A Night Among Friends
August 31, 2022
Daniel Johnnes
Every so often, I have dinner with a couple of old friends and work colleagues. We each bring a bottle or two of wine. It goes without saying, the idea is to bring something special for this semi annual reunion.
This time we went to CheLi, a great Shanghi cuisine restaurant on St Marks Place.
The wine assignments were agreed upon: that David would bring a Rhone wine, Tim another Rhone and me, a Burgundy. The pressure was on to bring something great.
As we all know, wine has a way of showing differently depending on the temperature, place, occasion, time of day and other intangibles. This day everything was aligned, as everyone’s wine performed even better than expected.
We started with an extra surprise wine I brought as an aperitif. Chartogne Taillet Les Couarres 2010. Talk about setting the tone! With a blend of about 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, the wine blasted out of the glass with sweet fruit aromas and yeasty accents. Rich yet refreshing, it was a perfect centerpiece while waiting for David to arrive.
After a hefty glass for each of us and saving the rest for later in the evening, David was anxious to taste my Roumier Bonnes-Mares 2008. As was I. David doesn’t often display a lot of emotion but with a quick sniff he effusively let out a, “oh wow, that’s great” And, it was. An example of a 2008 shaking off its shackles and relaxing around a core of dense dark fruit. I was so happy since many 2008’s still hide behind a wall of tannin but this was as seductive as could be hoped for from a wine just inching it’s way into secondary aromas of smoke, spice, earth and ripe black fruit.
We had to restrain ourselves from drinking the Roumier too quickly with the duck, as waiting in the wings was a Marcel Juge Cornas 2015. An extra special bottle, not only because of how the wine tasted but also its historic significance, since 2015 was Juge’s last vintage. Marcel Juge, a contemporary of Raymond Trollat, Marius Gentaz and Noel Verset, was one of the “old school” Rhone producers whose soulful wines represented a different time. A time when the wines were whole cluster, old barrels, demi-muids or foudre and sold at local wine fairs or in bulk to restaurants or negociants. Not so any more!
The wine was deep in color, inky black with purple highlights, a nose of dried flowers, spice, damp earth, cardamom and black olives. It was dense on the palate yet surprisingly pure, fresh and silky. No signs of rusticity or gaminess. Truly a wine for the ages and one I will most likely never see again. Quite emotional in that sense.
Lastly was another iconic wine from a historic figure of Châteauneuf du Pape, Henri Bonneau Les Celestins 2006. Châteauneuf can at times show its sunny side with high alcohol and rough tannins but this wine was already developing secondary aromas of leather, game and mulled black berries. For a Pinot lover as I am, I was remarkably seduced by its balance, freshness and well integrated power and superb length. Henri Bonneau was a true master of “lesser” vintages and this one help up his reputation with pizazz.
A true night among friends!
