We have been pretty busy this week so I’m going to write an abbreviated version of our Saturday night dinner. We had some interesting wines that I primarily want to mention. We started out with 2008 New Harbor Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (Marlborough) and a 2005 Domaine Chantermerle Chablis. The New Harbor is a crisp high acid white with the smell of drying hay and a slight grassiness in the flavor. The Chablis we have previously reviewed in our October White Burgundy tasting. Both went well with the appetizers of stuffed mushrooms, olives and a cheese ball Nancy made.
George brought over a wine he wanted us to try by itself so before dinner we opened his 1993 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Red Burgundy. Nancy and I have very limited experience with red Burgundies and we were excited to get a chance to try an older one. We thought it was a nice wine with a very light nose and some smoky and earthy flavors along with a little fruit. George said it was a little over the hill, though, and not as nice as the last time he had tried it. That’s too bad but I am sure we will have other chances to try nice Burgundies in the future.
For dinner we had a butternut squash soup followed by lamb stew with spaetzle and glazed carrots. With dinner we had a 1990 Franco Fiorina Barolo, a 2007 Hewitt Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2007 Catena Malbec. Both the Barolo and the Hewitt were excellent wines and went well with dinner. The Catena Malbec should not have been served with the other two wines. It is a much different style and would have gone well with the lamb by itself but can’t really follow the other two wines. I think the problem is the Barolo and Cabernet were big structured wines while the Malbec was not as big and tannic. The Catena is a very nice wine on it’s own, however.
The Barolo was a big wine but also felt very light and delicate in the mouth while the Hewitt is a big fruit in your face wine with a lot of structure. Both were very well made and as I said went well with the lamb. The Malbec had a real nice nose with dark fruit and rubber tire, dark ruby color and lots of nice dark fruit and tar in the flavor. It also was a nice wine but just didn’t follow the other two wines well. I guess the change of pace didn’t work.
Nancy made a pear tart for dessert and Alan brought a nice dessert wine from South Africa. A 2007 Groot Constantia Grand Constance. The color was like a sherry and had caramel apple on the nose. There was a sweet toasty flavor to go along with the caramel apple and enough acid to clean your palate. I recommend visiting their web site as they have a really interesting history. It finished with sweetness and toast. It went well with the pear tart and was a nice finish to a nice meal.
