TN: Ian and Jacquie in NY, final chapter

Our house, is a very, very, very fine house. But also a very, very, small house. When Ian and Jacquie proposed visiting NY area, they asked if there were any affordable B & Bs I knew of. I didn't, and we don't have a guest room, so friends offered their guest room. Monday we had Ian & Jacquie, their hosts Joe and Rachel, and another couple (Marc and Annabelle) for dinner.

Poor Betsy hadn't had a moment since getting back from NC previous morning, and had a day full of appointments and driving David to appointments. She still managed to pull together a meal with skill and grace ( and humor).

With North Carolina baba ganoush and Norweigan smoked salmon NV Pierre Peters “Cuvee Reserve” Blanc de Blancs Biscuity yeast nose with apple blossoms and a tad of citrus, fine mouse, rich apple fruit on palate (cinnamon?) and good finish. B+/A-

NV Gruet Blanc de Noirs (New Mexico) I figured New Mexican wines probably don't make it to France, so I thought I'd offer my favorite $10-12 American sparkler. A bit outclassed by the Champagne, but a nice clean light bubbly with a touch of yeast (though more yeast roll than biscuit in this one) and light Granny Smith fruit. B

Soup was a madiera/morels combo with a bit of creme fraiche (the chive garnish went MIA somewhere between store and kitchen). I usually skip wine with soup, but remembered Ian saying once if you have to have wine with soup, how about fino sherry? Instead of fino sherry , I offered a wine that has a touch of rancio, the 1991 R. Lopez de Heredia Gravonia Reserva (Rioja). This one had less of the rancio note than some previous bottles, the flavors aimed more at citrus and mineral. But there is an nut/almond note that does remind me a tad of sherry. Nice wine, maybe my favorite of the 3 or 4 I've opened. B+

Main course was duck legs with a mustard crust over dressed greens, with a haricots verts and baby pattypan squash. The beans and squash steamed and dressed with sesame oil, a recipe I found, ok but I think Betsy's original plan to roast would have brought out squash flavors better. The slow cooking cuts the sharpness of the mustard on the duck, but while Pinot is my favorite duck match, I find this recipe does a bit better with something as aromatic but maybe a tad beefier. So I thought Piemonte (Ian had said few good Italian wines make to his area) or Rhone (well, almost Rhone):

1993 Michele Chiarlo "Cerequio" Barolo Unfortunately, corked. Too bad, there was some nice fruit trying to get out from under the must. Ian, a self-proclaimed TCA insensitive, could smell the TCA on this one.

1991 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo Medium-bodied, mature integrated tannins, dark berry fruit with an edge of spice and orange peel. Both Ian and I noted the famous Piedmont tar. Really a nice wine, mature at a very young age for one of Bartolo's wines. Plenty of bright acidity, good food wine. Nose develops aromas of mushrooms, mocha, and violets. A-

1999 Tardieu-Laurent Costieres de Nimes Now, I opened this for 3 reasons - I knew Ian had said he had never tasted a T-L wine, I thought it would be up Joe's fruitbomb alley, and I sure as hell couldn't think of another time to serve it. I remember on tasting this the first time on release thinking this needed a spoon to serve, like blackberry jam. For all my Dominique Laurent-bashing I think this wine showed better than I expected- the oak had integrated pretty well, leaving an obviously modern but not caricaturish wine. Dense blackberry and black plum fruit, vanilla oak edge with a good finish. Not enough balancing acidity for my tastes, but not a joke at all. I should give Ian his props- he was able to guess "modern , from the south- Provence or Langedoc?" B I had promised Ian I'd try to provide an overview of some American cheeses- we had an Ouray (from Sprout Creek Farm in NY), Ewe's Blue (Old Chatham, also NY), Grafton 4 Star (Vermont), and Red Hawk (Cowgirl Creamery). Saturday's LBV was brought out for the blue, a sticky for the Red Hawk and the dessert, and a Burgundy for the others.

2001 Mongeard-Mugneret Echezeaux Pretty forward for a young Grand Cru, but with some upside potential. Good red fruit with some oak, smoke and earth. With some time a more leather/earth note predominated. Moderate tannins, good acidity. This needs time, but damn it's pleasant now. Probably a notch behind the Mascarello for now, but I think best potential wine of evening. Normally I'd say avoid $50 & under GCs (which given my budget means I normally avoid GCs), but this is a winner in my book. A/A-

1998 Baumard Quarts de Chaume (from 375) Floral notes on the nose, with tropical fruit and honey on the palate. Not the blockbuster style of QdC one gets in better vintages, but quite the nice medium-bodied Some dried apricot and pineapple aromas after a while. Annabelle had brought the dessert, a apple/walnut pastry, I believe the match was popular.

Very nice evening with nice people. Safe trip home Ian and Jacquie!

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.

Dale

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I have had this wine, as well as many TL wines, on a number of occasions and find the "fruit bomb" description a little odd. I would hardly place the Costieres de Nimes in that category. There is a good deal of ripe fruit but hardly overdone and in contrast to your comment, Dale, I do find a good level of underlying acidity. This is an excellent wine to serve with Peking duck if you don't have a good Burgundy handy.

Ron Lel

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Ron Lel

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