TN: German, Alsatian and Champagne with Szechuan.

WINE TALK
1

Last Wednesday, at the behest of one Christine Huang, seven locals gathered at Szechuan Gourmet’s newest Gotham location, which, coincidentally, happens to be located near Ms. Huang’s newish Manhattan digs. How convenient.

I must confess that while I like the original location at 39th and 5th, I’ve never been blown away by it the way some of my friends have been and I generally prefer the food at Grand Sichuan. However, this new 56th St. between Broadway and 8th Avenue location changed all that. The food was insanely good and though spicy, was not hell hot (we stayed away from the dishes with 5 chili signs next to them), which allowed the ingredients to show a full palette of flavors. Though I still think the tea smoked duck at Grand Sichuan is much better, overall I think this may be the best Szechuan food in the city at the moment.

Given the theme, whites with sugar were in order. Now, I’m going to go on the record as saying that while I think these types of wines work just fine with spicy cuisine, I honestly feel beer or sweet iced tea works better. There’s just no escaping the fact that hot chilies and Szechuan peppercorns make it hard to discern nuance in wines and when you decide to open wines like Riesling, which are site driven and full of subtlety, you lose something. That said, a fun time was had by all and most of the wines showed well.

Cheers,

Brad


1995 Charles Heidsieck- Champagne Blanc des Millénaires
Fresh and crisp with good fruit and a medium bead. Nicely red appley with biscuits and mineral. Low A-.

2007 Bott-Geyl- Gewurztraminer “Les Éléments”
Nicely aromatic. Typically Gewurzy with lichy, ginger and flowers, but not too in your face. Oily textured with some sweetness and like flavors as aromas with the ginger playing a more prominent role. Some bitterness and a touch of alcohol on the finish, though this was my favorite wine of the night with the food as the ginger spiciness and sweetness married well with the chilies and especially the Szechuan peppercorns. B+.

**1985 Benedict Loosen-Erben- Riesling Spätlese *, Urziger Würzgarten, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
A surprisingly youthful blond color. Smoky slate and petrol dominates the nose with hints of peach. Still has a little sweetness, but it’s undoubtedly drier than it was on release. Full with beautiful minerality, citrus and peach flavors. Mature with the structure starting to be more prominent and the fruit receding a bit. This is one I would’ve liked to have lingered with without all the chilies in my mouth. Low A-.

2003 Zind-Humbrecht- Pinot Gris, Herrenweg de Turckheim
I’m a big fan of the estate and Olivier, but I’ve had serious concerns with his '03’s since I first tried them on release. Given the torrid vintage and uneven ripeness and balance that ensued, many of Olivier’s wines were vinified drier than usual and that resulted in some extreme alcohol levels. I was not confidant that these would hold up well and this bottle, along with the Rotenberg that followed, unfortunately confirmed my hunch. There is very little here other than alcohol. Maybe a touch of smoke and yellow fruit, but they’re fleeting. Aggressively bitter on the finish. Ordinarily Olivier consistently makes some of my favorite wines from the region. D.

2003 Zind-Humbrecht- Pinot Gris, Rotenberg
Same alcohol problem as the Herrenweg, but with a little more fruit showing. C-/D+.

1995 Lorentz- Riesling, Altenberg de Bergheim
Shows classic and classy. Petrol, stone fruit, citrus and yellow flowers aromas. It’s dry yet well-rounded and ripe on the palate with similar flavors as aromas, with more of a mineral and yellow citrus character with the stone fruits in the background. Has a nice weight and mouthfeel. Really pleasant to sip. A-.

2001 Dönnhoff- Riesling Spätlese, Norheimer Kirschheck, Nahe
A brilliant wine, but still pretty much shut down. Not much going on aromatically and on the palate you can tell there are great ingredients there, but they’re still coming together. Tremendous depth and structure, but showing a bit chunky with a lack of focus. Mineral and stone fruits dominate at the moment with floral notes and the wine still shows primary sweetness. A- now, but with A potential.

1989 Schlossgut Diel- Riesling Spätlese, Dorsheimer Goldloch, Nahe
Intensely mineral with a good dose of petrol flavors and aromas supported by peach and mango. Largely dry at this point with a real projection of power across the palate due to its formidable structure. Shows a real serious side and is another one I would’ve preferred to mull over without spicy food. Low A-.

2001 Hexamer- Riesling Auslese, Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg, Nahe
The doors are wide open for business on this one. It’s opulent and care free, full of nectarine, peach, red fruit, orange citrus and mineral flavors and aromas in a forward package. Integrated and drinking well now, though no rush at all. A nice wine to wrap up with, though it probably would’ve been one of the better wines with the food due to its sweetness level and less subtle personality. A-.


Some pics from the evening:

The lineup.

Christine prays for spicy while Bill is resigned to his fate.

Watch out, Bill! Those cukes are spicy!

Pop goes the cork!

Me & Bill.

Paul & Suzanne.

Kenny & Brent.

The other side of the table.

Pork Buns excite Christine.

Brent pours as Kenny watches.

Bill reads German.

Down the hatch!

2

WOW. Brad rates Champagne as highly as wine with RS, what is this world coming to.

[middle-finger.gif]

3

Brad,

Thanks for the notes!

I really enjoyed dinner, glad I could sneak in at the last minute. I agree with you about the food, it was very well-composed Sichuan. Most of my experiences were at Grand Sichuan East on 2nd bet 55-56th (near my old store), and I found the food there to be generally completely submerged in fire oil and totally over the top spicy.

The notes look pretty good. I arrived late and powered through the first half of the wines fairly quickly. I loved the Champagne and the 85 Loosen. Hexamer delivers so much QPR I’m glad most people don’t know about it. The Diel was a Library release that we picked up last year and I also brought a 1992 Zilliken Saarberger Rausch (sp?) that was light and with pungent mineral/petrol notes.

Those ZH wines were really, shockingly bad.

I think the wines went fine with the food, though I understand your point about the spice. The hard thing with Sichuan vs. Thai, for example, is that the Sichuan really has no “cool” element to the food, whereas with many Thai dishes there are still fruits or veggies incorporated that can provide a cooling element. I think that helps with moderating the spice in Thai food.

Thanks again for having me, great to run with the “A-List” crowd! [worship.gif]

4

I’ve actually consistently found that to be the worst of the Grand Sichuan group by a very wide margin. Aside from having the least adventurous menu, I was told repeatedly by them that they don’t serve the fresh killed chickens that all the other branches work with. Also, they’re unbelievably rude there. I’ve heard the woman at the front desk say to phone-in customers “Hurry up. We’re very busy here,” and “Call back when you know what you want.” Also, one time I went there with Asher Rubinstein around 9:25 pm. We ordered more than we would eat so we could bring back leftovers as they don’t deliver up where we live. Well, the food gets to the table around 9:35 pm, at 9:50 they ask us to pay as they want to close the register, then they start to dim the lights as unbeknownst to us, they close at 10:00 (What restaurant closes at 10:00 in Manhattan, let alone a Chinese one?) and then at 10:00 pm, without even offering to pack things up, they essentially told us they were closed and we had to leave. Total Twilight Zone experience. Nothing but great times at the other locations.

Thanks again for having me, great to run with the “A-List” crowd! > [worship.gif]

Every once in a while before a dinner, the A-List committee gets together and puts the names of local schlubs in a hat and picks one to invite. You were the lucky one that night! [winner.gif]

5

Need more data points but the Grand Sichuan on 23rd and 9th or in that general area is pretty good. We need to drag Bill out for some more fiery food. I pretty much agree on the notes. Fun night.

6

Yep. I’ve been going to that one for ten years now. Plus, it’s right near my office, so I’m always there. Their menu isn’t what it used to be, though. Whenever they open a new branch they bring their best chefs there and so the newest one has a lot more authentic and adventurous dishes on the menu. I think the 7th Ave branch is where they are these days.

Btw, I edited my original post to add the '95 Lorentz I forgot to include.

7

They opened one in Jersey City also.

8

Loosen-Urben in the Urziger Wurzgarten - some distant relation of Erni perhaps? Obviously kudos on the Donnhoff, too.

Bott-Geyl - never tasted from them but hear pretty solid things. Shame about the Pinot Gris! How dry was the Lorentz Riesling? Because I find a Trimbach-style dry Riesling (Alsatian as opposed to a Trocken) goes really nicely with spicy food.

9

Hi Owen-

The Lorentz isn’t Trimbach dry and shows more stone fruits and less green citrus than Trimbach, but it’s mostly dry. Much more traditional in style.

Cheers,

Brad

10

Yep. Jay Miller mentioned that a while ago, but with a few branches here, no need to schlep to NJ.