Mesas and Arroyos

M

MLipton

Mark Lipton
Wines from a week in Arizona:

2003 Taurino Salice Salentino Riserva was chosen with some trepidation at a restaurant in Sedona with a limited selection. What a pleasant surprise! Starting off with the characteristic medicinal notes before opening up as a medium-bodied wine with vibrant fruit and lively acidity. How they managed to pull this off in Puglia in the Summer of Hell I have no idea, but I'm not complaining.

2006 Gnarly Head Zinfandel was about as exciting as one would expect from the colorful name. The best that can be said for it was that the fruit was varietally correct.

2007 St. Urbans-Hof Riesling Okfener Bockstein Sptlese was our white choice for Thanksgiving dinner (non-turkey) and didn't disappoint. Lithe, juicy and abounding with fruit of a lime-peach sort, it had great delineation and minerality in a package of overall delicacy. Really a great wine, and another step toward making Jean a Riesling-lover.

1998 Louis Jadot Corton was the red wine choice for the meal and not one made with the greatest confidence from a list of questionable Burgundy choices. Alas, this wine showed the flaws of the year in my opinion. What I had initially hoped was a bit of closed-in character for this wine proved, on later inspection, to be insufficient fruit mid-palate. Austere and charmless, sadly.

2004 Brndlmayer Grner Veltliner Langenloiser Berg-Vogelsang was the sole wine chosen for our post-Thanksgiving meal at the Mosaic restaurant in Scottsdale. (Visitors to the area could do a lot worse than dining here, as the wine list is one of the most interesting I've run across in ages) In a beautiful place right now, this wine retains great minerality and green pea character while having rounded out somewhat. Floral in the nose and citrusy on the palate, it paired beautifully with our shellfish dishes.

Mark Lipton
 
Sedona is a lovely place, but when I eat out there I always wish I'd stayed in NYC or SF or some such.

The St. Urbans-Hof is great wine.

The temperature excursions from historical norms in 2003 were largest in central/eastern France, and were somewhat more moderate radially from there. Hot as hell everywhere, but the biggest delta was in Touraine-to-Jura, more or less. Unless there are new climate papers out that I've missed, which is totally possible.
 
You went to Scottsdale and didn't go to Cowboy Ciao or Seasaw?!?!?

Matt's list at Mosaic is way above average (particularly for AZ), but I enjoy the wine list that Peter Kasperky has amassed for his restaurants (four restaurants share the same wine selection) in Scottsdale. It is as fascinating as it is voluminous, and one gets the impression that Peter had lots more fun assembling it than Matt did his. If I'm going to be perusing a 400+ selection wine list, I want to get a sense of the personality of the person behind it, and while the Mosaic list is complete and has lots of stuff I'd like to try, the Seasaw/Ciao/Kazmierz listis laid out so rationally that it's a joy to order from.

Or maybe I was just turned off by the pronunciation assistance on the Mosaic menu: tare-WAH.

-Eden (tried to work the word "torrified" into the post somewhere but it didn't quite work, despite the fact that it was 112˚ in Scottsdale the last time I ventured to the land o' cacti)
 
1998 Louis Jadot CortonWhat I had initially hoped was a bit of closed-in character for this wine proved, on later inspection, to be insufficient fruit mid-palate.
Click to expand...

How did you prove that it wasn't closed down? Plenty of reason to suspect that it wouldn't show anything regardless of how much air it had, no?
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Sedona is a lovely place, but when I eat out there I always wish I'd stayed in NYC or SF or some such.

The St. Urbans-Hof is great wine.

The temperature excursions from historical norms in 2003 were largest in central/eastern France, and were somewhat more moderate radially from there. Hot as hell everywhere, but the biggest delta was in Touraine-to-Jura, more or less. Unless there are new climate papers out that I've missed, which is totally possible.
Click to expand...

I sorta knew that about '03, but I exhibit the normal mammalian response to adverse experience in not wishing to revisit anything that resembles the initial stimulus, in my case a couple of perverse '03 Burgundies. (That also explains why I haven't willingly seen a Hollywood comedy since the '70s) I hear you about Sedona, too, but when you're traveling with a 4-year-old, fine dining often takes a back seat anyway.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:
You went to Scottsdale and didn't go to Cowboy Ciao or Seasaw?!?!?

Matt's list at Mosaic is way above average (particularly for AZ), but I enjoy the wine list that Peter Kasperky has amassed for his restaurants (four restaurants share the same wine selection) in Scottsdale. It is as fascinating as it is voluminous, and one gets the impression that Peter had lots more fun assembling it than Matt did his. If I'm going to be perusing a 400+ selection wine list, I want to get a sense of the personality of the person behind it, and while the Mosaic list is complete and has lots of stuff I'd like to try, the Seasaw/Ciao/Kazmierz listis laid out so rationally that it's a joy to order from.
Click to expand...

So Scottsdale turns out to be a vinous Mecca. Who knew? I was feeling like a pig in shit just dealing with the Mosaic list. His "Interesting Whites" page alone had two '01 Garganegas, an Anselmi I Capitelli and a Pieropan La Rocca, and he had a whole page devoted to Finger Lakes whites, including the elusive Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli. Kapersky's list likely would have induced a cerebral hemorrhage or something.

I get the feeling that you're living Little Feat's "Willin'", Eden: been from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonopah (matter of fact, so have I).

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
1998 Louis Jadot CortonWhat I had initially hoped was a bit of closed-in character for this wine proved, on later inspection, to be insufficient fruit mid-palate.
Click to expand...

How did you prove that it wasn't closed down? Plenty of reason to suspect that it wouldn't show anything regardless of how much air it had, no?
Click to expand...

Occam's Razor, mostly, Rahsaan. There's no shortage of '98s out there a bit shy in the fruit department, at least to my taste. And it'd have to be shut down pretty damn hard to not budge with a couple of hours of serious airing, which isn't consistent with my recent experience with other '98s. Still, it's the old dilemma of never being able to prove a negative.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
There's no shortage of '98s out there a bit shy in the fruit department, at least to my taste. And it'd have to be shut down pretty damn hard to not budge with a couple of hours of serious airing, which isn't consistent with my recent experience with other '98s. Still, it's the old dilemma of never being able to prove a negative.

Mark Lipton
Click to expand...

You probably have more experience than I do with the vintage but from my limited experience across vintages it seems that when Burgundy is shut down it is shut down and airing does no good. Except for the times when airing does help.
 
Next time you are out this way, let me know, Mark. Glad you had a good visit.

Eden is so right about Kasperski's wine list. It's quite a tome. There are some great bargins and some exceedingly overpriced bottles but the depth of interesting labels is ridiculous.

That Taurino '03 was a barrique monster when it was first released but has quickly settled down to something quite delicious for a red sauce pairing.
 
originally posted by Bill Buitenhuys:
Next time you are out this way, let me know, Mark. Glad you had a good visit.
Click to expand...

I thought of you, Bill, as we dined there. This trip was a Thanksgiving rendezvous with my mother in neutral territory, a nonstop flight for both of us, and consequently was filled with family and -- as it eventuated -- gastroenteritis. Should we ever find ourselves there with some free evenings, though, rest assured that I shall give you a heads-up.

Eden is so right about Kasperski's wine list. It's quite a tome. There are some great bargins and some exceedingly overpriced bottles but the depth of interesting labels is ridiculous.

That Taurino '03 was a barrique monster when it was first released but has quickly settled down to something quite delicious for a red sauce pairing.
Click to expand...

Funny, BillB656 says something very similar on CT. I have to say that the earlier barrique influence was nowhere in evidence in the bottle we tried, either in flavor or texture. Very remarkable.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:

Funny, BillB656 says something very similar on CT. I have to say that the earlier barrique influence was nowhere in evidence in the bottle we tried, either in flavor or texture. Very remarkable.
Click to expand...
Don't trust a word that guy posts on CT.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
You probably have more experience than I do with the vintage but from my limited experience across vintages it seems that when Burgundy is shut down it is shut down and airing does no good. Except for the times when airing does help.
Click to expand...
As with your Gouges the other night?
 
originally posted by Jeff Connell:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
You probably have more experience than I do with the vintage but from my limited experience across vintages it seems that when Burgundy is shut down it is shut down and airing does no good. Except for the times when airing does help.
Click to expand...
As with your Gouges the other night?
Click to expand...

A Gouges shut down? Say not so! Next thing you'll tell me that de Montille's wines need time in the bottle to come around.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Jeff Connell:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
You probably have more experience than I do with the vintage but from my limited experience across vintages it seems that when Burgundy is shut down it is shut down and airing does no good. Except for the times when airing does help.
Click to expand...
As with your Gouges the other night?
Click to expand...

Exactly. Although I was making the argument that those 98 Gouges wines were not really 'shut down' as they provided some pleasure now and will probably provide increasing pleasure in the upcoming months (speaking of which my delivery of more bottles should be arriving any minute now).

For me a truly 'shut down' wine is something that has nothing to offer. Much like what Mark described.
 
I think you're right about that, though your pleasure will be much greater still if you leave them alone for another ten years or so.
 
originally posted by Jeff Connell:
...though your pleasure will be much greater still if you leave them alone for another ten years or so.
Click to expand...

I will try to do a bit of that.

Unfortunately my cellaring capacity is still rather weak, logistically speaking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top