STUNNING FLIGHTS OF 70s CHAMPAGNE AND 80s LEFLAIVE CHEVALIER MONTRACHET HIGHLIGHT A THREE STAR NIGHT AT THE ALWAYS INCREDIBLE SAISON in SAN FRANCISCO

Champagnes:  1969 Krug Original Bottle; 1971 Dom Rose; 1979 Cristal — My favorite of this flight was the 1971 Dom Rose, which has been one of my favorite champs of all time for a very long time.  It tastes like Strawberries & Cream (contrasted to the regular 71 Dom, which tastes like caramel Apple).   The 71 and 79 were perfect bottles — the 79 was super vibrant and just fantastic.  The 1969 bottle was not through the roof, but quite good nevertheless.    We started the night with a bottle of 1982 Clos De Goisses (off the list at Parallel 37 at the Ritz Carlton) — quite good but not great in the way that 82 can sometimes be.

80s Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet:  1983; 1986; and 1990 (this was a Batard).   These are amongst the best whites ever produced by a gifted wine maker — the 1983 was sublime and elegant — it’s balance was almost perfect.  Next was the 86 — what I said before, only a little less so.  The Batard was delicious, but not in the league with the first two.  After 1990 I do not care for the wines made by Leflaive.    One of the best flights of white, period.

OFF THE SAISON LIST:   We scored an amazing deal on a 1978 Vieu Telegraph, which was an incredibly perfect bottle and pretty much salvaged the red wine portion of the night (most of the reds were NG).

Honorable mention goes to the 1982 DRC Grand Echezaux — DRC Grand Eche is a under the radar sleeper and in certain years, in terms of bang for buck, a really great deal.  82 was not known as a great year, yet I found the wine rather interesting, and ultimately, quite nice with the food.

As I have said before, SAISON is one of the best restaurants in America — and this dinner was no exception.  Kudos to our fantastic Sommelier, Thatcher, who did a bang up job.  Highlights included Caviar with Kelp, Giant Prawns, and Uni Toast.  The Chef’s cooking is very subtle, light, and extremely elegant.    I find Saison better suited to Champagnes and white wines because of Chef’s emphasis on seafood and his light touch.