TN: Eric Levine comes to NYC.

B

Brad Kane

Brad Kane
Well, it's about time! I had wanted to meet Eric for awhile, yet the stars were never in the right alignment. He wasn't available back in '07 when I visited Seattle and I had missed him the number of times he was in NYC before and after that trip, but his impromptu visit to NY last week finally afforded me the opportunity to pop corks with him.

It was a small group for dinner at Beacon, just Wilfred Van Gorp, Yaacov Barselah, Eric and I, though Christine Huang was able to hang out with us for drinks. After surviving a 16.4% blowtorch of a fourteen year old California Chardonnay shared with us by a visiting assistant winemaker who had celebrated a bit too hard before joining us at the table for a few minutes, we were finally able to open up some good wine and enjoy a great evening together.

2005 Dönnhoff- Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
Decanted two hours ahead of time, I would've expected the wine to have fleshed out some more. It was tight aromatically and a bit disjointed on the palate. Plenty of ripe guava and tropical fruit with a nice acidic finish, but the acidity seems a bit lacking through the mid-palate, amplifying the sweetness and making the wine flat. Pleasant, but it really doesn't hold your attention. B+/A-.

2001 Zind-Humbrecht- Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain - France, Alsace, Thann, Alsace Grand Cru AOC
Refermenting. NR (flawed)

1973 Faustino- Rioja Gran Reserva I - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja
Started with a slightly off-putting chemical note on the nose, but it dissipated quickly with air and revealed traditional aged cherry, cedar and leather aromatics with a touch of VA. Soft and supple in the mouth, with like flavors and it picks up a nice balsamic note with air. The acidity is a little higher and the fruit less upfront and sweet than a bottle opened in October, but it shows nice complexity and an enjoyable profile you can only get from a wine with a lot of age on it. A-/B+.

1970 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España)- Rioja Viña Real Gran Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
From a half bottle. To my surprise, I've found that a number of half bottles of this have been drinking better than 750s. Not this one. The wine showed a strong bitter note and didn't resemble any other bottle that I've had of it. Not corked, but definitely off. NR (flawed)

1989 Domaine du Pégaü- Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape
Shows a lot of sweet raspberries on the nose and palate, but without the vibrancy of youth. Instead it has a delicious aged patina to it that melds well with the sweet spices and game notes. This bottle is showing quite grenachey, with some burnt rubber showing and its a bit more chunky in the middle than other bottles I've had. That said, the structure provides a nice framework and there's good length to the fruit. A/A-.

2000 Domaine du Pégaü- Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape
A much more flamboyant wine than the '89. Vibrant, sweet red fruit and spice dominate throughout. It doesn't have the structure of the '89 or the depth of flavors, but it's delicious in a sheer hedonistic way. A/A-.

2000 Domaine du Pégaü- Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ch“teauneuf-du-Pape
I know I wasn't the only one at the table that didn't like this wine and I haven't liked a Cuvée da Capo to date. It's massively extracted, too much so for its own good, the fruit is port-like, but because of the extraction, dryness from the wood and blowtorch alcohol, the fruit doesn't really come off as sweet. This just isn't a balanced wine and offers me no real pleasure. B-/C+.

1971 Domaine des Baumard- Quarts de Chaume - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume
This bottle is showing its age a bit as the sweetness has faded more than other bottles and there's a bit more of an oxidative note to the wine. The usual quince, pineapple and mineral flavors and aromas are there, as is the bitter note I usually find on the finish. The acidity is still vibrant and the wine still provides a nice window into what aged Chenin is about, but I'd start drinking these up. B+.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
Nice notes, Brad, but...were they posted from Cellartracker?
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Nope. We don't support the format here. Copy/pasted into Word and edited, but I get the joke.
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
I don't get this joke, will someone explain it to me?
Click to expand...

I'm glad you asked. You see, when Mark asked if the notes were being posted from Cellartracker this was a reference to an earlier dispute over the advisability of allowing those persons who make use of Cellartracker to post their notes directly from there. This would of course make it much easier for said persons to post their notes on our website.

This caused a fierce near-Luddite reaction to rise up against the new technology. Sweeping all before them they argued that allowing people to post directly from Cellartracker would cause a large wave of tasting notes to be posted. Since tasting notes are the embodiment of evil this would have thrown a monkey wrench into the Politburo's hope to sell the site to Google.

Unfortunately the sale to Google fell through anyway when they decided they'd rather buy Motorola Mobility.

It's possible my memory of the incident is not 100% accurate.

It's also possible that the fact that Eric is founder and programmer of Cellartracker might have something to with it but that seems less likely.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
I don't get this joke, will someone explain it to me?
Click to expand...

I'm glad you asked. You see, when Mark asked if the notes were being posted from Cellartracker this was a reference to an earlier dispute over the advisability of allowing those persons who make use of Cellartracker to post their notes directly from there. This would of course make it much easier for said persons to post their notes on our website.

This caused a fierce near-Luddite reaction to rise up against the new technology. Sweeping all before them they argued that allowing people to post directly from Cellartracker would cause a large wave of tasting notes to be posted. Since tasting notes are the embodiment of evil this would have thrown a monkey wrench into the Politburo's hope to sell the site to Google.

Unfortunately the sale to Google fell through anyway when they decided they'd rather buy Motorola Mobility.

It's possible my memory of the incident is not 100% accurate.

It's also possible that the fact that Eric is founder and programmer of Cellartracker might have something to with it but that seems less likely.
Click to expand...

Actually, the joke is that when you post to a wine board from Cellar Tracker, at the end there's usually the tag Posted from CellarTracker.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
I don't get this joke, will someone explain it to me?
Click to expand...

I'm glad you asked. You see, when Mark asked if the notes were being posted from Cellartracker this was a reference to an earlier dispute over the advisability of allowing those persons who make use of Cellartracker to post their notes directly from there. This would of course make it much easier for said persons to post their notes on our website.

This caused a fierce near-Luddite reaction to rise up against the new technology. Sweeping all before them they argued that allowing people to post directly from Cellartracker would cause a large wave of tasting notes to be posted. Since tasting notes are the embodiment of evil this would have thrown a monkey wrench into the Politburo's hope to sell the site to Google.

Unfortunately the sale to Google fell through anyway when they decided they'd rather buy Motorola Mobility.

It's possible my memory of the incident is not 100% accurate.

It's also possible that the fact that Eric is founder and programmer of Cellartracker might have something to with it but that seems less likely.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see. Now that it has been explained that joke is not very funny.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
I am a Luddite and I'm proud of it. Fuck Motorola.
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Not so fast, my friend. Not all Motorola is evil. I had a Motorola 8-track in my first car, a 1973 Fiat 124 SC. I recall that by the time the car had rusted down to nothingness, the only thing still working was the 8-track and (speaking of recall) I wound up sticking it (the Motorola) in my next hall-of-shame (automotive category) car, a Ford Escort. "Can't Buy A Thrill" by Steely Dan was kind of stuck in there so I got to know that recording quite well. And while we're on the topic, why has Facebook been telling me that I should be friends with Elliott Randall, the guitarist who played on "Can't Buy A Thrill"? It's not like we hang out together and talk about the good ol' daze or anything. I mean, he played his ass off on the record but wtf, he was a session guy and he's supposed to play his ass off. Isn't that the point? Or maybe it has something to do with Becker & Fagen's Bard-inspired ur-ironic POV that what it really means is that you can buy a thrill? What would William S. Burroughs think of this?

originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
I don't get this joke, will someone explain it to me?
Click to expand...

I'm glad you asked. You see, when Mark asked if the notes were being posted from Cellartracker this was a reference to an earlier dispute over the advisability of allowing those persons who make use of Cellartracker to post their notes directly from there. This would of course make it much easier for said persons to post their notes on our website.

This caused a fierce near-Luddite reaction to rise up against the new technology. Sweeping all before them they argued that allowing people to post directly from Cellartracker would cause a large wave of tasting notes to be posted. Since tasting notes are the embodiment of evil this would have thrown a monkey wrench into the Politburo's hope to sell the site to Google.

Unfortunately the sale to Google fell through anyway when they decided they'd rather buy Motorola Mobility.
Click to expand...

Where was I when this brouhaha spilt out over this keg o' nails? Sounds like one hell of a battle, kind of like the undercards at the UFC championship bouts. Probably better to just sell it all to Apple, since they're going to wind up with everything anyway (either them or amazon.com). And by the way, AMR is on my do not buy list anymore, even after the BK. Got in at a low point and it zoomed upwards and I was going to sell but my attention was diverted and by the time I looked back at it, I was down like $30. People think I can afford such a hit, but not these days. Speaking of hits, I probably should have gotten in on the ground floor of Cellartracker when it went public. Dang, it's a good hunk o' software and an example of technology that benefits humanity, not shaming us into PTSD (Post Traumatic Spreadsheet Disorder) or escapist somnambulance*. It does everything it says it will, the price is reasonable, it's connecting to all sorts of cool other sites, and they seem to be branding themselves with their "Posted from CellarTracker" logo. All things to all people, and so simple that you not only don't need a manual, but my mother could figure it out (and she doesn't really type very well)(but neither does she drink much wine, so it's not like she's losing sleep over whether she's entered things into cellartracker.com properly).

And Brad, just how much Faustino do you have in the cellar? More old Rioja than Vouvray? It seems like you've been drinking the old stuff as if it were Sierra Cantabria Crianza or something cheap. Color me jealous. Or maybe envious would be the better word.

-Eden (*"that wasn't somnabulance, but a van that took Rock Hudson away")
 
originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:

And Brad, just how much Faustino do you have in the cellar? More old Rioja than Vouvray? It seems like you've been drinking the old stuff as if it were Sierra Cantabria Crianza or
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I've been lucky enough to score a bunch of old Rioja the past three years. Hoping the trend continues. Just been drinking them a lot more frequently than the Vouvray since they're in more need of drinking. Most of my Vouvray is young. That doesn't mean I've been able to keep my hands of my '08 Foreau and Huet.
 
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