The Stockbroker's Vintage 1990 Wine Lunch.

The Stockbroker called a few days ago for a wine lunch with Bernd and J-Lab. It was to be another one of his "don't-bring-any-wine,-I'll-take-care-of-it" lunches, as he has to cull his considerable collection every so often. Hey, I'm easy, but there seems to be so many of them lately. I, naturally, agreed, though - lunch out with friends is always fun albeit with my vinous wings clipped.

We all met at old reliable Je Suis Gourmand for Marc's hearty, honest real French cuisine and the restaurant's relaxed, comfortable (and comforting) atmosphere. All wines except one were the Stockbroker's. J-Lab got to open his bottle since only he brought dessert wine.

To it, then!

As a welcome drink and to prepare our palates:

1990 Perrier-Jouët Champagne Brut Cuvée Belle Epoque (Epernay, Champagne) - A blast from the past for me. I used to buy tons of this same vintage (as well as the 1989) from Säntis when it was only P700 per bottle back in the mid-to-late '90s. J-Lab said he used to get it for slightly under P700 in Greenhills (thus, we date ourselves). Not having had the '90 for many years, this chance to revisit it was a superb treat.

The first bottle (same bottling but from 1985) was dead, no pressure in the bottle, no bubbles when poured, pure over-oxidation. Discarded. The second bottle exhibited pressure and immediately displayed a sparse yet exquisitely delicate mousse. Bernd, a confirmed Champagne aficionado (together with J-Lab) assured us that it would come around with more mousse by the second pour, and, indeed it did.

Yes, I know, the picture isn't of a proper flute, we just tested it with this glass and switched to flutes afterwards.

By the second pour, the bubbly gained a bit of rounded weight mid-palate and presented surface ripe, faintly honeyed white stone-fruit with nuances of nutty beurre noisette. There is a biscuity, toasty-creaminess to it, increasing towards the back, magnified further by letting a bit of air in and "gargling". A mild oxidative over-all theme lends a touch of complexity, nostalgia, emphasizes the weight and toasty-creaminess (especially towards the back). A whisper of lemon custard joins in at the finish. Very nice. Admirable balance, breadth and structure at this late stage.

Loved it then when it was a lean and bright-eyed youth, love it now as a mature and worldly-wise adult.

With a delectable Cream of Chantrelles Soup with a dollop of chèvre (I finished off half of it before remembering to take a picture)...

...and Moules de Bouchot avec frites:

1990 Champagne Deutz Brut (Aÿ, Champagne) - This looks and smells like a blanc de blancs (i.e., 100% chardonnay) but doesn't taste like one to me - this is not a bad thing at all - on the contrary, though I do appreciate blanc de blancs, I prefer champagnes with the added heft and roundness of pinot noir.

This comparatively fresher, purer in fruit, more linear, better-focused wine's flavors were dominated by crisp green apples, with citrus highlights and subtle grapefruit and white mineral notes. Lesser in weight than and not as luxurious or layered in the mouth as the previous bubbly, this possessed a tauter, lither, more athletic body and more straightforward personality.

Underneath all this, there was an ever-so-faint nuance of milk-chocolatiness that suggests to me a healthy blend of pinot noir. I could very well be wrong, but there it is. It is always specially entertaining and stimulating to be able to compare two wines from the same appellation and vintage.

The Deutz's better focus, tighter and leaner body, as well as apparent minerally notes made it a better pairing with the moules in my opinion. Marc, who hails from Champagne (did I hear right that he's actually from the same hometown as Deutz?), stopped by to see how we were doing and was convinced to have a quick glass with us.

With our main courses (grilled rack of lamb for me):

1990 Château Clerc Milon (Pauillac) - Ripe, rounded mildly earthy dark fruit, cassis, fig, graphite and (readily apparent though well-integrated) oak/vanilla base with a touch of licorice toward the back. Sweetish cedar and red berries more apparent on the surface subtly blending downwards. Slightly over medium-bodied, and lush on the palate with decent length.

Not a "blockbuster" in style like its bombastic 1st growth cousin, Mouton Rothschild, but, then, it needn't be. Call me whimsical, but it seems more like Lafite Rothschild on the surface and more like Mouton Rothschild underneath. I, personally, prefer the less bombastic style this wine partakes of. In blind horizontal (i.e., same year, different producers) tastings, I almost always rate Mouton Rothschild in the middle tier or below ("almost" because I ranked it 1st place in a recent 1996 first growth blind tasting).

In any event, I greatly enjoyed this wine with my grilled rack of lamb - the smokiness of the chops running with the graphite notes while the sweetish-savory ripe fig and ripe red berry notes lent a nice foil to the earthy meatiness.

The Stockbroker also opened a bottle from Cahors - a wine region in southwest France where the malbec grape (there called "auxerrois") rules. It was a 1990 Château du Cayrou - from a producer authorities consider to be one of the best in the region. I was mouthing off (as usual) that these typically robust, tannic and manly wines are the sort that grow hair on one's chest.

As if to spite me, though, the wine didn't deliver as I described. Flat in the mouth, virtually no fruit, yet, there was no souring/vinegary taste or odor at all, and no mustiness/moldiness of old cardboard or over-oxidation notes. It did have slight odors suggestive of fish and tin though. All these considered, I'm calling it as slightly TCA-tainted (i.e., "corked") .

The bottle was set aside and we moved on to J-Lab's dessert wine....

2006 Dr. Loosen Riesling Beerenauslese (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) - Medium-sweet with healthy balancing acidity that rejuventated my palate. Fresh, bright, friendly notes of cling peach, orange rind, honeysuckle, white mineral and a honeyed, vaguely melony/grapey theme that reminded me a lot of a sweet muscat-based dessert wine from Mondavi that I tried there in May 2006 - go figure. This was much better though.

Playfully entertaining wine with a lot of charm. Very easy to drink. Honest, no pretenses to contemplative depth or complexity - it does its job as a dessert wine, and plenty well enough. The botrytis tang/spice is there, but very delicate. Nicely crafted wine.

Fun lunch. Thanks guys!