Sundry Wines w/dinner (menu)

Peter Creasey

Peter Creasey
MENU:

sevammnu.jpg
. . . . . . . Pete
 
Pete,
An odd assortment of wines.
Odder still is that I have tasted all the domestic ones.
The Harlan was tolerable and should do well with that dish.
The Kistler and the SQN were so far past my limits I could not drink more than the initial tastes.
Were I at the table for this fete, I’d be stealing Chablis and Brunello from anyone I could.
I await your notes/comments on all the wines.
Best, Jim
 
Yeah, I had one of the early Harlans at a tasting 20 or more years ago. At the time, it was a controversial wine with high Parker points and disdain by the yet to be named AFWEs. I expected to hate it and was surprised by how undisgusting it was, though that was the best I thought could be said for it. I've had an SQN red once and that entirely lived up to its reputation for being not drinkable for me. I didn't quite dislike the one Kistler I tasted as much, but it is not a wine I'd seek out.

It's a long time since I've seen beef tournedos on a menu though I did cook Julia Child's version of it once. It is a dish heavy enough for a Harlan, I guess.
 
I have some dear friends who are on the Kistler mailing list, so I’ve sampled a fair number of their Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs over the years. They certainly represent a style of wine I’ve long since lost a taste for. As my friends demonstrate, there are still plenty of people who love that style. I have another friend who loves CalCabs but fortunately goes for more classic producers such as Dunn and La Jota. He’ll occasionally give me a bottle that I’ll stick away for 1-2 decades before opening, such as the ‘95 Howell Mountain I recently opened.

Mark Lipton
 
Thanks, guys, for the opportunity to mostly agree.

The Harlan was, at best, pedestrian. Tar-laden, tight, closed, almost impenetrable. The Fileto Rossini was excellent enough to almost rescue the pairing...


The Kistler had totally unsurprising bottle variation. I got a pour that was very dark but still had some charm for folks liking the style. The other pours ranged from better to A-ok.

The Caparzo Brunello showed pretty well given the company it was in. Even so, I didn't finish all of mine. Quite dense with too little personality or roundness.

When I realized how things were going, I was able to get the wine steward to corral me another generous pour of the Dauvissat Vaillons Chablis. This bottling, like most all Dauvissats, was a delight albeit with perhaps (if I recall correctly) some atypicity.

The Sine Qua Non Alban was mahogany colored and worked fine with the well-suited dessert...


. . . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Yeah, I had one of the early Harlans at a tasting 20 or more years ago. At the time, it was a controversial wine with high Parker points and disdain by the yet to be named AFWEs. I expected to hate it and was surprised by how undisgusting it was, though that was the best I thought could be said for it. .
My experience with Harlan is dated and mainly of the 1990s vintages. But FWIW, while the flavor was fairly consistent, the balance and weight were quite variable. I quite liked one or two, and disliked others.
 
For a brief while, I was on the Harlan mailing list. Disliked the wines, but I got to play "My Friend Flipper" until I lost interest in the entire process. The SQN wines are best used to remove the tar when swimming at the Santa Barbara beaches.
 
'04 chez Dauvissat is excellent and some cuvées are thought to show some signs of slight botrytis, so maybe that is the source of the atypical notes.
 
The 2002 SQN is lower in alcohol then the preceding and succeeding vintages which were 1% or more higher. The 2002 is 100% botrytised Chardonnay, the 2001 was Semillon, I believe.

. . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Andrew Zachary:
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

The bottle stipulated alcohol content at 10.1% (I believe) for the SQN.

Sure, sure. I believe that. Along with the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa.

Isn't that bottling a late harvest, botrytized dessert wine? They might kill the fermentation at 10.1% ABV to get the desired sweetness (how they get the acidity, if indeed they do, is anyone's guess).

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Andrew Zachary:
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

The bottle stipulated alcohol content at 10.1% (I believe) for the SQN.

Sure, sure. I believe that. Along with the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa.

Isn't that bottling a late harvest, botrytized dessert wine? They might kill the fermentation at 10.1% ABV to get the desired sweetness (how they get the acidity, if indeed they do, is anyone's guess).

Mark Lipton

the acidity comes from a bag.
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:
Sundry Wines w/dinner (menu)
MENU:

sevammnu.jpg
. . . . . . . Pete

The purpose of this thread may have merit. Unfortunately, it buries all the good info on specific wines by just being a picture of a menu. Wine searches will be problematic if not fruitless.

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