Pouring It On in Vegas : At a Wine Tasting in Nevada, a Comparison of California and French Varietals

RECENTLY, Paul Houdayer, formerly of the L’Escoffier Restaurant atop the Beverly Hilton Hotel, staged an afternoon wine tasting at his current realm, Le Montrachet at the Las Vegas Hilton, comparing California varietals with their French counterparts. There was no scoring, just the fun of finding good wine values. In the whites, we had Chardonnay from Chimney Rock (1984 Napa Valley--lovely golden wine, with richness from barrel fermentation in French oak); Sonoma Cutrer (1983 and 1984 Sonoma County Les Pierre Vineyard, the latter with more fruity finesse), and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (1985 Napa Valley Reserve, in incredibly fine balance).

Among the imports, a Bouchard Pere & Fils 1985 Puligny-Montrachet, while fine, did not have the intriguing complexity of our Chardonnays. We agreed that the 1985 Puligny-Les Folatieres from Joseph Drouhin would be excellent with oysters. The Drouhin 1985 Chassagne-Montrachet of the Marquis de Laguiche was notable for its silken robe and flawless perfection, but it is priced close to $100. Almost twice as expensive, at $199, was the 1984 Le Montrachet from Domaine Jacques Prieur, and we decided that the 1977 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Le Montrachet was certainly not worth $500. At a somewhat more reasonable price was the 1982 Batard-Montrachet of Louis Latour for $115.

In the red wines, I found the Jaeger 1981 Napa Valley Merlot of the Inglenook Vineyard a fabulous bargain at $28. Wine writer Jerry Mead relished the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1983 Stag’s Leap Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon-Cask 23, finding its hint of volatile acidity a plus factor. I found the Far Niente 1983 Cabernet Sauvignon ($53 on the list here, $25 in wine shops at home) marvelously enriched since my last tasting. On the other hand, the Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion from the celebrated 1982 vintage was no match for the Far Niente. A bargain Burgundy, at $63, was the Chateau de Pommard 1981 of Jean Louis La Planche; it had fine Cote de Beaune character and true Pinot Noir essence, with just a hint of delicate smokiness.

Just for fun, at dinner seven of us compared, blind, the Chimney Rock 1985 Napa Valley Fume Blanc with the Pouilly-Fume de Ladoucette of Baron Patrick’s Chateau du Nozet. All seven identified the French wine from the nose alone, and five of the seven preferred the fresh fruitiness of the Chimney Rock, which was almost half the price.