Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Todd, Jay+Arnold, Dale, Seth, Lisa, Jeff+Patrice, Jeff
It's winter in NYC and evening rush hour. All the geeks are fighting with the transportation grid. I arrive approximately on time to find that I am the first one at the table... and, in fact, the first person at any table in the entire restaurant. This place is normally hopping-busy but the Chinatown residents are scared. The tables are even all dressed-up in red tablecloths, a good luck color for the New Year. (By the way, Happy New Year, from one Rat to another!)
The staff recognizes us and leads us to one of the big tables in a semi-private corner. We proceed like we always do: ask for more glasses, two buckets (one with ice, one empty), redistribute the place settings so there is a spot for the waiters to land plates on the Lazy Susan, etc.
Folks roll in. Jay declares all our usual faves -- no squab so we take the big crab this time -- and because we know there are going to be several Bordeaux we also add a couple servings of Steak Kew.
Todd is in town for his annual pilgrimage to the Festa del Barolo. Jeff Davidson is a board regular from several lifetimes ago. Now that children, etc, are raised and off to their own etceteras, he and Patrice have some time to revive the wine hobby. Nice to see them again. We had also invited Kenny and Suzanne -- a.k.a., 'Wuhan Sue' -- but they claimed illness. Imagine that.
Here goes:
Le Mesnil Coop (RWC) NV Champagne Brut GC Blanc de Blancs - disg. 2016, 2014 base, chalky, vinous, tangy, not leesy much, bravo!
Etienne Calsac NV Champagne Brut Rose 1er "Rose de Craie" - 2016 base, mostly chardonnay, dosage 4 g/l, incredibly vivid, in your face, glimmers of strawberry but so much pow! bam!, great with food but overwhelming as it is
Cordero de Montezemolo 1960 Barolo - bottle #351548 Serie A, 690cl(that can't be right), we are all super-impressed to see a birth-year wine... a lot of us are 1960 tonight... alas, it's musty when it opens and it's musty an hour later, too
Edmunds St. John 2017 Gamay Noir "Bone-Jolly" - light and bright and kinda out of place; I take this home and enjoy it much more the next day
Prince Florent de Merode 1993 Corton GC "Clos du Roi" - ooh, this suits me: it is still tannic, amazingly, but there is plenty of charm coming through the fine-grained grip, the flavor profile is heading towards dried fruit but it's still lively, great bottle
Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste 1989 Pauillac - vigorous and open for business, a firm handshake and a smile
Alexis Lichine (Dom. Jean Meo, Proprietaire) 1972 Clos Vougeot GC - 375ml, Patrice and I look at each other across the table... this is rather pale and comes across quite honeyed but watery, like a tincture of some kind, it improves with air but is definitely not as good as Jay's previous bottle of this
Maximin Grunhauser (Carl von Schubert) 1990 Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese - wow! incredibly forward and substantial, not particularly tangy but lots of face powder and tutti-frutti and green grapes, "Absolutely gorgeous" -Jay, "Perfect" -Seth
Silver Thread 2017 Riesling "STV Estate Vineyard" - there's all kinds of praise for this wine on teh intertubez but we got a bum bottle, meh
Ch. Giscours 1979 Margaux - no note! (I recall it was good)
Dom du Closel (Ch. des Vaults) 1997 Savennieres "Cuvee Speciale" - in the old oxidative style but this is handled delicately as an extra dimension of flavor rather than a signifier of spoilage, nicely done if a trifle dull otherwise
Maison Bertrand Ambroise 1995 Corton GC "Le Rognet" - definitely Corton (mud and cherries), long and persistent, a little faded compared to the Merode but I still won't put the glass down
Hirtzberger 2008 Singerriedel Riesling Smaragd - OMG nose and palate, minerally and dry and grippy, I really should buy more of these
Le Gallais (Egon Muller) 1994 Wiltinger Braune Kupp Spatlese - 8%, again no note! (I recall it was good)
Weiser-Kunstler 2013 Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Spatlese - lemony nose and rather sharp on the palate, other more vinous flavors are muted or just run over roughshod by the out-of-control acidity
Olga Raffault 1997 Chinon "Les Picasses" - a longstanding favorite, this is a good bottle of cassis-inflected cabernet with a tickle of herbs and peppers, thank you Lisa
Lamoreaux Landing 2017 "T23 Unoaked" Cabernet Franc - pretty basic and a little lactic, too, wish I had better things to say
Dom. Jo Pithon 1997 Coteaux du Layon "St. Lambert" - just barely sweet, acidity still shapely and yummy, a quiet treat
Hilltop Neszmely 1993 Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos - very sugary, really too sweet, nice fruit and even a bit of friendly funk but a tad obvious
Willi Schaefer 1990 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Beerenauslese - another OMG wine, suave and rich, great way to end the evening
It's winter in NYC and evening rush hour. All the geeks are fighting with the transportation grid. I arrive approximately on time to find that I am the first one at the table... and, in fact, the first person at any table in the entire restaurant. This place is normally hopping-busy but the Chinatown residents are scared. The tables are even all dressed-up in red tablecloths, a good luck color for the New Year. (By the way, Happy New Year, from one Rat to another!)
The staff recognizes us and leads us to one of the big tables in a semi-private corner. We proceed like we always do: ask for more glasses, two buckets (one with ice, one empty), redistribute the place settings so there is a spot for the waiters to land plates on the Lazy Susan, etc.
Folks roll in. Jay declares all our usual faves -- no squab so we take the big crab this time -- and because we know there are going to be several Bordeaux we also add a couple servings of Steak Kew.
Todd is in town for his annual pilgrimage to the Festa del Barolo. Jeff Davidson is a board regular from several lifetimes ago. Now that children, etc, are raised and off to their own etceteras, he and Patrice have some time to revive the wine hobby. Nice to see them again. We had also invited Kenny and Suzanne -- a.k.a., 'Wuhan Sue' -- but they claimed illness. Imagine that.
Here goes:
Le Mesnil Coop (RWC) NV Champagne Brut GC Blanc de Blancs - disg. 2016, 2014 base, chalky, vinous, tangy, not leesy much, bravo!
Etienne Calsac NV Champagne Brut Rose 1er "Rose de Craie" - 2016 base, mostly chardonnay, dosage 4 g/l, incredibly vivid, in your face, glimmers of strawberry but so much pow! bam!, great with food but overwhelming as it is
Cordero de Montezemolo 1960 Barolo - bottle #351548 Serie A, 690cl(that can't be right), we are all super-impressed to see a birth-year wine... a lot of us are 1960 tonight... alas, it's musty when it opens and it's musty an hour later, too
Edmunds St. John 2017 Gamay Noir "Bone-Jolly" - light and bright and kinda out of place; I take this home and enjoy it much more the next day
Prince Florent de Merode 1993 Corton GC "Clos du Roi" - ooh, this suits me: it is still tannic, amazingly, but there is plenty of charm coming through the fine-grained grip, the flavor profile is heading towards dried fruit but it's still lively, great bottle
Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste 1989 Pauillac - vigorous and open for business, a firm handshake and a smile
Alexis Lichine (Dom. Jean Meo, Proprietaire) 1972 Clos Vougeot GC - 375ml, Patrice and I look at each other across the table... this is rather pale and comes across quite honeyed but watery, like a tincture of some kind, it improves with air but is definitely not as good as Jay's previous bottle of this
Maximin Grunhauser (Carl von Schubert) 1990 Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese - wow! incredibly forward and substantial, not particularly tangy but lots of face powder and tutti-frutti and green grapes, "Absolutely gorgeous" -Jay, "Perfect" -Seth
Silver Thread 2017 Riesling "STV Estate Vineyard" - there's all kinds of praise for this wine on teh intertubez but we got a bum bottle, meh
Ch. Giscours 1979 Margaux - no note! (I recall it was good)
Dom du Closel (Ch. des Vaults) 1997 Savennieres "Cuvee Speciale" - in the old oxidative style but this is handled delicately as an extra dimension of flavor rather than a signifier of spoilage, nicely done if a trifle dull otherwise
Maison Bertrand Ambroise 1995 Corton GC "Le Rognet" - definitely Corton (mud and cherries), long and persistent, a little faded compared to the Merode but I still won't put the glass down
Hirtzberger 2008 Singerriedel Riesling Smaragd - OMG nose and palate, minerally and dry and grippy, I really should buy more of these
Le Gallais (Egon Muller) 1994 Wiltinger Braune Kupp Spatlese - 8%, again no note! (I recall it was good)
Weiser-Kunstler 2013 Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Spatlese - lemony nose and rather sharp on the palate, other more vinous flavors are muted or just run over roughshod by the out-of-control acidity
Olga Raffault 1997 Chinon "Les Picasses" - a longstanding favorite, this is a good bottle of cassis-inflected cabernet with a tickle of herbs and peppers, thank you Lisa
Lamoreaux Landing 2017 "T23 Unoaked" Cabernet Franc - pretty basic and a little lactic, too, wish I had better things to say
Dom. Jo Pithon 1997 Coteaux du Layon "St. Lambert" - just barely sweet, acidity still shapely and yummy, a quiet treat
Hilltop Neszmely 1993 Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos - very sugary, really too sweet, nice fruit and even a bit of friendly funk but a tad obvious
Willi Schaefer 1990 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Beerenauslese - another OMG wine, suave and rich, great way to end the evening