Last night we had over Betsy's sister and brother-in-law (old friends of mine), as well as some other mutual friends. As people gathered, we sipped some open bottles I had around ('04 Haut Rian, '04 Meulenhof Spatlese, '03 Leoville Barton), as well as the 2001 Cap de Faugeres(Cotes de Castillon). Nice ripe Merlot fruit, with black plums and cassis overlaid by some coffee-ish oak. Some earth on the finish, long and clean for its low price tag. B/B+
I'm pretty carnecentric, but Betsy had prepared a nice menu for our pesce-vegetarian guests:
We started with an amuse of a slice of Yukon Gold potato topped with creme fraiche and American sturgeon caviar, with a shrimp on the side.
First real course was the Zuni Cafe dish of kale, pecorino, and toast that we had made a couple nights before.
Main course was oil-poached halibut with carrots, garlic, and onions. The halibut was delicious, the only culinary (minor) misstep of the night was that the carrots had to go back into the oven for a few minutes (and still were a little hard). Next time we parboil them first.
Main course wines were:
1998 Trimbach "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Riesling Infanticide, I know. What I want to know is who put rocks in my glass? Mineral, lime (the fruit), mineral, flowers, mineral. Bracing acidity, long (minerally) finish. Way too young, but still my favorite wine of the night. A-2002 Colin-Deleger "Maltroie" Chassagne-Montrachet Everyone seemed to really like this, but I was a little disappointed. I think it was just a matter of my expectations - I had pretty high hopes for a premier cru from an excellent year from a good producer. Distinct buttery notes that everyone commented on over some peach and pear fruit, good acidity. A little too new-oaky for me, and a little lacking in concentration on the palate. Hopefully this is just in a bit of a closed phase, will hold my others for a while. B
When we moved to salad and started eying the cheese, I decanted the
1983 Cantemerle (Haut-Medoc). I bought this a couple of years ago after an impressive showing at an offline; worried as I opened and saw the cork stained for entire length. And at first I thought it might be cooked- showed more acidity than fruit. But some time in the decanter bought considerable improvement- more red fruit than black, with fully resolved tannins and some cigarbox on the nose. A little light for the cheese, this is a wine that cries out for a simple roast chicken. C+ on opening, B/B+ in end.We also opened a 375 of the 1998 Gsellmann & Gsellmann Trockenbeerenauslese (50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc). I've drunk most of a mixed case of Austrian dessert wines from winemonger.com, mostly quite good, but the Gsellmann & Gsellmann offerings have probably been my least favorite. But this is pretty nice- there's a spicy orange marmalade note over honied apricot and candied pear fruit. Nice length, good wine at a very reasonable price for a TBA. B+
Cheese course was Ouray, Robiola Bosina, Hoch Ybrig, and Midnight Moon. For the dessert eaters Betsy's sister Katherine had made a cheesecake.
Really nice night, where the wines showed well, the food was delicious, and the lines between family and friends were blurred, with family who are really friends and friends who are really family.
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.