TN:Classic Wines Club Annual Dinner@Wine Underground 7/7-08

[Gustav]

The Classic Wines Club held their annual dinner last Monday and what a dinner it was! All courses were spot on, my favorite being the slow roasted lamb which was out of this world! The dinner was held at Wine Underground (Pirie St. ,Adelaide CBD), which has literally risen from the ashes after a tragic bomb incident two years ago. They did a really good job with the food and provided very good service. Many thanks to the organizers for an excellent dinner with fantastic wines!


Sparkling on arrival:
Laurent Perrier Brut NV
OK champ. Fresh and lively with nice mousse.

Course 1
Scallop tartare with avocado, celery jelly and salmon pearls
2001 Gitton Pere et Fils Sancerre Les Belles Dames
Nose of turpentine and organic solvents. Judging by the nose this wine is severely oxidized. The palate is better, showing a nice nuttiness (also a sign of oxidation I believe) along with good structure. I got to smell the second this wine from another bottle and it still showed oxidation, but less than the one I had in my glass.

2002 Serge Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume
In contrast to the Pere et Fils this Sauv. Blanc had an excellent nose dominated by passion fruit and green gooseberries. The palate gave similar associations and showed great harmony and length. Excellent! This wine went very well with the food. Good choice!

Course 2
Pheasant pie with chantrelles and broad beans
1994 Dominique Laurent Chambertin Clos de Beze
Starts of really stinky burnt motor oil, but after 15 minutes in the glass this blows off and reveals BBQ smoke, tar with a minerally edge. The palate is interesting with smoky notes and dark fruit. Reveals more and more complexity as it sits in the glass. The structure is excellent and the wine is smooth with a long finish.

1997 Domaine Francois Lamarche Echezeaux
A great contrast to the Laurent showing aromas of dried fig, spice, caramel and cherries. The same complexity is found on the palate along with perfect structure and great length. An outstanding wine I'd love to drink again and also the perfect match with the pheasant pie.

Course 3
Slow cooked lamb breast with Boulangère potatoes and roast garlic
1995 Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis Cote-Rotie
According to sources on the web, this Guigal is his best QPR (can one be talking about QPR when it costs >$200 per bottle??). 100% Syrah/Shiraz. Nose of cherries, liquorish and spice. The palate is dominated by spiciness, pepper in particular. Fantastic mouth feel and balance. Very nice fine grained tannins and looong finish. A perfect match with the lamb (which also was my COTN).

1997 Yarra Yering Dry Red No.2
Shiraz/Viognier blend. The nose is powerful and a bit overly “sweet” giving aromas of fried capsicum and sweet roasted coffee. The palate is smooth, but a bit too mellow compared to the Guigal. The tannins have faded too much IMO. A decent wine, but it just didn't do it for me.

Course 4
Hot pear tart with bay leaf infused crème patisserie
1971 Yalumba Show Reserve Sauternes
Dark amber in colour. The nose could easily be mistaken for a port with lots of nuttiness and rancio characters. Same goes for flavours. No fruit left in this wine. Not undrinkable, but waaaay past its peak (unless it was a “bad cork” victim).

1975 Chateau Rayne Vigneau 1er Cru Sauternes
Golden in colur. Stunning nose of fresh lychees and characteristic botrytis aromas. The palate is still quite fruit driven with rich honey flavours. Not overly sweet, just perfectly balanced. The wine coats every tastebud and slowly releases its flavours giving it a finish that lasts and lasts (until I take the first sip of my coffee). Outstanding and WOTN for me. Must still have several years ahead of it.

cheers,

[n4sir]

Thanks for the notes Gustav. I was sorry to have missed this one - I had a suspicion pretty early on that I wouldn't be able to make it because of work commitments, and then I came down with the flu so it turned out I wouldn't have gone anyway.

It's disappointing though to read a few dud bottles slipped through the cracks again - I guess when some of the wines are rare and irreplaceable it can't be helped, but I thought they would make sure all of the wines presented for their annual dinner were sound and replace any duds. IMHO it's not quite good enough.

Cheers,
Ian

[Bert Werden]

I had lunch at this establishment shortly after re-opening. I must admit, I wasn't expecting much but what followed was a brilliant experience which lasted many more hours than anticipated.

Have to check it out again soon.