A Burgundy Paulée with the Albany Chapter of the Chevaliers du Tastevin,
at Le Canard Enchaîné, Kingston, NY, 10/1/2017
This was a Paulée of the Albany-Capital Region chapter of
La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.
Thus, everyone brought their own wines, nominally one bottle per person.
The hosts for this dinner were Larry and Margie Kirsch.
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The dinner was held at
Le Canard Enchaîné,
276 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401.
The food was authentic and delicious French cuisine. Our group took over
the entire restaurant for the evening.
The owner and executive chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat is from Chamonix in the French Alps.
The food is classic French bistro.
There is more about Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat and the restaurant name
at the bottom of this page.
The entrance:
Before Dinner
Amy chats with Howie:
Adrian chats with Jared:
Dinner
We sat down to dinner at around 5pm and finished eating at a little after 8pm.
The wines came fast and furious during the dinner, with generous fellow Chevaliers
coming to our table to share their wines and me roaming about with my bottle.
Hence, my notes are often simple and sketchy.
Also, my notes are only loosely grouped around the courses.
Amy and I sat with John & Linda Fritze and Larry & Jean Teal.
We brought the 2002 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos and the
2004 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes.
At every dinner, we have a cover for the menu with French art work.
This one is a bit risqué.
The ladies check the menu:
Course One
Hudson Valley Foie Gras Seared over Brioche. Delicious!
Course Two
Seafood Cassolette in Saffron Sauce with Petit Legumes.
This was amazing, ethereal. A real showstopper.
2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Monthélie - Côte de Beaune, Monthélie
Surprisingly simple for a wine of this age from this producer. Maybe it needed more time?
(87 points)
2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne -
Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Stunning nose. A wow wine. Complex, expansive. Lots of minerals. Best white so far.
(94 points)
2007 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne -
Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Wow! Even more expansive and complex than the 2009. A stunning wine. I could drink this all night.
(95 points)
2012 Olivier Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet -
Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Another wow wine. Rich thick complex with lemon custard and spice. A little heavy on the oak.
Needs a lot more time. (93 points)
Course Three
Confit of Duck Salad in a Cranberry Dressing. Quite tasty.
Course Four
New Zealand Rack of Lamb in Merlot Balsamic Reduction.
So rich and delicious. Superb lamb.
1997 Domaine Anne Gros Richebourg -
Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
OMG! Boom. Nose of cherries and minerals. So long and complex, it boggles the mind.
Just another level up from these other very good wines.
This is why people pay ridiculous prices for a bottle of wine. Goes on and on and on.
(98 points)
1994 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Beaune 1er Cru Clos du Roi -
Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
Back down to earth, but still very, very good. Spice and red fruit. Still quite alive and well.
I suspect it is at its peak, but in no danger of fading. (93 points)
2004 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes -
Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Double decanted at 11am. Drunk around 7pm. Still quite young, but with a very bright future.
Black cherry nose. Long and stunningly complex. Still has plenty of tannin. A Barolian Burgundy!
(96 points)
1995 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Clos Vougeot -
Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Mature, but still full of ripe fruit. Very long and spicy finish. This is really good.
(93 points)
2005 Remoissenet Père et Fils Clos St. Denis -
Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
Gorgeous and complex with that distinctive Remoissenet minerality.
Man I love this stuff. (94 points)
2000 Claude Dugat Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru -
Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Sweet rich tannic black cherry fruit. Ripe and tasty. Surprisingly young. (92 points)
Jared kindly brought over the 2005 Remoissenet Clos St. Denis:
Paul brought the 2000 Claude Dugat and was rewarded with a flash in the eyes:
Announcements
Grand Sénéchal Joel announces Howie's elevation from
Chevalier to Commandeur:
Howie accepts the honor:
Joel announces that Larry will replace him as Grand Sénéchal in 2018
and Larry accepts:
Recognizing the Chef and his Staff
Grand Sénéchal Joel gives Owner & Executive Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat
a memento of our visit. Jean-Jacques then introduces his staff:
And now we do the La La song:
Zoltan chats with the chef:
Auction of the Orphans
After dinner, there was an "Auction of the Orphans" at which L’Intendent des Cave
George Weissman
presided over a silent auction of more than 30 bottles of Burgundy from the cellar of the
Sous-Commanderie. These were the leftovers from past dinners at which less than a full case of
each of the wines was served. All proceeds from the auction — our first in 3 years — went into
the coffers of our chapter for purchasing wine for future dinners.
Here are some of the bottles up for auction:
Dessert
Flourless Chocolate Cake:
Conclusion
Another wonderful evening of camaraderie, great food, and terrific wines.
Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat has worked at Gaston Lenôtre and Fauchon in Paris,
Le Richmond in Geneva, Le Mirabelle in London, and the Ritz Carlton in Portugal.
He and his wife Jennifer founded Le Canard Enchaîné in 1996.
Additionally, Jean-Jacques operates a wholesale French bakery called
French Kiss Bakery.
Here is a video of Owner & Executive Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat:
And here he is making a Tarte Tatin:
About the name "Le Canard Enchaîné"
Le Canard Enchaîné
is a French satirical weekly newspaper based in Paris.
According to Wikipedia, it was
"Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism and leaks
from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French
business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.
Le Canard Enchaîné does not accept any advertisements and is privately owned,
mostly by its own employees."
Note that "Le Canard Enchaîné" can be translated literally into English as
"The Chained Duck" but here it is better translated as "The Chained Paper" since
"canard" is French slang for "newspaper".
I include all this in part to explain why I am posting these photos from their men's room.
Note the Le Canard Enchaîné magazine covers on the walls: