The Wines from a Flyertalk Wine Dinner (Preview)

WINE TALK
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Please note that this is a thread from last year.

My travel friends will be drinking the following on Sunday June 15 at North Square in NYC.

SPARKLING WINE

Australia
2004 House of Arras Grand Vintage (Tasmania) What a nice surprise. Baby bubbles. Butterscotch on the back end? No yeast.

Champagne

France
Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne Plenty of bubbles. A good champagne that was outclassed by some other bottles.
'02 Pierre Paillard Milliseme Hazelnut with lots of bubbles. This was Champagne of the night. We drank this last year. The extra year made a difference. Time to get a bottle or 2.
'06 Larmandier-Bernier, + Vieille Vigne de Cramant, Grand Cru, Extra Brut
2008 Pierre Paillard bouzy blanc des blancs Hazelnut. This was the 2nd best champagne.
2008 Franck Bonneville millesime. Lot of bubbles.
NV Pierre Peters, Cuvee de Reserve, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs Brut Tingly and dry.
NV Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs Brut Lots of little bubbles. The others were better to much better.


Spain
NV Rimarts Cava Gran Reserva 40 (Cataluña) - Not my style.

STILL WINES

Rosé
Mourvedre (California)
2012 Tablas Creek Dianthus (Central Coast, Paso Robles) This was flat.

Chardonnay (California)
2010 Dehlinger Chardonnay Unfiltered (Sonoma County, Russian River Valley) Somewhat restrained. I enjoyed this.
2010 Freestone (Joseph Phelps) Chardonnay Fogdog Sonoma Coast (Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast)
2011 Kosta Browne Chardonnay One Sixteen (Sonoma County, Russian River Valley) Nice nose. Creamy, but no butter. Smooth. I thought this and the Dehlinger were equal.

Grenache (California)
2011 A Donkey and Goat Grenache Blanc (Sierra Foothills, El Dorado)

Riesling (California)
1990 Chateau Montelena Johannisberg Riesling (North Coast) This was a dark amber color. Undrinkable. It was dead.

Sauvignon Blanc (California)
2007 Altamura Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley) Fruity. Clearish. This was no Merry Edwards, but still a nice wine.
2012 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley) This was a nice drinking wine too. Better than the Altamura.

White Blend (California)
2012 Arnot-Roberts Old Vine White Field Blend (Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley) A hint of acid. It was ok. I’m holding my other bottle for at least a year.

Cabernet Sauvignon (California)
2004 Anderson’s Conn Valley Reserve This was so smooth and silky from the first taste to the last (60 minutes later). No rush to drink. . WOTN.
2005 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain Ranch Vineyard (Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain)
2010 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (Napa Valley) I thought this was young.
2010 Sojourn Cabernet Sauvignon Proprietary Cuvée (Napa Valley) This was smooth. Limited notes as the evening went on. HOLD!

Malbec (Argentina)
2009 Rutini Antologia XXXI (Mendoza) It was ok. Nothing special.
2010 Fincas Notables La Coleccion (Salta) This was a big bold, muscular wine. The best of the wines from Argentina.
2011 Tres Catorce (Mendoza) A little smoke on the nose. I liked this wine.

Malbec-Cabernet (Argentina)
2010 Marcelo Miras Reserva(Patagonia)

Pinot Noir (California)
2006 Wild Hog Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast)
2008 Failla Occidental Ridge Pinot Noir (Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast) Darker color. A wow nose. Drinkable on pop 'n pour. After 2 hours this was opening up. No rush to drink. Much better than the Hirsch below.
2011 Hirsch Vineyards Pinot Noir San Andrea (Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast) A lighter color and smooth; but not remarkable. Not a fair comparison with the Failla.
2012 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Land’s Edge Vineyards (Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast) A hint of fruit vs the above. Full bodied.

Red Bordeaux Blend (California)
2003 Cosentino Winery CE2V Meritage (Napa Valley) Some tannins. I liked this wine.
2010 Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge (Napa Valley) This was very young. Hold.

Zinfandel (California)
2011 Turley Zinfandel Dusi Vineyard (Central Coast, Paso Robles) Some fruit. I liked this.

DESSERT WINES
California
'03 Ridge Zinfandel Late Harvest Lytton Estate (Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley) This wasn’t for me. I thought it was sharp.
'05 Austin Hope Late Harvest roussanne. This was a sweet wine. I liked it, but at this point, couldn’t take another sip of anything.

Other
07 QUINTA DO NOVAL Port LBV Single Vineyard Unfiltered. This was nice, but young.

As you can see, there are some wines without notes. Those went untasted. If anyone wants to teach me how to write wine notes, I’m listening. With so many wines, there was so little time to sit down and explore each one.

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What’s that for, about 5-6 people? :wink:

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There are 24 people coming to dinner. The theme this year is wines of Napa and Sonoma + Champagne (and sparkling). One person owns a wine store in BA Argentina, so I approved wines from that region. Everyone brings a bottle with a minimum value of $35.00. As you can see, many people step up. Somewhere along the line, people started bringing a bonus bottle. It could be whatever you want. No minimum. It had to be something you wanted to share with the group. Most of the time it works, but not all the time. The list is not complete. 5 of the 24 attendees will arrive in New York and buy/bring a bottle with them. Keep in mind this is a travel group. One guy is flying in from Alaska. A gal is flying in from Sydney, and don’t forget the guy from Argentina. [whistle.gif]
This is the 7th time this offline has taken place. It improves each year, thanks to a core group of regulars. The last time a Berserkers attended (Cheryl Mills) was 5 years ago. This year, I hope another Berserker or 2 will chime in. [wink.gif]

This started 7 years ago as bring your best bottle. The theme has always been lucy goosey. The past 2 -3 years, the theme has been more focused. This years dinner is in memory of Mike Cordelli, who was a regular since day one. He past away last summer at 54. He was responsible for turning me on to ACV. In turn, I turned him on to Sojourn. Mike visited with Craig in Sonoma, and also attended a wine dinner with Craig at PDH in New York. His favorite wines were from Napa and Sonoma. I’m a California guy too. Mike would have enjoyed this dinner.

The final bottle count should be between 35 - 40 bottles. Care to join us next year Mark Y? Anyone else? I know of at least 8 Berserkers that are my people. neener

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I’ve been on the fence to join in previous years. Looking forward to reading your notes here and over on FT.

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NV Comtes?

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That’s what the person bringing it told me.

7

Is it always in NYC in June?

sounds fun, although we have travel planned until end of 2015, but i guess could always try to make it as part of a MR… :slight_smile:

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My thoughts exactly.

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When I saw that list I thought it was absolutely fascinating and such a wide variation of wines. I attended the first one and will attend again one day. Maybe when they decide to do Burgundy and Bordeaux wines. Though I know Dan hates those, too little flavor and alcohol :wink:

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No such thing. But sounds like fun!

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Yep.

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I’m one of the they, so don’t count on it. How about this theme… Berserker Winemaker dinner. [wink.gif]

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Looks like I’ll get back to you sometime on Monday. If you, Neal, and Suzanne say it ain’t so, then it ain’t so.

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it aint so.

15

I’ll take some acid out of my wines, and add booze :wink: Crowd pleasers!

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I just updated the list to include additional Champagnes and a port.

It’s amazing that people on a travel bulletin board know (something) about wine. [cheers.gif]

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If you’ve read my notes previously, you wouldn’t say that. [whistle.gif]

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I’d be worried about travel shock.

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I’ll be in ‘shock’ on the way home.

The OP has been adjusted to include additional Champagnes and a sweetie.

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The first post now has notes.