Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Trung and his brother Hong, SFJoe, Sharon, Kirk, Jay, Jeff
Trung Nguyen happens to be passing through NYC so we jeeb. We gather at Trestle on Tenth, a geek fave with a great list and great food. Chef Ralf comes out from the kitchen to visit us, taste a little, and then the plates come out: duck necks, tripe, sweetbreads, crepinette, rosti, and lots more of his earthy, soulful cuisine.
Table talk: Trung tells about his visits in the Loire, Sharon tells about her writing assignment from the great beyond, everyone has travel talk, lots of champagne talk... for the right reasons:
Gimonnet NV Champagne Brut "Selection Belles Annees" Blanc de Blancs - disgorged 2011 Dec 14, a great way to start: fruity, chalky, elegant, mid-weight palate, I keep going back for more of this, Kirk's choice off the list
Ulysse-Colin NV Champagne Brut "Les Pierriers" Blanc de Blancs - lot 09fSOL, disgorged 07/03/2013, "Very chardonnay!" exclaims Sharon, it is very wine-y, a warm year and its shows in extra fruitiness, extra fullness, maybe a touch sweet, I get some sour mash fragrances
Vouette et Sorbee 2010 Champagne Brut Rose Blanc de Noirs - disgorged Nov 9 2012, a saignee wine, and a huge wine: big, tannic, intense, red-fruited, so macho we considered serving it with the reds, great
Taittinger 2004 Champagne Brut Rose "Comtes de Champagne" - corked
Ch. Simone 2011 Palette Rose - gorgeous, dry, just barely ripe, flavors of white cherries and pink cotton candy (but not the sugary sweetness), SFJoe's choice off the list
Rollin 2009 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er "Les Vergelesses" - nice enough but I had a hard time finding anything distinctive or interesting about this wine among the rest of the hubbub
Prum 1971 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - 2576511-1672, the cork broke so we decanted it but the decanter won't fit in the ice bucket so we drink it now: bronze or pale brown color, no diesel, acidity still sound but not sharp, really interesting balance of sweet and savory: it is sweet but not achingly so, and the savory (meat juice, saline) flavors are subtle, you don't taste them very much but they complicate the (stronger) sense of sweetness; a contemplative wine thrust into the middle of dinner
Baudry 2007 Chinon "Croix Boissee" - full-flavored, lots of fine tannins give an almost tingly impression, cooked strawberries and earth, no overt green pepper, beautiful
Clos Rougeard 2003 Saumur-Champigny "Le Bourg" - so suave, with even finer tannins, a bit alcoholic, lots of warm red fruit, pretty wine
Guigal 1998 Cote-Rotie "Chateau d'Ampuis" - a cellar orphan, shows too many signs of craftsmanship: buffed clean and oaked to death, vigorous but hollow, all structure but no blood in its veins
Trung promises to take me to a great Korean dive restaurant next time I'm up his way (...which is about two weeks from now). Yeah!
Trung Nguyen happens to be passing through NYC so we jeeb. We gather at Trestle on Tenth, a geek fave with a great list and great food. Chef Ralf comes out from the kitchen to visit us, taste a little, and then the plates come out: duck necks, tripe, sweetbreads, crepinette, rosti, and lots more of his earthy, soulful cuisine.
Table talk: Trung tells about his visits in the Loire, Sharon tells about her writing assignment from the great beyond, everyone has travel talk, lots of champagne talk... for the right reasons:
Gimonnet NV Champagne Brut "Selection Belles Annees" Blanc de Blancs - disgorged 2011 Dec 14, a great way to start: fruity, chalky, elegant, mid-weight palate, I keep going back for more of this, Kirk's choice off the list
Ulysse-Colin NV Champagne Brut "Les Pierriers" Blanc de Blancs - lot 09fSOL, disgorged 07/03/2013, "Very chardonnay!" exclaims Sharon, it is very wine-y, a warm year and its shows in extra fruitiness, extra fullness, maybe a touch sweet, I get some sour mash fragrances
Vouette et Sorbee 2010 Champagne Brut Rose Blanc de Noirs - disgorged Nov 9 2012, a saignee wine, and a huge wine: big, tannic, intense, red-fruited, so macho we considered serving it with the reds, great
Taittinger 2004 Champagne Brut Rose "Comtes de Champagne" - corked
Ch. Simone 2011 Palette Rose - gorgeous, dry, just barely ripe, flavors of white cherries and pink cotton candy (but not the sugary sweetness), SFJoe's choice off the list
Rollin 2009 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er "Les Vergelesses" - nice enough but I had a hard time finding anything distinctive or interesting about this wine among the rest of the hubbub
Prum 1971 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - 2576511-1672, the cork broke so we decanted it but the decanter won't fit in the ice bucket so we drink it now: bronze or pale brown color, no diesel, acidity still sound but not sharp, really interesting balance of sweet and savory: it is sweet but not achingly so, and the savory (meat juice, saline) flavors are subtle, you don't taste them very much but they complicate the (stronger) sense of sweetness; a contemplative wine thrust into the middle of dinner
Baudry 2007 Chinon "Croix Boissee" - full-flavored, lots of fine tannins give an almost tingly impression, cooked strawberries and earth, no overt green pepper, beautiful
Clos Rougeard 2003 Saumur-Champigny "Le Bourg" - so suave, with even finer tannins, a bit alcoholic, lots of warm red fruit, pretty wine
Guigal 1998 Cote-Rotie "Chateau d'Ampuis" - a cellar orphan, shows too many signs of craftsmanship: buffed clean and oaked to death, vigorous but hollow, all structure but no blood in its veins
Trung promises to take me to a great Korean dive restaurant next time I'm up his way (...which is about two weeks from now). Yeah!