TNs: A Cold Weekend with Bdx, Alsace, Rhones, Tuscan and Ger

[Ramon_NYC]

Below freezing temperatures relegated cold-weary us to staying in, with home-cooked meals, and Netflix dvds. Meals included canned cassoulet, cavatelli with heavy tomato-based and sweet Italian sausage sauce, canned corned beef and dry-aged shell steaks.

We decided on a last-minute cancellation of a Friday night restaurant reservation, Marina was up for making a hearty pasta dinner, rather than go out in the cold. I was in a lounge-bar kind of mood and put on some cool Randy Crawford tunes on the stereo.

1994 Schloss Schonborn Rudesheimer Berg Rottland Spatlese, Rheingau
A nice wine to lounge around with. Gold-tinted in color, with some wood, mineral and appealing confection nose. Honeyed, citrusy, lime, and mineral notes on the palate. I loved sniffing this wine. This was better than a previous one consumed last summer. B++

2006 Fattoria Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany
Smelled of wood and meadow earth. This medium-bodied wine is young and tannic but showed lively cherry and raspberry acidity. Will disappoint those looking for the fruit-forward stuff, but the lean fruit complements the nice overall structure. White pepper. Needs food at this point. Went very well with heavy red=sauced pasta and sweet Italian sausage dish. Bought for $17 at Garnet’s 10% off mixed case of reds. A good price, imho, and I may go for more since the sale lasts until March iirc. B+

2000 Dom. La Vieille Julienne Chateauneuf-du-Pape
With canned cassoulet. Wine smelled of meat, brett, garrique and sweet fruit. From the onset it was ripe with red and black fruit, sweet, some kirsch, specks of white ground pepper, a big but quite rustic CdP. Not balanced, imo, and not as good as a previous bottle, 4 months ago, with “real” freshly-cooked cassoulet at La Sirene. B

2007 Clos du Mont-Olivet Montueil-La Levade Cotes-du-Rhone
With sautéed corned beef.
Big and brawny, ripe fruit, very young, tannic, a nice qpr for $13. I favor the chance that this will be good when things resolve a little bit with time. B+

1983 Ch. Pichon Lalande, Pauillac
With dry-aged shell steaks.
Classic mature Bordeaux nose of leather, old wood, cigar and pencil. Lean fruit, smooth and easy mouth-feel, resolved tannin, appropriate acidity, slight notes of leather. Everything seems to be at their proper places but I think this bottle is at its best drinking window. Not a blockbuster, but one very fine mature wine. A-


The local weather turned up for the better on Sunday, a celebratory high of 3 below freezing. A last-minute opentable search came up with Bar Room at the Modern in the Museum Of Modern Arts. One of Marina’s favorite, plus … and a big plus, Sunday happens to be the free corkage day at the restaurant. Off we went, with layers of warm clothing and a couple of bottles in tow.

Great food and service, as per our usual experience, at the Modern. The restaurant’s signature appetizer of Tarte Flambee was great start after our 15 minutes of cold weather walk from home. A couple of new dish, for us, were standouts. These were the Slow Poached Fam Egg In A Jar (with lobsters, salsify and sea urchin) and the Tagliatelle With Rabbit and Mushrooms.

1983 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Vendanges Tardives, Alsace
Wow. This is one heck of a terrific way to start. Petrol notes intermingled with tropical fruit amidst the very interesting aromatics. Slight touch of residual sugar, a tasty level of acidity complemented the excellent evolution of this 27 year old Riesling. Finish that lingered beautifully. At the 2 hour mark, sulfur notes on the nose. A

1997 Jean Louis Chave Hermitage Rouge, Hermitage
The Trimbach would be a hard act to follow … and it was. But the Chave Hermitage was no slouch, either. Brett on the nose, but the lean yet ripe red fruit and the excellent high level of acidity did not disappoint. Fine tannin, smooth in the mouth, and a long chewy finish with waves of red fruit and delicious tartness. Still a few notches below both 1995 and 1999 versions, both of which I’ve had in the last 6 months, but this wine showed how good this producer can make out even in a so called so-so vintage. Floral and mint nose developed with further airtime. I shared with our wait staff and one said “lychee”. A-

Ramon

[Michael Malinoski]

Ramon, great write-up, thank you!

I've managed to have the '83 Pichon Lalande three times in the past few years and you've captured its character very well in your description.

My mouth is watering from the description of the 83 Trimbach CFE VT. I love the 1990 version of that wine and just purchased some 2000 the other day. I hope it approaches the heights of those other two some day.

Regarding the lychee in the 97 Chave Hermitage, I had a similar experience last year with the 1990 Ferraton--and I just found that to be so weird that it was almost like it happened in a dream. Glad to know I ain't crazy (well, about that, anyway!).

1990 Ferraton Pere et Fils Hermitage Cuvee des Miaux. The evening’s final wine is decidedly cloudy and murky in appearance and doesn’t smell anything at all like the body of wines on the table. In fact, it takes me a while to realize that what this wine smells like is a highly perfumed, fuzzy red late-harvest Gewurztraminer. I mean it is bizarre to stick your nose into a glass of Northern Rhone and smell litchi, sweet tropical mango, raspberry fizz and red grapefruit galore! I have to say it has a certain sweet and sexy attractiveness to it, but it’s totally out of whack with expectations. Anyway, in the mouth, this is very softly cushioned, with a gorgeous silky texture that is smooth and polished to a high buff. There are no hard edges and again one can sense a certain sexy quality to the sweet tropical red fruit. Much later in the evening, it seems to be approaching more typical Syrah qualities, but it never shakes this unusual tropical character. What a wild experience.

-Michael

[Ramon_NYC]

Michael,

Well, apparently, there’s lychee in them Hermitage. Just to add to that, Marina, also picked up some tropical fruit, way before our waitress shared her “lychee’ view. I’m in the camp that believes that women, in general, have a keener sense of taste and smell, hence I won’t disagree with them, nor with you. Btw, I’ve not had any Ferraton but I’d like to have some of that 1990 that you had.

I scored a few 2000 Trimbach CFE VT, also just the other day, from the Wine Connection sale. Given the 1983 results, I’ll be putting these away for a looooong time.

Thanks for the additional input.

Ramon

[Michael Malinoski]

Same here--Wine Connection for the Trimbach CFE VT.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Ramon,
Did you get this:
2007 Clos du Mont-Olivet Montueil-La Levade Cotes-du-Rhone
at Garnet?
Sounds great! Thanks for the notes,
Chris

[Ramon_NYC]

Chris,

Yes, I bought from Garnet with 10% off when mixed all REDs case.

It’s the 2007 Clos du Mont-Olivet Vieilles Vignes at $13.99 before discount. I also bought another – the 2007 Domaine Grand Veneur CdR Reserve at $11.99 before discount. I haven’t tasted yet, but with advertised 90 RP points at 10 bucks discounted, I’m willing to gamble.

The sale is until 3/02, so let me know if you come upon anything worth going for.

Ramon