Zachary Ross
Zachary Ross
A contingent of Brooklyn disorderlies and likeminded comrades met last night for a jeebus at Thirstbaràvin in Crown Heights. Thirstbaràvin has been mentioned here before; it’s a swell place with great wines and quite good food. In attendance were Jeff, Jason, Morgan, Suzanne, Jay, and yours truly. (It was great meeting Jason, Morgan, and Suzanne, and seeing Jeff and Jay once again.) The theme was wines of the Northern Rhône. The Thirst people (Michael, Emilia) were extremely accommodating and provided excellent service.
Before we got into the reds, we started off with a bunch of small plates (cured olives, oeufs mayonnaise, pork tonnato, house-made pork terrine and headcheese, lentils with lardons and egg) and some sparkling and white wines:
NV (2005) René Geoffroy Champagne Volupté Brut Terrific champagne, light and airy with exotic spice. Terrific with the olives and, curiously, the beef main (Beef Daube, a flavorful brothy beef stew with olives) that most of us had.
NV Les Champs Libres Saint-Péray ordered off Thirstbar’s list. A sparkling Marsanne “vin naturel” made by René-Jean Dard and Hervé Souhaut. Of lesser interest than the superb Champagne, but still a fine drink; cidery with some brothy aspects and a spicy finish.
2007 Domaine du Tunnel (Stéphane Robert) Saint-Péray Cuvée Roussanne lovely. Floral and rich, very young, peachy and mineral, with air some new oak shows itself but remains well composed.
On to the reds:
2006 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph a beauty. Dark and smoky, almost downy in texture and complex with autumnal leaves, meat, etc. Some suggested it was a bit advanced for its age but it seemed just right to me. Gonon is awesome.
1989 Robert Michel Cornas Cuvée des Coteaux corked.
1990 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale Magnificent. Just a superb bottle. Utterly weightless and graceful, huge spicy nose, just a pleasure to spend time with. My favorite red of the night, and I believe everyone else’s as well.
Jeff got ahead of himself here and jumped into the Côte-Rôties, even though there were two more Cornas waiting to happen. We took it in stride.
1999 Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie Vieille Vigne en Coteaux very pretty and savory, compact red-fruited core, elegant and delicious.
2001 Guy Bernard Côte-Rôtie brett bomb. Also very young and hard. Bleh.
Back to the forgotten Cornas; probably best that they should have stayed forgotten:
2005 Marcel Juge Cornas another disappointing Juge, again marked by diacetyl buttery popcorn, though not nearly as severely as the 2004 Cuvée C that sparked a long thread here earlier. Still, ruined. Stay away from these most recent releases.
1997 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard corked. Fuck.
We had one sweet wine:
2008 Pierre Gonon Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes at least I think that’s what it was. This was just ok. Nice and sweet, but nothing to get too excited about. I didn’t get to try it with the delicious apple tart.
My favorite reds were the 1990 Michel Geynale, the 2006 Gonon St.-Jo, and the 1999 Stephan Côte-Rôtie. The champagne might have been my favorite wine of the night.
All in all, a great time.
Before we got into the reds, we started off with a bunch of small plates (cured olives, oeufs mayonnaise, pork tonnato, house-made pork terrine and headcheese, lentils with lardons and egg) and some sparkling and white wines:
NV (2005) René Geoffroy Champagne Volupté Brut Terrific champagne, light and airy with exotic spice. Terrific with the olives and, curiously, the beef main (Beef Daube, a flavorful brothy beef stew with olives) that most of us had.
NV Les Champs Libres Saint-Péray ordered off Thirstbar’s list. A sparkling Marsanne “vin naturel” made by René-Jean Dard and Hervé Souhaut. Of lesser interest than the superb Champagne, but still a fine drink; cidery with some brothy aspects and a spicy finish.
2007 Domaine du Tunnel (Stéphane Robert) Saint-Péray Cuvée Roussanne lovely. Floral and rich, very young, peachy and mineral, with air some new oak shows itself but remains well composed.
On to the reds:
2006 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph a beauty. Dark and smoky, almost downy in texture and complex with autumnal leaves, meat, etc. Some suggested it was a bit advanced for its age but it seemed just right to me. Gonon is awesome.
1989 Robert Michel Cornas Cuvée des Coteaux corked.
1990 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale Magnificent. Just a superb bottle. Utterly weightless and graceful, huge spicy nose, just a pleasure to spend time with. My favorite red of the night, and I believe everyone else’s as well.
Jeff got ahead of himself here and jumped into the Côte-Rôties, even though there were two more Cornas waiting to happen. We took it in stride.
1999 Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie Vieille Vigne en Coteaux very pretty and savory, compact red-fruited core, elegant and delicious.
2001 Guy Bernard Côte-Rôtie brett bomb. Also very young and hard. Bleh.
Back to the forgotten Cornas; probably best that they should have stayed forgotten:
2005 Marcel Juge Cornas another disappointing Juge, again marked by diacetyl buttery popcorn, though not nearly as severely as the 2004 Cuvée C that sparked a long thread here earlier. Still, ruined. Stay away from these most recent releases.
1997 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard corked. Fuck.
We had one sweet wine:
2008 Pierre Gonon Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes at least I think that’s what it was. This was just ok. Nice and sweet, but nothing to get too excited about. I didn’t get to try it with the delicious apple tart.
My favorite reds were the 1990 Michel Geynale, the 2006 Gonon St.-Jo, and the 1999 Stephan Côte-Rôtie. The champagne might have been my favorite wine of the night.
All in all, a great time.
