Category Archives: Cote Rotie

Fall NJ Trip

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Moby and I took a half day Friday to take a trip down to visit Aunt, Uncle, and Cousingrape last weekend. We ate great food and drank fantastic wine making a perfect weekend. We also stopped by wine library and stocked up on Champagne and Cotes du Rhone. Here’s the wine lineup along with a few blurry pictures in here and some wonderful hand modeling by Auntgrape and Mobygrape:

2007 Domaine Bruno Clain Corton-Charlemagne

2007 Domaine Bruno Clain Corton Charlemagne

NV Albert Boxler Cremant

Albert Boxler Cremant

2010 Domaine Blain Gagnard Chassange-Montrachet

2010 Chassange-Montrachet Domaine Blain-Gagnard

1988 Chapoutier Cote Rotie

88 Chapoutier Cote Rotie

1990 Campo Delle Piane Boca

90 Campo Delle Piane Boca

1989 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron

89 Pichon

1990 Chateau Leoville Barton

90 Chateau Leaoville Barton

For me the wine of the night was hands down the 1989 Pichon. With the wine market the way it is Moby and I do not have the luxury of drinking mature Bordeaux regularly but thanks to Unclegrape it’s a special treat every so often. The tannis had melted away leaving structured and delicious fruit. From nose to finish you get a complete wine experience, just outstanding. I’ve developed a taste for younger Bordeaux but honestly it’s not even close…if you have the will power age your Bordeaux. Be patient, it’s worth it. Moby really enjoyed the Cremant as well. Light, refreshing, not as big as a Champagne it’s a great aperitif. We’ll definitely be having more Cremant in the future.

You may have noticed the oddball Nebbiolo in our otherwise French theme. I found this bottle at Vin Bin recently and brought it along. We enjoyed it quite a bit and will be purchasing a few more bottles. It wasn’t a fair fight vs. the 89 Pichon however a delicious mature Nebbiolo at $65 is a steal.

Plate of the Trip:

foie gras NJ

Foie Gras from Le Rendez-Vous Bistro. Wow. Perfectly cooked, creamy, melt in your mouth liver with a balsamic reduction and carmelized apple. There’s a strong possibility this was the best plate I’ve had all year.

Purchase of the Trip:

corkatoo

Completely unnecessary yet completely necessary at the same time. Aunt and Unclegrape have two parrots so this was the perfect purchase. Does it work? Who cares…It’s a Corkatoo and it’s hilarious.

2010 Louis Barruol Cote Rotie Les Roses

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2010 Les Roses Cote Rotie 2IMAG0506

A Wine Library treat recommended by Ian for $60. I love French Syrah so I’ve been looking forward to this bottle for a while:

colonelgrape: 92. Barnyard (a la 95 Chateau de Beaucastel), ash, wood, cassis, roasted fruit, roasted meat, hint of coffee on the nose. Dark, seductive purple and black color. A very young Cote Rotie. Solid tannins due to it’s age but with an hour of aeration it opened up a bit but still tight. Perfect with grilled lamb chops, fatty beef or game. No brett though despite the interesting nose. A lovely long finish. Definitely a wine drinkers wine. The plethora of flavors will fall into the structure with age, I’d love to taste this again in 5-7 years.

MobyGrape: 86. All right so initially I had some fantastic brie-like cheese with this wine and it just didn’t work.  The cheese had a little kick to it, so did the wine, and together they just didn’t play well together.  It was a totally different story with lamb chops however.  The meat did its thing, the wine did its own, and everyone was happy.  It smelled pretty farty at first, eventually that turned into a subtle dirty odor, and the Colonel was spot on when he identified the taste as “barnyard”.  As the night went on and without any fat from the lamb the wine got a little more sour but was balanced enough to not be annoying.  Be warned – This is not a wine to drink if you’re not into wine.  And by into wine I don’t mean the occasional foray into Boone’s Farm (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but you’ll be miserable wondering why you’re drinking a sour fart.  If you’re a wine person though, you’ll probably enjoy this.