Flyertalk 10th Anniversary Wine Dinner - The Wines.

I scribbled a note or two on the wines, but nothing substantial. Just a heads up if anyone is interested.

Champagnes - tasted blind, along with others Erez will post.
'04 Bollinger La Grande Année I wasn’t in love with this the way I should have been.
'96 Pierre Paillard Grand Cru Brut Millésimé I love PP, but this particular Champagne wasn’t as good as other PP’s I’ve tasted.

Blind tastings really make you think.

'00 Nigl Riesling Privat Petrol (I don’t like Petrol).

'03 Foxen Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir Nice. What you would expect. My tastes goes to Sea Smoke in this area.

'06 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Some cherries. I’ve tasted better CdP’s (but not a lot).
'07 Frick (Dry Creek Valley) C2 Some tannins. Lots of people liked these wines, but school was out for me.
'07 Frick (Dry Creek Valley) Counoise Slightly better than the above.
'01 Kilikanoon Oracle Shiraz from the Clare Valley - Some fruit. Nice wine.
'09 Shiraz VP from Rockfords

'07 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Montefico Yum.

'05 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon Champoux Vineyard Wow. I enjoyed this.
'07 Fidelitas Cab Champoux Vineyard This was good, but the other Champoux above was better.
'07 ACV Cab Sauv Reserve (The Todd) Smooth wine. Never disappoints. The '07 Ghost Horse beat this by a nose. I don’t think the GH is worth the upcharge.
'07 Ghost Horse Cabernet Sauvignon (The Todd) Nice nose. Tasty, but at $100, I’ve had better cabs.
'07 Lewelling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hmmm. Some tannins. Drink or hold.

'14 Huber Dornfelder - As a California Cab drinker, this was not my style. Harsh.

'03 Suduiraut Sauternes Very nice, and not syrupy.
'89 Ch Latour Blanche Very nice. Not overly sweet.
'90 Weingut Günther Steinmetz Kestener Paulinsberg Riesling Spätlese. Easy drinking. Nice nose. Some fruit. Hurry up and drink it if you own it.
'97 Rozes, Vintage Port tasted like port.

It’s hard taking notes at these wine dinners. I was lucky to jot down a few thoughts on many of the above

Erez will comment on the Champagnes.

One more thing. Beau Carufel sent us a bottle of his Random Wine Brut Rose that was offered on BerserkerDay. This was a delicious wine (tasted blind, and only known to Erez L). At $35, this tasted better than some of the Champagnes. Thank you.
I usually keep some things under my hat, but in this case… Beau sent this to us because he attended the first couple of the dinners when we got started in 2007. He was a Flyertalker then.

I added Champagnes and a few others to the list. I could use some help on the drinking order of the red wines.

Do you have a menu yet? The wines are a strange mix with the only theme being 10 years+. Not sure where to put the Foxen Pinot at all as it doesn’t fit though it could go with the Dornfelder, which I assume is a misprint and should be 2004. Probably put the Frick wines in there also as one flight, probably first flight. Would keep all the cabs as a flight and the Syrahs and the Produttorio as a flight. So maybe Champagne, Pinot flight, Syrah, Produttorio flight, Cab flight, Dessert flight. Not sure what to do with the isolated bottle of Nigl. by itself as one bottle would not make sense.

Yes, the food might drive the tasting order.

The german riesling could be an option as an aperitif, but if you have a dessert, it’s likely to be the best match for most sweet desserts. I’d be tempted to let the Sauternes sit between dessert and cheese, so people could try it with either (I’d probably wait for the cheese).

The Dornfelder, Barbaresco and Pinot appear the odd ones out in the reds, so I’d lean towards having the Dornfelder, then Pinot Noir and then the Barbaresco straight after the Nigl riesling, ideally with a dish that could work with them. As I’ve not got specific experience with the 1st two labels, the order might need to change, but I’d definitely group these 3 into a flight. Maybe a good thing to do so early on as well, when everyone’s tasting abilities are uncompromised by the alcohol. These three could generate some good chat around the table.

Personally I’d put the Cabs before the Shiraz, if only because the Cab’s could stretch across the main course, making food choice easier, and the Shiraz wines could happily sit afterwards.

Is the Rockford’s meant to be BP (Basket Press)? If not VP usually stands for Vintage Port in the Barossa.

By the way. The Nigl Riesling, I believe is dry with little to no residual sugar.

Dinner attendees are not Berserkers. They’re all Flyertalkers that have an interest in wine. Erez and I plus several other attendees are the ones that know about wine. The others are a step below or more.


APPETIZERS

Lobster Ravioli Ricotta & Manchego Cheese, Shiitake Mushrooms, Crispy Kale,Lobster Cream Sauce
Lobster & Crab Cakes Seaweed & Vegetable Salad, Thai Curry Coconut Sauce
Tuna Tartare Ginger Cured Vegetables, Avocado, Lemon/Lime Vinaigrette
Crab & Corn Salad Blackened Corn, Crab Meat, Fennel, Tomatoes, Romaine, Basil, Mint, Parsley, Lemon Yogurt Dressing

MAIN COURSES

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Potato & Leek Galette, Rosemary Au Jus
Herb Roasted Free Range Chicken Breast Herb & Cheese Soft Polenta, Root Vegetables & Dried Fruit Ragout, Brown Au Jus
Spice Rubbed Duck Breast Roasted Parsnip Puree, Poached Pear, Taro Root Chips, Kumquat Relish Porto Sherry Glaze
Filet Mignon Au PoivreGrilled Vidalia Onion, Steak Cut Fries, Spicy Mustard, Bourbon Au Jus


DESSERTS

Key Lime Pie Crème Chantilly, Raspberry Chambord Coulis
Blueberry GaletteCrème Anglaise, Blueberry Port Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream
Chocolate Mousse Cake Bitter Chocolate Ice Cream, Chocolate & Caramel Sauces, Chopped Heath Barkers.

Dinner is a traditional menu.

Oh, you need more of the Nigl although the sparklers will do well. Might just put the Nigl with the sparklers. Can’t see anything to put the Pinot + flight with though.

Update

I scribbled a note or two on the wines, but nothing substantial. Just a heads up if anyone is interested.

Champagnes - tasted blind, along with others Erez will post.
'04 Bollinger La Grande Année I wasn’t in love with this the way I should have been.
'96 Pierre Paillard Grand Cru Brut Millésimé I love PP, but this particular Champagne wasn’t as good as other PP’s I’ve tasted.

Blind tastings really make you think.

'00 Nigl Riesling Privat Petrol (I don’t like Petrol).

'03 Foxen Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir Nice. What you would expect. My tastes goes to Sea Smoke in this area.

'06 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Some cherries. I’ve tasted better CdP’s (but not a lot).
'07 Frick (Dry Creek Valley) C2 Some tannins. Lots of people liked these wines, but school was out for me.
'07 Frick (Dry Creek Valley) Counoise Slightly better than the above.
'01 Kilikanoon Oracle Shiraz from the Clare Valley - Some fruit. Nice wine.
'09 Shiraz VP from Rockfords

'07 Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Montefico Yum.

'05 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon Champoux Vineyard Wow. I enjoyed this.
'07 Fidelitas Cab Champoux Vineyard This was good, but the other Champoux above was better.
'07 ACV Cab Sauv Reserve (The Todd) Smooth wine. Never disappoints. The '07 Ghost Horse beat this by a nose. I don’t think the GH is worth the upcharge.
'07 Ghost Horse Cabernet Sauvignon (The Todd) Nice nose. Tasty, but at $100, I’ve had better cabs.
'07 Lewelling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hmmm. Some tannins. Drink or hold.

'14 Huber Dornfelder - As a California Cab drinker, this was not my style. Harsh.

'03 Suduiraut Sauternes Very nice, and not syrupy.
'89 Ch Latour Blanche Very nice. Not overly sweet.
'90 Weingut Günther Steinmetz Kestener Paulinsberg Riesling Spätlese. Easy drinking. Nice nose. Some fruit. Hurry up and drink it if you own it.
'97 Rozes, Vintage Port tasted like port.

It’s hard taking notes at these wine dinners. I was lucky to jot down a few thoughts on many of the above

Erez will comment on the Champagnes.

One more thing. Beau Carufel sent us a bottle of his Random Wine Brut Rose that was offered on BerserkerDay. This was a delicious wine (tasted blind, and only known to Erez L). At $35, this tasted better than some of the Champagnes. Thank you.
I usually keep some things under my hat, but in this case… Beau sent this to us because he attended the first couple of the dinners when we got started in 2007. He was a Flyertalker then.

The person who provided the Dornfelder should be banned. I was at a conference in Berlin 12 years ago and they served Dornfelder every night. Just an awful grape.

Nice wide spectrum of stuff, Dan, and your scribbles are just fine for letting me/us know what stayed with you and what didn’t (in the good way). Hopefully Erez will chime in with his thoughts as well.

Slainte,

Mike

I would like to express my sincere apologies, no good excuse for leaving the notes away for almost a year ( )

I was organizing both inventory and tasting notes and run into my notes for that night. I was able to recover most of the notes, and you should take them with a grain of salt as they are now 10+ months into memory lane. Hence, the bubbles were served blind (Indeed, I’ve been the only one knowing which is which).

2004 Bollinger LaGrande Année- I would certainly say you can’t go wrong with bollinger. long long bubbles. Great floral (especially with the honey in the background). It was in line with BB (brad baker’s) review. I will say that it requires some slow decanting. Lots of minerals on the palate. The peach did not over dominated which was my main concern, in fact worked really well. Wonderful choice
1996 Pierre Paillard Grand Cru Millésimé (mag)- I had this wine before. At least one individual recognized the ‘signature’ taste of PP and suspected it is from the vineyard before disclosure. Had more secondary notes expected from an older bubble, but this one did not perform as well as previous bottles of '96 PP I had before. In the past I thought it has everything the '02 PP has plus more, but on this taste it was not as dominant. It could be due to the number of bottles, could be due to lack of opening time. Well, bottle variation happens.
2006 Moët & Chandon Grand Brut Rosé- While I enjoyed it, I liked the '04 of this one more. It does have the floral roses I recall from the '04, but I think it did not develop the secondary spices yet. Great color, somewhat darker than I expected. I will test it again in the future.
2013 Random Wine Company Gamay Noir Methode Traditionelle (only non champagne in the flight)- I enjoy it. Great QPR and recognized as unique. In fact, at least five tasters said something special, we did not have it before, and when asked ‘which of the bubbles is not from champagne’? pointed at this one. It has a stand alone value. Great addition
MV Gosset Grand Rosé (magnum)- consistent with previous tastings. A friend use to say ‘gosset, what a great champagne’ exactly on this one.

It was a very nice tasting indeed.

Flyertalk is dead to me.

Meaning…?

It has to do with white supremacy and racism on the site. PM me for more details.

Link to the thread please. I know the Director, and will point her in the right direction. As you know, Flyertalk is moderated, and I can’t imagine something like this be allowed to remain posted. You can also PM me if you’d like.