Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Tom R, Jamie W, John M, Jonathan S, Shan A, Fabio+Melissa, Jeff
Tom is visiting and calls for jeeb. Wu's Wonton is the place.
Heedless geeks that we are we have ordered nothing ahead: roast suckling pig, the giant crab, even razor clams must be ordered ahead. So we simply pick off the menu. Tom wants spareribs, we all want Peking Duck, but we also order the crispy spicy whitebait and a few gluten-free dishes requested by two jeebusites.
Among its treasures the menu offers "Sauteed Clam with Potty Milk" which provides an unfamiliar yet instantly repellent visual image. I thought translation technology has gotten so much better lately?
I am on time and, somehow, first. Eventually, the geeks roll in. Jamie has brought two unexpected guests along with him: the owners/winemakers of the Sicilian property Feudo Montoni. They are delightful company. During conversation we discover that they make a passito (grillo, cataratto, nero d’avola, and one more red grape) that is not yet brought into the US. They show us pictures of the domaine at this time with the entire front courtyard filled with baskets of drying grapes. Melissa says the animals do not bother with it but the bees do. She occasionally finds grape skins that have been completely hollowed-out by them!
Meanwhile, John M is providing lots of champagne details (it is one of his expertises for CSW, after all).
A lovely evening. Thank you to everyone involved.
Oh, yes, there was some wine poured:
Barrat-Masson NV Champagne Brut "Fleur de Craie" - base vintage is 2014; this is John’s hand-carry; it’s a BdB, quite tangy, bright and lemony, super-crispy, very late showing of chalky minerality, a little one-note today
Alexandre Filaine NV Champagne Brut "Speciale" - L16, a straight-up champagne, ripeness kept in check but a little non-descript, maybe closed
Suenen 2013 Champagne Extra-Brut GC BdB "Les Robarts" - the label is a novella: disgorged 29/06/17, dosage 1 g/l, lot #78-10-18; amazingly forward, slightly autolytic but this is no bakery back door; the mid-palate has lots of yellow fruit and delicate soil tones, really excellent fizz
O. Horiot 2013 Rose des Riceys "En Valingrain" - vivid red-berry-and-roses nose, fragrant from several feet away... palate of juicy, spirity cherries, eventually yields a bit more fruit, somewhat too high-toned
Drouhin 1999 Beaune 1er Rouge "Clos des Mouches" - an SFJoe bottle; midweight, rather sweet cherries, rich and silky; John says the white is also drinking beautifully now
Nervi 1967 Gattinara - decanted this morning; browning is fairly far along, intensely sweet-seeming gives the mouthfeel and even some scents of brown sugar (that we know is not in there); no tannins left, no fruit either, but there’s more here than just brown leaves, interesting
Bertrand Marchand de Gramont 1996 NSG 1er "Les Hauts Pruliers" - corked to Hell and back
Drouhin 1985 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er "Les Cazetiers" - graceful and delicate, beautiful on its own but no longer can stand up to food; others like it more than me
Meo-Camuzet 2008 NSG 1er "Aux Boudots" - really pretty up-front but the mid-palate falls out and the finish is short, we all marvel but not in a good way
Drouhin 2013 Meursault 1er "Perrieres" - an oaken horror, DNPIM
Nervi-Conterno 2015 Gattinara - 375ml; so young! so much camphor! kinda hard to judge so late in the event so I’m going to withhold judgment until I can try it again (I have a bottle of the ’14 and ’15 to open side-by-side)
Versio 2015 Barbaresco - 14.5%; it is pretty but also quite spirity, which does take some of the fun out of it
Maximin Grunhauser (C. von Schubert) 2005 Abtsberg Riesling Beerenauslese - 3 536 014 11 06; very yum, sweet, light brown, all as expected
Dirler-Cade 2002 Riesling "Grand Cru Spiegel" - apricotty, golden hue and also golden raisins, this is wine to sit with for a while, I like this
Tom is visiting and calls for jeeb. Wu's Wonton is the place.
Heedless geeks that we are we have ordered nothing ahead: roast suckling pig, the giant crab, even razor clams must be ordered ahead. So we simply pick off the menu. Tom wants spareribs, we all want Peking Duck, but we also order the crispy spicy whitebait and a few gluten-free dishes requested by two jeebusites.
Among its treasures the menu offers "Sauteed Clam with Potty Milk" which provides an unfamiliar yet instantly repellent visual image. I thought translation technology has gotten so much better lately?
I am on time and, somehow, first. Eventually, the geeks roll in. Jamie has brought two unexpected guests along with him: the owners/winemakers of the Sicilian property Feudo Montoni. They are delightful company. During conversation we discover that they make a passito (grillo, cataratto, nero d’avola, and one more red grape) that is not yet brought into the US. They show us pictures of the domaine at this time with the entire front courtyard filled with baskets of drying grapes. Melissa says the animals do not bother with it but the bees do. She occasionally finds grape skins that have been completely hollowed-out by them!
Meanwhile, John M is providing lots of champagne details (it is one of his expertises for CSW, after all).
A lovely evening. Thank you to everyone involved.
Oh, yes, there was some wine poured:
Barrat-Masson NV Champagne Brut "Fleur de Craie" - base vintage is 2014; this is John’s hand-carry; it’s a BdB, quite tangy, bright and lemony, super-crispy, very late showing of chalky minerality, a little one-note today
Alexandre Filaine NV Champagne Brut "Speciale" - L16, a straight-up champagne, ripeness kept in check but a little non-descript, maybe closed
Suenen 2013 Champagne Extra-Brut GC BdB "Les Robarts" - the label is a novella: disgorged 29/06/17, dosage 1 g/l, lot #78-10-18; amazingly forward, slightly autolytic but this is no bakery back door; the mid-palate has lots of yellow fruit and delicate soil tones, really excellent fizz
O. Horiot 2013 Rose des Riceys "En Valingrain" - vivid red-berry-and-roses nose, fragrant from several feet away... palate of juicy, spirity cherries, eventually yields a bit more fruit, somewhat too high-toned
Drouhin 1999 Beaune 1er Rouge "Clos des Mouches" - an SFJoe bottle; midweight, rather sweet cherries, rich and silky; John says the white is also drinking beautifully now
Nervi 1967 Gattinara - decanted this morning; browning is fairly far along, intensely sweet-seeming gives the mouthfeel and even some scents of brown sugar (that we know is not in there); no tannins left, no fruit either, but there’s more here than just brown leaves, interesting
Bertrand Marchand de Gramont 1996 NSG 1er "Les Hauts Pruliers" - corked to Hell and back
Drouhin 1985 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er "Les Cazetiers" - graceful and delicate, beautiful on its own but no longer can stand up to food; others like it more than me
Meo-Camuzet 2008 NSG 1er "Aux Boudots" - really pretty up-front but the mid-palate falls out and the finish is short, we all marvel but not in a good way
Drouhin 2013 Meursault 1er "Perrieres" - an oaken horror, DNPIM
Nervi-Conterno 2015 Gattinara - 375ml; so young! so much camphor! kinda hard to judge so late in the event so I’m going to withhold judgment until I can try it again (I have a bottle of the ’14 and ’15 to open side-by-side)
Versio 2015 Barbaresco - 14.5%; it is pretty but also quite spirity, which does take some of the fun out of it
Maximin Grunhauser (C. von Schubert) 2005 Abtsberg Riesling Beerenauslese - 3 536 014 11 06; very yum, sweet, light brown, all as expected
Dirler-Cade 2002 Riesling "Grand Cru Spiegel" - apricotty, golden hue and also golden raisins, this is wine to sit with for a while, I like this
