June 19 was the reopening day, after the forced closure for Covid19, both of the restaurant and of the Four Seasons hotel in Florence.
Piero Benvenuti, great gourmand, has invited some friends: Liudmila Musatova, Francesca Testi, Stefano Fanticelli, Simone Fracassi and myself, to the reopening dinner of the “Palagio” restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence.
The table for the occasion had been placed on a beautiful lawn, next to the outdoor bar of the hotel. Ours was one of only three tables prepared for dinner. Vito Mollica, chef of the restaurant and head of catering, came to our table to offer us the evening menu that had been chosen by Piero Benvenuti who had also decided to match the wines with the dishes that would be served. I had allowed myself to bring a champagne, J. de Telmont “Heritage”, a 1964 vintage rosé, 100% Pinot Meunier, one of the 120 bottles marketed by the Maison a few years ago.
The sky was completely starry, the temperature was pleasant and the sound of the piano was muffled. The menu began with “Puttanesca style shellfish salad”, paired with the savory and fresh champagne of the Egly Ouriet house “Les vignes de Vrigny”. The Cristal Rosé, vintage 2008, was enhanced with the “Cavatelli cacio e pepe with marinated red prawns and spiked squid”. The flavor and minerality of the Cristal enhanced the flavors of the dish. With the following dish: “Chianina Chateaubriand and Iberian pork pluma with summer mushrooms”, it was paired, perhaps in a bit bold way, with two white wines, the Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2011 vintage of the Domaine Meo Camuzet and the Puligny Montrachet Les Pucelles, vintage 2010, by Olivier Leflaive. After these two white wines followed a pinot noir exactly the Bonnes Mares, vintage 2016, by Domaine Bruno Claire, with a ripe cherry and an intense violet flavor. It was a pleasant infanticide.
The dessert: “zuppa inglese, with fiordilatte ice cream” was married to the Heritage rosé, vintage 1964, of the Maison J. de Telmont. Olfactory finish of zabaglione, while the taste was sapid, mineral, with lemon and citrus flavors. A champagne of only 56 years, which has not yet reached the peak of its life. What to say ?
Here are my tasting notes on the wines of the evening:
EGLY OURIET
AOC LES VIGNES DE VRIGNY, PREMIER CRU, S.A.
(Grapes: 100% Pinot Meunier)
Grapes from the Vrigny vineyard. 20% is from reserve wines. Spontaneous fermentation without added yeasts and 20% is done in wood. The first stop on the lees lasts a year. Bottling takes place without filtration, the bubbles are quite fine and quite numerous. Very light golden yellow color. Nose characterized by aromas of brioche bread, golden smith apple, wafer fru fru and hard almond shell. The taste is striking its pleasant sapidity accompanied by minerality and a copious freshness that makes the wine completely balanced without making the alcoholic mass feel minimized. The body is medium and in the long persistence it is supported by acidity. The body tends to widen in the mouth rather than go deep. It is the freshness that helps him to go deep. In the end the golden smith apple returns, felt on the nose, if you lick your lips you feel them salty.
(91/100)
LOUIS ROEDERER
CRISTAL ROSE ‘, 2008 vintage
(Grapes: 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay)
Only 17% makes wood and the malolactic fermentation is carried out for only 19%. It remained on the lees for 8 years.
Antique pink color. The bubbles, initially, are quite fine and then become fine and quite numerous.
The olfactory casket opens to aromas of cherry, raspberry, chalk, brackish, pine resin, Valda pastille, tomato pulp, ending with puffs of brioche bread.
The bubble is always a little exuberant and needs a little stop in the cellar (for future bottles) to express itself more delicately. It is a riot of flavor and minerality that invade the entire oral cavity accompanied by the taste of chalk. Perfectly balanced wine with medium body and great freshness. Its persistence is very long. Momunetal taste, despite the fact that the wine is still very young. My score in the future, when this champagne is more expressive to the nose and taste and the bubbles are more docile, will be subject to increase.
(98/100)
DOMAINE MEO CAMUZET
BOURGOGNE HAUTES CÔTES DE NUITS, vintage 2011
(Grapes: 100% Chardonnay)
Straw yellow color with lemon yellow reflections.
The nose reveals aromas reminiscent of the episperm (second skin of boiled chestnut), mint, eucalyptus, white pepper, blond leather, Marseille soap, sweet boisé notes and cotton starch.
On the palate it is sapid and mineral with an episperm (wood) flavor and medium body. Not well balanced wine, there is a fluctuating effect between alcohol and freshness. Its persistence is long, with a boisé finish.
(89/100)
DOMAINE OLIVIER LEFLAIVE
PULIGNY MONTRACHET LES PUCELLES, vintage 2010
(Grapes: 100% Chardonnay)
This wine rests for 18 months before being bottled, of which 6 months in steel vats and 12 months in barriques, of which 25% of first passage.
The 2010 vintage gave more ready wines than the 2009 which was more austere.
Intended golden yellow color.
The nose reveals aromas of parsley, green celery leaf, blond leather, slight episperm (second skin of boiled chestnut, it is a woody note), Marseille soap, white pepper and more intense boisé.
Mouth a little oily, savory, mineral with medium body. Wine with a slightly fluctuating balance between alcohol and freshness. Alcohol dominating freshness is felt in alternating moments and vice versa.
It burns your throat a little.
Its persistence is long with a boisé finish. It is not very frequent to find the perfect gustatory balance in Burgundy white wines.
For me, the gustatory balance is essential.
(90/100)
DOMAINE BRUNO CLAIRE
BONNES MARES GRAND CRU, vintage 2016
(Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir)
Ruby red mantle with purple textures. From the glass rise aromas of cherry, tomato paste, sweets from the outside of the sugared almond, raspberry, light white pepper, intense straw, ending with pleasant floral notes of iris.
The taste is pleasant, with flavors of ripe cherry and intense violet. The body is medium and the wine is almost balanced, it has a slight swinging effect between alcohol and freshness. The tannins are quite broad (5/6) initially silky, and then in the final dry, slightly, the upper gum (effect of the boisé). Its persistence is long with a boisé (episperm) finish.
A very young wine that will surely lose its swinging effect over time and the wood will integrate more with the wine.
(94/100)
J. DE TELMONT “HERITAGE” ROSE ‘, vintage 1964
(Grapes: 100% Pinot Meunier)
Intense cherry pink color, shiny with orange reflections. The perlage is abundant and fairly fine at the beginning, then slowly becoming very fine.
The sense of smell is like an ancient casket, which has remained closed for centuries, which, gradually, opens, begins to tell its story and, like this wine with the pause in the glass, tells us about its aromas and its olfactory evolution .
Dry medicinal herb and fresh (hairy) leather emerge at first, followed by dried apricot with green highlights, red rose, candied cherry, Virginia blond tobacco, wet earth, salt, iodine, prune, licorice root , soy sauce, raspberry, to finish with a touch of zabaglione.
The flavor is dominated by sapidity and raspberry, followed by mineral and citrus fruits.
It surprises for its perfect balance and for its well-measured freshness which, aided by the sapidity and minerality, does not make the alcoholic mass feel at all. Its intense aromatic persistence is long with a pleasant finish of dried apricot, zabaglione and lemon.
(95/100)
It was a very pleasant evening, for the company, the food, the location and the wines. When Piero Benvenuti organizes an evening, we are always sure to be at the top of the pleasure.
