I think I’m still recovering from Saturday. This dinner put my body into a world of hurt. I spent most of Sunday in critical but somewhat stable condition curled up a ball weeping openly. Not a pretty sight.
What can I say about Saturday?..I guess OMFG would apply. Some WOW wines on display (not one dud) this night. I fear my words really cant do much justice here , only try to compliment what has already been so articulately expressed. My memory is bit sparse and I do not have much time for great detail. That being said, Robert did a phenomenal job capturing the mood, the setting and the wines. I will briefly touch on the evening and the wines that left an impression.
First off let me talk about Robert and his wife Chris. Robert was the first person that I actually communicated with on the boards (going back to pre-membership eBOB) to meet up offline. Hell it beats Tinder…It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Robert is one of those guys that when you meet him you feel like you have been friends forever. He is open, gracious, generous, intelligent, funny, easy going, and not to shabby to look at!! 
lol His wife Chris is the same a wonderful person and even hotter! I would consider it an acute oversight if anyone flew into Orlando without contacting Robert. In fact if you just randomly showed up at his door (please don’t do this) knocked and said, “dude lets hang and drink some wine” he would most likely invite you in a pop a bottle. I’m a much different person, please do not contact me. ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Moving on
We had some tremendous guests in the house!
What a pleasure to see the two newlyweds, ‘TOP CT’ taster ![[basic-smile.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/83717c74df9b0ce202453063bc4f11baf0ee6b8a.gif "smile"){kind=small}
‘vote for’ Tooch (I did) and his beautiful wife Summer luvin’ ! Tooch was in last year so I was looking forward to catching up. Tooch has this gift of finding beautiful, interesting and obscure wines. Like Robert he has a tremendous palate. If Tooch recommends a wine I would never second guess his recommendation.
Then there was Corey ‘fly in on a whim’ Hart and his beautiful ageless significant other (the jade dragon). Corey is a character for sure, fun guy to be around, picked on my wife (the Oklahoma Twister) a bit, all in jest. Lots of laughs, all night.
Were anyone’s ears burning? We talked a bit about some of the Berserkers, right behind your backs!!! I will never tell a soul what we discussed. I kid I kid, all good stuff.
The Cusinine:
The food was fantastic, that kryptonite soup we ate, what the hell was that??? Oh yeah, the green plantain dumpling soup with pea shoot and chorizo…fuq yeah, totally delish!
The beet salad with crispy broccolini, grapes and goat cheese is pure love. I adore beets.
Pisco oyster shooter with tigers milk (as opposed to Tiger blood ![[shock.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0b1dcf699ec319f43254f92e3f145786dcd93904.gif "shock"){kind=small}
) and Serrano pepper, topped off with rum dispensed from some Tiki God looking bottle. Like an effigy that resembled the episode from The Brady Bunch when they go to Hawaii and shit goes downhill real quick. Though we managed to skirt any ominous activity of the sort.
Then the Chestnut smoked pork belly with apple horseradish cream, avo, bacon and pickle romanesco. Damnnnn!
There was much much more…Though, I am pretty sure I left wearing a pair of Roberts spanx.
Some of the wines that left an impression:
the blind:
1999 Thunder ‘F’ing’ Mountain cab franc…where the hell have you been all my life? I guessed old world…WRONG! Where the hell is Cienega Valley and why isn’t anyone producing Cab Franc from there? (Insert Bee Gees song TRAGEDY), such an interesting/unique profile…WhoTF makes this stuff(winemaker)??? Great wine
The White:
2010 Edmund Vatan Sancerre Clos la Neore…holy sweet mother of baby Jesus…this was the money shot (sorry) Steely ‘dan’ flint-like minerality, crisp acids, fresh citrus fruits, light, seamless, elegance, class, sophistication. One of the best white wines I have ever tasted. WOW
1993 Olga Raffault Chinon Champ-Chenin
The freak…This wine was like when you go to the circus and pop over to see the boy with the lobster hands.
Honey infused beeswax, gramps old closet sweater action, tangy dry lemon rind, funk, racy acid…u know it! Really interesting
The Rougeard Rumble:
_2003 and 2005 Poyeaux_Though the '05 didn’t show its best last year I felt it was in a much better spot on this night. Still way too young though, the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. Prior to tasting the wines I thought the '03 would easily out shine the '05 but tonight it was edged out. These wines are more ripe and less earthy than the Raffaults. Stylistically different but wonderful material to play with. I look forward to trying these with more bottle age, if I am that lucky.
Stuck in the '90’s:
1990 Olga Raffault Les Picasses
George Clinton showed up and said dayyum that’s funky! Definitely the most funk on the nose compared to the other Franc’s, though this faded a bit with added air.
Yet, do not be swayed, this was gorgeous stuff. Herb garden galore, spice box, sweet red fruits, silkiness, smooth with fine tannins. Lovely
1990 Joguet Les Varennes du Grand Clos
Stylistically different than Raffault. This had the more sexy exotic nose, more ripe, bigger profile wine.
I just feel this is a beautiful cab franc that experienced more new oak than Raffy. Though I have no clue if that is the case. I did not find it as interesting as the Raff. The group picked this over Olga, I did not.
The Old Timers:
1977 Olga Raffault Les Picasses
Good lord this is gorgeous. Earth Wind and Fire…and more earth!! Wet forest leaves, sweet bell pepper, truffle dust, dry cherries, herbaceous, cigar leaf, fresh acid…does not show its age at all…this was killing
1965 Mouton Rothschild
I know this vintage of Mouton is not considered anything really worth discussing at length…but do not call the '65 a dog!! (insert young Frankenstein’s IT’S ALIVE… ALIVE!!) Is it great? No, it’s not, I’d say it’s a rather fairly enjoyable claret… dry cherries, clay notes, dry leaves, tea notes. Maybe going in overly pessimistic helped it’s case, but the truth is we were pleased with its showing.
What a night…I will try to touch on a few other wines later…I live for nights like these. What a perfect way to start 2016.