Fu's Finale III: Return of the Fu

We couldn’t possibly end on the disappointing DRC dinner so we arranged one last finale at Officine Berera with some wines we knew would be showing better.

2007 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru (4/20/2016)
Again lights out. Such richness, stone fruit,
vanilla custard, and even some honey. Loads of fruit mineral and acid. Oak is a touch prominent especially with time and as it warms up. I would have guessed 08 if blinded. It is hard to beat Roulot MP. Truly nectar of the gods.

1990 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (4/20/2016)
Opened 12 hours prior and then decanted. This started off young, tannic, and Bordeaux-like.

Dense and tannic beast. By dinner, this devleloped some dried prunes, chocolate, and mocha on the palate. The palate became more revolved with time in the decanter and eventually tasted like a wonderfully balanced, complex, deep, albeit primary hermitage. This could go another 30 years easy.

1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (4/20/2016)
Opened 4 hours prior and then decanted. Similar in profile to the 98 Giacosa Santo Stefano Riserva with plenty of dried fruits, dried flowers, and eucalyptus. Denser, more, tannic, more masculine. A child but with tremendous potential. After 2 hours, the 96 overtakes the 98. Peak in 20-30 years?

1998 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (4/20/2016)
Slow ox’d for 12 hours then decanted. Tannins softened with time. Plenty of spice, soy, a hint of espresso, lots of mint. A touch of animale. Very expressive on the nose. Nice length. Very pretty and feminine. This is one classy lady.

Thus endeth the Fu Finale trilogy.

Countdown begins until Fu Awakens.
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Much better way to send him off!

So are you guys collectively the Fu Tang Clan? newhere

Congratulations Charlie! I must admit when my son was born a mate gave me an excellent piece of advice regarding drinking and infants. Basically his view was that you should drink whenever possible regardless of what time it is. Your schedule is going to take a serious hit and about the only thing you can count on is that you can’t really schedule or plan anything effectively with an infant in the house. So it’s best to take every opportunity to have a glass when an opportunity to do so occurs.

That said, hangovers and crying infants are not compatible. Moderation is essential.

Good luck!

That is excellent advice. I have a 3-year old and a 1-year old at home. With my first, I opened very few good bottles (very few bottles period). With the 1-year old, I’ve fixed that by opening more good bottles on random weeknights – whenever the opportunity presents itself, i.e., whenever the kids are happy and the world is not collapsing. It’s sometimes tougher on the weekends, as we often will go out to dinner with the kids, or by that time we will feel like we got hit by a train.

It’s all a wonderful, crazy adventure that has made wine less important in my life, but has if anything made me appreciate good bottles even more. Cheers.

Congrats on the child Charlie. So, you were thrown 3 send-off dinners because a bunch of single buddies believe your wine drinking life is over? Man, you really are a balla.
I’ve got to find some naive single friends. It’s been a few years since the kids were babies, but don’t recall my wine drinking habits changing much at all.

I’m with Ryan. Second kid is so much harder. But more wines opened now. Whenever Time presents itself

Well now we wait 18 or so years and get to see little Fu in The Fu Awakens!!!

Most of them have kids or kids on the way, so no tricks here. One in particular led a similar path when he had his daughter, where he just stopped going out to these dinners for awhile to focus on his first child.

My wine drinking habits will change as my only habit was to go out with the guys and drink wine. I don’t drink at home (wine/beer/brown liquor). So as a commitment to my wife and daughter to be I decided to step away for a bit from going out to wine dinners and concentrating on fostering a strong bond between the three of us. So this would be a sharp change in my drinking habits. I don’t live for wine, which is why I don’t drink at home. I do these things to hang out with my friends and coincidentally we drink some really great wine at the same time.

Now i’m sure you’re asking “What’s the harm in going out once a month with your friends to have some wine?!” A good question but one my friends already all know the answer to. My wife works from about 8-7pm every day (someone lied to her about the federal government attorneys working less), so if she comes home and then has to care for the kid while I’m out gallivanting, it doesn’t seem particularly fair. Then i’m sure you’re prompted to ask “but doesn’t she go out?”. Another answer my friends already know the answer to, no, she doesn’t. But then you’ll ask “so you have to be punished cause she doesn’t like to go out?” which my friends know the answer to as well… don’t bother arguing with a federal prosecutor about fairness and punishment or she’ll put you in guantanamo bay ;D.

This was an awesome dinner. I had to be cajoled into going as I had repeatedly told the guys for the past month I really just wanted to do one dinner and be done with it. I’m glad we had this one last dinner. The wines were incredible. The food was some of the best pasta/risotto I’ve had in a long while. It was also an absolute blast hanging out with the guys.

A rare occasion but I agree with Fred one the wines.

  • The roulot should have been kept chilled a bit longer, but it was our fault for letting the wine sit in our glasses for the whole night. We had to take larger pours as Gaurav was already on pour 6 before Fred and I were on pour 2, so we couldn’t get chilled wine from the bottle ;P.

  • I coincidentally had the 90 Jaboulet La Chapelle the night before (at the same restaurant). This bottle, while showing young still was showing much better. The bottle the day before showed almost nothing. This took some time to open up to give us a glimmer of its potential.

  • Both Giacosa were rocking. The 98 opened up quickly when in the glass, a bouquet of fresh mint and flowers, it didn’t have the insane depth on the palate that the 96 had but it was still a very nice drink.

great lineup gents. charlie or buzz, you boys have any more of that 96? :wink:

i do i do!

sweet. i don’t lol.

[cheers.gif]

Congrats and all best with the new arrival, Charlie! I’m sure your “new life” will be fine, however you work it out.

Nope…but I do have the 98 Masseto! When are we going to do the Central Valley farewell Fu?? [drinkers.gif]

O.B. is Mary’s account but I haven’t been since the soft-opening. Glad to hear the pastas were a hit. What is the pasta shown in the middle pic with the meat and egg?

Nothing against your style whatsoever but I’ve always been surprised, with all the good wine/beer/spirits you seem to enjoy, that you never drink at home. I’m with you that drinking with friends at off-lines is the most fun, and Mary loves wine as well as brings it home, but having a drink at home is a differently enjoyable experience. To me it’s own of the things that one can indeed insert as a “treat” into a night when they have but snipets of expendable time. It’s a little impractical to do with really fine wines, but I do so with just a glass of pedestrian stuff or a small cocktail with some high quality spirits.

Good luck with the baby.

someone always seems to be working when I’m around [snort.gif]

No egg, it’s just their veal ragu pasta. The sauce is absolutely killer on it.

That top dish almost looks like a plate of chilaquiles.

If you’re drinking bottles like this, who even needs to drink at home!!

at least his Burgs will finally be properly aged to drink by his return in a couple decades.

This trilogy of threads reminds me of “Steven’s Last Night in Town” by Ben Folds Five.

It’ll be interesting to see if Charlie ever drinks again. If he doesn’t drink at home and builds a lifestyle that doesn’t involve drinking with friends, I wouldn’t be surprised if he never starts up again.

I must have missed a lot lately. What I have gleaned is that Charlie and his wife are soon to be parents. And then I don’t get the connection to Charlie going off wine. Links…pointers?

When a baby comes home (mine was through adoption - still an infant in the hospital 5 days old), certainly the focus becomes home life. What a joy to share a glass or two while making dinner and admiring the little one’s newest accomplishment! Getting blasted while your partner is out of town and you are in charge is probably not a good idea, but I am having some difficulty understanding the connection here.