After a week of travelling and drinking crappy wine, I'm really looking forward to our soiree this evening.
We're supposed to start at 7. I'll probably show up around 6:30 or so.
We should be set for stemware. You may want to bring a decanter or two with you, however.
If anyone needs directions, here's the website: Rooster Cafe
I've lost count on wines declared, so just to be safe I'm going to bring another bottle of bubbly just in case. Mark has been trying to talk me into bringing a port to go with his chocolate cake. That may be a little too much after so much wine on a Sunday night, but I'll tuck away a half bottle just in case.
See y'all tonight!
Posts: 940 | Location: Ellicott City, MD | Registered: Dec 27, 2004
it's killing me to say this, but neither my wife nor i will make it out of work in time tonight to get to the dinner. i saw this shaping up as possibility a few days ago, and haven't been in the office since thursday (my internet is down at home) now our absence is official. i am very sorry to miss the great company and what looks to be a phenomenal lineup of food and wine. i'll keep an eye out for the feb. offline.
Please switch a '96 Legacy for the Trilogy; sorry to hear we lost newsguy, he/they may have been a neighbor. I made up a sheet with the wine names for folks as geeky as me. Will probably bring something white, to clear the clams...see you there.
Jace
*********************************** What if there were no hypothetical situations? ***********************************
Posts: 239 | Location: Bethesda | Registered: Dec 29, 2006
I would second PH's comments. This was my first event and nothing but great people! I learned a lot over the course of the evening.
CometSpider and Festiva had the sheer pleasure of having a newbie positioned between them at the table.. Seriously though, thanks to both for fielding all my questions. Cometspider - I didn't realize that there were so many adjectives to describe a wine!
Looking forward to the next one..
Posts: 18 | Location: McLean, VA | Registered: Jan 22, 2007
Well, I guess I'll take a stab at it. I started to take notes, but quickly realized there were too many good wines and too much company to sit there and write. I also was getting over a cold, so my tastebuds were a little off.
--- 2000 Muvio Puro. Pure filth. This is an undisgorged wine from Slovenia. The bottle is supposed to be completely chilled, then opened upside down in a bucket of water to let the yeast plug pop out. We never got it cold enough, and couldn't get the yeast out. Fortunately, I've got another bottle to try this science experiment at home (without anyone else to be my guinea pig!). With the yeast in the wine, it was misery. My sincerest apologies to all who tried it. Don't worry, I didn't take offense to anyone who tried to hide their glasses. Yeck!
---NV Billecart Salmon Brut Rose Delightful as always. This is a can't go wrong bottle of bubbly. Lots of cream and fruit. Nice!
Sea scallops, roasted, served over a salad of celeri root and truffle. One of my dishes of the night. The scallop was cooked perfectly - extremely tender! The celery root added nice balance to this dish without being overbearing. And of course you can never have too many truffles. Hats off to Mark for the 'bonus' scallops!
1996 Kalin Cellars Sauvignon Blanc. I'd never had an 11 yr. old SB. As such, I probably never will again. To me, this wine had turned years ago. It had lost its fruit and seemed to be half vinegar. Normally, I think Kalin makes great wines. I guess that's why someone on these boards has in their signature "I like my wines young to avoid disappointments".
Free range chicken in a fricassee of onions confit. Again, my chicken was cooked to perfection. I really liked the onion and broth it was served with. The cilantro really sharpened the flavors. Good food simply made.
---1998 Ch. Grand Corbin Despagne (a St. Emilion grand cru classe, right bank) The Grand Corbin was probably the most 'ready to drink' with lots of fruit and soft tannins.
---1998 Château Haut-Maillet (unclassed (I think) Pomerol, right bank) Good, solid wine. But nothing really flipped my switch, however.
---1998 Chateau Canon La-Gaffeliere (a St. Emilion grand cru classe, right bank) Wine of the Flight by a longshot. This wine didn't seem very special at first, but as it sat in the glass it kept gaining complexity and length. This is a wine to sit back, study, and enjoy over the course of an evening. Not one to be rushed through. It's a shame I had to empty my glass to make room for the next flight. This was one of my WOTN's.
---1995 Calon Segur (a third growth, left bank) I had high hopes for this wine, but it tasted of metallic chemicals. Brett, TCA, or something. Not good.
---1995 Ch. Clos du Marquis (second wine of second growth Leoville Las Cases, left bank) Beautiful wine. Very typical Bordeaux nose and flavor profile. Long finish as I seem to recall. Classy juice.
---1995 Chateau Lynch Bages (a fifth growth, left bank) I enjoyed it very much. This wine also needed more time in my glass to truly enjoy it.
---1995 Ch. La Tour Haut Brion Another very nice wine with an almost floral nose.
Lamb, served with curried vegetables, and curry sauce Probably my biggest disappointment of the evening's dishes. I thought it was just a touch overcooked and dry.
---1999 Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon This paired the best with the lamb. Very Napa Cab-ish. Big, bold, oaky, and fruity.
---1996 Stonestreet Legacy I started to get blurry around this time, but I remember liking it a lot.
---2003 Poggio al Tesoro Sondraia This one's a keeper. Probably the 'youngest tasting' wine of the night. Copious amounts of bright fruit framed by decent tannins and a lengthy finish. This one didn't last long, even after stealing a second pour.
Braised Oxtails with Pomme Puree. Beef, mashed taters, and gravy! Can't get any better than that! My Dish of the Night. Really great food. The oxtail simply melted in my mouth.
---2002 Arietta Hudson (a 60/40 blend of Cab Franc and Merlot) This wine borders on brilliance. I've always liked Arietta's wines, and this one was no different. Impeccable balance. Very 'new world' Needed more time to strut its stuff.
---1997 Merryvalle Profile (mostly Cabernet, with Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot) This wine tasted closed to me initially, but like the Canon La-G, this wine continued to pick up class and complexity as it sat in the glass. I needed more time with it.
---2001 Chateau d'Arche Sauternes (Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscadelle) After all those reds, it was a pleasure to sit down with this wine. Very sweet, intense, and lots of botrytis. I would have been perfectly content with this until I got my hands on the 1997 Suduiraut, which simply blew this wonder wine out of the water.
--- 1997 Suduiraut. My WOTN. It's a pleasure just to sit and smell this wine. It had everything the d'Arch had, but more of it - sweetness, intensity, botrytis, and most importantly, acidity to keep everything in this wine humming along.
Chocolate cake of dark chocolate It was okay, but I was pretty darn looped by the time it made its way onto my fork. The port we had with it was pretty decent, too.
All in all, I had a super time. As always, it's an honor to be seen in public with you all. It does wonders for my social stature. It was also a pleasure to meet to fine, upstanding individuals in Picturestory and Jace (& Mrs. Jace, too). I hope you'll join us for many more offlines to come. I'm already looking forward to February's event!
Please note: In advance of our event, the restaurant got wise and swapped out their regular votive candles for some battery-operated candles. I tried, but nothing caught on fire this time!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Festiva,
Posts: 940 | Location: Ellicott City, MD | Registered: Dec 27, 2004
Nice to see everyone and meet the new people. Was a fun evening with very yummy food and some great wines.
I disagreed with Festiva on a couple, so I'll share my thoughts on the wines for the record:
2000 Movia Puro (Slovenian bubbly) - Granted, it was cloudy... but I think I could taste where they were going with this... I enjoyed my glass, but know that I have a janitor's taste in champagne and give extra points for it being my first Slovenian adventure.
NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose Champagne - This was very fine. A little too good, b/c we all finished it before the scallops were served.
1996 Kalin Cellars Sauvignon Blanc - I thought this was terrific. It was very atypical for SB, lacking that acidic punch I usually expect... Seemed oaked and creamy and very unlike a SB, but I still think it was a delicious wine. I didn't think it tasted vinegary at all myself.
1998 Ch. Grand Corbin Despagne 1998 Château Haut-Maillet 1998 Chateau Canon La-Gaffeliere This flight of '98 right bankers had winners and losers. I think the Corbin Despagne was slightly corked... still drinkable, but not enjoyable. It didn't blow away with some air. The Haut-Maillet was muted on the nose, but had deep dark flavors and a good finish. I think this needed more air and was getting better. More subtle than the Canon La-Gaffeliere, my red WOTN. This had one of the best noses I've 'smelt'. Slightly tart on the finish, but super delicious and oh, that nose.
1996 Stonestreet Legacy 2001 Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon (Note the vintage was diff than planned) 2003 Poggio al Tesoro Sondraia This was the first new world flight... I wrote that the Stonestreet had lots of flowers, but seemed thin compared to the other wines. The Merryvale was a bit sharp in my mouth at first, but smoothed out towards the finish. The Sondraia was very tanniny dry on the finish and young despite two hours decanting, with some initial sharpness as well. I like my tannins just like this, so this was my WOTF (wine of the flight).
1995 Calon Segur (a third growth) 1995 Ch. Clos du Marquis (second wine of second growth Leoville Las Cases) 1995 Chateau Lynch Bages (a fifth growth) 1995 Ch. La Tour Haut Brion (unclassified - see post above) The flight of 1995 right bank wines was lots of fun. The Calon Segur had what hit me as a wet blanket note to the nose/taste... Maybe brett? Not TCA I don't think. But it was interesting anyway... Kind of different. Not what I'd want, but interesting nonetheless. My first taste of Clos du Marquis had good flavors. Seemed like an "average" very good wine... nothing too noteworthy, but very good drink. The Lynch Bages had a subtle delicious nose... was dry in the mouth... still young. Very good. I think it edged out the La Tour Haut Brion for WOTF. I didn't write notes on the La THB, but I indicated it was very good.
2002 Arietta Hudson 1997 Merryvalle Profile Oops, almost forgot to comment on this flight... The Arietta Hudson had a beautiful floral nose. It was really great... Maybe tied for my red WOTN. Drinking perfectly. The Merryvale Profile had complex sweetness... seemed soft, with a great finish. Very yummy flight.
2001 Chateau D'Arche 1997 Suduiraut The Sauternes were excellent. Just delicious. Unlike everyone else, I think, I loved the D'Arche, more so than the Suduiraut (not just b/c I brought it!). It was fresh and clean... I thought spectacularly good. My white WOTN. The Suduiraut was almost as excellent... with more spiciness and maybe more interesting character. But my preference style-wise was for the clean and light and refreshing D'Arche. Both ended the night on a great note, except...
We tried the house NV Smith Woodhouse Lodge Reserve Port with the chocolate cake with lavender ice cream. It was not memorable (the wine, not the desert). I went back for a second pour of the Suduiraut to make up for it.
Thanks all for being so generous with your wines... I love experiencing all the different wines I never would have had a chance to try. Many thanks! I look forward to the next one.
Stand out wines for the night: Despite good competition, the Arietta Hudson and Canon La-Gaffeliere for reds, and the two Sauternes for whites.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Lentini,
Posts: 3183 | Location: Alexandria, VA, USA | Registered: Oct 29, 2003
Nice notes and comments earlier leave little for me to add. There is a thread currently running titled, "Do wines taste better/worse based on who you drink with?" I must say that even the Slovenian filth tasted pretty good in the company of this group!! If you look at the smiles and content faces of this gang of winos, I think you'll agree, it's a great group of people! I'm honored that you let me drink wine with you all.....
Nice to meet the Jaces and Picturestory, Phamtom Menace and his brother TPT. Hope you'll all come to future events!!
PH
Posts: 9625 | Location: Maryland, USA (DC suburbs) | Registered: Nov 22, 2003
Egads, the conversion is almost complete!! 