“That’s some kickass cough syrup.”
In the mid80s, when I was a young associate, our firm’s offices overlooked the Dallas Fairmont Hotel’s swimming pool. One of the lawyers, whose office faced the Fairmont (alas, mine was on the other side of the building and faced a flood plain), kept a telescope in his office. One day, he called other lawyers into his office as a particularly attractive young woman wearing a very skimpy bikini was lounging around the pool. One of the persons he called into his office for viewing was a summer associate, who upon viewing the young woman stated, “That’s my wife.” She was in fact his wife and quite wild (IIRC, he later caught her In Flagrante and we are not talking about the SQN wine). At a summer associate dinner (those were the good old days where summer associates were seriously wined and dined almost every night), she took a big gulp of the wine and approvingly proclaimed, in her West Texas accent, “That’s some kickass cough syrup.”
Last night, we Winos had some seriously kickass cough syrup.
13 men comprise the Xpensive Winos. On a usual monthly dinner, a couple of us are not able to attend but sometimes schedules just don’t work out. Last night, only six of us were able to attend, which is too bad as they missed one helluva dinner hosted by big hearted Aaron Malo, who is a Mensch among Mensches.
The original theme was tons of pizza at Pizzeria Ortica, David Myer’s (Sona, Comme Ca) trendy OC answer to Pizzeria Mozza, with “your favorite pizza wine.” We expected a bunch of zins and sangios. On Tuesday evening, when it became clear that there were only going to be 5 or 6 of us at the dinner, I suggested to Aaron that we kick it up a bit with the wines, making it a SQN and pizza dinner (after all, both of us have loved various SQNs with pizza at Mozza). Amazingly, in less than 24 hours, during a work day, we were able to get it all together.
Six men, eight pizza, six orders of pasta and the following wines: SQN 2007 Pontiff rose, SQN 2006 Raven Grenache, SQN 2003 Papa syrah, SQN 2005 Atlantis syrah, SQN 2007 Labels syrah, Mr. K 2002 Noble Man and the lone outlier, the Colgin 2002 IX syrah. One of the glorious things about the dinner was that even though we didn’t have something like 25 SQNs, because of the size of the group, the pours were generous and having hitched a ride with Brother Gelb, I could greedily swallow every ounce of the delicious juice.
The Pontiff—Unfortunately, the Pontiff was initially at room temperature and this wine needs to be cooled. I have no idea what varietals are in this wine (I assume Grenache and/or syrah), but the Pontiff tasted very much like a lighter version of a North Coast pinot. It really reminded me of some vintages of Dehlinger’s Goldridge pinots; Bennett disagreed, saying that it reminded him more of a Carneros pinot, like Saintsbury (I liked the Pontiff more than Bennett did). That said, once the wine cooled, I enjoyed quite a bit, perhaps because it didn’t remind me of a rose. I think that it would go well with food which would normally pair with large whites or lighter pinots.
Colgin 2002 IX syrah—This was served blind, but we knew that it was not going to be an SQN. I guessed it to be either a 2002 or 2004 North Coast syrah and I thought that Brother Gelb would bring either an Araujo or Colgin syrah. Based on my tastings of Araujo syrahs, this was not an Araujo, so I guessed it to be a Colgin. It was dark as night (other than the rose and stickie, none of the wines were anything bu opaque) and super-rich, but maintained good balance. There was the smallest amount of heat on the finish. It showed no signs of fading or falling apart.
SQN 2006 Raven Grenache—I love SQN Grenache; Into The Dark and Ode to E are two of the best expressions of Grenache that I have ever had. This one was delicious from the get-go (at least to my palate) but it really continued to improve in the glass throughout the night. I thought that it morphed from a very good, very ripe 2007 CdP (think Clos St Jean VV) to an incredibly balanced, but dense, expression of Grenache, with a lengthy and smooth finish. This may have been my WOTN, but there were so many confusing choices.
SQN 2003 Papa syrah—Papa’s in the house! I love this wine and the bottles that I have had ranged from excellent to one of the best SQNs. This one may not have been at such dizzying heights as the best SQNs, but it was very strong, probably my favorite of the syrahs. It was also very similar to the other SQN syrahs, but possessed perhaps just a bit more sophistication at this point (I never thought that I would use that word in connection with Papa, but while it was rich and dense, it had more going on than just exuberant fruit).
SQN 2005 Atlantis syrah—Brothers Kaplan and Gelber feel that it takes SQNs some time to come together and show their best. It has been over a year since I tasted this one and while I liked it then, it was not an earthmoving experience that most SQNs are. I don’t if it was the additional time in the bottle or just a better bottle (I strongly suspect the former), but this one has started to come into its own. Frankly, I had a hard time differentiating this from the Papa and the Labels, but that may have been as a result of the damage that the earlier wines did to me.
SQN 2007 Labels syrah—Unlike the 2007 Pictures Grenache which 5 of the 6 of us had last week at LudoBites (and which seemed to need time as it was a bit awkward and out of sorts), Labels seems ready to drink from the get-go. It was a bit more shy than the other SQN syrahs, a bit less willing to reveal her charms to us at this moment (after all, we have just met), but the stuffing was apparent. While this was quite tasty and I would not hesitate to open one now, I agree with my Brothers that it will be far superior in 12-18 months.
Mr. K 2002 Noble Man—This was the best Noble Man that I have tasted. Sometimes, the Noble Man can seem to me (from the perspective of someone who loves the ying and yang of German dessert wines) as a bit gloppy and thick (although that also could have been describing my head at this point in the evening), even if they are enjoyable. However, this dark honey-colored elixir seemed to strike the right balance—it was unctuous without being ponderous, honeyed without being cloying.
Toward the end of a night, a woman from an adjacent table (no doubt a real housewife of Orange County, but not a Real Housewife of Orange County) remarked to us as she was leaving, “Next time, I want to party with you guys.” Frankly, I feel blessed to be able to party with these guys. Thanks Aaron and my brothers for another great evening.
Ever since Gregg Greenbaum chastised me for not including song lyrics in my dinner notes, I feel obligated to include some. Last night, as is often the case, the conversation turned to music. We started talking about the pride of Northeastern Ohio, Devo, moved to the Dead Kennedys and somehow ended up with the Tubes and Fay Waybill and Quay Lewd (none of us, not even Prof Gelber, could remember the name of the female singer on “Don’t Touch Me There”), so here we go:
We’re white punks on dope.
Mom & Dad live in Hollywood.
Hang myself when I get enough rope.
Can’t clean up, though I know I should.
White punks on dope.
White punks on dope.
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