Dinner at Mark Anisman's

B

Brad Kane

Brad Kane
Mark Anisman played host to a fun jeeb the other night in Yountville. He let me do the invite list and I managed to a motley crew together of Mike and Anne Dashe, Carole Meredith and Steve Lagier and Joe Czerwinski was also in the area for tasting duties, so I roped him in, too.

Mark grilled up a storm with a bronzino appetizer and Sonoma lamb entree, the guests provided some tasty sides and cheese and Mark also made a delicious strawberry/rhubarb crumble.

No extensive notes, but my favorites were the '90 Margaux, which has wonderful intensity and weight, but still needs more time, the '89 Monte Bello,which Mike mentioned he had been saving for Dougherty. It was perfectly mature, seamless and drinking beautifully. Sadly, the '77 Mayacamas was just generic old red wine and it was nice to contrast the two '97 sweeties from Huet and Foreau. As in '96, Huet made better sweeties, with tge CDB 1ere showing incredibly balance, lengthy and just more interesting notes than the Foreau Reserve, which is much darker, more advanced and less complete, but still quite enjoyable.

The Group.

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The wine.

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thank you Brad for being the inspiration!
company was fabulous of course. the side dishes and cheese brought were quite wonderful. i should note that Steve's tilt is not from a concurrent earthquake.

branzino was stuffed with olive oil / lemon juice marinade comprised primarily of lemongrass / shiso / thyme / garlic and then positioned on the bbq.

the Koehler-Ruprecht was not inspiring but workmanlike. Veyder-Malberg smaragd had a nice spine but not a fruity wine. my experience is the 2012 vintage generally are not powerful wines and more finesse and grreat (do I hear Tony?) balance. i like them very much . chosen for the fish course for this reason.

leg of lamb marinaded overnight with main spices of cumin / coriander / ginger / garlic / mint / clove (Julie Sahni "Classic Indian Cooking" p182)

a walnut / pomegranate dip was prepared and employed for use with fish and lamb, my preferring the latter (Paula Wolfert "The Cooking of the Middle East" p15). i have marigolds in the garden expressly for this culinary concoction.

i appreciated the Ridge and Chateau Margaux, but preferred the Bel Air-Marquis d'Aligre as it was more interesting/complex and finer/lighter to me. the fruit also seemed more identifiable. the former wines strike me as monochromatic but perhaps like Brad states, the Margaux is not shining in all its glory yet. The Ridge was also very good but I can never get past American oak.
i did think there was some identifiable zin character in the Mayacamas, but also noted a significant but not overwhelming acidity. i enjoyed it
i did not sample the Dashe and Lagier-Meredith wine.

i would like to take credit for the dessert, but this was prepared by Marico. i hope people do not think less of me, but this is how the cookie crumbles i guess.

Big fan of the Huet. A rounder vintage reflective wine that still was delicious with adequate acidity. the Bourg fingerprint was not in the forefront. but i guess i should leave the fingerprint questions to Carole.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Mark Anisman:

the Koehler-Ruprecht was not inspiring but workmanlike...
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What wine/vintage? Can't tell from the photo. Looks like it may be a Spätlese trocken?
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It was indeed a Spatlese Trocken from 2012. It really didn't do much for me.

Sasha, 2000.
 
apologies for photos. Brad's bird pictures are better defined.

2020 Eric Bordelet Poiré Granit
2012 Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Spätlese trocken
2012 Veyder-Malberg Grüner Veltliner Weitenberg
1990 Ch“teau Margaux
1989 Ridge Monte Bello
2000 Ch“teau Bel Air-Marquis d'Aligre
1977 Mayacamas Vineyards Zinfandel Napa Mountain
1997 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Clos du Bourg
1997 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux Réserve
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Mark Anisman:

the Koehler-Ruprecht was not inspiring but workmanlike...
Click to expand...

What wine/vintage? Can't tell from the photo. Looks like it may be a Spätlese trocken?
Click to expand...

It was indeed a Spatlese Trocken from 2012. It really didn't do much for me.
Click to expand...

Aha. I can't claim very comprehensive experience with KR, but for the dry wines, I have really enjoyed every R and RR Trocken I've tasted and have not yet found one that I would classify as 'not inspiring but workmanlike'.

Regardless, sounds like a great meal!
 
K-R is in my top 5 German wineries. this particular wine was not. Chambers has the 2017 Saumagen Spatlese Trocken 'R' but the price of entry is daunting....
 
originally posted by Mark Anisman:
Chambers has the 2017 Saumagen Spatlese Trocken 'R' but the price of entry is daunting....
Click to expand...

One of the running themes for me is how expensive the German dry wines are in the US. I love them, but for my tastes/wallet, they are not very competitive at US prices.

I haven't done a comprehensive study, and I'm not ITB, but it seems like German vs US retail price differences are wider for the dry wines as opposed to the off dry wines. Not sure why? Smaller supply? (Seems like there is so much high-quality high-level GG wine available in Germany for 40-70 euros, but maybe I'm not seeing the market properly)
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Mark Anisman:
Chambers has the 2017 Saumagen Spatlese Trocken 'R' but the price of entry is daunting....
Click to expand...

One of the running themes for me is how expensive the German dry wines are in the US. I love them, but for my tastes/wallet, they are not very competitive at US prices.

I haven't done a comprehensive study, and I'm not ITB, but it seems like German vs US retail price differences are wider for the dry wines as opposed to the off dry wines. Not sure why? Smaller supply? (Seems like there is so much high-quality high-level GG wine available in Germany for 40-70 euros, but maybe I'm not seeing the market properly)
Click to expand...

My impression is that off-dry and sweet German wines are still a tough sale in the US, so retailers and distributors might operate on lower margins with those. Our ITB friends can no doubt be more definitive .

Mark Lipton
 
I have some of that Huet in the handy half bottle size. Will try to open one this summer.

I read Brad’s notes as saying, in effect, that he preferred the Huet to the Foreau, just as je did with the 1996 vintage, not that he preferred Huet’s 1996 wines to the Huet 1997 wines (although he may prefer Huet’s 96s to the estate’s 1997s).
 
originally posted by maureen:
I have some of that Huet in the handy half bottle size. Will try to open one this summer.

I read Brad’s notes as saying, in effect, that he preferred the Huet to the Foreau, just as je did with the 1996 vintage, not that he preferred Huet’s 1996 wines to the Huet 1997 wines (although he may prefer Huet’s 96s to the estate’s 1997s).
Click to expand...

You read that correctly, though I do also find Huet's '96's better than their '97's. Imo, the '96s are some of the best wines ever from the domaine.
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by maureen:
I have some of that Huet in the handy half bottle size. Will try to open one this summer.

I read Brad’s notes as saying, in effect, that he preferred the Huet to the Foreau, just as je did with the 1996 vintage, not that he preferred Huet’s 1996 wines to the Huet 1997 wines (although he may prefer Huet’s 96s to the estate’s 1997s).
Click to expand...

You read that correctly, though I do also find Huet's '96's better than their '97's. Imo, the '96s are some of the best wines ever from the domaine.
Click to expand...

I found 1996 to be a brilliant vintage, in an arc across Northern France from Anjou through Chablis into Alsace.
 
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