<$50 white Burg night at Wasabi Chicago Sat. 3-5-16

I figured this offline might get more attention with its own thread. We are doing sub $50 white Burg on Saturday, March 5th at Wasabi on Milwaukee in Logan Square at 5pm sharp (no reservations taken/required). Corkage is free with complementary stemware and ice buckets. Their provided stemware isn’t the greatest, so feel free to bring your own. Dress is casual and all are welcome. As it currently stands, we have the following people

Myself +1
David Li + possible guest
Fritz Eifrig +1

I’ll be a +1 as my lovely bride wants in on the Burg too.

Excellent. [thumbs-up.gif]

Unfortunately I need to drop out of this one. I promise I will come out and meet you all soon.

No worries. We’ll be sure to let you know the next time something materializes.

Thanks. I literally live 20 feet from the belmont/western bridge that started its demolition project this week. Starting Friday, they are going to spend the weekend demolishing the entire bridge, so I need to escape the city!

My normally quiet street is on the detour route and totally filled with cars on a Saturday morning. Between this and the Damen/Fullerton/Elston construction this is going to be mess for a long time.

Wasn’t able to come for this, but the “next one materializing”----would be lovely to have that happen on April 14 or 15 when I’ll be in town as part of a 4-day visit surrounding Pinot Days.

I’d be perfectly OK with doing the mirror image under $50 red burgs if people wanted to go that way.

Are notes up? I’d be curious. I’ll scan the TNs now…

Mike

That sounds awesome. I’d love to do $50 red Burg at another BYOB spot on either of those days.
:slight_smile:

As for the notes, we were a modest group of four, yet somehow managed 4 bottles over the course of a long and relaxing evening thanks to Fritz and his lovely wife generously hosting us at their place for after dinner wines.
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With dinner, we drank a '12 Fevre Montmains and an '11 Langoureau En Remilly. The Fevre was what I would consider textbook Chablis. The wine had lovely notes of crisp green apples and citrus fruits accompanied by a steely/mineral cut. This one checked all the boxes one would expect in a nice 1er Chablis: focused, bright, and incredibly refreshing. That baby went well with the oyster shooter. 91 pts.

The En Remilly was a little muted at first, but after warming up and breathing for a bit, this one took on some mid palate weight and really fanned out on the finish. This was melon fruit with a slight wash of minerals and a floral/candle/waxy mouthfeel that I’m a total sucker for. 90+ pts.

After dinner, we popped my backup wine: one of many bottles of '11 Dancer Les Corbins that I’ve been drinking through. This bottle continued the strong showings I’ve experienced with previous bottles. There’s a lovely white floral bonanza with what Fritz’s wife aptly described as a rubber/fresh can of tennis balls smell. I love the energy in this wine, it seems angular at first, but there’s some incredibly seductive fruit and scented oils that bring it full circle. 92 pts.

Lastly, Fritz pulled a young red from the cellar to blind taste me on. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. The '14 David Coffaro Estate Cuvée (blend of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet, and Carignan if I remember correctly) was generous black fruits and plums with a touch of dark chocolate. This was a delicious young wine and really on par with many Cali Zins, Petits, and blends in that $30ish range. 89+ pts.

Again, a wonderful evening with great company. Can’t wait for the next one!
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Lovely indeed! I’ve been wondering about that Les Corbins…so it’s good? Good to hear for sure.

OK, what I think I’ll do then is go with that for the Friday night and put a specific OL thread up and let’s see who we can scare up.

Sounds great! [thumbs-up.gif]

A small gathering but plenty of good times-- many thanks to Mark for getting it organized.

I’ll concur on all of his notes, although I thought the Fevre got a little overwhelmed by my tonkotsu ramen. Definitely paired nicely with the shooter though.

The Mersault was the highlight of the evening for me, with a goodly dose of hazelnut/green walnut mixed in with the flowers and tennis balls. The Coffaro definitely could have used some more air and is probably too young overall, but it wasn’t bad. The Petite Sirah is actually the smallest part of the blend but was very assertive on the nose.

Good fun! Looking forward to the next one.