2005 Grand Cru Burgundy Dinner Recap

Last night, the Madison Wine Exchange and our sister store, Valley Discount, got together 30 customers of ours in Milford at the Beach House Restaurant for a tasting of Vincent Girardin's 2005 Grand Cru reds and whites. This was the first in many series’ from our new private tasting series, Grand Cru Tastings. The night started out with some passed hors d'oeuvres of crostinis with prosciutto and crème fresh and deviled eggs with paprika and anchovies. I won’t lie, I missed out on the deviled eggs, but the crostinis were amazing! I think the wine helped, but we’ll get into that.

The idea behind the evening was to showcase the greatest vintage out of Burgundy nearly 5 years after its release to see what these Grand Cru wines are doing. Also, honestly, how often will we all be able to try these amazing wines? Here are the wines we poured for the evening:

2005 Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne Quintessence Grand Cru – 92-95 Pts BH

2005 Vincent Girardin Corton Perrieres Grand Cru – 90-93 Pts BH

2005 Vincent Girardin Corton Bressandes Grand Cru – 89 Pts ST

2005 Vincent Girardin Clos Vougeot Grand Cru – 92-95 Pts ST

2005 Vincent Girardin Clos de la Roche Grand Cru – 91-93 Pts BH

2005 Vincent Girardin Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru – 91-94 Pts ST

2005 Vincent Girardin Bonnes Mares Grand Cru – 91-94 Pts BH

So the first wine we started with was Girardin’s 2005 Quintessence de Corton-Charlemagne and it was outstanding! Coming from the town of Aloxe-Corton, this is THE greatest Grand Cru coming from the town on the hill of the Corton. Rich and vibrant with mouth-watering acidity and the greatest mineral quality ever with delicious exotic fruits.

Then, as the Quintessence ran dry, we jumped right into the first red Grand Cru from the same area of Corton from the Les Perrieres vineyard; hence the name Corton-Perrieres. This first red, definitely the softest of the grouping, was the perfect jump-off wine for the start of the reds. There were soft, red cherried notes with a minerally backbone that layered through the wine with a soft, well-structured finish. Just the perfect sipping Grand Cru (I have never such a sentence, haha).

Almost the second we all done with our first red, the chef had announced that the food was heading on out and we all perked right on up. Instead of going through course by course, here is the menu with each wine that was pairing with it and the respective quick tasting notes:

Beef Cheek Ragu with poached duck egg and a red wine syrup

Paired with

2005 Vincent Girardin Corton Bressandes Grand Cru

(Loaded with blackberry notes and coffee/cocoa hints with the tiniest touch of mint piercing through. Great, plump fruit emerging the more it opened with a stellar finish.)

Spiced Duck Breast and pork belly lentils with a blackberry jus

Paired with

2005 Vincent Girardin Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

(My absolute favorite pairing of the evening! The dark, mocha flavors and plum notes were far and away the greatest with the lentils and spiced Duck. Wonderfully perfumed and racy, dark fruits with a suave persistence and silky tannins.)

Red Beet Salad topped with gorgonzola, walnuts and a red wine vinaigrette

Paired with

2005 Vincent Girardin Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

(Wonderfully powerful and supremely dusty with stellar balance! A perfect expression of what Morey-St-Denis Grand Cru can do, and perfect with the beets and gorgonzola. As it opened, more dark fruit characteristics started to emerge. I would to have loved to had more, but the glasses ran dry)

Herb Grilled Veal Heart, whitebean ragout, harcot vert, bordelaise sauce

Paired with

2005 Vincent Girardin Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru

(I have never had veal heart before, so this was extremely interesting and surprising good. Spices and red cherries were the first things jumping out here. Great, ripe acid and still a brazen, youthful quality. Dusty finish and smooth, supple tannins.)

Artisan French Cheeses, nuts, dried fruits, wild honey

To finish off the evening, we opened up the shining star of the group, the 2005 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru. This is by far one of my favorite wines, regardless of producer because the terrior here is perfect for my palate. We had everyone, our entire wine-soaked group, sip and enjoy before sending in our last, dessert course of cheeses, nuts and fruits. This proved immediately to be the winner of the night (and sold out after three sips were taken) and rightfully so. It was loaded with blue and black fruits with a huge violet characteristic and a supple, feminine end to the nose. The palate was big, dense and sappy with a power that is unrivaled anywhere except in Bonnes-Mares.

We all had so much fun and so much great wine that I can’t wait to do this again with our next series presented by Grand Cru Tastings, through the Madison Wine Exchange and Valley Discount Wine & Liquor. I know more of you will be there.