TN: Gathering in SF

B

Bill Buitenhuys

Bill Buitenhuys
So we met up with assorted DisorderliesLarry and Sandi, Slaton, Arjun, Steve, and Cory and Emily at La Ciccia, the left coast Home of the Jeebi. The food was wonderful. We were brought plate after plate of serious comfort food that really made me yearn for my departed Nanas homemade fusilli and slow-cooked ragu. We started with crisp flat bread, a plate of melt in your mouth prosciutto, a pile of wax beans that tasted like they were picked right out of a backyard garden, and a couple of orders of perfectly pan-sauted fresh sardines. I started with the linguine and rockfish which was a bowl of chewy silky pasta topped with a long cooked red sauce teeming with rich, savory salinity. My main was a tender breaded pork cutlet with side of Italian mushy peas. Sounds simple yet the taste was pure and deep. Truly satisfying food. For dessert we shared a couple of orders of Sardinian cheeses with three types of Sardinian honey. I cant recall the types of cheeses or honey but I know I thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

And we did have a few bottles of wine. The wine list, particularly the whites, is phenomenal and really well priced. We had a few off the menu and a few more that we brought in. (In the order I had them)

2001 Benanti Etna Pietramarina Superiore (Etna) This wine just shows so many dimensions. It starts off fairly round and as soon as I thought it was going to go all flabby, this amazing streak of cleansing lemony acidity sweeps in. As it opens the aromas start to really grow. Ocean breeze, tropics, field greens, lemon. The mid-palate fills out and the finish is pretty impressive. Extremely nice wine.

2007 Giovanni Cherchi Vermentino di Sardegna Pigalva (Sardinia) Off the menu. Beautiful aromatics, citrusy lemony flavors, and quite nicely balanced. My mind is still on the Benanti and I really didnt give this a lot of attention.

2007 Edmunds Santa Giovanni Gamay Noir Porphyry Barsotti Ranch (Contea di El Dorado) So glad that Steve brought this as I havent opened up any yet. This wine has great promise. Lots of fruit, super minerality, fairly tight structure, and very refreshing acidity. Very fun to drink now but this is only going to get better.

2006 La Crotta di Vegneron Moscato Chambave (Vallee dAosta) Off the menu. What an intriguing wine! It has all the soaring aromatics you would want in a moscato and absolutely none of the cloying sweetness that sadly so many of them have. This wine has ripe sweet fruit and then this clean dry finish. Really nice.

2007 Sirch Malvasia (della Venezia) Off the menu. I found this to be pretty round and soft and not all that interesting.

1996 Salvatore Molettieri Taurasi Cinque Querce (Campagnia) This wine is in a great place right now. From the get-go, the aromas show dried roses, fennel, and animal which just grow over time. This might be as close as Taurasi can come to elegant as the tannins and oak are nearly integrated, the texture is like a #100 sandpaper and the finish is damn skippy.

1997 Giovanni Viberti Barolo (Piedmont) I havent checked in on 97 barolo lately so it was really good to try this one. This has all the soaring aromas of a classic old skool barolo and was surprisingly open. Its not showing any secondary/tertiary development but there is nothing wrong with the depth of fruit and the delicious finish. Fine to drink now and has enough fruit and stuffing to age for a while.

1989 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero (Piedmont) Traditional barolo at its peak really. Aromatics that are so captivating that Im hesitant to take a sip for fear of breaking the spell. But no worries as it is just truly elegant, silky, and fully mature. Id guess that this wine is on its plateau and should stay there for the foreseeable future.

2000 Cerbaiona (Molinari) Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany) Oodles of sweet and sour red fruit, leather, earth, a hint of dark cocoa, very very deep flavors, lots of structure, and seemingly sweet and round. I think this wine suffered mostly from product placement.

2006 Edmunds Santa Giovanni Quella Vecchia Magia Nera (CA) Another one I havent opened yet and wont for a long while. This is very primary and grapey but has lots of sweet fruit, lots of structure, and wonderfully rich mouthfeel. Ill be back in 5-10 years.
 
originally posted by Bill Buitenhuys:
TN: Gathering in SFWe were brought plate after plate of serious comfort food that really made me yearn for my departed Nanas homemade fusilli and slow-cooked ragu.
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Funny, I thought Buitenhuys was classical Dutch. And Nana not Nonna? (Zola would be amused. ;) )

And we did have a few bottles of wine. The wine list, particularly the whites, is phenomenal and really well priced. We had a few off the menu and a few more that we brought in. (In the order I had them)
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The white list is phenomenal; the red has some traps. I asked for a very traditional Carignano a few weeks ago and got an Australian wannabe (does anyone still use that word?). The more I've investigated, markups aren't so good, but the prices are easy because there isn't a big demand for Sardinian wines, I guess.

Glad you had a wonderful time in our fair city, and I certainly do recommend La Ciccia to other visitors.
 
Not Sonoma County, not even a drop. Otherwise, I'd agree; it's young. Grapes from Eaglepoint Ranch in the hills East of Ukiah, Fenaughty Vineyard, in the Apple Hill District above Placerville, and Wylie Vineyard, just South of Georgetown, on the North side of the American River Canyon.
Thanks for posting the notes, Bill; and it was great to meet you!
 
Funny, I thought Buitenhuys was classical Dutch. And Nana not Nonna? (Zola would be amused. ;) )
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Every story has two halves, no? My other half, Mom's side obviously, is Juliano (which was converted by a custom agent from Iuliano) and Piantadosi. And it was always Nana and Papa, both from Avellino in 1912. Homemade macaroni is way more appealing and nostalgic than the pickled eggs and pickled pigs feet that were in the fridge of my paternal grandfather.

We did have a great time, Claude. I'm still working on dinner notes from Acquerello and Fleur de Lys (besides the tastings at Arlequin and Terroir) and foodie notes from Little Garden, Bar Crudo, San Tung, Citizen Cake, and a bunch of other places. I was truly overwhelmed with choices.
 
Great notes, Bill. They're pretty much spot on. I do feel the Viberti had some secondary notes. However,the Burlotto (WOTN) was so utterly captivating, it did make the Viberti seem more primary than it was. Sandi had an interesting comment on the Burlotto. She's not wine-geeky like us (probably to her benefit). She said the finish reminded her of an older red we had drunk in May. That wine was '76 Clos Vougeot, Georges Mugneret. The Barolo definitely had the compelling complexity of an excellent, mature Burgundy.

As we had mentioned, it would be fun to brown-bag the Moscato and see if someone (Oh Thorrr...) could guess its origin.

I think I'm still craving the gnochetti with pork sugo and 9-month old pecorino as well as the lamb loin, and the sardines, and the...

I'm very curious as to your take on Acquerello.

It was great to see you and Lill again.
 
I haven't had the '96. After drinking the '89 and taking into account what the '96 vintage was like in Barolo, my SWAG would be 10 years.
 
I'm with Larry on that estimate (5-10 years) as this '89 was more advanced than other '89's I've had.

And speaking of Burlotto and Acquerello, I had a good chat with the sommelier there about a Burlotto Monvigliero tasting he had just done (with RWC at Perbacco) tasting 12 vintages from 1982, with the older ('82 and '85) out of jeroboam. His general feel was that Monvigliero is an earlier maturing wine than say Monprivato or Bartolo. I didn't think to ask him about '96 but I'll see if he responds via email.

Larry, Acquerello as a fun night. We were more impressed with the depth of flavor of the food and the overall wine pairings at Fleur de Lys than we were at Acquerello. Both were very very good but FdL was a notch above for us. Maybe it was the particular menu or the pairings. Lill was tickled with the photo op and chat she got with her "new boyfriend", Hubert.
 
originally posted by Bill Buitenhuys:

2001 Benanti Etna Pietramarina Superiore (Etna) This wine just shows so many dimensions. It starts off fairly round and as soon as I thought it was going to go all flabby, this amazing streak of cleansing lemony acidity sweeps in. As it opens the aromas start to really grow. Ocean breeze, tropics, field greens, lemon. The mid-palate fills out and the finish is pretty impressive. Extremely nice wine.
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Agreed. This is like the love child of Arena's best stuff and good chablis, but at the end utterly its own thing.
2007 Giovanni Cherchi Vermentino di Sardegna Pigalva (Sardinia) Off the menu. Beautiful aromatics, citrusy lemony flavors, and quite nicely balanced. My mind is still on the Benanti and I really didnt give this a lot of attention.
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Like using lemon pledge to clean freshly poured concrete. Sharp, precise vermentino like god intended.
2007 Edmunds Santa Giovanni Gamay Noir Porphyry Barsotti Ranch (Contea di El Dorado) So glad that Steve brought this as I havent opened up any yet. This wine has great promise. Lots of fruit, super minerality, fairly tight structure, and very refreshing acidity. Very fun to drink now but this is only going to get better.
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This was much more structured and serious than I had imagined at first. I really need to try some more.
2006 La Crotta di Vegneron Moscato Chambave (Vallee dAosta) Off the menu. What an intriguing wine! It has all the soaring aromatics you would want in a moscato and absolutely none of the cloying sweetness that sadly so many of them have. This wine has ripe sweet fruit and then this clean dry finish. Really nice.
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This had none of the overly soapy i-just-swore-in-front-of-grandma aftertaste that ruins most cheap moscato.
2007 Sirch Malvasia (della Venezia) Off the menu. I found this to be pretty round and soft and not all that interesting.
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Seconded. I've dug on their reds, but this wine wasn't going anywhere.
1996 Salvatore Molettieri Taurasi Cinque Querce (Campagnia) This wine is in a great place right now. From the get-go, the aromas show dried roses, fennel, and animal which just grow over time. This might be as close as Taurasi can come to elegant as the tannins and oak are nearly integrated, the texture is like a #100 sandpaper and the finish is damn skippy.
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I though this had too much in the way of wood when I first tried it, but with some air it came together nicely.

1997 Giovanni Viberti Barolo (Piedmont) I havent checked in on 97 barolo lately so it was really good to try this one. This has all the soaring aromas of a classic old skool barolo and was surprisingly open. Its not showing any secondary/tertiary development but there is nothing wrong with the depth of fruit and the delicious finish. Fine to drink now and has enough fruit and stuffing to age for a while.
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Nice stuff, tasted like youngish barolo. Don't remember much more.

1989 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero (Piedmont) Traditional barolo at its peak really. Aromatics that are so captivating that Im hesitant to take a sip for fear of breaking the spell. But no worries as it is just truly elegant, silky, and fully mature. Id guess that this wine is on its plateau and should stay there for the foreseeable future.
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Stunning stuff. Everything integrated, no holes to speak of.
2000 Cerbaiona (Molinari) Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany) Oodles of sweet and sour red fruit, leather, earth, a hint of dark cocoa, very very deep flavors, lots of structure, and seemingly sweet and round. I think this wine suffered mostly from product placement.
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This just tasted (and smelled) clamped down tightly to me. Maybe give it a year or two and try again.
2006 Edmunds Santa Giovanni Quella Vecchia Magia Nera (CA) Another one I havent opened yet and wont for a long while. This is very primary and grapey but has lots of sweet fruit, lots of structure, and wonderfully rich mouthfeel. Ill be back in 5-10 years.
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Gummy and ripe and not at all placed well here.

Also it was very nice to meet everyone and if you haven't checked out La Ciccia you really need to. Fantastic food, and a wonderfully focused wine list for what they are doing.
 
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