Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Craig, Dale, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Marty
First, Craig went West. This took several tries, I heard.
Now, he's coming back East. Even told his subletter to find new digs and everything. (That's convenient, isn't it?)
We order all our favorite dishes at Ping's: crispy silver fish, roast quail, Peking duck, lamb chops... and a few new ones like Hainese chicken, and a whole sauteed grey sole.
The waitress (really, Mistress of Ceremonies) remembers us from Canton Lounge, five and a half years ago. New York really is a small village. Or maybe just Chinatown. Something like that.
I'm in a grumpy mood, partly due to the schlep to get to Ping's from my office, and partly due to the fact that two people came from much further away so I cannot possibly complain about it... well, not much, anyway.
Bubbles up front:
Taittinger 2002 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Blancs, "Comtes de Champagne" -- vanilla, lees, such a delicate and crystalline fizz, really cleanses the palate, tangy and fresh, just wow stuff
Vilmart 2013 Champagne Rose Brut "EMOTION 2013" -- 60% PN / 40% C, 60 months on the lees, no malo, dosage 8 g/l, disgorged April 2020; and, after a half-hour open... intense, mineral, with a lush texture but a delicate pale pink color, very forward on the palate, more great wine
Krug NV Champagne Brut -- two half-bottles from Roy Welland's cellar, he is said to have bought a ton of these and basically popped one a day... alas, the first bottle is totally shot and the second one is just barely fizzy and totally shot... hope he had better luck than this
Reinhold Haart 2005 Piesporter Grafenberg Riesling Spatlese -- 2 596 429 08 06, a wine of discreet manners, delicate but long and persistent, quite ripe and fruity, aging nicely
Maximin Grunhauser (Carl von Schubert) 2019 Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett -- 3 536 014 06 20, Grosse Lage, this has terrific purity and just-so ripeness but is strangely faint for about an hour then suddenly becomes much fuller and a bit sweeter; so drink and hold and decant
Gunther Steinmetz 2020 Neumagener Rosengartchen Riesling Auslese -- following a similar trajectory to the Grunhauser: light and stylish and only moderately sweet yet kinda faint, until an hour passes and it opens up, Marty makes a strange association, "It has that horseradish-y thing"
Willi Schaefer 2012 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett -- 8%, 2 583 154 03 13, Grosse Lage, jazzy acidity, lime leaf and face powder, not as complete as the Haart but drinking well; Day 2: fading a bit now, still a touch of noticeable sweetness and a touch of under-nervosity
Rhys 2008 Pinot Noir, Home Vineyard -- 13%, served blind but Dale guesses it, upon opening the wine has a nose that distinctly reminds of cherry-scented pipe tobacco, "There's a little VA in there" -Marty "That's good" -Jay, a half-hour later this is much better, similar to this note: Day 2: gone very red-fruity, and even a little JuicyFruity with a glamour of sweetness, and the texture has lightened-up, loose-weave silk over light earth
Furst 2013 Schlossberg GG Spatburgunder -- 13.5% and it has "PINOT NOIR" stamped on the label, the wine has a strong attack - not oak but something else powerful - and the palate is kinda grainy; with time it does smooth out but it is still drying
O. Horiot 2013 Rose de Riceys "En Valingrain" -- "Roses and cinnamon" -Jayson, the wine is beautifully textured and forward, alas my last bottle
Kalin Cellars 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve -- 12.2%, another intense but stylish wine, this must have been a bear when it was younger but now it is a great match with the food: enough presence to assert itself but not so much as to conceal food flavors; Day 2: drinks like a decent Bordeaux now with an attractive combination of blue-black fruit and a gentle raspiness
Dom. Lafouge 2017 Meursault "Les Meix-Chavaux" -- 13%, overlooked earlier but we send it around now; I like Dom. Lafouge reds but, well, I am not the best person to write about plain-old chardonnay (when you've got chalk below it or bubbles in it, then we'll talk); others said it was good
As always, nice to get a buncha da boyz together to pull some corks.
First, Craig went West. This took several tries, I heard.
Now, he's coming back East. Even told his subletter to find new digs and everything. (That's convenient, isn't it?)
We order all our favorite dishes at Ping's: crispy silver fish, roast quail, Peking duck, lamb chops... and a few new ones like Hainese chicken, and a whole sauteed grey sole.
The waitress (really, Mistress of Ceremonies) remembers us from Canton Lounge, five and a half years ago. New York really is a small village. Or maybe just Chinatown. Something like that.
I'm in a grumpy mood, partly due to the schlep to get to Ping's from my office, and partly due to the fact that two people came from much further away so I cannot possibly complain about it... well, not much, anyway.
Bubbles up front:
Taittinger 2002 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Blancs, "Comtes de Champagne" -- vanilla, lees, such a delicate and crystalline fizz, really cleanses the palate, tangy and fresh, just wow stuff
Vilmart 2013 Champagne Rose Brut "EMOTION 2013" -- 60% PN / 40% C, 60 months on the lees, no malo, dosage 8 g/l, disgorged April 2020; and, after a half-hour open... intense, mineral, with a lush texture but a delicate pale pink color, very forward on the palate, more great wine
Krug NV Champagne Brut -- two half-bottles from Roy Welland's cellar, he is said to have bought a ton of these and basically popped one a day... alas, the first bottle is totally shot and the second one is just barely fizzy and totally shot... hope he had better luck than this
Reinhold Haart 2005 Piesporter Grafenberg Riesling Spatlese -- 2 596 429 08 06, a wine of discreet manners, delicate but long and persistent, quite ripe and fruity, aging nicely
Maximin Grunhauser (Carl von Schubert) 2019 Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett -- 3 536 014 06 20, Grosse Lage, this has terrific purity and just-so ripeness but is strangely faint for about an hour then suddenly becomes much fuller and a bit sweeter; so drink and hold and decant
Gunther Steinmetz 2020 Neumagener Rosengartchen Riesling Auslese -- following a similar trajectory to the Grunhauser: light and stylish and only moderately sweet yet kinda faint, until an hour passes and it opens up, Marty makes a strange association, "It has that horseradish-y thing"
Willi Schaefer 2012 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett -- 8%, 2 583 154 03 13, Grosse Lage, jazzy acidity, lime leaf and face powder, not as complete as the Haart but drinking well; Day 2: fading a bit now, still a touch of noticeable sweetness and a touch of under-nervosity
Rhys 2008 Pinot Noir, Home Vineyard -- 13%, served blind but Dale guesses it, upon opening the wine has a nose that distinctly reminds of cherry-scented pipe tobacco, "There's a little VA in there" -Marty "That's good" -Jay, a half-hour later this is much better, similar to this note: Day 2: gone very red-fruity, and even a little JuicyFruity with a glamour of sweetness, and the texture has lightened-up, loose-weave silk over light earth
Furst 2013 Schlossberg GG Spatburgunder -- 13.5% and it has "PINOT NOIR" stamped on the label, the wine has a strong attack - not oak but something else powerful - and the palate is kinda grainy; with time it does smooth out but it is still drying
O. Horiot 2013 Rose de Riceys "En Valingrain" -- "Roses and cinnamon" -Jayson, the wine is beautifully textured and forward, alas my last bottle
Kalin Cellars 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve -- 12.2%, another intense but stylish wine, this must have been a bear when it was younger but now it is a great match with the food: enough presence to assert itself but not so much as to conceal food flavors; Day 2: drinks like a decent Bordeaux now with an attractive combination of blue-black fruit and a gentle raspiness
Dom. Lafouge 2017 Meursault "Les Meix-Chavaux" -- 13%, overlooked earlier but we send it around now; I like Dom. Lafouge reds but, well, I am not the best person to write about plain-old chardonnay (when you've got chalk below it or bubbles in it, then we'll talk); others said it was good
As always, nice to get a buncha da boyz together to pull some corks.