TN: Dinner with Lipton, Richman, and Cabrera (not a law firm)

Mark Lipton was in town, so Matt, Ramon and I welcomed him last night at dinner at Apiary in East Village. As we were seated and started pulling out our wines (almost 2 bottles per person average) we were told while it is BYO night, the limit is a bottle per person. That's a new policy, fair enought, it's just I wish they mentioned on website or when I confirmed with reservation person that it was Monday No Corkage night. So we made a couple of choices and opted to go with 5 bottles, and pay the $25 corkage on the extra bottle. In the end, the sommelier waived that charge. I will say the wine service was very good, he consulted about glass choices for the whites, which was thoughtful.

We started with the 2006 Pernot Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet. Big, full, good length, this tended to reinforce my impression of 2006 as a vintage to drink on early side (not even considering PremOx). Bright bosc pear, honey, a bit of oak, a hint of mineral chalkiness on finish, but still fruit dominated. It did an ok job with the hamachi crudo. B+

First red was the 1993 Ecard "Les Serpentieres" Savigny-les-Beaune 1er. I thought there was a little volatile note when first poured, but whatever quickly blew off. Red berry and cherry, earth, spice, good acids, bright. In a really nice place right now. Elegant but not delicate. A-

Both the Savigny and the BBM went well with the salmon with fennel, pickled onions, a small roe (crab Mark guessed?), and a white port sauce

Next up was the 1991 Groffier "Les Sentiers" Chambolle-Musigny 1er. Nose seemed strangely mute when first poured, but quickly opened up. Bigger, fuller, rounder than the Savigny. Black cherry and a slighlty exotic note- sandalwood? I quite enjoyed, though I think this might have been better served by a hunk of Charolais than the sweetbreads and duck. B+

The sweetbreads came with frisee and a romesco sauce, and were delicious, but hardest wine match of the night.

Last red was the 1975 Heitz "Martha's Vineyard" Cabernet. Sommelier brought over cork- stained about 1/4 inch, looked more like 6 years than 36. I had no idea what to expect, but this was a lovely example of older Napa. Fresh cassis and black cherry fruit, cedar, just a hint of mint/menthol. Good finish, still a little tannic grip, pretty wine. A-/B+ Both Burgs and the Cab were good with duck breast with parsnip puree, "tokyo turnips", cooked greens, and a fruit sauce

We finished with Epoisses, a goat cheese, and a cows milk that I think he said was Swiss. The wine was a 1983 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Gold Kapsule Auslese. This is an auction bottling, AP 14, from CT it looked liked it was actually a Long GK (capsule was long, but without another to compare to unsure). Cork was a little protruding, and apparently slid right in. Advanced color, but still a very enjoyable wine. Petrol, apple pie, slatey mineral notes. Excellent length. This probably isn't up to a pristine bottle, but I enjoyed (and drank a lot!). A-/B+ Food was really quite good, and wines were excellent (as I've noted, I'm terribly inconsistent, and probably would have scored these even higher if they were solo dinner wines). But really the highlight to me was the company- you'd be hard pressed to find 3 winegeeks- or 3 guys period- I enjoy more. Thanks guys.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

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DaleW
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