Domaine d'Eugénie tasting

Two days after our last meeting, I'm seeing Frédéric Engerer and his team again, as Altaya Wines hosts a tasting of the wines from Domaine d'Eugénie at the Landmark Mandarin.

Domaine d'Eugénie was created with the 2006 purchase of the vineyards of René Engel by François Pinault.  Since then it has been under the same management team as Château Latour, who are now in the process of transforming the vineyards to be bio-dynamic.  The wines showcased tonight are from the first two vintages produced under new management.

2008 Eugénie Vosne-Romanée - young, a little sharp, woodsy, mushroom, a little sweet with a hint of smoke.  Later the nose became a bit medicinal and showed heavier charcoal notes.  Also more body as time went on.

2007 Eugénie Vosne-Romanée - sweeter than the 2008, with caramel notes.  Bigger nose, heavier on the grilled meats, potpourri and spices.  Very nice.  Later on the alcohol got sharper, but the palate was a little light.  Faded after more than an hour.

2007 Eugénie Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées - definitely a step up from the village.  Nose was very open with more fruit.  Definitely notes of leather, bacon fat.  Classic and beautiful.  Lighter but not watery, rather medium-bodied.  Very approachable now.  Notes of smoked meats which actually reminds me of Côte-Rôtie.  A bit of caramel.  Definitely one of my wines of the evening.

2008 Eugénie Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées - interesting nose.  Riper and more concentrated fruit like prunes.  Nose was still powerful, a little smoky, with Asian spices and herbs.  Nice and soft on the palate but still a little grippy on the finish.  Toffee on the edges.  Later on a bit of turmeric, and even some 鐵打酒!

2007 Eugénie Clos-Vougeot - clearly another step up from the premier cru.  A lot more concentration here.  Lot of leather, fruit, bacon and smoke.  Fully open and beautiful.  My wine of the evening.

2008 Eugénie Echezeaux - nose was a bit tight but I could feel the concentration.  Notes of forest, pine needle, and almost a little orange...

2007 Eugénie Grands Echezeaux - first whiff showed strong notes of soy sauce...smoky and green.  Nose was pretty shut.  Could definitely feel the tannins.  On the second try the nose was a little more open and nice, with some fruit.  A bit acidic mid-palate.

I think the wines are interesting today, but I look forward to tasting their wines in a few years' time - when Frédéric and team have finished the transformation they started.

I grabbed a quick dinner with a couple of friends at Cafe Landmark - the closest destination.  Against my better judgement, I opted for the simple and quick option - the set dinner.  Cheap, tasty but heavy.

Stuffed crab shell au gratin was tasty (although there was no dressing for the side greens), but not exactly what I need in my body right now.  Neither was the very tasty lobster linguine in cream sauce, which the cafe does so well.  Sooo tasty.  Soooo heavy.  Soooo wrong for me today.

I had a few sips of the 2007 Josmeyer Riesling Le Kottabe, which showed a light plastic nose along with muscat grapes.  Served a little too cold, but the wine was alright.