend had given us the Eric Kent 2003 Sonoma Chardonnay. It looked like it could be very nice (subsequent years have had good scores), but at the last moment I decided against it, as it was an unknown. And a gift to us. Me no share gifts well.
   
7. A couple bottles of non-Bordeaux French reds. None of my other Rhones seemed right. I'd brought the L'Oratoire 2005 CdP to a couple of other nice dinners so that didn't seem special enough. And nothing else was older than 2004. I had a well rated Couly-Dutheil 2005 Chinon Loire Cab Franc, but I hadn't been that impressed with it twice, so that was out. Struck out here.
   
8. Bordeaux. I didn't have many choices as most were too young. But the Chateau Peygueraud 2000 Cuvee George looked promising. I got this WS 91, $20 in Apr 2006 and it that was "Best after 2007". Perfect.
   
9. Another option was the La Closerie Fourtet 2000 Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, the second wine of Clos Fourtet. This WS 90, $20 was "best after 2006". Also perfect.
10. I also debated another Bordeaux, the Siran 2000 Margaux but it was just too young still. And I only had one bottle which I wanted to try. Pass.
    
11. I debated if a big bruiser of a wine was appropriate and I remember that their wine list had Screaming Eagle a big Napa Cab and a handful of big Calif Syrahs. OK, the Rosenblum 2005 Kick Syrah should be a perfect fruit bomb, if I recall from a tasting at the winery. (WS 94, $28).
12. I also wanted a modern fresh fruity red with good balance and acidity. I had a Jim Barry 2005 Lodge Hill Shiraz recently (WS 90, $14 from the San Luis Obispo Costco) and it's got super fresh berry in a zingy body. Tasted 3 times. But as I hunted through the in-house bottles I found the 2001 which was the wine on which I fell in love with this winery's Lodge Hill (Shiraz) and Cover Drive (Cab). The 2001 would be even better with hopefully some spice and mint to go along with the mellowing fruit.
13. For port, I chose the Graham 1998 Malvedois Vintage Port, which I have not tried, but been storing for a while. Ready after 2000, this should be perfect.
14. But the Dow 1983 Vintage was excellent back in 1990's. I hoped this bottle was still good as I had some serious storage problems back then.
15. And I couldn't resist adding a modern fruity wine, since the 2005 Jim Barry was tossed aside. The Morgante 2006 Nero D'Avola. Here's what JS from WS said: "Aromas of crushed blackberry and asphalt persists in the mouth, with loads of fruit. A full-bodied, focused and delicious red, with a great finish. Such purity of fruit. This is a real Nero. One of the best values in Italy. Drink now." How could I not resist this WS 90, $20 bottle.

The only problem was I now had more than 12 bottles. I'd gone from maybe bringing one or two to having too many to fit in a case. So while in the shower I mentally did some last-drizzle juggling and got rid of the Jim Barry and the Graham port. OK, the lineup was set.

Here's a picture of the Chenin Blancs, Sauterne, Ports and Aussie Shirazes laid out before final selection.


And the remaining wines are shown here.


What wines did our party of 7 drink? How did everything work out? Was the sommelier pleased or displeased? Impressed or unimprssed? Which wines if any worked out well?
Continued...