Jason and Tracy Goldberger are Brooklyn's newest denizens and to welcome them to the hood, Suzanne Camhi and Kenny Shusterman held a bash for them at their chic Brooklyn Heights home. I had last seen Jason five years ago when he lived in Seattle and I went out there on vacation and he was part of the welcome wagon to greet me, so it was great to catch up with him again and to know that he's now a part of the local wine scene.
With Suzanne and Kenny and Christine Huang doing all of the cooking, the addition of some very tasty salted pig parts from Spain that David Sugarman brought and many of the local wine folks present, it was a wonderful evening of food, wine and friendship.
There were more wines present, but this is what I had.
2005 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Vieilles Vignes Clos des Briords - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
Showing beautifully, if a bit young from magnum. There's a lovely brininess to the wine, with ripe citrus and mineral flavors. It shows some '05 richness, but is still fresh and nervy. Lots to like here. Low A-.
1993 J.M. Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
I wish more Chardonnay tasted like this! Rich and creamy, but with nice acid structure. The oak is seamlessly integrated and melds nicely with the ripe pear and pineapple fruit and mineral character. Expansive and layered with a lot of class. Lovely wine. Solid A-.
1992 J.M. Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
In comparison to the '93, this was a bit of a dog. It's a darker yellow and is a much more advanced wine, showing a lightly oxidized and nutty profile with roasted orange citrus. B-.
1990 Karthäuserhof- Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslese #13 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
This took awhile to get going. For the first hour or so it was a bit clumsy and one-dimensional, showing ripe fruit, but not much backbone. I went back to it later in the evening and it was a much changed wine. The structure really came up nicely to buttress the ripe, desiccated stone and orange citrus fruit. There's a nice slate note to the wine and just a faint hint of petrol. While sweet, it no longer shows Auslese sweetness and can be consumed with foods one would normally drink a Spätlese with. A-.
1998 Domaine René Engel- Clos Vougeot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Muted on the nose and reticent on the palate, too. There's tart red fruit present, but not in enough quantity to balance out the high acidity and earth notes. Taut and rather ungenerous. I'm not convinced there's enough wine here to turn into anything noteworthy. B.
2000 Ch“teau de Beaucastel- Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape
Raspberry kirsch dominates this wine on the nose and palate, with meat and spice bringing up the rear (no pun intended.) This bottle is showing as open and and forward as most bottles I've had since release, which is a departure from the last bottle I had I believe earlier this year that actually showed signs that the wine might be starting to shut down. The raspberry fruit is quite sweet and almost velvety, but this bottle is showing a slight roasted note to the fruit. Served a bit too warm, so there was some alcohol sticking out. Not the best bottle I've had, but it's still excellent. A-.
2001 Le Vieux Donjon- Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape
Quite a different profile than the '00 Beaucastel. It's showing younger and chunkier with a more rustic personality. The fruit is more of the black raspberry sort, though there's a much stronger garrigue character with a licorice and iodine note and with air, some roasted meat. I really dig the vibrancy and freshness of the wine, as well as it's unabashedly classic character. Solid A-.
1978 Cuvaison- Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley
I should stop being surprised by how well so many of these older California Cabs have been showing, especially from '78. This showed beautifully from the get go. It's loaded with surprisingly sweet and vital black cherry fruit with bit of dried herbs and old barrel. Certainly mature, but there's vibrancy here. With some air it did start to dry up on the finish, so I'd be rather quick to drink it up, but it was just perfect with the Flannery beef we were having. Low A-.
1981 Dunn Vineyards- Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain - USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
While the structure freaks in the group liked this a lot more than I, this showed in typical fashion and reflected why, with I think only one or two exceptions from the Napa bottling, why I just don't like these wines. Where's the fruit? There's very little of it here, though what can be found is of the black variety. Loads of green herb, a lot of earth and leather and a wall of drying tannins that overwhelms the wine for me. These wines never have enough fruit to be enjoyable in their youth and there's never enough to outlast the structure, imho. B-.
1998 Müller-Catoir- Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese - Germany, Pfalz
Always a favorite of mine. This wine is just full of all things good. Intense, expansive and with a jubilant personality, it's full of passion fruit, pomelo and tropical fruit flavors and aromas. It's plenty sweet, but there's loads of tangy acidity here to keep it perfectly balanced. Still drinking youthfully. Definitely a catnip wine for me as I just can't help but giggle and think of unicorns and rainbows whenever I have it. Solid A.
2010 Weingut Keller- Scheurebe Spätlese - Germany, Rheinhessen
This hits you like a couple of hard slaps across the face on a frosty morning! Tremendous, mouth puckering acidity here, but with enough sweetness to the fruit to prevent it from being overly abusive. There's plenty of the usual passion fruit, sweet yellow citrus and floral character here. Quite primary at the moment and in need of a few years to settle down a bit, but it could probably compete with that five hour energy drink at the moment. B+/A-.
Some pictures from the evening.
The guest of honor flanked by Jay Miller and Keith Levenberg.
Kenny admires David's tasty salted pig parts.
A rainbow of Spanish pork product.
Flannery beef ready for the grill.
Suzanne with a lot of meat in her hands.
On the grill.
Grillmeister.
Kenny breaks out the outdoor lighting.
Flannery all served up, though no pics of the ribeyes as they got scarfed up too quickly.
A mother/daughter tomato slicing session.
Jay Miller is all smiles.
Connie, Leo, Veronica and Michel.
Shishito peppers.
Tasty garlic shrimp.
Tomato salad.
Mushroom, leek and ricotta tart.
Christine's scrumptious pork buns.
Come to papa.
Potatoes roasted in duck fat.
Salsa verde.
Leo and Jay.
Two beauties.
David and Emma Sugarman.
A spider grows in Brooklyn.
Christine's amazing black and white cake, this time with raspberries added.
A nice cross section.
A nice slice.
With Suzanne and Kenny and Christine Huang doing all of the cooking, the addition of some very tasty salted pig parts from Spain that David Sugarman brought and many of the local wine folks present, it was a wonderful evening of food, wine and friendship.
There were more wines present, but this is what I had.
2005 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Vieilles Vignes Clos des Briords - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
Showing beautifully, if a bit young from magnum. There's a lovely brininess to the wine, with ripe citrus and mineral flavors. It shows some '05 richness, but is still fresh and nervy. Lots to like here. Low A-.
1993 J.M. Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
I wish more Chardonnay tasted like this! Rich and creamy, but with nice acid structure. The oak is seamlessly integrated and melds nicely with the ripe pear and pineapple fruit and mineral character. Expansive and layered with a lot of class. Lovely wine. Solid A-.
1992 J.M. Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
In comparison to the '93, this was a bit of a dog. It's a darker yellow and is a much more advanced wine, showing a lightly oxidized and nutty profile with roasted orange citrus. B-.
1990 Karthäuserhof- Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslese #13 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
This took awhile to get going. For the first hour or so it was a bit clumsy and one-dimensional, showing ripe fruit, but not much backbone. I went back to it later in the evening and it was a much changed wine. The structure really came up nicely to buttress the ripe, desiccated stone and orange citrus fruit. There's a nice slate note to the wine and just a faint hint of petrol. While sweet, it no longer shows Auslese sweetness and can be consumed with foods one would normally drink a Spätlese with. A-.
1998 Domaine René Engel- Clos Vougeot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Muted on the nose and reticent on the palate, too. There's tart red fruit present, but not in enough quantity to balance out the high acidity and earth notes. Taut and rather ungenerous. I'm not convinced there's enough wine here to turn into anything noteworthy. B.
2000 Ch“teau de Beaucastel- Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape
Raspberry kirsch dominates this wine on the nose and palate, with meat and spice bringing up the rear (no pun intended.) This bottle is showing as open and and forward as most bottles I've had since release, which is a departure from the last bottle I had I believe earlier this year that actually showed signs that the wine might be starting to shut down. The raspberry fruit is quite sweet and almost velvety, but this bottle is showing a slight roasted note to the fruit. Served a bit too warm, so there was some alcohol sticking out. Not the best bottle I've had, but it's still excellent. A-.
2001 Le Vieux Donjon- Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape
Quite a different profile than the '00 Beaucastel. It's showing younger and chunkier with a more rustic personality. The fruit is more of the black raspberry sort, though there's a much stronger garrigue character with a licorice and iodine note and with air, some roasted meat. I really dig the vibrancy and freshness of the wine, as well as it's unabashedly classic character. Solid A-.
1978 Cuvaison- Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley
I should stop being surprised by how well so many of these older California Cabs have been showing, especially from '78. This showed beautifully from the get go. It's loaded with surprisingly sweet and vital black cherry fruit with bit of dried herbs and old barrel. Certainly mature, but there's vibrancy here. With some air it did start to dry up on the finish, so I'd be rather quick to drink it up, but it was just perfect with the Flannery beef we were having. Low A-.
1981 Dunn Vineyards- Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain - USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
While the structure freaks in the group liked this a lot more than I, this showed in typical fashion and reflected why, with I think only one or two exceptions from the Napa bottling, why I just don't like these wines. Where's the fruit? There's very little of it here, though what can be found is of the black variety. Loads of green herb, a lot of earth and leather and a wall of drying tannins that overwhelms the wine for me. These wines never have enough fruit to be enjoyable in their youth and there's never enough to outlast the structure, imho. B-.
1998 Müller-Catoir- Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese - Germany, Pfalz
Always a favorite of mine. This wine is just full of all things good. Intense, expansive and with a jubilant personality, it's full of passion fruit, pomelo and tropical fruit flavors and aromas. It's plenty sweet, but there's loads of tangy acidity here to keep it perfectly balanced. Still drinking youthfully. Definitely a catnip wine for me as I just can't help but giggle and think of unicorns and rainbows whenever I have it. Solid A.
2010 Weingut Keller- Scheurebe Spätlese - Germany, Rheinhessen
This hits you like a couple of hard slaps across the face on a frosty morning! Tremendous, mouth puckering acidity here, but with enough sweetness to the fruit to prevent it from being overly abusive. There's plenty of the usual passion fruit, sweet yellow citrus and floral character here. Quite primary at the moment and in need of a few years to settle down a bit, but it could probably compete with that five hour energy drink at the moment. B+/A-.
Some pictures from the evening.
The guest of honor flanked by Jay Miller and Keith Levenberg.
Kenny admires David's tasty salted pig parts.
A rainbow of Spanish pork product.
Flannery beef ready for the grill.
Suzanne with a lot of meat in her hands.
On the grill.
Grillmeister.
Kenny breaks out the outdoor lighting.
Flannery all served up, though no pics of the ribeyes as they got scarfed up too quickly.
A mother/daughter tomato slicing session.
Jay Miller is all smiles.
Connie, Leo, Veronica and Michel.
Shishito peppers.
Tasty garlic shrimp.
Tomato salad.
Mushroom, leek and ricotta tart.
Christine's scrumptious pork buns.
Come to papa.
Potatoes roasted in duck fat.
Salsa verde.
Leo and Jay.
Two beauties.
David and Emma Sugarman.
A spider grows in Brooklyn.
Christine's amazing black and white cake, this time with raspberries added.
A nice cross section.
A nice slice.