A Big Night at Petit Valentien

May 4, 2010

It doesn't get much better than getting together with good friends at one our local favorite restaurants, Petit Valentien, with a bevy of high quality wines. You may notice that the wines significantly outnumber Mike, Matt, and myself at this evening of hedonistic exploration. Not to worry, besides the fact that these were not all full 750ml bottles of wine, we enjoy sharing with the staff for their wine educational growth as well as bolstering our relationships.

Along with the wines and engaging conversation, the food was particularly good during this visit. Mike and I started things off with the special seafood crepe that was a deliciously doughy roll of tasty crab, scallop, and shrimp in a citrus cream sauce. Matt went with the always good crab cake in garlic sauce. For our main courses I got shrimp in an Asian flared broth of peas, shallots, and mint while the guys got the veal with prosciutto. Mike and I finished things off with a small cheese plate to accompany the "sticky," as he put it.

Here is the line-up:

Ridge Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 2005**
Though the aromatic and flavor profile led me to believe this wine was older than it actually was, the body and acid was still fresh and full. The nose was dominated by toasted sesame leading into nutty. The palate never really came around with any fruit, but wasn't tired and showed nice balance.

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard 2005***
This was the biggest rollercoaster experience that I've ever had with a KB wine. For me, it went through three distinct phases. I opened this wine an hour before dinner and immediately poured it into a decanter. During this hour, my initial taste was bright and youthful giving me that beautiful red fruit nose that I find intoxicating. I poured the wine back into the bottle and went to the restaurant. Upon re-opening and continuing for the next hour or more, the wine was disjointed. The fruit was shut down, their was heat on the nose, and the oak seemed un-integrated at the back of the palate. At this point, I was pretty worried that this wine had all but completely fallen apart and would only get worse. Luckily, with more time in the glass things started to come back together and the fruit began to re-emerge. It's last phase showed a much more mature wine with sweet dark fruit and a juicy mouth feel. To be honest, I am a little dumbfounded by this experience because I have never had such a challenging bottle of Kosta Browne. I will just chalk this up to a slightly off bottle.

Jean-Luc Columbo Cornas Lex Ruchets 2002***
After relaxing, the initial greenness went away and elegant gun flinty fruit emerged. This was a stark contrast to the KB that was also open on the table.

Jaffurs Grenache 2005**
This was the last of a bottle that was opened the day before. To me, this was a little disappointing. The body was very round and the fruit a little simple and almost grapey. Would have liked to see what this wine was like on day one.

Fiddlehead Pinot Noir Oldsville Reserve 2003**
Tight and compact with very dark fruit. There was some V.A. present and that was difficult to ignore.

Dolce 2005***
This Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion late harvest blend from Napa was excellent. Succulent ripe peach on the nose and surprisingly light in the mouth. Stylistically, very elegant and a great way to finish off the night.

0 Stars - No rating
1 Star (*) - Not of significant quality or interest
2 Stars (**) - A notable wine of legitimate interest
3 Stars (***) - Great wine that should be searched out
4 Stars (****) - Fantastic wine that should not be missed
5 Stars (*****) - An absolutely mind-bending wine - beg, borrow, or steal to get your hands on some of this amazing juice!

Disclaimer: This rating is based on my palate and at the given time when tasted and may differ from yours. Also, I may catch a bottle in a dumb phase or it just may not speak to me at that particular time.