and the Wine Do dinner
I had lunch and a walk up at Wave Hill with my friend
Dave (another violist) and his sweetie Joelle. This
estate was a summer home for the likes of Mark Twain,
Arturo Toscanini, and the Theo Roosevelt clan and, as
one can guess, is ideally situated overlooking the
Hudson. It's now an arboretum open to the public, but
given its location within the Bronx is relatively
unknown and uncrowded. The cafe offered weird things,
salads and such, chicken pot pie, and what was
represented as chicken and quinoa but turned out to
be rigatoni in tomato sauce with ground mystery meat,
not too good and $12 for a modest serving. Captain
Lawrence saved the day with his Freshchester pale ale,
a truly local product, brewed 14 miles up the road: a
smooth, malty, slightly sweet, moderately hoppy APA.
Dave and Joelle dropped me off at the D train, which
got me to West 4th in an hour, so I was at North
Square in the Washington Square Hotel in plenty of
time for the beginning of the 9th annual Wine Do.
roster:
hammer53
Anna Cordelli + 1
Austin787
Xyzzy + 1
wrp96
HPN-HRL2010
violist
krazykanuck
Calcifer + 1
serfty
EastBay1K
thewayofthefuture +1
Pinky
Monitor + 1
Bob W
KathyWdrf
GrjApp 2010
jswong 2012
Itsaboutthejourney
The menu:
[Relish tray of pickled onions and garlic, cornichons,
and various olives. Not sure what place all this acid
has in a wine dinner, but whatever; they were all
crisp and of good flavor. There was bread, of which I
didn't take any notice. Not on the printed menu]
APPETIZERS
Lobster & crab cakes, seaweed & vegetable salsa, Thai
curry coconut sauce
Goat cheese ravioli, zucchini, sundried tomatoes,
manchego, pine nuts, herb gremolata
Crab & corn salad, blackened corn, crab meat, fennel,
tomatoes, romaine, basil, mint, parsley, lemon yogurt
dressing
Tuna tartare, ginger cured vegetables, avocado
lemon/lime vinaigrette
dhammer53 made a pitch for the salad, which I was going
to get anyway. Aside from their trying to pawn off the
lobster and crab cakes (which I've had before and was
not all that enthusiastic about, as the sauce can't be
paired with any wine alive, plus crab cakes in New
York are, pardon, a contradiction) on me. So I was
served dead last, who eat slowly. The stuff was pretty
good, the crab being mild and showing better this way
than in a breaded cake. I am still doubtful about the
leaves chopped (the romaine) and chiffonaded (the
herbs) into the mix, but the corn sweetened the crab
nicely. By the time I was served, though, the pouring
of the reds had already started, so I was up a creek
anyway in the pairing department.
ENTREES
Herb crusted rack of lamb, Brussels sprouts with
bacon, potato & leek galette, rosemary au jus
Spice rubbed duck breast, fresh egg noodles, pea
greens, carrots, tomatoes, basil, chipotle peanut
sauce, kumquat relish
Herb roasted free range chicken breast, wild mushrooms,
cauliflower mash, thyme au jus
Filet mignon au poivre, grilled Vidalia onion, steak
cut fries, spicy mustard, Bourbon au jus
I was torn, as the most wine-friendly dish was the
one I would enjoy least. I mean, who puts chipotle
peanut sauce or spicy mustard on a wine dinner. So
I went with the lamb, despite the rosemary "au jus"
and was quite pleased - I asked for it jiggly rare,
and it came barely seared on the outside and nice
and jiggly in the middle. The sprouts were al dente,
as was the (way too trimmed) bacon; the potato thing
was also kind of rare, not a problem, because I
didn't eat much of it, and the jus was negligible.
DESSERTS
Key lime pie, creme Chantilly, raspberry Chambord coulis
Chocolate mousse cake, bitter chocolate ice cream,
chocolate & caramel sauces, chopped Heath bar
Blueberry pie, cream cheese crust, vanilla ice cream,
creme Anglaise, blueberry Port sauce
Chocolate all the way. Quite good, but too sweet even
though they forgot the Heath bar garnish. I should
perhaps have asked for just ice cream, which was bitter
and more bitter and very nice.
==
At least I took cursory notes this year.
SPARKLING WINES
White
2011 Lanson Champagne Brut Black Label (Champagne)
Clean and pleasant, biscuity yeasty but with some fruit
left. As this (not this vintage, duh) used to be one of
my standbys two decades or more ago, I was at home with
it and happy that there was still an ounce left when my
tardy crab salad came, because it was a good match.
2007 Perrier-Jouët Champagne Belle Epoque (Champagne)
Subtle, minerally, lemon giving way to a touch of sweet.
Piquant, almost bitter on the finish, which I attribute
to the age of the wine. To tell the truth, I am a bit
uncomfortable with Champagnes in this price range. I
guess my experience is limited; but also I get
distracted by bubbles.
2010 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne
Blanc de Noirs Les Ursules (Champagne)
Strawberries, also a touch of sweetness; I'm not
sure why rose Champagne is fashionable - it doesn't
really do it for me. I know some of us treated this
as though it were liquid gold; to me, it was not
more than a decent, well-balanced quaff.
STILL WINES
White
Alsace, Riesling
2013 Albert Boxler Riesling Reserve (Alsace)
A lot of honey on the nose. Citrus, honeysuckle;
it opens with a sweetish impression, with the
flowers, then the citrus comes and dries it out,
and there is a long tart finish, complicated by a
touch, just a little, of the hydrocarbon that you
expect in wines of this sort.
Oregon, Chardonnay
2012 Evening Land Vineyards Chardonnay Summum Seven
Springs Vineyard (Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola -
Amity Hills)
An odd, woody nose followed by sour cream and lemon,
On the palate a mix of oak and lemon rind with some
tropical fruit peeking through. A pineapply, almost
pina colada finish. Suave, eminently drinkable.
===
Red
California, Cabernet Sauvignon
2000 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
Estate Reserve (California, Napa Valley) - 1.5L
A classic and middle of the road new world Cab, though
an extraordinarily well put together one. A lot of
Bordeauxy charateristics but not like a Bordeaux, with
black fruits and tobacco and leather, but slightly greeny
in an American way. Very pleasant in a nonchallenging way.
1969 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Cask G-21 (California,
Napa Valley)
Heavy smoke, raisiny nose, devolving toward stewed
prunes and some kind of unidentified wood. Hadn't
gotten to the stage of woodland forest, rotten wood,
mushrooms that some old wines do - I remember a Petrus
of about this vintage that had totally collapsed into
that state, sadly enough. Bunches of tannin and bunches
of Cabernet helped with the longevity, but not enough.
2009 Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium
(California, Napa Valley, Oakville)
Pleasantly spicy, rich, dash of sweetness; very fruity in
a noncabernetty way. Just entering its peak.
2009 Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Three Twins Vineyard
(California, Napa Valley)
Blackberry and oak, perfect balance. I loved this one.
Oregon, Red Bordeaux Blend
2013 Seven of Hearts Chateau Figareaux Tradition (Oregon,
Columbia Valley)
[I didn't get any of this]
Washington, Cabernet Sauvignon
2010 Leonetti Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley
(Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley)
Good acid, green pepper, pleasant, rather understated;
substantial tannin, good backbone; liked.
2012 Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series
(Washington)
An odd green peanutlike aroma; sorry to say I didn't care
for this and wouldn't pay extra for it over any other
Woodward Canyon product (I used to like them years ago,
now, not so much).
Washington, Red Blend
2006 J. Bookwalter Protagonist (Washington, Columbia Valley)
This was by contrast complex and savory, the perfect age,
lots of dark fruits and tobacco; seemed to be Merlot heavy,
not that that's a bad thing.
2009 Columbia Winery Peninsula Red Willow Vineyard (Washington,
Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley)
Herbaceousness - that's the only note I made. I used to like
the Cabs and maybe a Syrah from this neighborhood. This was
a little muddled and not my thing.
Washington, Red Bordeaux Blend
2007 Col Solare (Washington, Columbia Valley)
Washington, Red Rhone Blend
Much coffee, touch of acid, beautiful, but rather
astringent despite its age. Cried out for fatty
poultry or maybe a mess of not too smoky burnt ends.
2013 Seven of Hearts GSM + C Blend (USA, Washington, Columbia
Valley)
Cheerwine, great if you like Grenache, a little light
for this Bordeaux-style company, lively acid, nice to drink.
There was a Fidelitas that I can't find notes for except
this scrawl: "green pepper spice stems" - unfortunately
no image comes to mind. I figure it must have been the
Cab from Horse Heaven.
FORTIFIED WINES
Portugal,Douro
2005 Niepoort Porto Colheita (Douro, Porto)
Afterward a bunch of us repaired to bdnyc's apartment in
Hell's Kitchen for a glass of the perfectly fine Jordan
Cabernet. He had been unable to join us for dinner -
working as a network TV producer as he does, he had the
sad task of coordinating coverage of one of the saddest
events of the year.
I overnighted at dhammer53 and Janice's lovely home
and then took Dan to breakfast at his favorite haunt,
a downtown diner called I think the Star. He knows
workers and customers alike and is in turn known by
them. I had to choke down vast quantities of carbs
to be part of this scene; followed by some still
somewhat yummy Kee's chocolates at home.