Ahhh, Spring Break means more than bikinis and babes and (... sorry, lost train of thought for a minute), why it's the time to celebrate new life coming forth and enjoy some wines from friends passing by. Steve was in the neighbourhood and I was cooking so...
For starters, along with the excellent triple-type cream Kunik and some Humboldt Fog, we popped E. Vatan's, Sancerre 'Clos la Neore', 2007, which had some sinewy aromas lurking under a crystalline lemon nose. There's a hidden structure under the bright fruit, kiwi juice, an elegant calcified finish. This is beautiful stuff. My first year, so cannot compare to others, but I liked it immensely and will buy again. A-
With pan-fried bluefish, shrimps in a squash-ancho chile sauce, and cauliflower soup with black truffle, a red:
Dang! The first one was corked! Pity, because it sure seemed like there was beautiful fruit in the 1989 Aldo Conterno Barolo. Wanting a nebbiolo, I scoured around and found a Luigi Einaudi, Barolo 'nei Cannubi', 1997. A manly wine, with brawny aromas, prune. Palate-wise, there is cherry, licorice, an orange rind aspect, but wood swoops in and detracts the experience for me. I doubt this will integrate in the wine any better than it already has, at 12 years. Perhaps a better match would have been a 1998 Macarini La Serra? B+
And what would dinner be without desert? In lieu of having actual desert, we open another of Steve's wines, the German Selbach-Oster, Bernkasteler Badstrube, riesling, Berenauslese, 2006 had a full botrytis nose and apricot paste. Palate coating apricot and peach pits, guava paste, pineapples and orange blossom honey with a lingering, botrytis spice filled finish. Nice! Good end to a good night. A/A-
For starters, along with the excellent triple-type cream Kunik and some Humboldt Fog, we popped E. Vatan's, Sancerre 'Clos la Neore', 2007, which had some sinewy aromas lurking under a crystalline lemon nose. There's a hidden structure under the bright fruit, kiwi juice, an elegant calcified finish. This is beautiful stuff. My first year, so cannot compare to others, but I liked it immensely and will buy again. A-
With pan-fried bluefish, shrimps in a squash-ancho chile sauce, and cauliflower soup with black truffle, a red:
Dang! The first one was corked! Pity, because it sure seemed like there was beautiful fruit in the 1989 Aldo Conterno Barolo. Wanting a nebbiolo, I scoured around and found a Luigi Einaudi, Barolo 'nei Cannubi', 1997. A manly wine, with brawny aromas, prune. Palate-wise, there is cherry, licorice, an orange rind aspect, but wood swoops in and detracts the experience for me. I doubt this will integrate in the wine any better than it already has, at 12 years. Perhaps a better match would have been a 1998 Macarini La Serra? B+
And what would dinner be without desert? In lieu of having actual desert, we open another of Steve's wines, the German Selbach-Oster, Bernkasteler Badstrube, riesling, Berenauslese, 2006 had a full botrytis nose and apricot paste. Palate coating apricot and peach pits, guava paste, pineapples and orange blossom honey with a lingering, botrytis spice filled finish. Nice! Good end to a good night. A/A-
