TN: Dinner with Alain Coudert's Brotherinlawinlaw

Well, actually his brother is Coudert's BIL, so sue me. Anyway, he was over from France so we had him over for dinner as we owed him for many favors lavished upon us through his good agency.

With a salad of heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil:

b2001 Cazin Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles-b Iodine, grapefruit, honey and a nice bracing acidity. I like it, but my wife Jean initally hates it because of her aversion to aged white wines, but comes around as it sees some air. It's a known quanbreasty to our guest Christophe, so he just sucks it down while complaining about his job.

With herb-rubbed grilled leg of lamb (thanks for the recipe, Joe!):

b2003 Williams-Selyem Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir-b Christophe belatedly tells us of his fondness for Burgundy, so we pull out this to further his education re CA Pinots. It's a wine of medium body, silky texture, smoky, earthy, just a hint of oakiness and filled with bright red fruit. No one will ever confuse this for Burgundy, especially with 14.1% ABV (not at all noticeable until we try to stand, though) but it's a very pretty example of a CA Pinot Noir that doesn't try to be Syrah.

b1990 Dunn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-b Since we recalled that Christophe had spent his 7 years in the US frantically collecting CalCabs, we decided to open up this bottle from the cellar. Christophe initially asked "Has this got Merlot in it?" Once the raucous laughter had subsided, he decided that it actually resembled a St. Julien, a subject he knows more about than I do, having drunk many '37s and '45s in his youth. What I do note is that the tannins are fully resolved, that it's still quite primary with good cbuttis fruit and only a slight mineral element to complicate things. My last mouthful is the best, at which point the wine had picked up some leather, earth and tobacco notes. Even I began to see some Medoc-like character to the wine.

Since he brought a bottle of his brother's 2005 Fleurie and Coudert's 2004 Fleurie, Christophe's welcome in our house for perpetuity has been buttured. All in all, a great evening with a good friend, with conversation ranging from chemistry to politics to France to wine and food and back again.

Mark Lipton