Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Craig, Franco, Victor, Jayson, Jay, Jeff
"Conestoga" Craig has a one-way ticket in July... west. Way west. Into the belly of the beast.
Portlandia.
Until then, we can say goodbye over and over. It's the Craig Ganzer farewell tour!
Today's episode takes place at Ping's Seafood. This is a reasonably good Hong Kong-ese restaurant with many more good dishes, frankly, than Wu's Wonton King. Dinner will run twice as much here as at Wu's. There's a Life Lesson in there somewhere. (Or maybe it's just the weekly special: order three electric eels and get a pack of LED bulbs free?)
Anyway, onward to the fizzies, which appeared in unanticipated abundance:
Calsac NV(?) Champagne Brut Nature "Les Revenants" - LXVII, I have the bottle and I cannot tell what vintage this is (other than the Roman numerals); one online source suggests it was disgorged in 2/21 but who knows; 12% alc.; it earns its name from its cepage: pinot blanc 50%, petit meslier 43%, arbane 7%; this is terrific: complex, solid acidity, a little funk in the nose (is there skin contact here?), a whiff of orange oil, very tactile, popular at the table
Delamotte 2012 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Blancs - delicate, just barely crisp, slightly oxidative, lemon and white flowers, seems simple and wan to me but others like it much more than I do
Vilmart 2007 Champagne 1er Cru "Coeur de Cuvee" - disg 2014, 80c/20pn, leesy, robust, tangy & sturdy
Cedric Bouchard (Roses de Jeanne) 2005 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Noirs - magnum, indecipherable white-on-white label with no cru name; good, evolves as the evening rolls on, yellow fruits appear but this is not distinctive
Rollin 1999 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er "Les Vergelesses" - double-decanted two hours ahead; pretty little red berries but taut and unhappy to be opened
Pierre Bouree 1964 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er "Cuvee Reservee" - they are (or were) based in Gevrey but it is really hard to know where these grapes really came from or who grew them; still sweet, more Indian spice than fruit, and not meaty in the way I expect from old Gevrey
Pierre Bouree 1978 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er "Cuvee Reservee" - corked.
Clos Roche Blanche 2012 Touraine "L'Arpent Rouge" - bright, crisp, a little more tannic than usual, subtle pineau d'aunis nose, a glassful of Life
Ch. Simone 2012 Palette Rose - a touch sweet and viscous, OK acidity, lacquer, if this is all there is it ain’t worth the tariff
Falkenstein 2019 Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Spatlese - 3 525 672 14 20, 8% alc., lovely, good sweetness, not quite enough acidity to stand up to all the fried seafood but a beauty on its own
Jayson offered us a Donnhoff sweetie but we decided we had enough wine tonight.
"Conestoga" Craig has a one-way ticket in July... west. Way west. Into the belly of the beast.
Portlandia.
Until then, we can say goodbye over and over. It's the Craig Ganzer farewell tour!
Today's episode takes place at Ping's Seafood. This is a reasonably good Hong Kong-ese restaurant with many more good dishes, frankly, than Wu's Wonton King. Dinner will run twice as much here as at Wu's. There's a Life Lesson in there somewhere. (Or maybe it's just the weekly special: order three electric eels and get a pack of LED bulbs free?)
Anyway, onward to the fizzies, which appeared in unanticipated abundance:
Calsac NV(?) Champagne Brut Nature "Les Revenants" - LXVII, I have the bottle and I cannot tell what vintage this is (other than the Roman numerals); one online source suggests it was disgorged in 2/21 but who knows; 12% alc.; it earns its name from its cepage: pinot blanc 50%, petit meslier 43%, arbane 7%; this is terrific: complex, solid acidity, a little funk in the nose (is there skin contact here?), a whiff of orange oil, very tactile, popular at the table
Delamotte 2012 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Blancs - delicate, just barely crisp, slightly oxidative, lemon and white flowers, seems simple and wan to me but others like it much more than I do
Vilmart 2007 Champagne 1er Cru "Coeur de Cuvee" - disg 2014, 80c/20pn, leesy, robust, tangy & sturdy
Cedric Bouchard (Roses de Jeanne) 2005 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Noirs - magnum, indecipherable white-on-white label with no cru name; good, evolves as the evening rolls on, yellow fruits appear but this is not distinctive
Rollin 1999 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er "Les Vergelesses" - double-decanted two hours ahead; pretty little red berries but taut and unhappy to be opened
Pierre Bouree 1964 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er "Cuvee Reservee" - they are (or were) based in Gevrey but it is really hard to know where these grapes really came from or who grew them; still sweet, more Indian spice than fruit, and not meaty in the way I expect from old Gevrey
Pierre Bouree 1978 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er "Cuvee Reservee" - corked.
Clos Roche Blanche 2012 Touraine "L'Arpent Rouge" - bright, crisp, a little more tannic than usual, subtle pineau d'aunis nose, a glassful of Life
Ch. Simone 2012 Palette Rose - a touch sweet and viscous, OK acidity, lacquer, if this is all there is it ain’t worth the tariff
Falkenstein 2019 Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Spatlese - 3 525 672 14 20, 8% alc., lovely, good sweetness, not quite enough acidity to stand up to all the fried seafood but a beauty on its own
Jayson offered us a Donnhoff sweetie but we decided we had enough wine tonight.
