RFN # 6, pub. 4/2/09

The Riggs Fulmer Newsletter
No. 6
April 2, 2009

The Newsletter is affiliated with no one but its author
Please respond to this email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line and you will be removed from the list.
Retailers and restaurants set pricing; think of the prices below as very educated guesswork- restaurant prices will likely be around double those listed.

Hallelujah! I’m a happy boy this afternoon, y’all, as my screen doors are open wide, the blinds can see, and that sweet patchwork sky seems to be trying ever so hard to be bluer than grey. If that battle is going the wrong way, and if my screen door is periodically ripped open by the gusts that channel through the buildings here, well, you gotta take the good with the bad. And when the bad ain’t all that bad, we’re doing pretty good, right?

OK, I’m a little sun-drunk, it’s true, and, even if no alcohol has crossed my lips, my cheeks are still hung with gin-blossoms, my eyes a bit too bright: because I have finally gained access to an openable file of the wines at the Burgundy luncheon I teased you about for a fortnight! Yes, momentous news, and just in time, because I have visited no tastings this week (my son Aidan and I did visit the IMAX theater to see Monsters vs. Aliens, though: quick review- story took a bit of a backseat to visuals. Occupational hazard with this new 3D wave, methinks…), and as such can deliver these notes to you in toto.

FREDERICK WILDMAN BURGUNDY LUNCHEON at CLARKLEWIS, hosted by ODOM

Finally I can spill the beans about this wonderful lunch. The day was even sunnier than today, and the company was just as bright. The room at clarklewis (www.clarklewispdx.com; 1001 SE Water Ave, PDX), is full of windows and light, with elegant, rough-hewn wood accents, and a wide, open kitchen. Kurt and crew down there are running a tight ship; it’s one of the best places in town to drink wine, and the fabulous, twining bridgescape beyond the building is always a great dessert upon leaving. You guys ready for some Burgundy? Imagine Hank Williams Jr. singing that if you didn’t get excited yet. Yeeee-haaaw!

Frederick Wildman offer one of the most well-rounded French books in the world. At a tasting thrown by them at the Art Museum in 2000, I rubbed shoulders with some of the finest names in French wine, from Jaboulet to Jolivet (where I famously gaffed it up with M. Jaboulet- maker of the Rhône’s most prestigious wine, Hermitage La Chapelle- delighted to be speaking to a famous winemaker in his native language, gushing to him that I would just love to visit his vineyards on the Loire some day… ahem…), and I have maintained a great respect for that company ever since. That their representative be the talented, lovely young Cynthia Challacombe- what a wonderful name!- only spices the stew. Holding court with the equally starry Kim McClaskey, the day unwound gently, with great eloquence. Sorry I can’t say the same about my notes, but here they are, at long last:

All wines are 2007 vintage unless otherwise noted. These wines are babies right now; although they are delicious now, every wine listed will continue to get better and better over the next few years. They are currently only hinting at what they will become.

Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur $80
All lean, racy limes and banana skins, with a marked peppery acidity. In the mouth it shows sexy acids up front, backed by an unobtrusive woody hit, and a long, cheesy terroir-driven finish.

Domaine Nicolas Potel Savigny-les-Beaune $57
This wine shows a sun-bright bouquet of zingy acids, wound round hopflowers and fresh key limes. The bright, floral acidity continues on the palate, lean and silky, with fresh cut grass leading to a super-clean finish.

Leflaive Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Champgain $92
Wonderful Leflaive juice, the nose is persistent and big, with rich aromas of green papaya and oro blanco graprfruit. In the mouth it’s all bustling acids wound around a tropical core, with a real richness perfectly set off with compelling minerality.

Darviot Perrin Meursault Clos de la Velle $74
So focused on the nose for its appellation, this wine shows laser-bright acids and raw almonds, zingy hops and fresh-cut lime. Its sweet, ripe fruit is a cascade of soft minerals and blueberry skins. Almost like a tank sample at this point, but seeming to burst at the seams.

Darviot Perrin Chassagne 1er Cru Les Blanchot Dessus $185
A special, rare treat, this 1er Cru Chassagne clearly shows its pedigree. The broad, tropical bouquet shows less overt acidity than the Meursault, but there is an erotic, animal backbone to the fruit. Managing to be light yet muscular, filled with class, all Meyer lemons tumbling into a finish with great cut. Check back in a decade.

Jacques Prieur Meursault Clos de Mazeray (Monopole) $90
The nose is still very linear and green, with white pepper minerals. On the palate, though, it’s already begun to preen, with rich flavors of red banana and papaya, utterly friendly with young, green tannins, and the beginnings of a real minerality to the finish.
A baby in swaddling at this point.

Nicolas Potel Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Marconnets $46
The nose is pretty, flowery, and bright, with a hit of allspice. The mouth is all about roses and cherries, with just a bit of tannic grip, nicely mineral. A real value for a premier cru wine.

Nicolas Potel Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Vignes Franches (Monopole) $55
The nose here is more untamed, spicy blueberry skins and flesh hung against warm citron zest. The mouth is elegant, bloody and structured, with a nice long finish, just a bit hot right now. Wonderful with roast chicken.

Nicolas Potel Pommard Les Vignots $53
The most interesting nose of these three, this one is herbal and grassy, while still all about the core of wild cherries and roses, seething beneath. In the mouth it’s a symphony of blood and fresh wild strawberries, with a wash of racy lime blossoms on the finish.

Nicolas Potel Chambolle-Musigny Vielles Vignes $60
A pretty, expansive nose of dried rosepetals, earth, and candies cherries, with green peppercorns on the end. The mouth is a gush of bright, focused wild cherries, with a framing cascade of sotto bosco and minerals, and great acids on the finish.

Nicolas Potel Vosne-Romanée Vielles Vignes $60
For me, there’s just something about Vosne-Romanée… This one has a bouquet of sweet wild cherries and mandarin zest, with notes of leather and cherry blossoms underneath. In the mouth it flaunts gorgeous, sexy minerals, and a racy spine, with a long finish redolent of truffles and herbs.

Nicolas Potel Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Petits Monts $92
Not as precocious as its antecedent in this list, the nose still sings with blueberry skins and white peppercorns, with “bubbly” acids and warm summer grass. The mouth is dark and rich, with sensuous layers of black cherry and fresh blackberry, and a finish of soft blueberry acids and mouthwatering acidity. Just a little baby right now.

(I must admit that these last three were somewhat obscured by the enticing aroma of the pumice brick from the kitchen… Alloro, the other side of the open kitchen! No worries, we’ll press on…)

Humbert Frères Bourgogne Rouge $30
This little charmer was so vibrant that it indeed cut right through the preceding wines, and, though of lesser quality, it is still a fabulous value, all bright cherries and clean, forest floor on the nose. The mouth showed these cherries, with nice minerality and great candied length.

Humbert Frères Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Poissenots $122
Somewhat shyer than the little Bourgogne Rouge, yet obviously of much finer pedigree. The delicate, floral nose is like a forest stroll, sunny and open, while on the palate it’s all about racy strawberries and hopflowers, with a finish so long it’s silly. Needs a decade, at least, to shine, though she’ll begin to open up in around seven years, I’d guess…

Pierre Damoy Chambertin Clos de Bèze Vielles Vignes $550
I didn’t even look at these prices when I tasted these wines, but if the gush of my notes on this one (“pumice be damned!” scrawled below them) is any indication, I was suitably impressed even so. The nose showed immense depth of blackberry cloak, rich and intense, a riot of flavors that were nonetheless perfectly integrated. Completely sexy, utterly seductive. In the mouth it shows its youth still, while still bursting with sweet, ultra-deft Pinot fruit, with a seemingly endless cascade of soft minerality and tannins on the finish. Forget about it for 15 years, at least.

All right, friends, if not better late than never, it’s at least the soonest I could get it to you. I’ll have interesting anecdotes next week for you all about our “tour” of rural Oregon (with a rock and roll band, no less) happening this weekend. Also look for the first installment of Cuisine of the Month, and some tremendous value picks to ring in Primavera!

Always a pleasure, y’all! See you next week; have a safe and happy weekend.