Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don Rice, Cliff Rosenberg, Brad Kane, Jeff Grossman
Another of Brad's fishing trips results in a big catch: a 25" long fluke, which results in approx. 3.5# of filet. Brad musters a few troops and adds a Green Market menu:
- Olives and sliced sausage
- Mixed heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, red onions and basil with a balsamic vinaigrette over baby arugula
- Broiled fluke (dressed simply with garlic, olive oil, thyme, lemon & paprika)
- Summer vegetable hash (sort of a succotash of yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, shitake mushrooms, corn, bacon, jalapenos, heirloom cherry tomatoes, red onion, garlic, red bell pepper)
- Herbed garlic bread
- Apricot tart
While Brad chops vegetables the rest of us hang out near the kitchen, chatting about this and that and getting the wines started:
Bera 2010 Moscato d'Asti - reliable, fizzy rose perfume; turns out that this may have been the sweetest thing we drank all night
Cazin 2002 Cour-Cheverney "Cuvee Renaissance" - like resetting the clock on all those 1996s that we've drunk over the years (thanks to Coad): grapefruity zing, maybe some lemongrass or lemon oil in there, too; young and promising
With so few of us, we can actually sit like adults around the dining table! Gee! And Brad's cookery follows us there:
Dom. de Belliviere 2000 Jasnieres "Les Rosiers" - there is an oxidative note in the wine but not enough to dissuade either Brad or I (noted oxidatophobes); however, the general lack of flavor or substance is an obstacle to liking the wine; fwiw, very dry
Huet 2011 Vouvray Sec "Le Haut Lieu" - open for 9 days; initially, Don had opened the bottle looking for some good cut but it wasn't there; after returning from a family trip, the wine has lost a lot of its comfy-fluffy-cotton-candy and now offers screeching acidity with very little sugar to buffer it; not bad
Gerard Boulay 2010 Sancerre "Monts Damnes" - a nice wine, not as much clarity as other renditions of MD but still manages the magic trick of sneaking a lot of minerality and "stuffing" behind a simple front of chalk and acidity
F. Chidaine 2007 Montlouis "Clos Habert" - sec-tendre, perhaps? I seem to recall Chidaine saying that this vineyard does not rest on tuffeau and so does not show the usual flavor profile; this is definitely from a rocky terrain
Brovia 1995 Barolo "Villero" - dregs from earlier in the evening when Jay and I and a few others pulled corks at the cellar; at that time, this was decanted and showed very nicely, surprisingly fragrant for a 1995 though maybe the roses were a bit older and the tar not quite warmed-up to full smell; I was happy enough because my last couple of bottles of Brovia had been a bit musty and this one was clean; by the time we got to the post-fluke-pre-tart stage the wine had started to deteriorate with definite VA and inclining towards stewy
Edmunds St. John 2001 Syrah "Wylie-Fenaughty" - another refugee from the earlier cellar event, this wine was going strong then and still is, all violets and plums and definitely softened up a bunch
Dom. Bourillon Dorleans 1989 Vouvray Moelleux "La Coulee d'Or" "Tris de Noble Grains" - alive and well, let's hear it for the preservative properties of all that sugar, but it really doesn't taste very sweet and it isn't the powerhouse that the same vintage Huet is
Many, many thanks to Brad for sharing his ocean bounty and for all the hard work in putting the dinner together at the last moment.
Another of Brad's fishing trips results in a big catch: a 25" long fluke, which results in approx. 3.5# of filet. Brad musters a few troops and adds a Green Market menu:
- Olives and sliced sausage
- Mixed heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, red onions and basil with a balsamic vinaigrette over baby arugula
- Broiled fluke (dressed simply with garlic, olive oil, thyme, lemon & paprika)
- Summer vegetable hash (sort of a succotash of yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, shitake mushrooms, corn, bacon, jalapenos, heirloom cherry tomatoes, red onion, garlic, red bell pepper)
- Herbed garlic bread
- Apricot tart
While Brad chops vegetables the rest of us hang out near the kitchen, chatting about this and that and getting the wines started:
Bera 2010 Moscato d'Asti - reliable, fizzy rose perfume; turns out that this may have been the sweetest thing we drank all night
Cazin 2002 Cour-Cheverney "Cuvee Renaissance" - like resetting the clock on all those 1996s that we've drunk over the years (thanks to Coad): grapefruity zing, maybe some lemongrass or lemon oil in there, too; young and promising
With so few of us, we can actually sit like adults around the dining table! Gee! And Brad's cookery follows us there:
Dom. de Belliviere 2000 Jasnieres "Les Rosiers" - there is an oxidative note in the wine but not enough to dissuade either Brad or I (noted oxidatophobes); however, the general lack of flavor or substance is an obstacle to liking the wine; fwiw, very dry
Huet 2011 Vouvray Sec "Le Haut Lieu" - open for 9 days; initially, Don had opened the bottle looking for some good cut but it wasn't there; after returning from a family trip, the wine has lost a lot of its comfy-fluffy-cotton-candy and now offers screeching acidity with very little sugar to buffer it; not bad
Gerard Boulay 2010 Sancerre "Monts Damnes" - a nice wine, not as much clarity as other renditions of MD but still manages the magic trick of sneaking a lot of minerality and "stuffing" behind a simple front of chalk and acidity
F. Chidaine 2007 Montlouis "Clos Habert" - sec-tendre, perhaps? I seem to recall Chidaine saying that this vineyard does not rest on tuffeau and so does not show the usual flavor profile; this is definitely from a rocky terrain
Brovia 1995 Barolo "Villero" - dregs from earlier in the evening when Jay and I and a few others pulled corks at the cellar; at that time, this was decanted and showed very nicely, surprisingly fragrant for a 1995 though maybe the roses were a bit older and the tar not quite warmed-up to full smell; I was happy enough because my last couple of bottles of Brovia had been a bit musty and this one was clean; by the time we got to the post-fluke-pre-tart stage the wine had started to deteriorate with definite VA and inclining towards stewy
Edmunds St. John 2001 Syrah "Wylie-Fenaughty" - another refugee from the earlier cellar event, this wine was going strong then and still is, all violets and plums and definitely softened up a bunch
Dom. Bourillon Dorleans 1989 Vouvray Moelleux "La Coulee d'Or" "Tris de Noble Grains" - alive and well, let's hear it for the preservative properties of all that sugar, but it really doesn't taste very sweet and it isn't the powerhouse that the same vintage Huet is
Many, many thanks to Brad for sharing his ocean bounty and for all the hard work in putting the dinner together at the last moment.
