Weird mix of wines at Riverpark
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:07 pm
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.
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.