Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Ira, Ed, Jay, Jayson, Marc, Jeff
Ira's bday. We prise the memento mori skull from his grip, hand him a Zalto and convene the, um, er, unconventionals who haunt NYC wine establishments.
Not that this place is going to be a wine establishment for long, judging by the look of it. The place is a wreck, the sink is disgusting, the dining table is a long low banquette of dubious stability. But there are four fancy refrigerators now, as well as a couple pretty fateuils with striped silk covering. So, for the two people in Chelsea who want a snifter of cognac while chaos swirls around them: they're ready.
Meanwhile, we heap the table up with truffled ham, speck, mortadella ("But we haven't had any tadella yet!" -Jay, the comic), roast beef, several kinds of breads and cheeses.
And wine:
Taittinger 2002 Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs "Comte de Champagne" - youthful, clear and focused, great wine
Von Winning 2013 Deidesheimer Kalkofen GG - acidity is sound but it smells of old wood, were this just any white wine I might not object but this flunks my test for riesling
Clos Rougeard 2005 Saumur Blanc "Breze" - a good bottle of this, too: waxy, pure, just barely apricot; enjoy, no one can afford it anymore
Muller-Catoir 1998 Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese Halbtrocken - vivid, fragrant, OMG wine; talk at the table is how amazing is the entire range of M-C wines in 1998
Zind-Humbrecht 1994 Gewurztraminer Hengst VT - I forgot about this one; yeah, it's older gewurz so not overpoweringly flowery but heading in the pencil shavings / sweaty underarms direction so meh
Bassermann-Jordan 1976 Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Auslese - 5 106 064 6 77, lovely old wine, not sherried and not as sweet as it once was, too
Muller-Catoir 1998 Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Auslese - 375ml, more wonderfulness, need I go on?
Dom. de la Cote Sainte-Epine 2015 St-Joseph VV - way too young, unpleasant in fact, universally dumped, other vintages have shown nicer
Ch. Fonsalette 2000 Syrah - good straight-up Rhone syrah
Burgaud 1997 Cote-Rotie - a little more complex than the Fonsalette, also an excellent bottle of wine despite the warm vintage
Dunn 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain - vigorous but rounding at the edges a little, finally; especially good with the roast beef
Felsina Berardenga 1990 IGT "Fontalloro" - amazingly youthful, so many moreish wines today
Minuto 1988 Barbaresco Riserva "Sori Montestefano" - thinning out a bit but beautiful old nebbiolo palate: still tannic but the rest has harmonized
Happy Birthday, Ira!
Ira's bday. We prise the memento mori skull from his grip, hand him a Zalto and convene the, um, er, unconventionals who haunt NYC wine establishments.
Not that this place is going to be a wine establishment for long, judging by the look of it. The place is a wreck, the sink is disgusting, the dining table is a long low banquette of dubious stability. But there are four fancy refrigerators now, as well as a couple pretty fateuils with striped silk covering. So, for the two people in Chelsea who want a snifter of cognac while chaos swirls around them: they're ready.
Meanwhile, we heap the table up with truffled ham, speck, mortadella ("But we haven't had any tadella yet!" -Jay, the comic), roast beef, several kinds of breads and cheeses.
And wine:
Taittinger 2002 Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs "Comte de Champagne" - youthful, clear and focused, great wine
Von Winning 2013 Deidesheimer Kalkofen GG - acidity is sound but it smells of old wood, were this just any white wine I might not object but this flunks my test for riesling
Clos Rougeard 2005 Saumur Blanc "Breze" - a good bottle of this, too: waxy, pure, just barely apricot; enjoy, no one can afford it anymore
Muller-Catoir 1998 Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese Halbtrocken - vivid, fragrant, OMG wine; talk at the table is how amazing is the entire range of M-C wines in 1998
Zind-Humbrecht 1994 Gewurztraminer Hengst VT - I forgot about this one; yeah, it's older gewurz so not overpoweringly flowery but heading in the pencil shavings / sweaty underarms direction so meh
Bassermann-Jordan 1976 Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Auslese - 5 106 064 6 77, lovely old wine, not sherried and not as sweet as it once was, too
Muller-Catoir 1998 Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Auslese - 375ml, more wonderfulness, need I go on?
Dom. de la Cote Sainte-Epine 2015 St-Joseph VV - way too young, unpleasant in fact, universally dumped, other vintages have shown nicer
Ch. Fonsalette 2000 Syrah - good straight-up Rhone syrah
Burgaud 1997 Cote-Rotie - a little more complex than the Fonsalette, also an excellent bottle of wine despite the warm vintage
Dunn 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain - vigorous but rounding at the edges a little, finally; especially good with the roast beef
Felsina Berardenga 1990 IGT "Fontalloro" - amazingly youthful, so many moreish wines today
Minuto 1988 Barbaresco Riserva "Sori Montestefano" - thinning out a bit but beautiful old nebbiolo palate: still tannic but the rest has harmonized
Happy Birthday, Ira!
