Some wines last night at the home of Suzanne Camhi and Kenny Shusterman in beautiful and historic Brooklyn Heights. Suzanne and Kenny cooked up a delicious feast and the evening was made complete with the company of the always delightful Karrie and Mark Russo. Thanks for a great evening!
Didnt jot down notes on the 01 Montrachet we started with, or a 07 Roulot- Monthelie we had as the first red. Neither did all that much for me.
2002 Domaine de la Romane-Conti- chzeaux
Showing rather unevolved. Pure cherries and strawberry dominate with good acid levels and full tannins, but its showing no secondary development whatsoever. The sweetness and focus of the fruit is thoroughly enjoyable, though this was certainly killing a baby. I believe this was double decanted earlier in the afternoon. A rare treat. Many thanks to Suzanne for opening one up in the name of science, but hold, hold, hold! A-.
1978 Oddero- Barolo
Initially the wine was dominated by earthy, leathery and licorice components and while fine in an old, perhaps slightly tired way, there was no real spark here. That all changed the longer it stayed in the glass. Though it had been double decanted in the afternoon, it still took about an hour in the glass for the wine to come alive. Without warning, beautiful cherry/raspberry fruit came out of nowhere to take the lead and melded all the components into a beautiful package. Solid A-.
1995 Peyre Rose- Coteaux du Languedoc Clos des Cistes
My last bottle of this wine and it showed brilliantly. A blend of 85% Syrah and 15% Grenache, its spent much of the past 14 years being rather tough and gamey, though in a good way. Tonight it was just singing. Fully integrated and dare I say silky, something I never wouldve expected from this wine. The raspberry fruit was sweet, but not jammy and at the forefront with game, earth, licorice and light spiciness backing it up. Just a perfect match with the lamb. The only negative was that after being open a couple of hours the fruit receded and the wine got more tannic and coarse. Id start to drink up. Its in a gorgeous spot right now. Low A.
1996 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume (from 375 ml)
Opened my last half bottle of this to see where it was in its evolution. Still fresh and vibrant, though its lost some of the youthful mlange of yellow fruits and is more in the apricot range of things. Just starting to take on light hints of earl grey tea, with plenty of honey and candied kumquats. Intensely sweet, though the beauty of 96s from the Loire are their razor sharp acidity that keeps everything in check. Beautiful wine. No rush on these, especially if its in 750 ml. Solid A.
Some pictures from the evening:
The hosts with the most.
Karrie & Mark.
A delicious starter.
Suzanne brings out the lamb.
Good eats!
Suzanne and her NY Times plum cake.
Didnt jot down notes on the 01 Montrachet we started with, or a 07 Roulot- Monthelie we had as the first red. Neither did all that much for me.
2002 Domaine de la Romane-Conti- chzeaux
Showing rather unevolved. Pure cherries and strawberry dominate with good acid levels and full tannins, but its showing no secondary development whatsoever. The sweetness and focus of the fruit is thoroughly enjoyable, though this was certainly killing a baby. I believe this was double decanted earlier in the afternoon. A rare treat. Many thanks to Suzanne for opening one up in the name of science, but hold, hold, hold! A-.
1978 Oddero- Barolo
Initially the wine was dominated by earthy, leathery and licorice components and while fine in an old, perhaps slightly tired way, there was no real spark here. That all changed the longer it stayed in the glass. Though it had been double decanted in the afternoon, it still took about an hour in the glass for the wine to come alive. Without warning, beautiful cherry/raspberry fruit came out of nowhere to take the lead and melded all the components into a beautiful package. Solid A-.
1995 Peyre Rose- Coteaux du Languedoc Clos des Cistes
My last bottle of this wine and it showed brilliantly. A blend of 85% Syrah and 15% Grenache, its spent much of the past 14 years being rather tough and gamey, though in a good way. Tonight it was just singing. Fully integrated and dare I say silky, something I never wouldve expected from this wine. The raspberry fruit was sweet, but not jammy and at the forefront with game, earth, licorice and light spiciness backing it up. Just a perfect match with the lamb. The only negative was that after being open a couple of hours the fruit receded and the wine got more tannic and coarse. Id start to drink up. Its in a gorgeous spot right now. Low A.
1996 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume (from 375 ml)
Opened my last half bottle of this to see where it was in its evolution. Still fresh and vibrant, though its lost some of the youthful mlange of yellow fruits and is more in the apricot range of things. Just starting to take on light hints of earl grey tea, with plenty of honey and candied kumquats. Intensely sweet, though the beauty of 96s from the Loire are their razor sharp acidity that keeps everything in check. Beautiful wine. No rush on these, especially if its in 750 ml. Solid A.
Some pictures from the evening:
The hosts with the most.
Karrie & Mark.
A delicious starter.
Suzanne brings out the lamb.
Good eats!
Suzanne and her NY Times plum cake.