Not a Turkey Dinner

For a number of years, wine and food writers Tom Maresca and Diane Darrow have been our guests for Thanksgiving dinner. This year we did not return from Rome until a few days before Thanksgiving so Tom and Diane suggested we come to their home instead. It could not have turned out better.

To accompany the Champagne, there were buttery cheese wafers and taralli topped with a soft cheese and American caviar.

Champagne 2014 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils made from 100% Chardonnay from 20% Cramant Grand Cru, 38% Chouilly Grand Cru, 32% Cuis 1er and 10 % Vertus1er Cru. The soil is mostly chalk. Fermentation is in stainless steel. Malolactic fermentation takes place and the wine remains on the lees for 65 months. The wine was disgorged in September 2020. The wine has notes of tropical fruit, with hints of mint and orange peel.

Our first course was Foie Gras with fig jam and toasted slices of Diane’s homemade bread.

Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese 2005 Joh. Jos. Prūm made from 100% Riesling from the Mosel. The soil is Devonian shale with different layers and degree of erosion. The vines are 60 to 70 years old.  Grapes picked by hand and spontaneous fermentation takes place in stainless steel.   This is a delicious rich, smooth and elegant  wine with hints of white peach, pears, honey, dried apricot and good acidity that makes it go very well with food. It was perfect with the foie gras.

Brunello di Montalcino 1996 Casanova di Nevi made from 100% Sangiovese. The vineyard is located south of Montalcino at 275/320 meters and the soil is galestro with tuff and clay. There are 4,000 vines per hectare and the plants are 25/30 years old. The raining system is spur-pruned cordon and the winery is organic but not certified. The wine is unfiltered and it is aged in 500-liter oak tonneau for 36 months and in bottle for 12 months before release. This is a full bodied wine with hints of blackberry, black cherry, plum and a touch of violets and a note spice.  The wine was showing very well with no sign of age and it was a pleasure to drink. This is a classic combination Brunello with wild boar and polenta.

Wild boar with polenta — The meat was long simmered with spices and red wine until it was fork-tender.  Polenta was the perfect complement.

Chateau les Ormes de Pez 2001 St.Estèphe made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a small amount of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The wine has hints of blueberry, blackberry, and cassis with a note of spice and a touch of cedar. This is an elegant and wonderful wine.

Cheese — There were several interesting goat and sheep’s milk cheeses to finish off the wines.

Our Dessert was a Tarte Tatin made by Michele,

We ended this wonderful meal with grappa. Tom loves his grappa and there is always a large selection to chose from. This time I had the Pojer e Sandri Pinot Nero. Crystal clear traditional grappa, just what I wanted.

An Autumn Lunch

 

It looked like it was going to be a perfect fall weekend with temperatures reaching into the 70’s.  We began to think that it wasn’t going to last and we should spend as much time as possible out of doors, so when our friend Ernie called and asked us to come to his house for the weekend, we accepted gladly.

The weather on Saturday afternoon was perfect and we had the first course of our lunch sitting on the deck overlooking his garden with the trees changing into beautiful colors.  

We had a French sparkling wine made with the Champagne method. Domaine Rolet Pere et Fils “Cremant Du Jura” NV made from 57% Chardonnay, 16% Savagnin, 16% Poulsard and 11% Pinot Noir from 20 year old vines at 280 to 380 meters. The soil is gray marl and there are two meters of topsoil before hitting mother rock. Only indigenous yeast is used. Fermentation and aging is in tanks. The wine remains on the lees for 24 months. It is medium bodied, dry with good minerality, hints of citrus fruit, yeasty notes and a touch of white flowers.

With it, we had a Tuscan style Chicken Liver Pate.  

The latter part of the afternoon was getting chilly, so we moved inside.  We roasted a rack of lamb with mustard, thyme and breadcrumbs.

Sauteed Potatoes were the accompaniment.

The roasted lambThe plate

Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1986 made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This is a full bodied complex wine with hints of blackberries, black cherries, leather, cassis, a note of violets and a touch of spice, with a very long finish and great aftertaste. This is a truly great wine that will last for many years.

We roasted some fresh chestnuts for our dessert.

And followed them with Brutti ma Buoni, Ugly but Good Cookies, made with excellent hazelnuts Michele had bought on our last trip to Rome.  

Afterward, I sipped a glass of Marc De Bourgogne De Chambolle – Musigny Frederic Musigny of L’Heritier Guyot, Dijon. It is the best Marc that I have ever tasted-WOW

The Wine Media Guild at I-Trulli Restaurant

The Wine Media Guild, an association of wine communicators, held its annual end of the year dinner at i-Trulli restaurant in NYC. I was formerly the wine director/sommelier at i Trulli and returning there always brings back a lot of memories.  In addition, Pat Savoie and I were stepping down as co-chairs and David Ransom and Nick Antonaccio. were taking over as the new co-chairs.

There were many great bottles of wine drunk that evening, too many to list here thou I did get a chance to taste some of them

The list below were just the wines that we drank at my table. As always we started with Champagne.

Champagne Henriot “Millésime 2008 made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from 6 Grand Crus: Maily Champagne, Verzy, Verzenay on Montagne de Reims, Mesnil-su-Oger, Avize, Chouilly on Côte des Blancs. The wine has hints of raspberries and strawberries with a touch of hazelnuts and brioche and a long finish. Ed (Champagne for Dummies) McCarthy, was sitting at my table, and said this house is finally getting the praise it deserves. Great way to start the evening.

Champagne Deutz Blancs De Blancs 1989 in magnum made from 100% Chardonnay. It has lemon and lime aromas, a note of cream and a touch of hazelnut. It was in perfect condition.

Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2005 Eduardo Valentini made from 100% Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. This is one of my favorite white wines. We should have decanted the wine because it took some time to open up in the glass but when it did it was wonderful.

Among the appetizers there were panzarotti, crisp  fried  turnovers  filled  with  tomatoes  and  mozzarella.

Meatballs

For the pasta cause there was  orecchiette with broccoli rabe.  The pasta is handmade by Dora Mazovilla,  the  mother  of  the  owner.

The main course was sliced steak with an arugula salad.

 

Chateau Haut Brion 1983 made from 45% merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc and a note of Petit Verdot. It was a pleasure to drink.

Château Corton Grancey Grand Cru 1999 Louis Latour in magnum. It is a blend of four areas of Domaine Latour Corton Grand Cru: Bressandes, Perrieres, Gréves and Clos du Roi, proportions depending on the vintage. Traditional fermentation takes place in open vats. 10 to 12 months aging in oak barrels, 35% new. Louis Latour cooperage, French oak, medium toasted. This is a wine with supple tannins, wonderful aromas with great length and finish. It also took some time to open up in the glass.

Pormmard Grands Epenots 1979 Hurbet de Montille made from 100% Pinot Noir using a significant proportion of whole clusters, varying by vintage. They are known for wines that can age. It was drinking very well.

Carema 1989 Produttori di Carema (a co-op in the Northern part of Piedmont) made from 100% Nebbiolo. Small plots are hand harvested from various members of the co-op. All the vineyards are southeast facing and range in altitude from 300 to 600 meters. Traditional vinification, the wine is fermented and aged for at least 48 months in large Slavonian oak casks. It has hints of red cherries, red roses; leather and tar. The wine was in perfect condition.

Chateau Coutet a Barsac “Cuvee Madame 1989 made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle. Barsac is technically part of the Sauternes region but its sandy and limestone soil produce a lighter sweet wine with balanced acidity. The wine has hints of tropical fruit, ginger, candied apricot and a touch of honey. It was a perfect way to end a wonderful evening.

An Extraordinary Wine Dinner

A wine collector friend decided to have a party in order to share some of his best wines so he arranged a dinner at Gramercy Tavern.  There were 16 of us in the private dining room.

The Wines

Champagne “ Grand Dame” 1990 Double Magnum Veuve Clicquot made with 62% Pinot Noir and 38% Chardonnay from the estate’s 100 percent rated Grand Cru vineyards. This is refined, elegant champagne with a hint of brioche and a smooth silky finish.

All of the following wines are Magnums

Batard Montrachet 2004 Joseph Drouhin made from 100% Chardonnay purchased from regular supplies. Hand harvest and a very slow pressing. Juice from the last pressings is not used. The wine is decanted directly into barrels. The wine is aged in French oak, 25% new for 12 to 15 months. The wine has hints of honey, almond, ripe fruit and a touch of wood. It has a great feel in the mouth with a long finish and very pleasing aftertaste.

Chambertin 1989 Domaine A Rousseau P&F Made from 100% Pinot Noir. The soil is limestone and clay and the vineyard is 5.3 acres making them the largest landowner in Chambertin. Following a cold maceration the must travels by gravity into barrels where it will stay for the entire vinification process lasting from 18 to 24 months. The wine is blended unfiltered. This is a structured, dense, powerful wine but it is not heavy and is a joy to drink. One on the two best Burgundies I have had the pleasure to enjoy. The other I also had with this same generous friend.

Pommard “Les Rugiens Bas” 1988 De’Montille made from 100% Pinot Noir from Les Rugiens Bas, a Premier Cru composed of 5.83 hectares. With 1.02 hectares, they are the largest owners. The soil is clay with the presence of iron. The wines are certified organic by Ecocert and they use biodynamic practices. This wine is balanced and elegant with nice fruit and will age for a number of years.

Ornellaia 1988 Marchese Lodovico Antinori made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon,16% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc.  The grapes are hand harvested. The grapes were de-stemmed and gently crushed and put into wooden fermenters and stainless steel tanks. Fermentation maceration lasted for 15 to 20 days. After fermentation the wine completed malolactic fermentation in French oak barrels.  The wine was aged for 11 months in French barriques 40% new and 60% once used. The wine was aged for 16 months in bottle before release. This is a full-bodied wine with with hints of dark fruit, violets and a touch of vanilla.

Brunello di Montalcino “Montosoli” 1990 Altesino made from 100% Sangiovese. Traditional fermentation. The wine is aged for 4 years with a minimum of two years in barrel and 4 months in bottle before release. The wine has hints of wild berries, chocolate and tobacco with a touch of violets and vanilla.

Hermitage “La Chapelle” 1988 Paul Jaboulet Aine 100% Syrah planted in a diversity of terroir. The age of the vines is 40 to 60 years. The grapes come down from the slopes of l’Hermitage on small sledges and then are sorted manually and vinified traditionally in the cellars. The final assembly is made during aging in the cellars in wood for 15 to 18 months. During this time the wines are also racked. This is a complex and elegant wine with hints of black fruit, black cherries, spice and leather. It has a long finish and very pleasing aftertaste. A very impressive wine.

Chateauneuf –du- Pape Cuvee Reserve 1995 Pegau made from 80% Grenache, 6% Syrah 4% Mourvèdre and 10% other grape varieties allowed  by the AOP. There is a strict selection of carefully hand picked grapes. No de-stemming and the blend of 13 grape varieties are gently crushed before fermentation takes place for ten days in a cement vat. No added yeasts and no temperature control in this natural process. An absolute minimum amount of tartaric acid and sulphites are added. After pressing, the wine is aged for 2 years in select large oak barrels. The wine has hints of cherries, raspberries and plums with a touch of leather and spice.

Bordeaux 1983 Pomerol Chateau Lafleur made from almost equal parts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The vineyard is planted on 3 different soils: northwest there is sandy clay gravel, to the south and east clay gravel and in the heart of the vineyard gravelly sand. Vinification takes place in traditional cement vats. The vats go from 30 hl to 8o hl. The wine ages in French oak barrels and a portion of them are new where the wine remains for about 15 months. The wine has hints of cherry, blackberry, plum and spice. 1983 was a very good year for the Chateau and it is one of the best Pomerols.

Bordeaux 1983 St Julien Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. There are 10,000 vines per hectare. Vinification is in stainless steel vats of different sizes and malolactic fermentation takes place in concrete vats. Over 50% of the wine is aged in new French oak barrels for 18 to 20 months. The wine has hints of cherry and raspberry and a touch of tobacco and spice.

With dessert, we drank two 750’s.

Ruby Port 1963 Graham a fortified wine that is aged for 2 years in wood. 1963 was a memorable vintage for port. This is a full-bodied wine with hints of caramelized fruit, notes of plum, raspberry, blackberry and dried figs.

Madeira Verdelho 1966 D’Oliveira, a fortified wine made from the white Verdelho grape. It is drier then Bual but not as dry as Sercial. This is a lush and balanced wine with hints of roasted nuts and a very long finish and a lingering after taste.

 

In all, we enjoyed one double magnum of Champagne, one magnum of white wine, eight magnums of red wine, one 750 bottle of Port and another of Madeira.

 

 

Christmas Dinner with Friends 2018

For a number of years now Michele and I have been trading holiday meals with Tom Maresca and Diane Darrow. We do Thanksgiving and they do Christmas. Tom is a wine and food writer and Diane is a food writer and they both have excellent blogs.

For this year’s Christmas Day dinner, we started with Champagne Palmer & Co. 2009.

With it, we had an assortment of small bites including foie gras torchon, olives, cheese sticks and salami.

Then we moved on to the dining room where Diane served a frisee salad with gesiers, confit chicken gizzards, and a walnut oil dressing.

With it we had our first red wine, Chateau Les Ormes de Pez 2000 (Saint Estephe) made from 50% Cabernet, 40% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines is 35 years and the plant density is 9,000 vines per hectare in accordance with the traditional Médoc planting ratio. 80% of the wine is aged in one-year-old oak barrels and 20% in new wood. The wine was showing very well and will age for a number of years.

The next wine was Baron de Pichon-Longueville 1978 (Paulliac) made from 77% Cabernet and 23% Merlot. This was classic old Bordeaux with hints of cherry and tobacco. It was the wine of the evening and only 12% alcohol.

Our main course was roasted duck with sautéed apples and roasted vegetables. The duck was cooked to perfection and the apples were a good sweet tart compliment.

 The cheese course,

 Chateau Gruaud-Larose 1966 (Saint Julien) made from 57% Cabernet Sauvignon 31% Merlot 9% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. One could not ask for more from a wine that was over 50 years old and it went very well with the cheese.

Pound cake

Diane made an assortment of Christmas cookies for dessert, plus a cake made with fruits and nuts, while Michele brought a pound cake made with grappa and pears.

The final wine of the evening was Broadbent Madeira “Sercial” 10 year old made in strict accordance with traditional methods. Aged in old oak casks in the traditional Canteiro system. It is one of the driest types of fortified wine. It has hints of dried fruit, orange peel, almonds and a touch of caramel.

 

 

 

Celebrating the Year of the Horse

Lobster

Every year, we get together with friends and celebrate Chinese New Year.  Since this is the year of the horse, we decided on a theme — wine vintages from past years of the horse. I was told that I was born in the year of the water horse but I could not find a wine from that year.

Jelly Fish and Cold Cuts

We chose the Oriental Gardens Restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown for the dinner. The service was excellent and so was the food. Our waiter was the best that I have ever had in a Chinese restaurant and could have qualified as a sommelier at a top restaurant.

The Wines

2002 Year of the Water Horses

Chablis Domaine Billaud- Simone Cru “Les Preuses” 2002  100% Chardonnay. The exposure is south; southeast and the vines are 65 years old. Harvesting is by hand. Vinification is in stainless steel. Aging is for 8 to 10 years depending on the vintage. This is an elegant complex wine, with aromas of honey, toast and lemon with good minerality, a long finish and a very pleasing aftertaste. It was a great way to start the celebration.

1990 Year of the Metal Horse

Regaleali Rosso Sicilia IGT 1990 made from 100% Nero d’Avola. Fermentation is in stainless steel for an average of 10 days. The wine is aged in stainless steel 50% and 50% in oak casks of 30HL and 60HL for 6 months. This was a real surprise. The wine was 24 years old and is the type of wine that one would think is to be drunk young. It was in vey good condition with no signs of oxidation and enough fruit to make it very enjoyable.

1966   Year of the Fire Horse

Chateau Montrose 1966 – Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 30% and Cabernet Franc 5%.  Back then, the average age of the vines was 29 years. The wine was aged for 22 to 24 months in barrel. Robert Parker in his book Bordeaux (1985) writes that the anticipated maturity of the wine is between 1986 and 2010. The wine is classic St-Estephe and was drinking like a younger wine.

Chianti Classico Fattoria Di Santa Christina 1966 Fattoria dei Marchesi Lodovico and Piero Antinori. I am not surprised anymore when I drink older Chianti Classico. This wine was made with white grapes, Trebbiano and Malvasia, and they most likely used the governo method (drying 10% of the grapes).   This was the wine of the evening for me.

1978 Year of the Earth Horse

Barolo “Vigneto Rocchette” 1978 Giovanni Accomasso & Figli. I do not believe that I have had any wine from this producer. The location of the winery is La Morra but as far as I know it is not imported into the USA.

 Barbaresco Bricco Asili 1978 100% Nebbiolo Ceretto.  We had this wine at another New Year celebration a few days later and it was showing so well I just had to include it.

Barolo 1978 Cogno- Marcarini  100% Nebbiolo–  This wine was made when Elvio Cogno was the winemaker. Cogno produced some of the best classic traditional wines that it has been my pleasure to drink. This one was no exception and it was the wine of the evening for a number of people. 1978 was a very good vintage for Barolo. Wasserman gave Cogno’s Barolo 4 stars, his highest rating.

Three Bordeaux Producers at the Wine Media Guild

Ever year the Wine Media Guild does a Bordeaux tasting and lunch at Felidia restaurant in NYC. This year we had the wines from three top Chateaus along with a representative from each one. It was a very interesting tasting going back to 1978.

The speakesr were John Kolasa – Chateau Canon, Edouardo Moueix- Chateau La Fleur Petrus and Jean-Michel La Porte – Chateau La Conseillante. Chateau Canon St. Emilion

Mr. Kolasa began by saying that wine is a happy match between grape variety and soil type. The current blend is 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc.

The different plots of vines total 54 acres of very uniform soil types, which is the first hint that Chateau Canon is unusual with respect to the rest of the Saint Emilion area. The soil is a combination of limestone containing fossilized starfish covered by a thin layer of clay left behind by a prehistoric lake which constitute an ideal environment for the grape varieties, The different steps in the vineyard management calendar are scrupulously respected throughout the year. Chateau Canon manages its plots sustainably, ensuring perfect ripeness and making it easier to identify the best batches of fruit, which are vinified separately. The policy is clearly to foster environmental preservation.

2001 There was an oaky vanilla component to this wine which seemed to overwhelm all the other aromas and flavors. I did not find this in any of the other Chateau Cannon wines that I tasted.

2005 This is a classic vintage and it will age.

2008 This was a mixed vintage some very good wines but no great ones. However you can but the better ones at a good price.

With Lunch

1998 This was a very successful vintage and I found it drinking very nicely now but it will last for a few more years.

1989 This was a true classic vintage. The wine is ready to drink and it had a soft, smooth feel on the palate

1978 This was the wine of the afternoon for me and I had a lot of agreement. It is classic old Bordeaux with a background of leather, a touch of spice and lingering berry aromas and flavors.

Chateau La Fleur-Petrus Pomerol   the wine is made from 90% Merlot (30 years old vines) and Cabernet Franc (50 years old vines) There are 2,600 vines per acre.

Edouard Moueix

There are 47 acres of vineyards and the soil is mainly gravelly with some clay. The hand- picked grapes are sorted using an optical system. Traditional fermentation takes place with 16 to 20 days maceration in concrete and stainless steel vats. The wine is aged in French oak barrels, 50 % new. Mr. Edouardo Moueix said that today the Chateau is composed of three major blocks, within 500 meters of one another. They are situated at an altitude between 35 and 38 meters, along side some of Pomerol’s top chateaux’s as its neighbors. The last parcel was purchased in 2012.This terroir is mainly gravelly soil. The plateau of Pomerol is between 30 and 40 meters.

2008 -This was a successful vintage

2009 – This is one of the great vintages of the last 60 years and already a bench -mark for its power and natural concentration

2010 This is a big well-structured tannic wine that needs another 15 or 20 years to develop

2012 This is a wine that is very up front with ripe fruit, It was drinking very well for such a young wine.

Wines with lunch

1998 Drinking very well and a wine you can drink now or hold for a few years

2001 Classic vintage-underestimated after the fanfare of the 2000. It is a remarkably well -balanced wine and drinking very nicely now.

2006 This was big tannic wine that will age

Chateau La Conseillante Pomerol Mr. Jean-Michel Laporte said that 80% of the vines are Merlot and is grown in soil the is mostly clay,  the combination of soil and Merlot makes the wine round, deep and smooth. The remaining 20% is Cabernet Franc, which grows in gravel soil and contributes structure and freshness.

Jean-Michel Laporte

The soil composition is 60% grey clay and 40% sandy gravel, resting on red (iron) clay. There are 11.8 hectors of unbroken vineyards. There are 6,500 vines per hectare on average, the training system is double guyot and the age of the vines is 34 years. There is optimal phenolic ripeness and harvesting is by hand in low – capacity, open trays.

Sorting of the grapes is on 4 tables by hand and by machine. Pre-fermentation cold maceration takes place for 2 to 5 days. The wine is vatted for 3 to 4 weeks in 22 temperature controlled epoxy coated concrete tanks. A vertical wine press is used and the separate aging of the pressed wine takes place. The wine is aged 50 to 80% new oak barrels, from a number of carefully selected coopers for 18 months. There is racking using air pressure very 3 months and 2 to 3 fresh egg whites are used per barrel.

1998 unfortunately this wine was corked.

2001 This is a well- balanced wine that is ready to drink now

2005 This wine needs time to age.

All three speakers made the point of the importance of having the right terrior for the grapes that you are growing.

In answer to the question how do you know when the grapes are ready to be picked, one of speakers answered when I pick them. However they all agreed that they have the best modern equipment to tell  when the grapes are ready to be picked than they had 25 or so years ago. That is one of the reasons that today’s wines will not taste like the wines from 30 years ago!

A Second New Year Celebration

 

The day before New Years Eve, Michele and I and a group of friends went to Bern’s Steak House in Tampa. We had a great time and drank some wonderful wines.

The New Year came again in February — the Chinese New Year–the year of the snake. This time we did not go very far to celebrate.  We went to Congee Village on Allen Street in NYC for their special Chinese New Year menu. The corkage fee is only $10 per bottle so we brought our own wines.  The food was very good and plentiful.

Steamed Live Fish

To begin our celebration of the year of the snake we started with Champagne.

Ferrari Perlé Rosé 2006 Trento DOC Method Classico made from 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. This is a vintage Rosé from the Lunelli family, owners of Ferrari, estate vineyards. The grapes are harvested by hand at the end of September on the hills surrounding Trento, with either southeastern or southwestern exposure between 1000 and 2000 feet above sea level. The wine is aged 5 years on selected yeasts. It is an elegant and complex Rosé with ripe red berry aromas and flavors with hints of raspberry and a touch of almond.  It has a long finish and pleasing aftertaste.  I believe that Ferrari makes some of the best Method Classico wine in Italy.

Grande Réserve Brut Bouzy André Clouet 100% Grand Cru estate-bottled Bouzy pinot noir aged six years on yeast; with strawberry, wheat kernel, and stone flavors along with a pleasing touch of cream in the mid palate and finish.

The Clout family owns 8 hectares of vines in preferred mid-slope vineyards in Grand Crus Bouzy and Ambonnay, and has excelled as a pinot noir specialist even within Bouzy, an appellation specifically celebrated for the quality of its pinot noir. The wines are cellared under the family’s 17th century village house – built by an ancestor who acted as printer to Louis XV’s royal court at Versailles. Respect for terroir is evident in these traditionally crafted wines. The labels are attractively old-fashioned in design.

Champagne Dom Ruinart  Blanc de Blancs1993 in Magnum.  Made from Grand cru Chardonnay grapes exclusively from the Côte des Blancs (66%) and the northern slope of the Montagne de Reims (34%). This is an elegant and powerful Champagne with nice fruit, hints of peach and pear, good minerality and a touch of toast.

Pan Fried Baby Lamb Chops

Meursault-Charmes Premire Cru- Les Charmes Dessus 2007 Domaine Antonin Guyon 100% Chardonnay Meursault is one of the villages in the southern part of the Côte de Beaune. They have a 69-acre plot here. The soil is white marl and the vines are over 30 years old. In 2007 a sunny September allowed the grapes to ripen well and the harvest to take place under excellent conditions. Sorting of the grapes takes place at the winery. Fermentation is at low temperatures in oak barrels with stirring twice a week. The wine is aged in oak barrels 1/3 new and bottled after 15 months.

Chinese Vegetables E. Fu Noodles

Meursault – Genevrieres Premier Cru 2000 Domaine Latour Giraurd A Premier Cru vineyard of the Meursault  appellation in the Côte de Beaune. It is a large vineyard located in the southern end of the commune. They have 10 hectares. The vineyard is divided into halves- Genevrieres above and Genevrieses below. The upper section has better drainage and more morning sunlight and therefore produces better fruit. Free run juice and wild natural yeast is used and the wine is kept on the lees for a long period of time with racking kept to a minimum. There is no fining or filtration. The wine is fermented and aged in barrels about 1/3, which are new between 14/16 months. I believe the wine is bottled by hand.

House Special Cold Dungeness Crabs-Chao Style

Chateau Beychevelle 1970 St. Julien 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Aged for 20 months in barriques, 1/2 new. This is what Robert Parker says about the 1970 in his book Bordeaux. “Fully mature with a spicy, plum-like bouquet, and some caramel aromas…round fruity, quiet silky and soft and nicely concentrated. It lacks the complexity and depth of the best 1970’s, but it is still quite attractive. Drink over the next 3-4 years”. He last tasted the wine in 9/84 and gives it an 84 rating.
I agree with Parker in his description of the wine except for the caramel aromas.  I do not agree with his rating.
Almost 30 years later the wine is showing extremely well. It is an elegant wine, complex, has depth and will last for a number of years.

Mas Daumas Gassac 1990 Vin de Pays l’Hèrault Languedoc. Aimé Guilbert.  Made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20 different varieties. The winery is located in the Gassac Valley. A rare and still unexplained, red, fine glacial soil dominates the valley.  The grapes are hand harvested. Long fermentation and maceration, a minimum of 20 days, in stainless steel tanks and no filtration. The wine spends about 16 months in oak barrels, with a maximum of 10% new. This is a big, powerful wine that I first discovered with the 1983 vintage and have been drinking ever since.

There were two dessert wines, a Madeira Barbeito Sercial 1978 and a 1923 Sauterne I could not read the name of the producer.  The Madeira was showing very well. 

A Night at Bern’s Steak House

During lunch at SD26, Ed said that they were thinking of flying to South Carolina because Mary needed to acquire more miles to qualify for a gold frequent flyer card from an airline. Their plan was to stay overnight and return the next day.

I suggested they go to Florida instead.  Ed said, “why Florida?”  Travis answered Bern’s Steak House.  We all knew about Bern’s but only Travis and Nicole had been there.  After a very brief discussion, Mary and Ed decided that they liked the idea.  Travis then said, “Why don’t we all go?”  So that is how a group of 8 of us flew to Tampa, had dinner at Bern’s on Sunday night, and returned to New York for dinner at my apartment on New Year’s Eve.  

One of the many wine rooms in Bern’s

Bern’s Steak House may have the largest wine list in the world. They have over 1,250 wines on the list, 6,800 different wines, and a total of over half a million bottles.
Travis had contacted Brad Dixon, one of the sommeliers at Bern’s Steak House, so he was ready for us when we arrived. We discussed the wine list with him and he also made suggestions that were not on the list and told us all about them. He is very knowledgeable and was a great help when it came to Burgundy.
Since Ed always starts with Champagne, he ordered the Perrier-Jouet “Fleur de Champagne” 1996 in magnum to start.   Made from 50% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier, it comes in the popular and beautiful “Flower Bottle”. 1996 was a great year for Champagne. The wine was just starting to come around and will last for many more years.  It was a perfect start to a great wine evening.

Rully  Domaine Faiveley 1982 100% Chardonnay. The exposure is east and the soil is clay and limestone. Perfectly mature grapes are harvested and transported to the Faiveley winery in Mercurey. The must is extracted using a pneumatic press and settles in a vat overnight. Vinification lasts for 4 weeks. The wine is aged in vats for 11 weeks and the lees are stirred regularly. The wine is racked in Mercurey and transported to Nuits-Saint Georges, the headquarters of Domaine Faiveley, where it is prepared for bottling. This is how the wine is made today though it may have been different 30 years ago. This wine was showing its age but was still drinking well. It will not last much longer and I attribute its lasting this long to the excellent storage facilities at Bern’s. This wine was under $50. Bern’s has a large selection of older wines from Italy and less known parts of France for under $50.
Echezaux 1959.  This is a negociant wine from T. Thorin
and the label indicates the location of his offices which were in the village of Pontanevoux. Domaine Romanee Saint-Vivant 1962.  100% Pinot Noir This is 9.54 hectare vineyard just above the village of Vosne.  At one time, over half was owned by Domaine Merey-Monge but the vineyard however was tended by and the wines made by Romanée Conti.  Domaine de la Romanée is now the principal owner with 5.29 hectares. There are 11 owners altogether.

Romanée St. Vivant 1970 Marey-Monge 100% Pinot Noir in magnum. (We ordered magnums when they were available.)
All I can say is that the Burgundies were exceptional and none were showing their age.

Bordeaux Haut Batailley 1959. I believe it is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with some Merlot and a touch of Cabernet Franc depending on the vintage. Mary paid for this wine to thank us for supporting her quest for miles. It was wonderful.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape  1961 in Magnum Delas Freres This is a northern Rhône negociant that buys juice for their wines  in the southern Rhône.
1961 was an exceptional vintage and this was the best Châteauneuf-du-Pape that I have ever had. In fact a number of people said that it was too young! Today it is owned by the Champagne house Roederer.

Cossart Madeira Sercial 1905 – the oldest shipper of Madeira wine, established in 1745. Made from the Sercial grape. Sercial Maderia is the driest of the four classic varieties of Madeira. It is also the lightest and most acidic and delicate expression of Madeira and takes the longest to mature. Maderia Sercial is a white fortified wine made on the volcanic island of Madeira, which belongs to Portugal.  Of the two Madeira Sercials that we drank on two consecutive nights, the 1910 Leacock (New Years Eve) was showing slightly better.

After dinner at Bern’s Steak House you are taken to the dessert rooms, set in empty wine barrels!  They offer an array of interesting desserts and a full range of dessert wines to go with them.

We all had a great time and it was worth the trip!

We are back on I-Italy|TV:   This Saturday at 11:00 PM repeated Sunday at 1:00 PM.

The Perfect Lunch

Prior to our lunch at Gramercy Tavern in NYC, a friend, who dines there regularly, selected the menu.  He selected each of the courses to go with one of the wines we would be drinking. The seven diners were supposed to bring one wine each.  Somehow we wound up with nine. It was one of those rare occasions were everything worked out perfectly – – the wine, the food and the company.

We started as we always do with Champagne:  
Blanc de Blanc “Roses Jeanne” 2006
Cédric Bouchard. I have never tasted any Champagne from this producer and was very impressed by this one. I believe he only produces single vintage, single vineyard wines and that they are fermented and aged in stainless steel.  The winemaker interferes in the process as little as possible.  It was also different from other Champagnes. The bubbles were very small and it had a crisp, fresh taste with subtle citrus fruit flavors that would make it go very well with food.  He also makes a Champagne from 100% Pinot Blanc!
Sauternes 1997 Château d’ Yquem made from 80% Sémillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc. Harvesting is by hand.  Successive waves of pickers are sent into the vineyard and the grapes are picked one at a time. This is to ensure that only the grapes with the “noble rot” Botrytis are selected. The grapes are pressed three times and then aged in oak barrels for 3 years. 1997 is considered a great vintage. Château d’Yquem will not produce a 2012. We had this with the Foie Gras with Poached Quince, Walnuts and Pomegranate Vinaigrette. Wonderful!
Montrachet “Côte de Beaune” 2005 Louis Jadot made from 100% Chardonnay. 2005 was a very good vintage with almost perfect conditions. The wine is fermented in wooden barrels and aged for 18 to 20 months in wooden barrels before it is bottled. This is a big rich wine and will last for a number of years.
Meursault 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils I00% Chardonnay
This is a wine that I have drunk a number of times and always enjoyed. I believe it is at its peak now but should hold for a few more years.  These two white wines were served with Striped Bass with Leeks Beacon and Brussels Sprouts.
Gevry Chambertin  Corbeaux 1985 Domaine Leroy 100% Pinot Noir This is a great Burgundy from one of the top producers and it was exceptional.
Barolo 1971 Serralunga d’Alba Pira 100 % Nebbiolo. Sheldon Wasserman in his book Italy’s Noble Red Wines says that “Luigi Pira was… the single finest producer in Barolo” Pira was a traditionalists and the crushing of the grapes was by feet. The grapes were brought into the cellar, the bunches were put into tini, large upright oak vats’ and the men crushed them with their bare feet and the wine was fermented. Luigi Pira died in 1980 and the tradition of pigiatura a peidi died with him. Wasserman gives the vintage and the wine four stars, his highest rating. Some 32 years after Wasserman tasted the wine I would have to agree with him. We had these two wines with Duck Breast with Lentils, Parsnips, Hazelnuts and Trumpet Mushrooms.
Bordeaux Château Montrose 1983 Saint-Estêphe made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. This wine was at its peak and I think it will remain there for a few years. In my opinion 1983 was a very good vintage in Bordeaux but it was overshadowed by the 1982’s. The 1983’s are a good buy if you can find them. The wine was drinking very well, soft, with hints of dark fruit, spice and just a touch of leather.

Amarone 1964 Bertani 70% Corvina Veronese; 30% Rondinella- this is the present blend.

Carefully selected grape bunches are hand-harvested in Bertani’s best Valpolicella vineyards in Fumane, Marano and the Novare Valley. Vines are cultivated using the “spalliera” method while pruning is done using the “Guyot “ method with 5.000 vines/ha. Unlike most leading Amarone producers, who buy grapes from outside growers, Bertani’s harvest originates entirely in the firm’s own vineyards. With marly-calcareous soil sheltered by surrounding woodland, these vineyards offer the ideal terroir for Amarone.

Harvest begins in early October and extends over a two-week period. After harvest, ripe, unblemished grapes from the uppermost portions of each cluster — those grapes richest in sugar and extracts — are painstakingly detached and laid out to dry on cane mats. The mats are stored on raised platforms in airy lofts, sheltered by a roof but otherwise exposed to drying breezes on all sides. By the time they are ready to undergo maceration and fermentation in February, they will have lost up to 60% of their water content (appassimento). A lengthy maceration period ensues, a factor responsible for Amarone’s tremendous body and structure. After a controlled fermentation, the wine is transferred into oak casks for a period of 5-8 years (the 1964, I believe, spent a longer time in wood) during which it is racked twice annually prior to bottling.

Aromas of freshly picked cherries mingled with notes of sour cherries, and an agreeable trace of spiciness. Dry, full-bodied, amply structured with hints of cherries, red berries and spice with a finish that recalls walnuts and hazelnuts. 1964 was a legendary vintage for Amarone and this wine lived up to it. We enjoyed these two wines with

Roasted & Braised Lamb with Broccoli and Ruby Crescent Potatoes.

Vintage Port Fonseca 1970
Here is the vintage report:  Winter rainfall from October to March was 40cm, which was slightly above average. A very dry spring followed by rain in May and June. From July to October almost no rain fell and the vintage was made under ideal conditions.
Picking started on the 21st September and bunches were in perfect condition and completely free from disease. Sunny days and cool nights resulted in musts with tremendous depth of color. Yields were high. 1970 was an excellent vintage.
This is a 42-year-old port that will still last for a number of years. It has aromas of red fruit, ripe raisins, caramel and a hint of spice among others. The wine has great depth but also very subtle, balanced with a long full finish and after taste. We had the port with a selection of farmstead cheeses.

HAPPY NEW YEAR