TN: Three wines at my place

D

David from Switzerland

David Plattner
Another spontaneous dinner invitation, this time mine.

Leroy Chambolle-Musigny Les Fremires 1996
Bottle number 606 of 1755. Unchanged raspberry-ruby-red colour, soft black reflections. Tiny truffle top note already, which made itself felt only just after the cork was pulled, same as the high acidity and a faint dryness to the tannin this needs plenty of air if opened today. Barely any red beet to the raspberry and blood orange here anymore, otherwise same as a couple of years ago. Long and subtle. Floral and fruity, and much more complex after three hours plus, more opulent, rounder and as if thicker, with the acidity much more integrated. Longer, too. Remos favourite wine of the night. Rating: 92+/93?

Gaja Langhe Sperss 1996
From half bottle. I was curious to retaste this, but sampling young Gaja tends to be a (pretty useless) academic exercise, and pulling corks on his 1996 crus (of which the Sperss is the most powerful, and may be the most ageworthy) cannot be recommended. Ridiculously youthful, Christian guessed (I served all wines blind) this to be 3- to 5-years-old. Glossy, youthfully deep colour, with a slight pink-orange rim. Petrol, sweet marzipan and asphalt, intense black cherry coulis. Huge body and tannin that is not too finely grained. Powerful finish, recurring black cherry on the aftertaste. Sweeter and more glyceric with airing, but no less powerful. Palate-staining wine that will one day taste much like 1978 Serralunga Barolo does today, fractionally tarrier perhaps (but I have overestimated the influence of new oak in other Gaja crus before). Profits from 5 to 6 (or more?) hours airing, but really needs many more years of bottle age. Remo, who found this gigantic if not monstrous, much prefers the more elegant and low-acid 1997 crus. Rating: 96(+?)

Chteau Pichon Longueville Baron Pauillac 1995
Christian neither liked the Leroy nor the Gaja (even though he admired the power and youthfulness of the latter), and demanded I open either a Bordeaux or a Supertuscan. Best bottle of 1995 Pichon Baron I have had (not a secret I am not great fan of the Chteau, or rather, the style). Glossy ruby-black. Top note of lead pencil to cassis liqueur, elegant fruit. Integrated, faintly nutty oak. Complex dried mushrooms finesse note. Soft Asian broth cube spice. Round tannin. Smooth finish of medium-plus length, touch of cherry on the aftertaste. Not a heavy-weight, but very harmonious a lighter, elegant 1995 that is already drinking well. Needless to say, Christians favourite wine of the night. Rating: 89-

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Soft Asian broth cube spice.
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Is that something sold in Swiss supermarkets?
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Yes, or rather in specialized Asian food shops in this particular case. Like most people who love cooking, I'm not a fan of broth cubes. I do sometimes add some to flavour stuff that draws through, e.g. soups or stews (or even Risotto with porcini, where making chicken stock from scratch tends to make too little of a difference in the end result), and apart from the standard (Swiss) ones, I've found a Thai instant beef soup paste (that's really a not thoroughly dry broth cube) that is spiced with red chilli, cinnamon, coriander and star anise (unlike our regional beef broth cubes). I'll admit that all broth cubes smell slightly vile because of their concentration, but I'm usually thinking of their diluted smell when I allude to them in my tasting notes.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
I like my MSG straight.
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Which may be a little cryptic. I seem to encounter cubes in Italian recipes particularly, but I always think of it as a way of putting a bunch of MSG into the meal without mentioning it.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by SFJoe:
I like my MSG straight.
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Which may be a little cryptic. I seem to encounter cubes in Italian recipes particularly, but I always think of it as a way of putting a bunch of MSG into the meal without mentioning it.
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I know what you mean (and agree wholeheartedly - in Asia they traditionally used seaweed extract, but I doubt industrially) - even though I try to avoid using either, the smell of MSG is at least less vile than that of curing salt (is it the nitrate component that's so stinky in the latter, by the way?).

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
originally posted by David from Switzerland: I'll admit that all broth cubes smell slightly vile because of their concentration, but I'm usually thinking of their diluted smell when I allude to them in my tasting notes.
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Ok, I guess the generic form of broth cube is a readily-enough identifiable flavor. I was just wondering about the general 'Asian' moniker. But it makes sense.
 
Salt-cured anchovies are my favorite MSG-equivalent.

Regular MSG is pretty much without smell. Zwitterions hate getting volatile.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Salt-cured anchovies are my favorite MSG-equivalent.

Regular MSG is pretty much without smell. Zwitterions hate getting volatile.
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Thanks! What about my curing salt question, though? Is it the sodium nitrate that causes the off-putting smell there?

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
originally posted by David from Switzerland:

Thanks! What about my curing salt question, though? Is it the sodium nitrate that causes the off-putting smell there?
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not sure, haven't cured anything in years. what else is in it?
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by David from Switzerland:

Thanks! What about my curing salt question, though? Is it the sodium nitrate that causes the off-putting smell there?
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not sure, haven't cured anything in years. what else is in it?
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Was going to say table salt, but looked it up to be sure: "Curing salt, also known as Prague powder #1, is a combination that is 93.75% salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate." Thanks for the little chemistry lesson here and in the other post, by the way!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
Directly delivered MSG (e.g. Ajinomoto brand MSG) is pretty much odourless, as Joe observes. Many stock cubes suffer from bad shipping and storage, resulting in moisture buildup where the cube is in contact with the wrapper. If you shave off (with the back of a knife) the top layer of stock cubes you'd find that the smell is quite different.

Well, dashi kombu production is pretty industrial in Japan. You can buy powder extracts in 5kg boxes at most good retailers. I add a tiny pinch with black pepper and chilli to my drinking chocolate - it does amp up all the flavours considerably.

There's a famous Cantonese saying that the chef is absent when the MSG is missing from the kitchen.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
There's a famous Cantonese saying that the chef is absent when the MSG is missing from the kitchen.
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LOL! Thanks for this one (will have to tell my chef friend Albino - that'll make him jump and scream with horror)! ;^)

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
originally posted by Yixin:...dashi kombu...powder extracts...a tiny pinch with black pepper and chilli to my drinking chocolate - it does amp up all the flavours considerably.
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I thought chocolate was already a pretty amped-up flavor. You must buy some strange chocolate.

Nonetheless, interesting combination.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
I add a tiny pinch with black pepper and chilli to my drinking chocolate - it does amp up all the flavours considerably.
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Hm... never thought about adding black pepper to hot chocolate. I'll have to try that. Thanks!
 
As always, this thread is making me sweaty.

Salt-cured anchovies are indeed a cure for many ills.
 
Local chocolatiers seem convinced that chocolate needs pepper and sometimes even cayenne.

I had a 96 Sperss (from 750) in Milan a year or two ago and two hours of decanting or swirling did little to render the wine into an enjoyable drink. But maybe in another 15 years it will be as pleasurable as the 78 Gaja Barbarescos that I used to love so much. As I did not know them in their youth I cannot make the comparison.
 
originally posted by Cole Kendall:
Local chocolatiers seem convinced that chocolate needs pepper and sometimes even cayenne.
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Yes, chocolate with chilis / red pepper is old news. Aztec this and that.

I don't know that I've seen anyone using black pepper.
 
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