Last Monday I took the train down to speak at a dinner of the International Business and Wine Society. Dinner was at Jungsik in Tribeca, and was spect acular.
Canapes kept circulating (I was particularly fond of the oysters in a squid ink pasta crust, veal tartare cornets, tiny quiche with caviar, fried chic ken) along with a blind Champagne, which didn’t thrill me- a touch soft, maybe a little closed, it was the 2006 Charles Heidsieck Champagne. J ohn said he had liked more before, wondered if different disgorgement. I di d a speech (more stumbly than usual) and a Q&A on the charity I run, then J ohn Gilman led a great informative discussion of the wines of Galicia (with history dating back to the Romans). An Albarino, a Godello, and three RIb era Sacras red (I liked all, but wasn’t taking contemporaneous note s till dinner).
2013 Albarino- Adega Rozas (Rías Biaxas) Zippy, citrus, bright and fun. Some people thought simple, I thought quite complex! B+2014 Godello- Cividade (Ribeira Sacra- Amandi, Sil River) Young, citrus, a waxy/wooly note reminiscent of Chenin. B+/B
2014 Decima Mencía- Jose Manuel Rodríguez (Ribeira Sacra- Amandi, Sil River) Of the reds, this most fit my ideal of Mencia. Peppery, smoky, spicy over r ed berry fruit, B+/A-2013 Ora et Labora Mencía- Roberto Regal (Ribeira Sacra- Miño Riv er) More Bordeaux-y, cassis and coffee, good length B/B+
2011 Vina Cazoga “Don Diego” Mencía- Jorge Carnero (R ibeira Sacra- Amandi) Chambolle comes to Ribera Sacra. Black cherry, spice, earth, medium bodied and elegant. Good but with potential as well A-All of these wines were worth buying at their price point.
To table for an excellent dinner. The first course (Bibim) had tomato gelee , prosciutto, basil cream and much more. Fine match with the Albarinos.
2013 Lagar de Broullon Albarino Fresh, saline, Briords-like. B+/A-2010 Cabaleiro do Val “Special Selection Cepas Vellas” Alb arino Full, balanced, a leesy nuttiness, good length. A-
Next course was a perfect 2 week dry aged duck breast, with a pickled daiko n side -another great wine match
1982 CVNE “Imperial” Rioja Gran Reserva Red cherries and raspberries, hint of coconut, spice. Tasty in a very strai ghtforward way. B+1976 Lopez de Heredia “Tondonia” Rioja Gran Reserva Red and black cherry, earth, coffee, orange zest. Though orange zest and co ffee don’t sound Burgundian, I thought this was very like a fine Vo sne GC. Great showing. A/A-
Perfect waygu short ribs
1989 Vega Sicilia Unico Red cherries, cassis, tobacco, and earth, young, would be a good ringer for RB or Graves Bordeaux, young and fine,.B+1970 Vega Sicilia Unico Shocking young. Dark berry fruit, saddle leather, cedar, earth. Quite compl ex, plenty of structure. A-/A.
I admit to being a bit of an Unico sceptic but this might have converted me .
I skipped dessert but not the dessert wine. 1902 Solera PX from Osbourne wa s figgy, with caramel, cocoa, toffe, and coffee notes. Intensely sweet and dense. I’m not a sherry guy, but this was interesting. B/B+
Overall wine and food quality was outstanding, service impeccable, company quite fun. Kudos to Omar for a great job coordinating the food and wine, pr etty much perfect matching. John was his usual erudite self - really expans ive on the history and terroir of the Galician wines. 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.