Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Michael Malinoski

My wife and I joined two good friends for dinner over at their house a little while back. We decided to drink some California Cabernets and a few other things to go with the various courses throughout the evening. It was a fun and relaxed night, with a lot of time to sit and contemplate each wine. S...

Michael Malinoski

My first-ever visit to China King with the gang was a lot of fun, with the usual grab-bag of interesting wines and the usual tons of great food (as would be expected from these former owners of King Fung and now owners of both King Fung II in Brookline and this new-ish place in Chinatown). None of t...

Michael Malinoski

Our regular poker game came to my house a little while back, and I served the following wines blind (with some help from generously contributed bottles by a few of the guys). 2006 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard Sonoma Coast . The first wine of the day has a nice dusty, sweet-berried tone to ...

Michael Malinoski

The following are notes on some wines drunk over two different dinners with my extended family. Dinner #1: N.V. La Tour Grise Ze Bulle Zero Pointé . This is an unusual vin petillant sparkler from the Saumur region that’s a blend of 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Chardonnay. The nose has elements of sour c...

Michael Malinoski

Mike bought a couple of whole country hams from a farm in Kentucky and a few of us pitched in to share in the wealth. We decided to get together and eat the bounty in all sorts of different preparations over at Greg’s house one Sunday afternoon and evening. Mike got a slicer and we had prosciutto ga...

Michael Malinoski

Thanks, Nic. The '91 Guigal B&B was great. I happened to taste a fairly healthy and tasty '69 Guigal Hermitage this afternoon--so I don't think my comments about the '91 Cote Rotie having plenty of life left are in any danger of proving inaccurate over the long haul.

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

Here are some tasting notes from a mid-week dinner over at Ed’s house with me and three other guys. There were no conversations about what types of wines to bring or anything else really beforehand, but once we saw what everyone had brought along to share, we were able to put together some nice flig...

Michael Malinoski

I'm certain we could pull of a BWE convention in Boston! I guess it might depend on the typical headcount, but there are several very good upscale places right in the city where we could arrange BYO on a fairly grand scale, and there are a bunch in the "near suburbs" like Newton, Wellesley...

Michael Malinoski

I have never heard of the place in Gloucester nor the place in Winthrop cited in the video. Not surprising, as those are locales pretty far off of my beaten path. The list on WB is pretty thorough, but misses places like Gustazo's in Belmont (good Cuban food), King Fung II in Brookline, a bunch of p...

Michael Malinoski

Going back through my notes, it appears I've managed to go all these years without ever tasting a Figeac from any vintage. I'll have to get on that right away! I did have a very nice 2000 Yon Figeac a month or so back, though, which I'll post a note on soon.

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

My wife and I had a fun night a little while back at Kitchen on Common in Belmont with two other couples from our regular tasting group. We encamped at a back table in the tiny dining room for a good chunk of the night and took our time over some nice wines. We had no formal theme to the selections ...

Michael Malinoski

Missed the first 5 years, but have enjoyed being here the past 8. Many thanks to Jim and all of those who make for a friendly community!

Michael

Michael Malinoski

One of our recent monthly poker games took place at Kyle’s house, with a fairly small group in attendance. As usual, all of the wines were bagged and served blind. Flight 1: 2005 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Proprietor's Reserve Schultze Family Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains . The first wine of the e...

Michael Malinoski

The following are brief notes on some wines drunk over a casual take-out lunch with Gerry and Tom over at Tom’s house a little while back. All four wines were pop and pour, but we were able to sample them over a good period of time to see how they evolved. 2002 Patz & Hall Pinot Noir Sonoma Coas...

Michael Malinoski

Thanks, Chris! The '94 Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow is also a great wine, albeit in a more rugged/masculine/mountain-fruited sort of style. The '84 Lake I posted on a little while back was truly a stunner, too.

Gotta get to a BWE convention one of these years, I know!

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

I got together with a fun mix of guys a little while back to have dinner at Troquet and to drink some good wine. Everyone brought a random bottle and they were all decanted and served blind by our host, with the exception of the starter wines. There was no formal theme cited beforehand, but we ended...

Michael Malinoski

Ditto. Not surprised.

Michael Malinoski

For my birthday a few years back, fellow board member Andy J. made a terrific pork belly dish that we paired with a couple of excellent Cote-Roties. It was a sublime pairing and was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title... Hmmmm, might need to revisit that soon! :) -Michael

Michael Malinoski

I was happy to accept an invitation from my friend Ed to sit in on his group’s monthly tasting when they had a last-minute opening recently. The theme was Chateauneuf du Pape and all wines were served blind in a random order selected by the restaurant staff. 2003 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape ...

Michael Malinoski

Here are some notes from my wife’s birthday dinner at home with the extended family. 2011 La Tosa Colli Piacentini Terrafiaba Valnur . This is a lightly sparkling wine that features a gently sweet and flowery bouquet of peach juice, honeysuckle, quince and green melon aromas that are soft and pillow...

Michael Malinoski

I promise I will find one Bordeaux for Gerry to drink on Sunday, even if I have to smuggle it in myself!

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

One of our somewhat recent regular group tasting events was held over dinner at Kathy’s house, with a very loose theme of Loire wines. It was a small group of 6, so we were able to spend a good bit of time with each wine and try them with a variety of foods. White wines: 2011 Thirot Sancerre Le Haut...

Michael Malinoski

Not at the moment, anyway...

Michael Malinoski

Below are some notes on wines drunk over two consecutive evenings with two different pairs of friends. N.V. Krug Champagne Brut . This was served from a 375 ml bottle purchased in 2006. It has a nicely aged sensibility to it on the nose, with aromas of baked apples, dark honey, nuts, lemon peel, and...

Michael Malinoski

Feb. 17-18, 2003 27.6 inches I got "stuck" in So. Cal during this storm. I remember my wife calling me while I was in the swimming pool to ask me what she could burn in the fireplace after days of no heat. Feb. 6-7, 1978 27.1 inches Jr. High in Northampton, MA. Back when snow was "fun...

Michael Malinoski

Here are some notes from wines drunk with the extended family over a week of vacation a little while back. They are mostly whites, and just about all of them were drunk over various seafood dinners. There were a whole bunch of other wines consumed, but I really just took notes on these ones. N.V. Pe...

Michael Malinoski

Our friend Jud invited our monthly tasting group to his home a while back and offered to provide all of the wines in a blind tasting for us. We had no clues as to what he had in mind, but everyone was eager to find out! It turned out to be a survey of the wines of Scherrer Winery, which I’d heard of...

Michael Malinoski

The Durand works EVERY time, from what I've seen. But I am not against a little old-fashioned ingenuity with a screwdriver, either... Great wine, by the way! The bottle I had 2 years back showed a bit darker-fruited and less gamy/savory on the palate (though it was definitely there on the nose). It ...

Michael Malinoski

Like Jim, I am horribly biased against the dispicable Ravens, but I am not at all biased against the SQN Raven Syrah, which I thought was drinking fantastically right after release. I much preferred it to the Grenache of the same name from that vintage, but even that was pretty darned good. I suspec...

Michael Malinoski

gracias?

Michael Malinoski

I joined a few of the guys at King Fung in Chinatown for some delicious Peking duck before heading out to a fun evening of live music. 2002 Louis Jadot Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Poutures . This seems tight and certainly very earthy on the nose, with smoke-tinged aromas of tea leaves, tree bark, wild ...

Michael Malinoski

I was trying to figure out some way to post a thread title in Spanish, but I'm sure I would have butchered it!

Michael Malinoski

My wife and I were happy to accept an invitation to dinner at another couple’s home a little while back. We decided to do some flights of Lopez de Heredia and Clos Erasmus with dinner, and then to top things off by checking in on some Torbreck wines from his cellar. It was a bit of an unusual combin...

Michael Malinoski

Yeah, I'm a BIT behind on my tasting notes....

Michael Malinoski

Our friend Andy has been hosting a big backyard BBQ for us for many years now, and there are always tons and tons of wines brought by the gang to go along with the amazing food he cooks up. This year, he was joined by a few other grillmasters, so the bounty was even fuller than usual. It is an all d...

Michael Malinoski

I was also disappointed in 1996 Lagrange. I broke my case on Friday to bring one to the dinner. While certainly good, I expected more because Lagrange has been on such a roll. It does have the backbone to improve, though, and we'll try another bottle in a couple of years. I don't know, a bunch of u...

Michael Malinoski

Jeff Leve wrote:I really like the Pavie Decese. I find the Monbosquet to be too oaky.

This was essentially my take on the side by side tasting we did of the '01's last month...

Michael Malinoski

OK, so a little hunting reveals that it is in fact "Cuvee hommage de Jeanne D'Arc" on the label. So, I got "Joanne" wrong and perhaps he got "de" wrong!

See here: http://www.spectrumwine.com/images/inve ... 691_01.jpg

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

Hah! Well, L'Ecosse is a project owned by long-time Napa Valley grape merchant, Bruce Scotland (who is involved in a bunch of different projects/wineries), so there's that connection for you. As for the French name, I know he studied culinary arts in Paris, so there must be some connection there! Th...

Michael Malinoski

The following are brief notes on some wines drunk during some recent warm-weather vacations, so lots of whites and roses in the mix. Whites: 2010 Domaine Labbé Vin de Savoie Abymes . This wine sports a clean, airy, summery bouquet of alpine meadow, chalk, lime zest, melon and peach fuzz. It is light...

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