This weekend, I traveled to beautiful New Orleans to participate in the fourth running of the National Trivia League Championships with a couple of local trivia nut friends. After miraculously coming away with a fourth place finish, we celebrated with a dinner at Herbsaint, which has been repeatedly recommended on this bored. Thank you, all who mentioned this! We had a fantastic meal that all three of us greatly enjoyed. As one of my teammates said, "every dish was remarkable" and so they were.
Although I was dining with two non-wine drinkers, I managed still to partake of the wonderful wine list there. A glass of the 2011 Henriot "Souverain" Brut was quite appealing without being particularly memorable (but mercifully non-toasty, for which I was quite grateful). With my main course of jumbo shrimp callaloo (I had to ask the server what that was), I got a half bottle of the 2016 Schloss Gobelsburg "Gobelsburger" Grüner Veltliner that hit on all cylinders: stony minerality, green pea, zippy acidity, light on the palate. Even my beer-drinking friend Stan agreed that it was quite wonderful. For a digestif, I got a glass of Fernet-Branca: an amazing experience in a glass which is insanely difficult to put into words. It had a whack of licorice in the nose, and the most amazing melange of flavors terminated with the trademark bitter finish. Thank you, Levi, and others who've opened my eyes to amaro.
Next time, I bring Jean and we hit the wine list in earnest.
Mark Lipton
Although I was dining with two non-wine drinkers, I managed still to partake of the wonderful wine list there. A glass of the 2011 Henriot "Souverain" Brut was quite appealing without being particularly memorable (but mercifully non-toasty, for which I was quite grateful). With my main course of jumbo shrimp callaloo (I had to ask the server what that was), I got a half bottle of the 2016 Schloss Gobelsburg "Gobelsburger" Grüner Veltliner that hit on all cylinders: stony minerality, green pea, zippy acidity, light on the palate. Even my beer-drinking friend Stan agreed that it was quite wonderful. For a digestif, I got a glass of Fernet-Branca: an amazing experience in a glass which is insanely difficult to put into words. It had a whack of licorice in the nose, and the most amazing melange of flavors terminated with the trademark bitter finish. Thank you, Levi, and others who've opened my eyes to amaro.
Next time, I bring Jean and we hit the wine list in earnest.
Mark Lipton