Olga Rauffault, Chinon, 1982.Every few months Brian Kaliel, the sommelier at Melisse, stops by the Veritas Warehouse (just 6 floors up from Palate Restaurant in Glendale, and we sort through all the old and rare forgotten bottles at the back of the warehouse. We found 4 bottles of this wine. You know how I LOVE Chinon, so does Brian, so I was very generous, let him have 3 and I took one for myself.
I wrapped it up and put it under the tree for Peter and I to drink during the holidays. I wasn't sure how it was going to be, the one thing it had going for it was that it had been stored, unmoved, at 55 degrees in a humidity controlled warehouse.
I'm happy to report that it was totally delectable! Lip-smacking good. Brian had the same experience. It had lots of red fruit still, but also secondary characteristics - a little nutty with dried herbs - super yummy. Tannins were silky and it went down very nicely with Hoppin' John, the special southern black eyed pea recipe that's supposed to bring good luck for the New Year.
Stop by Melisse and get one of the few remaining bottles of this wine. It's pretty reasonably priced, at around $125 - well worth every penny!!
1 comment:
Hey Amy,
This wine looks terrific. It's always awesome to open old bottles of wine (your Chinon was one year older than I am!). I had a Loire Valley Chenin Blanc from '83, and I'm eyeing a Gigondas from '89.
Cab Franc with Hoppin' John? That sounds delicious. I personally like pairing Cab Franc with eggs soft-scrambled with goat cheese over toast--if you're ever into drinking wine with (a late) breakfast.
Joon S.
http://vinicultured.com
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