Cellar Report: 2003 Joseph Drouhin Chorey-Les-Beaune

Whenever I question the efficacy of having so many bottles of wine rolling around in my basement (which admittedly I don't do too often in my pleasure-centered world) I'm going to have to refer to this post. If ever I needed a reminder of the amazing change that can take place in a bottle of grape juice, then this 2003 Joseph Drouhin Chorey-les-Beaune I took to dinner with friends a few weeks ago was it. Talk about exceeding expectations and once again reminding me of how lucky I am, not only to be able to drink and eat so well, but also that I can actually appreciate these things. Kind of a "thank you, god" moment!

When I stuck this bottle in my "wine cellar" (what I euphemistically call my assortment of boxes and metro racks piled with bottles and shoved into a corner of our basement) about three years ago I had hopes...not high, but at least modest expectations. Belying the fact that most people think you have to spend a ton of dough to drink great French pinot noir, this Burgundy was selling for $23 at the wine shack (actually I just checked and the 2006 vintage is still selling at the same price!). 2003 was a scorching hot vintage in France and even the pinot noir from a "lesser" appellation like Chorey got riper than usual. The classic example of how in great years a rising tide raises all boats Still this had the requisite acid to balance all that fruit, and this is what held it together and helped it become what we shared. What it was was a beautifully elegant, almost luxurious pinot. The aroma was all about cherries, plums, spice, and that incredible French dirt. I'd say "terroir" but that term always sounds so bad wine geek. Anyway, all those aromas were echoed on the palate where it spread across my tastebuds like a velvety, fruit filled blanket, gently and seductively caressing every pleasure center in my mouth. The hard edges were just starting to fall away, the acid and tannins blending in, and what was left was pure lusciousness. It kept opening up, revealing more and more complexity, the classic Burgundian earthiness coming more into the forefront, expanding and blending seamlessly with the ridiculously delicious fruit to make something pretty freakish. I told our friends this is what all American pinots wish they could grow up to be but never will. Kind of like the sophisticated cousin from France who comes to visit and charms everyone with that cute accent, making you feel like a slack jawed yokel. A rather happy development, and a perfect rebuttal to all those wine snobs who say you can't ever possibly afford to drink great Burgundy. Hey snob, stick your nose in this you self-impressed putz! On second thought, I wouldn't want their noses anywhere near my glass!!

Cellar report: 2002 Chateau de Chorey...aka "Real pinot noir"

Today's first economics lesson: Good Product + Good Price = Happy Customers

I'm thinking about this because last night I was swilling down this awesome 2002 Chateau de Chorey les Beaune. A French pinot noir, this is everything domestic pinots wish they could be at a lower price than way too many of them. The economics lesson comes to mind because I have a wine shop in the heart of Oregon wine country, where over-inflated pinot noir pricing is seemingly a rite of passage. Now there are some guys, actually a lot of producers, who seem to keep their egos in check and offer their customers good value for every dollar spent...Cameron, St. Innocent, Westrey, J. Christopher, Patricia Green and many others. Then there are those who seem to have insatiable egos that are only fed by emptying their victims...er, customers wallets as fast as they can with their one dimensional, over-ripe, over-oaked wines....Archery Summit, Beaux Freres, Domaine Serene, Bergstrom come to mind. There are a couple of Oregon wineries who actually charge $100+ a bottle for their wine. To which I can only reply "Are you fucking kidding me??!"

Today's second economics lesson: If you pay more than $50 a bottle for Oregon pinot noir you are a sucker. If you do it more than once you're an idiot.

I always think of this when I drink yet another satisfying bottle of French Burgundy like the Chateau de Chorey. Now this is a around a $38 retail bottle, not cheap, but it delivers more pleasure than ANY comparably priced domestic noir. 2002 was an underappreciated red burgundy vintage, and the wines are just now creeping out from under their youthful shells. This is a classic case in point. Still tight when the cork gets popped, as it opened up blueberries, spice, fresh flowers and that Burgundian earth came cascading out of the glass. On the palate the longer it sat open, the more "weight" it put on, filling out in the mouth with each passing minute. Beautifully rich, pure fruit. Smooth, elegant, perfect acid balance, with tons of complexity and years of life ahead of it. Plus it was so freakishly good with my grilled lamb chops. The other sad fact of American winemaking is that domestic grape juice will never have the exquisite food affinity the Euros seem to do as a matter of course. Don't think I don't like Oregon pinot. I do...a lot. I also don't expect Oregon pinot to be like Burgundy and get the differences, but when I have something like this I realize how good life can really be.............
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one year ago today @ E.D.T.: do you know what white people really like?

Au maison de grands-mère

When I went over to my French grandma's house last Saturday and heard she was making this dish, I couldn't wait to dig in. Because Denise...who in actuality is neither French nor any sort of familial relation...had spneding the day channeling her inner grand-mere. This is the kind of steaming plate of goodness you'd want to tuck into at some Alpine mountain bistro, where a fire is roaring in one corner, bottles of wine are spread around, and large tureens of this chicken in white wine sauce are waiting your consumption. The rich, mushroomy sauce with the chicken cooked in it was fabulous served over small rectangles of baked puff pastry, a really nice presentation that I highly recommend you copy!

Wine recommendations: in keeping with the French feeling this inspired, I brought along a 2003 Joseph Drouhin Chorey-Les-Beaune which was elegant pinot noir personified, as only the French seem to be able to do. Even better was a bottle I brought from the wine shack, a 2004 Rabasse Charavin "Les Cailloux" Cotes du Rhone Villages (whose winemaker is the divinely named Corinne Couturier), its peppery blackberry and earth flavors matching up beautifully with the mushrooms and rich sauce. This was a classic southern French red that knocked everyone out. Great stuff! We also worked our way through an earthy, character-filled 2004 Martin Codax Rioja "Ergo" that was earthy and spicy, just like I like 'em! Oh, sure, you could go with a white....a rich St. Veran or Meursault from Burgundy would be my pick. But in this French fantasy I was living... il est, bien sur, vin rouge toute la soirée!
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Denise said this recipe looks complicated, but really isn't and actually took less time than yesterday's truffled potato app.

Chicken in White Wine Sauce a la della Santina / Pelissier (grandma)
Serves 6

12 pieces of chicken on the bone, trimmed of excess fat, skin left on. 2 to 1 dark to white proportion, I omit backs and wings, and cut half breasts in half again.
5 cloves of crushed garlic
Flour for dusting (I keep mine in a big shaker)
Olive oil for frying
Pat of butter for frying (Dad uses more butter than oil; I just use a little)
1 large onion sliced thinly, or 2 medium onions
1 to 1 1/2 pounds white mushrooms cut in quarters
2 1/2 cups (?!) white wine, sharp/tart, non-oaky, cheap
1-2 T dijon mustard
1 small jar capers with juice
1/2 cup sour cream & 1/4 cup whipping cream (optional) or 3/4 cup creme fraiche. More if sauce is thin / tart, less if thick / mellow.
Salt and Pepper
Large pinch herbes de provence or thyme
1 package thawed (takes 1 hour to thaw) Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (1 sheet yields 6 rectangles) or patty shells
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Rub chicken with crushed garlic, salt and pepper, dust with flour (this is how I prep ALL my braised meats)
Fry in a medium hot pan with olive oil to brown skin / sear, maybe 10 minutes?; do in batches if necessary. Remove.
Add a little butter to to the oil / chicken fat mixture and saute onions, crumble in herbs and a pinch of salt
Add mustard and wine, scrape bottom of pot, and boil down a bit until the alcohol smell dissipates (10 minutes?)
Add chicken pieces to pot (hold out breasts); liquid should cover 2/3rds of the chicken. Add more wine if it doesn't, and cover.
Simmer gently for 30 minutes, add breasts, mix and check liquids, should come up at least halfway up chicken, cover for another 15 minutes. If you don't use breasts, you can just dump in the rest of the ingredients now.
Add capers (1/2 to whole small jar) and caper liquid to taste. More if it needs to be tart, less if already salty and / or tart.
Preheat oven to 400, bake 6 rectangles of puff pastry for about 15 minutes.
If you're shy of liquid, add raw mushrooms to pot, salt lightly, and mix in. If there's a lot of sauce or it's really thin, saute mushrooms separately and add when sealed. To "seal": heat pan to high, add a little olive oil, add mushrooms to hot pan and don't touch! Flip or stir before they burn, and then leave alone again. Not touching them will stop them from giving off water. When almost cooked, lightly salt and add to chicken.
Add cream / sour cream / creme fraiche, reduce heat so it simmers slowly but doesn't boil. Correct salt. Can sit this way for 30 minutes; if longer just turn off the heat and let it sit. Warm up gently.
Cut cooked puff pastry in half horizontally, put half on the plate, cover with chicken and sauce, top, add more sauce and garnish with parsley.
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one year ago today @ E.D.T.: speaking of my French grandmother, comfort food, and chicken, you have to try this Alsatian Chicken in Riesling!