Weird mix of wines at Riverpark

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jal
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Weird mix of wines at Riverpark

Post by jal »

I met with some wine friends at Riverpark last night. Venue was BYO and theme was "Bring What You Want"

We had a platter of cheeses and charcuterie to start and with those opened a 2003 Faiveley Latricieres Chambertin: Ruby red color, nose is ripe, but on the mouth it is extremely tannic. The tannins dissipate after about an hour and the wine opens up to a masculine brooding tough pinot that doesn't have a lot of charm but has a good structure and acidity. I liked it enough. 85 at first, 88 an hour later, I have no doubt this will be much better in a decade or two.

With appetizers we opened a couple of older wines: 1979 Ridge Zinfandel San Luis, red and dusty with a little clearing at the rim, not much nose to speak of, the wine is tasty but the tannins are dusty and the whole affair feels a little tired to me, ok for what it is - 92, but others liked a lot more than me.
Then my favorite of the night :1979 Pichon Lalande, nose of mushrooms, leather, cigars, sweet berries, absolutely intoxicating perfume. At least as nice as that delicious wine we had at the BWE convention in DC in April. Elegant, charming with a great structure, no tannins or bitterness, just enough acidity, phenomenal. 95

We shared two main dishes of ribeye and guinea fowl, with those an unpleasant surprise: 1989 Lynch Bages: Giving absolutely nothing, no nose, no fruit, nothing. It was as if the wine was dead. It wasn't corked, and I checked with Dale Williams who was in the next table at a Gonon tasting who confirmed that the wine is not corked but flawed. Very disappointing, it's a wine I must have drank a dozen times at least and the guy who brought it told me he's had that case since release but go figure.

After that we had two California Cabs, I can't remember the name of the first and frankly didn't care much for it, the second one was the 2005 Schrader Beckstoffer To-Kalon, dark and inky, concentrated, extracted, low acid with a lot of vanilla. Behind the obvious manipulation one can tell that the fruit was awesome and could have been a fantastic wine, but it lacked balance for me. 91 but everyone liked this more than me.

Riverpark is my new byo destination on Mondays. Great food, and service. I enjoyed the evening, we promise ourselves the next theme will be more focused.
Best

Jacques
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Michael Malinoski
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Re: Weird mix of wines at Riverpark

Post by Michael Malinoski »

Jacques, I am a fan of the "bring whatever you want" wine theme--it keeps you on your toes. I am also a huge fan of the '79 Pichon Lalande and have posted some TNs here not too recently about it's virtues. I have a couple left, too, which I'm pretty excited about. What I am NOT a huge fan of is bad bottles of '89 Lynch Bages. That's a heartbreaker.

Thanks for the great notes!

Michael
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stefan
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Re: Weird mix of wines at Riverpark

Post by stefan »

Too bad about Jimmie's favorite wine, Jacques.

Was the San Luis an ATP wine? I never heard of it.

Sounds typical for an 11 year old Faiveley Grand Cru. It is unfortunate that we must wait 20 years for them to show their class.

'79 P-L is sooo nice. I slightly prefer the '78, but love them both.
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jal
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Re: Weird mix of wines at Riverpark

Post by jal »

stefan wrote:
Was the San Luis an ATP wine? I never heard of it.
Stefan, the guy who brought it had it at a restaurant six months ago, and sourced a few bottles. I had never heard of it before
stefan wrote: '79 P-L is sooo nice. I slightly prefer the '78, but love them both.
These two along with the 1981 are amazing wines. The nose is so perfumed. I find the 1981 (Gwyneth Paltrow as per Jim) a bit bitter on the finish, and the 1978 (Audrey Hepburn as per Ian) more balanced but less aromatic. I'd go for the 1979, but can't go wrong with any of the three.
Best

Jacques
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stefan
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Re: Weird mix of wines at Riverpark

Post by stefan »

Hmmm. Somehow I never tasted the '81 Comtesse, Jacques. I'll have to look for it.
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