I hosted a wine dinner recently pairing wines with food that I prepared. The wines were drank with food except the Raventos as an aperitif and the Sauternes which I served before dessert. Everything turned out as well as I could have hoped and it was a wonderful event.
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**2021 Raventós i Blanc ‘de Nit’ Sparkling Rosé ($25)**
Floral, raspberry, green apple, high acidity, very dry finish. Wish this had more dosage, but I still enjoy this wine and the blanc de blancs from Raventos.
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**Doyard ‘Vendémiaire’ Blanc de Blancs 1er Cru Champagne ($55)**
Toasty, creamy, white flowers, lemon tart, green apple, hazelnut, minerally. Absolutely delicious and a steal for the price. Acidity is medium-high, not searing like some young blanc de blancs champagne can be. Base vintage was 2019. Almost 4 years on lees.
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**2022 Francois Villard ‘Les Terrasses du Palat’ Condrieu ($60)**
What a nose! Unbelievable perfume. Honeysuckle, bergamot, orange blossom. Lemon, apricot, minerally, vanilla and a beautiful touch of bitterness on the palate. Not flabby at all. If this is what Viognier can do, I’m all for it. I like this a lot more than the Guigal Condrieu I tried.
Honeycomb, beeswax, pear, flint. The nose eventually just smelled exactly like some raw honey. Had that metallic, wild character of honey. Barely off-dry on the palate, the sugar just lifts the mid-palate, but the wine still finishes dry. Delicious wine as well, just hard to follow that super expressive Condrieu. Have more of these in the cellar and excited to follow their evolution.
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**2022 Max Ferd. Richter Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Spӓtlese ($34)**
Have had this wine before. Notes are very similar to before. Raspberry, apricot, honey, slate, elderflower. Residual sugar beautifully balanced with high acidity. If you are scared of wine with residual sugar, this and the Vouvray and perfect examples of why the wines can be so enchanting.
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**2005 Chateau Guiraud Sauternes ($60)**
This wine was the biggest disappointment of the night. Vanilla, caramel, mushroom, fig, honey, mango. The wine just tasted too alcoholic despite its listed 13.5%. I’m not sure if it’s because it came after the Riesling, but this wine just felt flabby, alcoholic and rather clumsy.
JJxiv15
I’m a simple man. I see Condrieu, Vouvray, and Sauternes, and I click upvote.
boozeblock205
RAVENTOS. And RICHTER!!!
calinet6
Love that this is all whites! Refreshing! (Literally and figuratively)
4 Comments
I hosted a wine dinner recently pairing wines with food that I prepared. The wines were drank with food except the Raventos as an aperitif and the Sauternes which I served before dessert. Everything turned out as well as I could have hoped and it was a wonderful event.
–
**2021 Raventós i Blanc ‘de Nit’ Sparkling Rosé ($25)**
Floral, raspberry, green apple, high acidity, very dry finish. Wish this had more dosage, but I still enjoy this wine and the blanc de blancs from Raventos.
–
**Doyard ‘Vendémiaire’ Blanc de Blancs 1er Cru Champagne ($55)**
Toasty, creamy, white flowers, lemon tart, green apple, hazelnut, minerally. Absolutely delicious and a steal for the price. Acidity is medium-high, not searing like some young blanc de blancs champagne can be. Base vintage was 2019. Almost 4 years on lees.
–
**2022 Francois Villard ‘Les Terrasses du Palat’ Condrieu ($60)**
What a nose! Unbelievable perfume. Honeysuckle, bergamot, orange blossom. Lemon, apricot, minerally, vanilla and a beautiful touch of bitterness on the palate. Not flabby at all. If this is what Viognier can do, I’m all for it. I like this a lot more than the Guigal Condrieu I tried.
–
**2023 Francois Pinon ‘Silex Noir’ Vouvray ($33)**
Honeycomb, beeswax, pear, flint. The nose eventually just smelled exactly like some raw honey. Had that metallic, wild character of honey. Barely off-dry on the palate, the sugar just lifts the mid-palate, but the wine still finishes dry. Delicious wine as well, just hard to follow that super expressive Condrieu. Have more of these in the cellar and excited to follow their evolution.
–
**2022 Max Ferd. Richter Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Spӓtlese ($34)**
Have had this wine before. Notes are very similar to before. Raspberry, apricot, honey, slate, elderflower. Residual sugar beautifully balanced with high acidity. If you are scared of wine with residual sugar, this and the Vouvray and perfect examples of why the wines can be so enchanting.
–
**2005 Chateau Guiraud Sauternes ($60)**
This wine was the biggest disappointment of the night. Vanilla, caramel, mushroom, fig, honey, mango. The wine just tasted too alcoholic despite its listed 13.5%. I’m not sure if it’s because it came after the Riesling, but this wine just felt flabby, alcoholic and rather clumsy.
I’m a simple man. I see Condrieu, Vouvray, and Sauternes, and I click upvote.
RAVENTOS. And RICHTER!!!
Love that this is all whites! Refreshing! (Literally and figuratively)