BURGUNDY SIDE TRIP

Century Liquor in Rochester, New York is about 150 kilometers from the US/CAN border. I have endured this haul on dozens of occasions because I believe it to be one of the finest wine shops in the country. If you are a fan of old Bordeaux or ancient Burgundies then this is the place for you. I always get goose bumps when wandering through the temperature controlled aging room with Grand and Premier Cru Pinot, many older than myself, nestled floor to ceiling.

The sales staff are always most accommodating to us over taxed border crossing "crazy Canucks" by considerably discounting shelf prices and recommending pre-price escalated wines that haven’t yet crossed the 90+ point inflation border. Geo actually found three older bottles of Mr. Ridge tucked amongst a rack of dust covered single bottle bin ends. He was able to pick them up for a really great price and he had better remember his promise to share them with me!!!

I had arranged with a local eatery to do a BYOB job while devouring some of their fine fare for lunch. Although they are over-production wines, the three 1989 Remmoissenet Grand Cru wines just got better and better and better with time. The scribe took the notes, as always, the burgers were great and the five-buck corkage was more than reasonable.

TASTING NOTES
By George Heritier

All three wines were a fairly uniform ruby dark garnet, and are drinking very well at this time.

• 1989 Remoissenet Royals Club Rousset-Chambertin, $20 US, 13% alc.: The cleanest and the lightest of the three, with a silky texture, a lot of cherry, some earthy forest floor, and "no armpit," according to Ruth. Not as smoky as I might have expected, but very nice. Kim’s favorite of the three.

• 1989 Remoissenet Royals Club Clos Vougeot, $20 US, 13% alc.: Not as big on the nose as the Rousset-Chambertin, but bigger bodied in the mouth. Nice rich black cherry flavors and aromas, with a slightly vegetal note, some forest floor, and "a little avocado on the nose," according to Ruth.

• 1989 Remoissenet Royals Club Romanee St. Vivant, $20 US, 13% alc.: The most substantial of the three wines, this showed what Ruth called "a little prune" over smoky black cherry on the nose, with stemmy, forest floor nuances. The funky-butt mostly blows off to reveal what most of us felt was the best of the three selections. Flavors echoed, with added notes of black licorice and black tea. Very nice!

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© Alan Kerr, May 2001

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