IMPROMPTU CASSOULET NIGHT - The Anvil Club, East Dundee, IL (9/21/2011)

Received an email from the restaurant listing the prix fixe special for the week: mussels marinara, BLT salad and cassoulet and immediately sent out a note to our friends Rich & Dana, who are usually available for last minute dinners. They happened to be leaving for the south of France in just over a week, so an impromptu dinner of moules & cassoulet would be a great warm up. Our friends happened to have the two Chateauneufs standing up, so we all ordered the prix fixe and enjoyed the evening. The CDPs were fantastic, and of course, paired perfectly with the cassoulet.

• N.V. Maurice Vesselle Champagne Grand Cru Brut Rosé - France, Champagne, Bouzy, Champagne
  Soft copper color. Lovely berry, mineral and rose petal qualities. Medium coarse bead with nice underlying acidity and a nice finish. (90 pts.)
  
• 2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  Aromas of mineral, lanolin and apple. Full-bodied, with waxy apple flavors and a minerally quality on the finish. Still seems very young and brutish. (90 pts.)
  
• 2000 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Relatively deep garnet color, lightening toward the meniscus. Notes of kirsch, anise, plums and red berry fruit. Well-balanced, with terrific red fruit, herb and garrigue qualities with a long finish. Lovely, and in a terrific spot right now. Drank alongside the 2000 Janasse Chaupin. Of the two, this was the more open, ready to drink...the Chaupin, while clearly the better wine, is still a few years from ready. (93 pts.)
  
• 2000 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Dark color. Aromas of black fruit, anise and garrigue. Balanced, with licorice, black fruit and herb qualities on the palate. Still has a bit of tannin to integrate, but there's a lot of lovely fruit. Opened nicely in the glass, but lacks a little complexity at this stage. Showing some of the firmness and power of its youthfulness. I would expect this to add a couple of points worth of pleasure at peak..93 now, 95+ potential. (93 pts.)
  

Thanks to Rich & Dana for bringing the CDPs and joining us for a nice evening.
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AllRed, thanks for the notes on the 2000 Chaupin. I was thinking about opening one soon.

I'm a big believer in the "there's no good wines, only good bottles" - so based on this bottle I'd hold for another year or two. If I had 4+ bottles, I'd open one to see how they're doing. It's just a matter of how your stock is holding up. But damn it'll be good.

On a separate note, we had our monthly blind tasting tonight, and Rich, who opened the CDPs, tonight brought the 1991 Dominus and 1991 Hillside Select. Damn I'm a lucky guy.

NV Maurice Vesselle Champagne Grand Cru Brut Rosé - France, Champagne, Bouzy, Champagne (11/17/2012)
Pinkish ruby color. Note of berries, citrus, minerals and yeast. Nice texture, with flavors of strawberry and red fruit, stone and yeast. Good acidity and a nice finish. (90 pts.)

2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (11/17/2012)
Opened with the salads and followed over the rest of the evening. Deep color. Notes of pineapple, beeswax and lanolin, and honeyed orchard fruit. Full-bodied, with honeyed white fruit, lanolin, and paraffin flavors. Long finish. Drink now-2017. (93 pts.)

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