Peaches in
deconstruction, or how to speak well in public.
First of all, I would like to say there
are very great wines, so excellent and magical that they translate into the
nightmare of any chef, because beyond getting a good pairing or not, in his
metaphorical fight with wine, the dishes have all of to lose. Unless you drink
those wines in L’Escaleta; It's not that they were the size, it's that
it was a memorable dinner.
Take a peach, think of its bone, its pulp and its skin and there are the three grapes of champagne. Whenever they are peaches of the “harvest” of Mr. Xavier Monclús, a speaker of such caliber that I think he could sell the cathedral of Burgos to a Taliban at the time of having a coffee, convincing him about the progress of the benefits of Catholicism.
This magnificent professional gave us a superb Krug tasting the other night, with such fluency in his dissertation that I wonder if passion can be studied by heart, or if memory can play tricks on passion.
I think how dangerous it is to not take sides in things, because taking this position to the extreme can become pure lack of judgment, like taking too much position on something. It is not a criticism, it is simply “my point."
The boyfriend of Pinot Noir defends this variety for Champagne over others and did not tell us a single thing with which I disagree: its structure and complexity, its depth and winey character, etcetera ... I only disagree that everything has to be better than the extreme finesse that can be reached with a chardonnay. The fact that a grape is very complicated and the other technically "easy", from the point of view of a winemaker, does not mean that this translates into the enjoyment of a wine. The technical difficulty does not have to have a directly proportional translation in the tasting and sensations that the wine brings us later. A "bio/organic" wine is not necessarily better than a "normal" wine, in many cases it is worse and when we get “weird things” in the wine, the producer usually relies on the classic phrase: that is the terroir (well if they are bad things, maybe it is a mediocre terroir, because if it is a good terroir…do we have a mediocre winemaker?).
Krug is bought by LVMH and I think it is logical a certain cushion, for fear that they want to turn it into a snob champagne and, even worse, lower the quality to make it more “commercial”. I think there is no reason for the alarm and that we may have to suffer new forms of marketing (which I hope not, I am horrified to imagine Krug disguised as "Moet glamor"), or one day they sell us in a tasting and in unison some good Krug with the last and most exclusive bags of Vuitton (better go without a partner to the tastings, just in case). Nonsense aside, Krug is still an impressive winery with extraordinary wines, that is, Krug is probably still the best champagne cellar and one of the best wineries in the world, included in a hypothetical list of "top ten" globally.
Our spectacular friend Xavier Monclús tells us before we begin that he has no record that a Krug tasting of the level that we will enjoy ever and anywhere in the world has been carried out. Not bad at all, huh? Although I am lazy about this record, but I recognize that I am privileged to the extreme that sometimes I have regrets and everything. After this type of tasting, we should go directly to the police station and be stopped in the dungeons for a couple of days, to compensate a little.
The tasting was magnificent and happened to relate it:
Grande Cuvée
Vintage 96 and 88
Rosé
Mesnil 96 and 90
Collection 85
D’Ambonnay 95
Eight bottles of wine immensely and masterfully paired with sausages, oyster, razor, mullet, foie and cheese that were at a level of three stars (yes, Michelin).
But of course, you cannot join Juan Valencia (Cuvée 3000), Blas Cerón (Alhama Vinoteca), Manuela Romerallo (La Sucursal), Alberto Redrado (L'Escaleta) or myself, among other wine obsesses and pretend that the thing, however superb, ends there.
At the table, Juan Valencia broke the ice with an Olivier Leflaive Montrachet 96, because he was interested in pointing out some things about that vintage and its parallels in Champagne and Burgundy.
Provocation more than enough for Blas to continue with a Burklin Wolf Kincherstuck 98, with no other argument than the "only" possible, because it is great. And since Krug's Rosé had misplaced us a lot, he wanted to ask for another one from Dom Perignón Rosé 96, to contrast arguments with “mister Krug”.
That last Champagne causes the departure, at Xavier's request, of an Echezeaux of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 99. He loves the Pinot Noir and its effluviums.
I join the orgy with another Romanée-Conti, a St Vivant also 99. As an excuse I say that I follow the steps to this terroir, which in the case of this winery is suffering great advances in the last decade, but the reality is that the wine is so good that I wanted to drink it out of pure lust.
Manuela warms up and gives us a Vieux Chateau Certan 90. To change the air and enjoy a Pomerol at its point, with merlot base and rest of cabernet franc and a little sauvignon. The wine was superb.
Don LVMH, fighter of the ring in young times, is already rebellious with a superbe Amarone, Quintarelli 93 who I really wanted a long time ago. It would be telepathy, who knows. At this point, the two dried punches in the face that those tannins and sugars gave us came very well to finish twinning us. Everyone was already hugging everyone, you know, the "emotion of wine."
A Billecart Clos St Hilaire 96 refreshes us again after the Amarone. Think about it for a moment, refresh us with a pinot noir. It is Krug night and it is not time to talk about Billecart, they are very different concepts, but think about it.
Five o'clock in the morning, it's okay, gentlemen. Some, like Juan, fall asleep from being late. Emotional goodbyes, I take my backpack and Alberto tells me: stand there, drop that backpack immediately.
Alberto is working all the time, he waits for his moment snorting which bison and when we are the usual ones, an impressive Vogue Musigny 2005 appears, still hard, but the mother who bore him!
Closure of gold, Juan Valencia taking race from where he could (he was dying of sleep but enduring with two balls) asks to finish an "infusion".
Yes, a 2001 Rousseau Chambertin, with that scrape, that subtle and "infused" herbaceous touch in the wine, no vegetable greenery. It would be for being the last one, but I enjoyed that wine as a beast, it was really extraordinary and to say this at six in the morning, dead of sleep and after this festival, I guess it only emphasizes what I say about wine ... excellent for the fourth corners.
Do you understand now about surrendering at the police station?
It was not enough for us to have enjoyed Krug Grande Cuvée, which alone is a miracle of wine, fresh, structured, complex, with the Krug style well marked but unique in each expedition, almost in each bottle. A Vintage 96 too young yet, but that is already allowed to drink with great pleasure, a lot of life ahead and freshness to freeze a desert, but measure, nothing of lemon juices. A strange Rosé and still closed, but with personality on all four sides, different and unique. A Vintage 88 that seems to rejuvenate instead of aging, very complex, in fullness, almost mystical and in turn orgasmic. A 96 Mesnil that I tried waiting for my tears to skip, not for the emotion but for the acidity, which did not happen, although it is true that it was the youngest of the night and the least appropriate to drink now, far from integrating yet but excellent. This vintage is undoubtedly “one of the century”, but you have to be patient, especially with blanc de blancs. An unbeatable 90 Mesnil (except for the same but 88, in my opinion) and showing that the Chardonnay, in the hands of a winery like Krug, can take you directly to heaven. A Collection 85 served in two glasses, as the two bottles were different, one more evolved than the other; for me both with the same base and support, but one fresher and one more “accentuated”. A spicy wine which vermouth, according to Xavier. And finally, the star of the night, the recently released Clos D’Ambonnay 95, blanc de noirs with thirteen years of upbringing, obscene price (for elite soccer players), still young but exquisite. Someone said: Do you know a Pinot Noir champagne better than this? I agree, insufferable prices aside, it was impressive already and it will improve a lot I guess, although be careful to think that you will have a life of three decades.
Houston, we have a problem. After nights like this, what to drink, what to uncork? Be careful what you wish for, it could come true. I already live it in my flesh, this blessed-damn obsession will lead me to madness and insolvency.
Pd: It's nice to taste with women as beautiful and intelligent as those who accompanied us that night. With Krug it couldn't be less. Thanks to everyone, including the peaches.
Salvador Lopez
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