TN: Madiran (Mar 19, 2012)

[Jeff Grossman]

It is the last day of winter and a troupe of Disorderlies gathers at La Sirene for a final cassoulet-and-madiran fest.

They are there now.

I'm not.

So, I can't report on the people, the conversation, the food, the ambience, or the wine.

But, as an almost-attendee who possesses a bottle of madiran, and who has taken it on the road to Bethlehem, PA -- where work has sent me today -- I can report on this wine:

Dom. Le Serp 2008 Madiran - 80% tannat and 20% cab franc, an initial buttery note blows off after a minute or two, the wine is quite dark, the nose is not at all green but rather cab-ish with a dark, graphite, slightly bitter note underneath; in the mouth, not so berry as the cab nose might promise, rather more of the plummy-tarry flavor that comes from tannat, mouthwateringly juicy; this is definitely the city-slicker cousin to a Montus

Thus begins the first Virtual Jeebus.

 

[Jay Miller]

You missed a corked 2010 do Ferreiro CV Albarino.

There were some other wines too.

 

[Chris Coad]

I feel like I'm there myself.

It's kind of warm in here. Or is it me?

 

[Jeff Connell]

Is it tomorrow already? Will this interminable winter ever end? We haven't even had snow yet.

 

[Jay Miller]

I had the Tournedos Rossini. NY Times be damned, I don't care if it's 90 degrees out next time I'm getting the cassoulet.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Jay Miller:
I had the Tournedos Rossini. NY Times be damned, I don't care if it's 90 degrees out next time I'm getting the cassoulet.

I cannot imagine what you thought you were doing: you ordered a dish that was given an Italian name by the French. If they thought it was any good they would have given it a French name, eh?

Order Tournedos Bizet next time and see how well you eat!

 

[robert ames]

"80% madiran and 20% cab franc"

has madiran become a synonym for tannat?

 

[Chris Coad]

originally posted by robert ames:
"80% madiran and 20% cab franc"

has madiran become a synonym for tannat?

Zing!

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Whoops. Fixed.

 

[Yixin]

originally posted by robert ames:
"80% madiran and 20% cab franc"

has madiran become a synonym for tannat?

This is the cuvée hommage a Rudy.

 

[Yixin]

By the way, kudos to Rudy - I didn't think Rodenstock would be surpassed so quickly, but with the internet and all that, I reckon his name (rather than Rodenstock's) will be synonymous with wine forgery a decade from now.

 

[Chris Coad]

originally posted by Yixin:
By the way, kudos to Rudy - I didn't think Rodenstock would be surpassed so quickly, but with the internet and all that, I reckon his name (rather than Rodenstock's) will be synonymous with wine forgery a decade from now.

I dunno, he has the advantage of having a previous placeholder with very broad appeal in the culture.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

 

[Yixin]

I've blended (quite succesfully) several cuvées hommage a Rudy K recently. Hommage a Hardy R, hommage a Hardy, hommage a Rodenstock - none of those quite have the same ring to it.

Now I just need some labels and I'll be all set!

 

[Cory Cartwright]

originally posted by Chris Coad:

originally posted by Yixin:
By the way, kudos to Rudy - I didn't think Rodenstock would be surpassed so quickly, but with the internet and all that, I reckon his name (rather than Rodenstock's) will be synonymous with wine forgery a decade from now.

I dunno, he has the advantage of having a previous placeholder with very broad appeal in the culture.

He shares quite a bit with that Rudy:

Loading…

www.reuters.com

 

[Zachary Ross]

It's too bad you had to miss the real jeebus; we could have used an extra hand with all the tannins.

 

[Jay Miller]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Jay Miller:
I had the Tournedos Rossini. NY Times be damned, I don't care if it's 90 degrees out next time I'm getting the cassoulet.

I cannot imagine what you thought you were doing: you ordered a dish that was given an Italian name by the French. If they thought it was any good they would have given it a French name, eh?

Order Tournedos Bizet next time and see how well you eat!

Yeah, yeah, the NY Times made it sound a lot better than it actually was.

My favorites of the night were the 1995 Montus Prestige and the 1985 Talenti Brunello Riserva. I figured that averaging Brunello and Albarino puts you somewhere near the south of France.

 

[Zachary Ross]

The tournedos was nice enough, but the cassoulet was the best I've had it at La Sirene - beans nicely firm and the top perfectly crusted. It was, however, considerably smaller in portion than it used to be - bummer, as I like to save some for another meal at home.