TN: Another wonderful Tuesday Supper Club gathering at Christine's- with pics.

WINE TALK
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It was Christine Huang’s turn to host the Tuesday Supper Club and she once again outdid herself in the kitchen and with her hospitality. Good times.

Cheers,

Brad


  • 2011 Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo Colline Novaresi- il Mimo - Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Colline Novaresi
    Shows strawberries, watermelon, red currants on the nose and palate with a meat/salami note that straddles the line between pleasant and unpleasant. A bit ponderous and disjointed on the palate with the alcohol sticking out just a touch on the finish. It shows surprisingly little stuffing for its rather large frame, but it’s decent enough. B/B-.
  • 1998 Trimbach- Riesling Clos Ste. Hune - France, Alsace, Hunawihr, Alsace AOC
    A little bit controversial as I declared right away that it was heat damaged. Others thought it wasn’t showing as vibrantly as it should, but wouldn’t say that it was heat damaged and I was the only one that picked up very faint oxidative notes. More importantly, though, there’s usually plenty of fruit to this wine and lots of vitality and depth and this was rather flat with none of the fruit character I normally associate with it. I’m sticking to my guns. Heat damaged. NR.
  • 1998 Etienne Sauzet- Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
    Premoxed. NR (flawed)
  • 1995 Domaine Weinbach- Tokay Pinot Gris Cuvée Laurence - France, Alsace, Alsace AOC
    My last bottle of four that I purchased on release and everyone one of them has shown beautifully. A deep gold color and mature on the palate, but still rich and balanced. It’s plenty honeyed, but there’s just enough acidity to keep the sweetness balanced, though it may not be enough for extreme acid freaks. Loads of tropical fruit, smoke and touches of spice. There’s definitely a touch of botrytis here and with air, the tropical fruit flavors become a bit more focused and show more of an orange blossom character. I brought as I thought it would pair nicely with Christine’s chilled carrot soup with cumin, lime and crème fraiche and I do have to say it was a wonderful match. A/A-.
  • NV Krug- Champagne Grande Cuvée Brut - France, Champagne
    Pleasant aromas of toasted brioche, roasted hazelnuts, apple and hints of citrus. It shows a light mousse on the palate with similar flavors as aromas. While certainly well made, I find it hard to embrace and focus on as it’s a bit devoid of character. Certainly pleasant enough and an excellent match with Christine’s Copper River sockeye salmon gravlax dish, but given the price, I think one has a right to expect more. Low B+.
  • 1978 Joseph Drouhin- Chorey-les-Beaune - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chorey-les-Beaune
    In surprisingly good shape. It still shows a lovely garnet color with a bit of orange on the rim. Delightfully aromatic with sous bois and desiccated red fruit, it’s mature and a bit fragile, but when first opened there’s a rush of pretty red fruit with wonderful floral, earthy and woodsy elements all wrapped up with a beautifully silky mouthfeel. After about an hour or so, though, the acidity starts to become a bit sharp as the fruit receded and the finish becomes a little less generous. Still, quite a nice surprise. Solid B+ for the first hour.
  • 2004 Dönnhoff- Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
    Still showing a bit of spritz on the palate, though not a lot in the way of development or complexity. That said, it’s flamboyant and generous with upfront tropical and stone fruit. I’d prefer a bit more cut to the wine, but it was a wonderful match with the sous vide halibut in a corn and kaffir lime curry with picked chanterelles. The kaffir lime lime brought out the passion fruit and citrus flavors in the wine and the pickled chanterelles helped give the wine a bit more lift. Low A-.
  • 1973 R. López de Heredia- Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
    Perhaps the best bottle of this wine that I’ve had. Just clicking on all cylinders in a fresh, silky and seamless package. The red fruit levels are are higher and more pure than in other bottles I’ve had with the acidity much more integrated. Frequently the acidity tends to be a bit spiky on the finish, but not tonight. Integrated and mature, with a bit of citrus, earth and shoe polish complementing the sweet cherry fruit. Given the bottle variation out there, it’s just a wonderful treat when you get one that shows like this and it’s why some of us keep at it. Low A.
  • 1997 Castello di Monsanto- Chianti Classico Riserva Il Poggio - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico
    I can’t recall having had this since release, but this may well be an off bottle. The wine showed cherry, licorice, earth and bark notes on the nose, but on the palate it was ungenerous and disjointed with runaway acidity, no real fruit and showed too much alcohol on the finish. C-.
  • 2001 Dönnhoff- Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Auslese - Germany, Nahe
    I expected this to be a wonderful match with the orange chiffon cake with passion fruit curd, indeed we opted to open this instead of the Baumard Quarts de Chaume I brought, but this was yet another let down from Donnhoff. Aromatically it was mute and on the palate it couldn’t be bothered to show up. Sure there’s some pleasant enough passion fruit and stone fruit flavors, but the wine lacks vitality and really doesn’t hold your interest. Solid, but a disappointing showing. B+.

Some pics from the evening.

Wagyu prosciutto.

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Marinated herbed goat cheese in radicchio leaves and Chilled Carrot Soup with cumin and lime topped with crème fraiche.

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Verrine of marinated tomatoes, cucumber, radish and apple with yogurt topped with homemade Copper River sockeye salmon gravlax.

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Sous vide halibut in a corn and kaffir lime curry with pickled chanterelles.

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Grant Achatz’s kobe beef (actually washugyu culotte), cucumber, honeydew, lime.

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Orange chiffon cake with passion fruit curd.

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The rosé & whites.

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The reds.

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Posted from CellarTracker

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WOW WOW [wow.gif]

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Serious food porn, there. Great pictures.

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Some very good wine but the food here is special. Christine. You keep outdoing yourself.

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Wow is right. I’ve never seen Wagyu Prosciutto. Looks awesome.

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Well done, folks. Marty makes for a nice background in the wine lineup pic. :wink:

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I would bet even money that that Bosconia is Marty’s!

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I’ll take your money, Don. [thankyou.gif]

Wilfred brought it and served it blind, but said he did it out of deference for me. Well, even though it was wrapped in foil, a look at the wax capsule and I knew right away it had to be a LdH Bosconia, so with the cat out of the bag, he made us guess the vintage and Marty and I were able to.

Marty brought the Donnhoffs and then heeded Sarah’s call for Champagne with the gravlax dish by opening the Krug.

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Brad,
Money owed. I will make it up to you when I see you next.
Good for Wilfred.
I know you guys all like Lopez de Heredia wines. Marty seems to have a very special place for those however. You guys really had a nice night! Good for Marty for bringing those beauties too.

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Whew - how do y’all make it to work on Wednesday morning?

I think I might change it to the “Friday Supper Club”.

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Extraordinary!

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Drooling over the menu.

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Love the Alsatian and Donnhoffs- all great wines. I would have gladly offered my glass for the dump bucket for the MV Krug. I`ve never had one that was not at least very good and of decent character.

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I see the pic and read the name but don’t understand - What is waygu prosciutto?

The wines and food look fantastic! Nicely done.

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He’s being a bit coquettish behind the Clos Ste Hune. [wink.gif]

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If I were a participant in the Tuesday Supper Club I’d have to quit my job.

  1. As pointed out by Nathan, I don’t know that I’d be effective at work on Wednesday.

  2. When it was my turn to host, I’d have to take at least Monday & Tuesday off for prep work, in a probably vain attempt to measure up to Christine’s cooking standards!

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Hi Paul,

All of the beef came from Japan Premium Beef - which is one of the best perks of moving downtown. http://nymag.com/listings/stores/japan-premieum-beef-inc/

They started making the proscuitto several months ago and it’s fantastic! I never asked what cut it is, I’ll have to ask next time. While it’s called proscuitto, it’s much fresher - by that, I mean that I certainly don’t think it’s cured for the same amount of time as true proscuitto. It’s a delicious starter, though [snort.gif]

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Waygu prosciutto demands a new smiley with a snorting bull! [snort.gif] [snort.gif]