Aromatic evening

It's been a while since I've gotten together with a particular group of wine lovers, and we scheduled a small gathering at Aroma Cuisine, just next door to a wine shop where we sometimes gather.

The focus of the evening was undoubtly the wines, and I took this occasion to break open some of my recent acquisitions.  I had wanted to taste three white wines side-by-side, but we didn't have enough participants due to the last-minute nature of the gathering, and ended up breaking out only 2 of the trio.

2000 Coche-Dury Meursault - a weaker vintage than its sibling, on this night it blew us away with its beauty.  The nose was very open upon pulling the cork, and showed literally tons of toasty oak and grilled corn that I had come to associate with Coche-Dury.  The nose was so powerful, at times I almost wondered if it went over the edge and started smelling a little like b.o...  But with a little sweet grass in the nose, this wine was extremely well-balanced and beautiful.  Later on, the nose was still packing a punch but the acidity started becoming evident on the palate.  The fact that Jean-François Coche-Dury can craft such a beautiful wine in a weak vintage at the village level, producing quality that rival other people's premier crus, shows exactly why his wines have been bid up in the secondary market to premier cru price levels.  Bravo!

1999 Coche-Dury Meursault - from a much riper and bigger vintage, shown clearly in the darker, golden color of the wine.  This was initially pretty closed up, and needed some coaxing by aerating in a decanter.  The acidity here was more apparent in the nose, with similar popcorn notes but a lot less toasty than its sibling at first.  One could definitely detect the ripeness and sweetness, with a hint of citrus thanks to the fruit flavors being dominant.  As the wine opened up the acidity became more obvious on the palate, and the nose was almost a little plasticky and chemical.  Even later the familiar aromas of caramel and sweet butter showed up.  Finally, after 2 and a half hours in the decanter, the fruit aromas started to fade and the toasty oak nose took center stage, completing the transformation and starting to really kick ass.

2002 DRC Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet - a rare opportunity for me to drink this wine, which isn't made every vintage.  Despite being given the tag of Vosne-Romanée, it is in fact a blend of all 6 grand cru vineyards - two of which are in Flagey-Echezeaux.  Unlike its predecessor in 1999, this particular vintage included fruit from the famed Romanée-Conti vineyard.  What a beautiful wine!  The nose was very violet and floral throughout, with lots of sweet, ripe fruit and minerals.  The floral character only intensified with time, along with some smoke.  The finish was a little short on the palate, though, but the perfume was alluring.

2004 Vietti Barbaresco Masseria - at first it seemed we were drinking this wine a little young, as the nose was incredibly powerful and sharp, with the 14% alcohol coming through loud and clear.  The pine needle, forest and plummy notes were distinctive.  But the wine drank well on the palate, with the tannins having softened enough not to be annoying grippy.  It was a nice treat to have tasted this small-production cuvée.

This was my first time here at the space in its current incarnation, and I must say the food was pretty decent.  My seared scallops in truffle oil were done reasonably well, with only one of the scallops having been a tad over-done.  The mash with truffle oil was not bad, and the salad with vinaigrette on the side was a refreshing balance.

My main was braised lamb shank, essentially osso bucco.  While this was done reasonably well - with good flavors - I wish the chef could have cooked it a little more.  I like my osso bucco slow-cooked for a long time, with the meat falling off the bone.  The haricots verts were nice on the side.

The tiramisu was definitely a nice surprise, as this was the first de-constructed version I have had in a long time.  The lady fingers, coffee and cream all came separately, and the diner needed to manually blend the flavors together in the mouth to recreate the whole experience.  Very enjoyable.

A very relaxing and fun Friday evening, and fortunately... not too drunk!