LeDomduVin: Back in action with a Quatuor

Back in action with a Quatuor

It has been a few weeks since I posted my last post. So now I have to catch up on sharing with you some of the bottles I opened these past few weeks, starting with this quatuor. 

Dom Perignon Plenitude 2 (P2) Vintage 2004

I promised myself I would write an article about Dom Perignon. I started but never finished it, yet tasting the P2 2004 reminded me why I should finish it. The regular Dom Perignon is usually pretty good, depending on the vintage, but overall, it is persistently enjoyable.  However, P2 (Plenitude 2) is a distinct step above the regular Dom Perignon. Rich, generous, unctuous, complex, and long-lasting, it has become one of my favorite Champagnes lately.  While it may not be as outstanding as the 2002 vintage, it could benefit from a touch more freshness to elevate it further.  Still, I love it.     

Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux 2018

I must admit, I prefer the reds from Chateaux Margaux. Pavillon Blanc is usually good in its youth. A year or two after bottling, past that period, it becomes disjointed (in my opinion and to my palate).  So, I selected this bottle for that dinner with hesitation. Mostly to confirm my apprehension, to be frank. And I was right, it showed very poorly.  As one colleague said that night: "It tastes like diluted lemon juice with weird acidity and a bitter end!" I couldn't have described it better. I even decided not to pour it that night and poured the bottle of Domaine Leflaive instead.      

Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2017

I'm very fond of and sentimentally attached to Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles, as it was the first bottle of white burgundy I opened when I started working as a young Sommelier in London in 1997. Coming from Bordeaux, most of the bottles of white wines I had opened previously while working in restaurants in Bordeaux were mostly Bordeaux whites, not Burgundy. Even when I worked in Alsace and the Loire Valley, or even Paris, I never really had the opportunity to open or taste a white burgundy. It was only when I moved to London that I faced this opportunity. 

In 1997, I worked at Monte's Club on Sloan Street with two of my mentors, Yves Sauboua and Tim McLaughlin-Green, who taught me a lot during our years together. The wine list was filled with gems, notorious producers, and carefully selected bottles amongst the best from their respective appellations. 

Domaine Leflaive is unquestionably one of the best producers in the Puligny-Montrachet area. One of the members was having lunch in the club's restaurant (operated by Alain Ducasse team at the time) and ordered a bottle. It was a 1992 vintage, if I remember well. My Head Sommelier, Tim, asked me to get it from the cellar. I remember the excitement and the awe it procured me.       

I presented the bottle to the host and his guests, opened it before them, poured myself a little in a glass to taste it and ensure its quality, and then decanted it before serving it. The sensations and emotions that went through my body while tasting it were incredible.  I had never felt that way tasting a white wine.  Smooth, generous, ample, layered, complex, yet fresh, graceful, and elegant, with a lot of minerality. Almost a sense of purity and generosity with that glycerine effect coating the palate. Finely toasted and buttery, with apple and yellow stone fruits, white flowers, and stony minerality, magnificently expanding from the refreshing attack to the lingering seamless finish. What a wine! It was almost magical for a young Sommelier like me to experience such a great white Burgundy for the first time.    

27 years later, enjoyable and joyful images of this memory still come to mind whenever I open a bottle of this delectable wine. Although not the best vintage I ever tasted, the 2017 was still excellent and pleased the guests that night. As I often said, Domaine Leflaive never makes bad wines, even in lesser vintages!        

Olivier Bernstein Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru 2016

I'm not too familiar with Olivier Bernstein wines. I bought a few of his wines in the last 3 years and like them very much. Olivier Bernstein only crafts wines from old vines between 40, 60, and even 80 years of age, yielding wines of outstanding quality resulting from careful plot selection, meticulous work in the vineyards, avoiding chemical treatments, adhering to "lutte raisonnée" (or reasoned intervention) only when necessary, minimizing unnecessary practices in the vineyards and the cellar. Although acting as a Negociant, Olivier and his team take most responsibilities in the vineyards and at the cellar, attentive to the needs at every step of the winemaking procedure, from the vine to the finished bottle.  And this Mazis-Chambertin is an excellent example of Olivier's talent and dedication to great winemaking.  Loved it.  

Cheers! Santé! 

Dom 

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