TN: 2xChampagne, Vouvray, Bandol (and great lamb), Bourgueil, Riesling VT

Jim, Thanks for the great (as usual) notes. One question: are you able to find these wines for sale in Japan, or did you purchase them elsewhere? Just curious, as you're mentioning producers who are totally unfamiliar to me.

Mark Lipton

Oh, you meanie! :p Actually, the Ostertag and Pibarnon are well known to me as well, but not the Chesnaies, Dom. Bourillon or Diebolt-Vallois. And, yes, geography does play a role: Sam's has a piss-poor selection from the Loire, and their Champagnes tend to run to the big producers.

Mark Lipton

Mark:

Thanks.

These actually did all come from Tokyo. Some of the stuff I drink has come from elsewhere, but a lot comes from Tokyo. These particular wines were bought for the occasion. Some friends had a dinner party and wanted to do something interesting with the wine. Sam's not a big wine drinker (except for bubbles and stickies), but I've been lucky enough to serve her something she liked a couple of times. Thus, she and Jonathan gave me a food menu and sent me shopping. (I'd love to do this for a living, by the way.)

You can actually get a great selection of stuff in Tokyo, but you need to be willing to shop around and pounce when the right thing is available at the right price. As long as you never get into the position of having to get a _certain_ thing at a _certain_ time, you can avoid getting burned too badly on the prices. I figure that, on most things, we pay 10% to 20% premium if we shop carefully. Other things, like Champagne, are as well priced here as almost anywhere (except Premier Cru, of course).

Jim