Sunday, Greg dal Piaz was in town, and Josh and I met him for dinner at Forgione, one of my go-to restaurants in TriBeCa, with solid food, a downtown, cool vibe, exposed brick and lots of candles.
We started with my bottle of 2016 Davissat Chablis 1er Vaillons, which began very salty and then surprised me with its tropical profile. While ’16 was not as classic a vintage as, say, ’14 and ’17, here I found notes of canned peaches, pear and shaved coconut on its otherwise clear and fresh palate. Dauvissat premier crus are now north of $125 at retail, and I’m glad to have loaded up before the recent price increases, but I am not planning on cellaring these ‘16s for many years.
We chose autumnal dishes of venison, squab Wellington and their signature whole chicken under a brick, and paired them with Italian wines:
I brought the 1990 Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole. I’ve had many vintages of this wine from about 2004 onward, but I can’t recall having a Bricco delle Viole this old. This has a mustiness that caused me to question whether it was corked, although there are a lot of dried cherries on the palate. Greg explains that in this era, the dry cap may have developed mildew or mold, whereas with today’s winemaking the cap is wet and less prone to mold or mildew notes. Greg doesn’t think that this wine is marred by TCA because it is long on the palate, is sweet and minty, and if corked would not be this long.
Greg brought the 1989 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva San Giuseppe, which showed very rustic. It’s savory, with a palate of cherries, cloves, dry tannins still, menthol, prune, and the finish is long and very dry. It’s very flavorful, with bullion cube, onion powder and dried spice on the very dry palate. With air, it gets sweeter and prettier, with some lighter dried strawberry fruit.
Josh’s 1990 Ornellaia was the star of the show. A lovely entry of strawberry, raspberry, reduced fruits, pure and flavorful, nothing out of balance. This is great, very pretty and with time, the citrus acidity emerges. Absolutely lovely.
About twenty years ago, when Greg lived in Manhattan, he hosted a wine dinner which ended with some grappa home-made by his uncle Iore in Northern Italy. It was sublime, with sarsaparilla branches and leaves in the bottle of elixir. Greg’s allocation was miniscule, and for many years, we’ve asked Greg to get more.
To our Sunday dinner, Greg brought a bottle, not of Uncle Iore’s grappa, but of Uncle Iore’s Walnut Distillate. One of only eighty 100ml bottles produced only for family, double distilled and both times, the first 20% and the last 20% are discarded. This is about 95% alcohol and 5% essence of walnuts. This has notes of dry herbs, and is black, tannic, and per Greg, “like smoking a cigarette”. It’s dark, extremely concentrated, with notes of tobacco, grapes, seeped dark prunes, and Greg adds, some caramel. Nosing the glass alone, I get spices, herbs, tobacco, lots of alcohol, black molasses, cinnamon, clove, allspice, star anise and it’s almost Chinato; Greg says “this smells like Christmas”. Josh adds that “if you distill it, it becomes rum”. With a few drops of water, it’s brighter, showing pine, gentian violet and Greg adds orange marmalade. A rare treat; quite likely, once in a lifetime.
Tuesday, I received a text from my friend Jim who runs the New York City chapter of La Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a wine and food appreciation group of which I am a member, that dates from the butchers guilds in France in the 1300s. Jim wanted to check out a new Chinese place, Red Peony in Midtown. Jim brought the 2013 Hospices de Beaune Corton Cuvée Charlotte Dumay (elevé et mis en bouteille par Alix et Etienne de Montille), from a barrel that Jim won at the auction and which featured his children’s names on the label as the cuvée. This was just lovely, showing pure fruit right after uncorking, a soft palate, and tannins that were either already resolved or completely obscured by the sweet fruit. This was relentlessly fruity, pure and delicious.
I opened the 2013 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione “San Lorenzo”, which is still very young, dark and dense. I’ve been a fan of this producer since visiting in 2015 with the same Greg mentioned above, as he was researching and writing his book on Chianti. Plenty of reduced cherry fruit and somewhat slick on the sides, by the end of the bottle the tannins had asserted themselves. I have a few of these and I will tuck them away for years.
Wednesday, Michael K. invited us uptown for some pizza and wine. This is a group of friends who have been getting together and enjoying wine since 1999, my oldest active tasting group. We enjoyed the view south of the Manhattan skyline, along with the following wines:
1993 Faiveley Nuits Saint Georges 1er Les Damodes – This showed an earthy palate with lovely red berry fruit and faded flowers, silky in the mouth.
1997 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico – same producer as the high-end San Lorenzo from the prior night, but this is their entry-level Chianti bottling, showing dark fruit, a touch brown, with dried herbs, olives, very smooth on the palate, lovely.
1975 CVNE Rioja Viña Real Gran Reserva – This showed a lovely red fruit nose, and the palate is great, with soft red and pink fruit hues, dried strawberries, soft and pretty, and just a pleasure to drink.
2014 Occhipinti Il Frappato - Nice, fruity, strawberry froth nose, and the palate is dense with dark berry fruit. The youngest wine tonight, and it stands out with its bright, young and pure fruit on the palate.
The 1989 Pichon Lalande showed a bit green, MK getting bell pepper, along with some band-aide to the black fruit, menthol and a very long finish. It’s a little lean in the mouth and, to my palate, could use more charm.
I capped the evening with the Lindeman’s Show Reserve Rutherglen Tokay Solera W.H.1, which was smooth, not too sweet, not much alcohol heat, with chocolate notes, some caramel, Pat gets fig and coffee. I like this; it’s not too sweet and it’s well balanced, although it’s certainly rich and decadent.
For Thursday, Neil organized a dinner at Taste of Samarkand, an Uzbeki kabob place out in Queens. Here gathered some passionate wine friends, some of whom were in New York for the Fȇte du Champagne and other wine events this weekend. We begin with vegetable mezzes: pickled vegetables, fresh carrot salad, and a fresh tomato salad. We pass the following wines around as an Uzbeki fellow with a resemblance to Elvis plays “Hotel California” on his Stratocaster. He will play this tune three times over the evening.
1975 Dauvissat Chablis 1er La Forest – I believe that this may be the oldest Chablis I have had. This is clean, complex, yet the complexities are subtle, and the finish is exceedingly long with minerals and bright acids. There are subtle nuances of caramel and butterscotch, but the wine is not oxidized, and Jamie adds that he finds honey and tea. Wow! Some sweetness to the palate, with a very pure, long finish. What a treat.
Then came the 2010 Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Autour de Minuit, “Clos Sainte-Sophie” Extra Brut, Blanc de Blancs, which was great, salty, with tan hues to the palate that made me think of Pinot Meunier, long on the palate and tangy.
Johan poured a blind white, which to me showed a thick mouthfeel, dry, not oily but slightly nutty. Suzanne gets spearmint and guesses Ramonet. Neil says “Grand Cru in density, but tight”. It’s the 2011 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru. My final note is that the “finish is long and Grand Cru.”
The 1969 Pierre Ponnelle Chateauneuf du Pape is terribly corked, but the nose on the 1964 Pierre Ponnelle Chateauneuf du Pape is clean, with some light spices, red fruit, hints of incense and some sweetness to this old wine nose. The palate is smooth, resolved in texture, with some leather and shoe polish notes reminiscent of Rioja. The palate is dark, with soft and resolved plummy fruit and a long finish.
The 2000 Hubert Lignier Gevrey Chambertin 1er Aux Combottes from magnum is red fruited, dense, darkly colored, and still pretty stacked for an ‘00.
The 1988 Pierre Barge Côte Rôtie has a nose that is faint, and a palate with some delicate dark fruits, decayed flowers, some mint notes, soft, but lacks high notes. We agree that this is not a great showing and the wine may be slightly corked.
Then, waves of platters of different kabobs descend upon our table: kofta-like ground lamb, beef, beef rib and chicken. They are garnished with raw onion and all are perfectly cooked and delicious, especially with a squirt of lemon.
The 1982 Chateau L’Angelus shows resolved plummy fruit, slight mint, very smooth and seamless, smooth black fruit, very silky mouthfeel as the tannins are completely resolved.
The nose on the 1975 Chateau Pichon Lalande is faintly fruity, but there’s some green to the palate (like the ‘89 Pichon at Michael’s last night). The palate is silky, with resolved black fruits, liqueur-like, smooth and streamlined.
The Bérêche Champagne Campania Remensis shows soft pretty pink fruit, grandma’s face powder, and a nose of slightly yeasty pink fruit, elegant.
I brought the 2012 Bruno Clavelier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Les Corbeaux Vieilles Vignes, which I decanted in my office six hours ahead of dinner, and it shows a soft palate, although the finish is taut and clenched. There is good purity of fruit, but it’s not that effusive and it’s sort of listless at the moment. I’m getting blue fruits to the palate, along with red and darker fruits, and while the palate is soft around the sides, the wine is closed and in need of more years in the cellar to unfold and show its charms.
Friday, H and I ventured up to Edgemont, a half hour north of NYC, to celebrate with Gary. His wife Tito prepared a fabulous dinner with fresh shaved truffles, white asparagus, risotto, polenta, rabbit, beef, and cheeses.
Suzanne generously poured the 2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal, which was stunning in its purity, laser-focus and notes of chamomile and light ginger. To my palate, this is more subtle than the ’08 Dom Perignon that I’ve had recently.
Suzanne and I follow Gary into the cellar and we return with wine for everyone! I haven’t had a Conterno Barolo in a while, and the 2009 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia is open and generous with soft red fruits from cherry to cranberry to red raspberry, and hints of pomegranate. The mouthfeel is seductive and this wine is downright beautiful right now, with just a hint of supporting tannic structure to the luscious but well-proportioned fruit.
The 1999 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo Monprivato is also open and ready to drink, with a palate of red cherry fruit and tannin that seems resolved already.
The 2004 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco is darker and grittier, both in palate presence and texture, and needs some more time to smooth out.
The 1961 Borgogno Barolo, from Gary’s birthyear, is soft and feminine, with gentle red fruit, tea and earthy notes.
With cheese, we opened the 2008 Pol Roger Champagne Rosé that I brought, which was round and showed good heft and presence in the mouth, with notes of tangerine, peach and face powder. Drinking rather full and open at the moment.
Gary then pulled out the 1970 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes, which had plenty of orange marmalade, poached peach, dried spice and cement notes on a streamlined and direct palate.
Saturday, another trek into Queens as H and I joined Chris and Dana at Asian Jewels Seafood Restaurant in Flushing. Flushing’s Chinatown has twice the population of Chinese Americans as Manhattan’s Chinatown, and I believe that the food options are superior. Chris brought a magnum of 2016 Raveneau Petit Chablis, which we paired with dim sum and duck. Chris says that the Petite Chablis is only bottled in magnum. This was an easy drinking and approachable Chablis, with some chalky notes, pear, citrus and light acidity.
Saturday night, we met friends at Wayan, an Indonesian-French fusion restaurant in Soho owned by Cedric Vongerichten. We ordered saké.