Saturday a nice group gathered in a private room at Fabio Cucina Italiana t o welcome Arv and Jenn, former New Yorkers in town for a visit. Arv was one of the founders of our Bordeaux group, but somehow in a free form offline not a single bottle from Bordeaux appeared!
John and Gio greeted us with Champagne
2004 Dom Ruinart BdB (mag) I thought this was stunning, crisp and clean with citrus and mineral.I like d before, loved this one. A-We had starters of burrata with tomato & pepper, as well as "crab cake" (no t much binder, quite good)
2009 Niellon "Clos de la Maltroie"Chassagne-Montrachet I really liked this, ripe but balanced, lovely and long. B+/A-1995 Coulee de Serrant (Joly) Moelleux Despite Moelleux designation this was only a little sweet, with apricot and lemon fruit, a little dank on finish. B
1998 Knoll "Loibenberg" Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Not quite as vibrant as previous bottles, but good sweetpea and dry peach f lavors, some pepper, good with the crab. B/B+Then a trio of pastas - a pomodori sauce, a cheese tortellini, and my favor ite a fettucine with sausage and truffle. I left my notes behind, but recre ated most on train
1978 de Forville Barbaresco (mag) Double-decanted (after standing for a week), pretty and clear. Fresh red fr uits, floral and charming. Held up well for entire night, easily lightest o f the Nebbiolos but with elegance and clarity. A-/B+1978 Borgogno Barolo Riserva Pretty volatile on the nose, a bit murky with some suspended sediment. Ther e is some deep red cherry and raspberry fruit, and some tar. Just a bit har sh for me. I would have liked to revisit but there were just too many wines . B-/C+
(I'm not 100% sure I didn't mix these 2 Corderos up, with some of the 750s I was sharing a pour with Betsy) 1978 Cordero di Montezemolo "Monfalletto" Barolo Surprisingly plush, rounder red fruit, rose petals, leather. B+/A-
1982 Cordero di Montezemolo "Monfalletto" Barolo Quite tannic, but nice tarry character, blacker fruit, Should have saved fo r the meat. B1989 Scavino Barolo Bric del Fiasc (mag) Very young , just a hint of oak, big ripe and powerful, but not pruney or o verripe, liked a lot, just needs time. B+/A-
I liked my main of short ribs, Betsy's veal in a mushroom/Barolo sauce was good not great,
From this point on wines were flying by so fast (and I wasn't spitting enou gh) that takes are even shakier. From memory ascending order of preference
1995 Chapoutier Cote-Rotie A touch pruney, a little ashtray, but I didn't give it a chance to improve, .1996 Ridge Lytton Springs (mag) , Brambly, red fruited. Nice, but didn't grab me, others liked more.
2000 Vieux Telegraphe "Le Crau" Chateauneuf-du-Pape (mag). Rpe and ready to go, some forest floor./1997 Ornellaia Surprised how much I liked, ripe red fruits, fat but not flabby, easy to li ke
1991 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ( Mag) I liked this, fresher than a 750 a few years ago, then saw note saying NP w as bringing Montelena and thought I had mixed up. No, it actually WAS the B eringer, just much fresher from 1.5, Black cherry, herbs.2001 Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape (mag) I remember liking this, and that it was a tad animal, but no notes
Palate was shot, but passed around a Riesling. This was supposed to be an a pertif, but delay due to spongy cork, strained into a water bottle and serv ed as a pre-port palate cleanser
2002 Leitz Rudesheimer Burg Roseneck Spatlese Moderately sweet, creamy texture, apple and pit fruits with some quartzy mi neral notes. 1985 Dow Vintage Port. Not as brawny as I expected, coffee and spice over black fruit.Fun night with a great crowd, nice to reconnect with a bunch of old friends as well as see "regulars"
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.