The Good Old Stuff - 11/16/24, Brunswick, Maine

Event Planner - Online or Offline
1

I have moved. I want to invite board members to share and enjoy many of my older wines as I transition to my new home. I have some, not many, trophies, but lots of excellent, interesting and frankly fabulous stuff.

For whites, I can offer at least 10 wines at 10+ years of age. There will be Chablis, Grand and 1er Crus. There is Lamy-Pillot Montrachet that could be premox, but I have multiple bottles to try. I also offer Rhys, Mount Eden, Terrien and Hermitage.

All of the reds will be from the last century. A few Bordeaux at up to 50 years (mostly minor, but Ausone and Palmer), 25 – 40 year old Cali Cabs, 30 year old Unico as well as some Barolo. Well-aged Pegau will appear.

I have almost stopped drinking dessert wines. That means I’ll open 60 year old Tokaji, 100 year old Tokaji, aged d’Yquem, aged Maximin Grunhaus TBA, an unidentifiable Madeira, maybe a few other stickies.

I’ve written up Taverna Khione multiple times, AFAIK not a single board member has ever dined there. It’s a tiny restaurant in an old mill house, in a location nobody would ever find by accident. Michelin* quality food.

Taverna Khione can seat 24 people. I will host about a dozen locals, which means I am inviting about a dozen board members to this tasting. You have to come to Maine and get a hotel for the night. There is no additional cost… I provide wine and buy dinner.

I am a life-long asshole about not wasting wine at tastings. Rigidly one bottle per person, everybody leaves sober, no wine is wasted.
Not this time. I expect to open 30 - 50 bottles for 24 people. Everybody tastes what they want, drinks what they want. If some are over the hill, there will be others that are not. Hopefully no fighting as corks are pulled and bottles are emptied.

Date: Saturday November 16th. Get to Brunswick by ~3PM.

A wide range of hotels are available in Brunswick, from upscale to chain motels. A few of the nice ones are walking distance. I will also have the local cab company on call. Prices at this time of year are reasonable, rooms easy to come by.

I’ve had some PMs from board members who want to attend but stay in Portland. No problem. It’s ~25+ miles from Brunswick. An easy drive if you’re comfortable with it, Uber/Lyft plus taxis are also available.

Post on this thread and/or PM me if you want to come.

Please do.

Thank you.

Dan Kravitz

4 Likes
2

This sounds like a remarkable evening, and very generous of you. I will just be back from Europe so I can’t even ask if it would be alright, just too much to do to get caught up after my absence. Though I can not join I would like to thank you for the offer and your kind generosity. I can’t wait to hear how it goes.

I am of the mind of doing something similar. Just too much wine and not enough time to drink it all, so share it as was intended!

Good luck!

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This sounds like an amazing experience. I have not yet had an opportunity to join you & share in a glass of wine. I have to check with the calendar, as I’m usually traveling around this time to celebrate a dear friends Birthday (11/10) but I have a better than 90% chance of saying this seems like an easy yes. Can I ask what hotel is walking distance (that sounds like it’s just my length of travel…walking distance).

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Hello Kirk,

Thanks for getting back to me. I wasn’t sure if you looked at the off-line forum (I rarely do). There aren’t very many board people in Maine and I like the idea of getting to know them. I’ve met Mark Mickalide and he will be there with his wife Tinker.

It’s Saturday November 16th. Start late afternoon; taste for a while and segue into dinner.

Brunswick has three independent moderately upscale hotels, all within walking distance.

Closest is The Federal, 0.3 miles.
OneSixtyFive is 0.5 miles.
The Brunswick Hotel is 0.6 miles.

I haven’t stayed in any of them but family and friends have been happy with both The Federal and The Brunswick.

I hope to see you there, let me know. By all means bring a +1.

Best,

Dan

1 Like
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Room at the Federal is booked…I will likely have a +1 (Thank you for your generosity & graciousness). This is really exciting, it will be so nice to finally get to share a glass of wine with you Sir!

6

KIrk,

Great, hope it’s a plus 1 too.

Looking forward to this.

Best,

Dan

7

I had five board members reserve for this, but two have dropped out.

I have room for two more members, including +1s.

Please let me know if interested. It’s not that far for anybody from New England and there are some real treasures.

8

Hi Dan…the event I had on the 16th was just moved, so I’d love to attend.

thanks,
jim

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Hi Jim,

Great news, do you want one seat or two?

Best,

Dan

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One please. I’m at The Brunswick Fri & Sat nights, in case anyone is up for some Friday night gustatory exploration.

jim

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Jim,

So glad you are coming.

Thanks, but I won’t be able to make it Friday, I’ll be in Full Frazzle Prep Mode.

Brunswick is not a restaurant scene town, but besides Taverna Khione there are some good ones:

Your hotel has a very good restaurant, Noble Kitchen (the hotel is on Noble Street). Intricate but not fussy food, top-shelf ingredients. Good, interesting wine list created by a geeky guy who cares.

555 North is excellent, in the Federal Hotel. It was an excellent stand-by in Portland until COVID, closed for a few years and to the surprise and acclaim of the town reopened here. Food maybe a little better and less expensive than Noble Kitchen. Good wine list, a little less geeky than Noble. They do half-glasses, a trend I love.

Enoteca Athena is (as the name implies) Italian - Greek. Always reliable, a new chef has raised the bar for the food. Wine list pretty standard.

Watami is Japanese (duh). Surprisingly good, with fresh, precisely prepared food, especially considering the very large menu. Tempura is exemplary. You get an Explorer Scout Merit Badge if you can find the front door. They sell beer and wine.

That’s the small cream of a limited crop.

IMO Taverna Khione is hands down the best restaurant in town. I’ve eaten there two nights straight. You could do worse. Mains Saturday will be swordfish and lamb chops, we’ll have quite a few sides and salads, but everything else on the menu is wonderful. I’d say octopus, but we’ll probably also have that Saturday.

1 Like
12

Dan,

I’ve been hopefully eyeing this. And I really would like to finally meet you. Is there still space for one more? I’d be traveling solo :).

Nick

13

Nick,

Thank you. You have a seat. I look forward to meeting you.

I’ll send an e-mail with a list of wines in a couple of weeks.

Best,

Dan

1 Like
14

Bump…looking forward to meeting you Dan.

15

Hi Kirk,

Great, looking forward to ‘meeting’ a lot of people I feel I already kinda know.

Please confirm if you are a plus one. I’ll be sending out details, with the wine list, in the next day or two.

Best,

Dan

16

update:

Cellar Cleanse tasting & dinner

Taverna Khione, Brunswick, ME

Saturday 11/16/24, 4:00 PM

As this is my tasting, I am organizing it, which means it will not be very organized. We should have 24 people. Here is the list of the 36 wines I will bring. Even with some likely over-the-hill, it should be enough.

There are wines I would like to taste side-by-side in pairs. These are listed in boldface italic. There are wines I definitely want to open that are not part of pairs. These are listed in boldface. All of the other wines are available to be opened for anybody who wants to try them.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Cellar cleanse wines

white

2009 Rhys Alpine Chardonnay

2009 Rhys Horseshoe Chardonnay

2008 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains

2008 Terrien Wines Chardonnay

2000 Domaine Lamy-Pillot Montrachet

1995 Domaine Lamy-Pillot Montrachet

2002 Hanzell Chardonnay

2014 Caves Duplessis Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos

2014 Domaine Dublère Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

2013 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains

2013 Terrien Wines Chardonnay

2012 Caves Duplessis Chablis Premier Cru Montee de Tonnerre

2010 Cave de Tain Hermitage Blanc

2006 Louis Michel Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir

red

1971 Ausone

1971 Tayac

1984 Burgess Vintage Select Cabernet

1982 Spottswoode Cabernet

1991 Mayacamas Cabernet

1991 Girard Cab Reserve

1988 Jadot Beaune Chouacheux

1989 Pegau Reservee

1990 Diamond Creek Cab Volcanic Hill

1998 Chateau Palmer

1998 Pio Cesare Barbaresco ‘Bricco’

1997 Oddero Barolo Rivera de Castiglione

1995 Chateau du Tertre

1994 Vega Sicilia Unico

1975 Chateau Lanessan

that thit’th thweet!

1964 Monimpex Tokaji Aszu 5 Putted

1924 Zimmermann Tokaji Aszu 4 Putted

1964 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberger Beerenauslese

Madeira Incognita

2001 Chateau d’Yquem

1997 Rene Renou Bonzo Anne

1988 Dizzy Dub

Food – If there are any vegetarians or vegans coming, please let me know. The restaurant will accommodate you well. The main courses will be swordfish and lamb. This is not either/or, but it would be useful to know how many people want one, the other or both. Do not hold back! Out of respect for the wines, the foods will steer away from peppery dishes, although one of the spreads will be Htipiti, which incorporates a small amount of hot red pepper.

Please feel free to look at the menu on line and make requests. Other things on the current menu I love that will be served are tzatziki, fava and roasted lemon potatos. I will also request gigantes and their green beans with tomato. Greek salad will be served if good tomatos are available.

Glasses - The restaurant has better than average glasses for a typical restaurant, enough for at least 2 per person. But these are not Riedel quality. Everybody is encouraged to bring their own if they want to. I will. Please keep track of your own glasses.

Corkscrew - Durand is considered the ne plus ultra tool for removing old corks. I have never used one, but bought one for this event. I am sure it has instructions, but I ask anybody with experience to please give me a hand.

Everybody coming, please confirm! I’ll send out individual notes later this week.

1 Like
17

  1. Definitely Confirming :+1:

  2. I love that you have a Durand on hand. I’m more than happy to come over at 3-3:30 to help open & arrange with index cards the pairings you might wish to line up.

  3. I’m one of those staying in Portland, so if anyone else wishes to help arrive early and set-up/open, we could rideshare.

  4. Oh, and if any of the locals/visitors wish to do a (non-alcoholic) Brunch/Coffee meet-up in Portland on Saturday late morning, it’d be fun to meet more faces :wave:.

18

Awesome list; should be an incredible night. Confirming that myself and +1 will attend. We’re staying in Brunswick Friday and Saturday evenings. Also happy to show up early on Saturday to open bottles, and have ample Durand experience. I can bring my Durand if desired to double the rate of uncorking.

Foodwise, myself and +1 will lean toward lamb but want to try the swordfish as well. It all look good online, so don’t want to miss anything!

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I am so looking forward to this. Both for food please; while others have moved on to dessert, I’m still trying all combinations of pairings to find that 1 + 1 = 4 match. :roll_eyes:

I’ll be driving up to Brunswick Friday and aiming for lunch at Duckfat in Portland at 1:00 if anyone wants to join. I’m happy to help organize on Sat afternoon if you want some help.

jim (solo)

1 Like
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Thanks Dan. Confirmed for 2.

Also, happy to help with prep if you wish.

We are in Portland for a few nights. We have a reservation for 3 at Chaval on Friday. If anyone is solo in Portland that night, I am sure we can easily switch 3 to 4.