Inspired by a Clos St. Denis Grand Cru

Had a big 2-year birthday for Evan a week ago, and opened tons of wine for thirsty guests. The large crowd was mostly parents, running after kids, not paying much attention to wine, just grabbing whatever they could manage on the go. But there was also a small contingent of wine geeks, and with those we lingered over a few special bottles, including a 2000 Clos St. Denis - one of the great top-growth (grand cru) Pinot Noir vineyards in Burgundy. You can learn more about it here.

The next day, here is what I emailed my friend wine director Eric:


On Monday, April 22, 2013 (morning), Gary Chevsky wrote:

Good to see you and Mao yesterday!

I thought the Tardieu Laurent 2001 Hermitage blanc was quite excellent -- too bad it kind of disappeared without due contemplation... :) but gives me some encouragement to seek out more Hermitage blancs, and I will still ponder on the remains of the Potel 2000 Clos St Denis today... seemed like a very intense wine but not heavy, although not too elegant either, seems like it needed more time, but not bad... will see today...  The 07 Leflaive bourgogne was high-acidity and minerally, less rounded than I remember, but pretty good character for the Bourgogne level, it's going strong and seems it can last few more years.  The '10 Paul Pernot bourgogne seemed kind of soft to me and somewhat generic... 

-- What did you think?


Eric: That was a lot of fun. Thanks for having us over. I concur on your wine notes! Cheers, Eric

On Monday, April 22, 2013 (evening), Gary Chevsky wrote:
I finished the Clos St Denis tonight, had only about half a glass left... Wow, what a great wine - tasted alone, quietly - pomegranate and tea, slight spice on the backend, in a perfect place, full of secondaries, very vibrant and intense, sweet and tart at the same time, and without a hard edge. After a day of air, super elegant, pure silk in the mouth. Better than the same producer's Clos de la Roche from the same vintage, which I recall being lighter. This lowly producer's (Potel) Clos St Denis 2000 - one of the best red Burgundies I remember - and certainly I would not have drawn that conclusion from just tasting it yesterday in the middle of all that ruckus... I kept smelling it and thinking -- even with all due respect to Barolo, there is just something utterly disarming about a great mature Burgundy!   Is this a blog post? :)


Eric: Wow! 

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