OK. Very few on the board know about this, but back at the beginning of September, while bicycling from one Film Festival location to another, my front wheel got caught directly in a streetcar track. As I was falling, I put my right foot out to brace myself…and my leg decided not to do that. A badly fractured tibia and some digestive complications equaled 2 weeks in hospital and what promises to be a very long recovery.
Even so, there has been slow and steady progress. But yesterday evening was for me a watershed moment in that recovery. Anyone who’s been through something like this will intrinsically understand that one’s mental recovery has to keep pace with or outpace one’s physical recovery.
I had been looking forward to yesterday for quite a while now. Friend and fellow boardmember Tran Bronstein and I co-cooked for 7 people for a birthday dinner party. Boardmembers Angelo Manioudakis, Jeff Wong and Jay Shampur also joined us, and they had the chance to meet my new friends, Mike and Rachel.
Mike and Rachel live in a town 4 hours away. One of the golden linings of a hospital stay is that you can sometimes get lucky and end up with a roommate that you just click with. So it was with Mike and his wife. And it must have been fate that dictated that Mike’s surgery was scheduled for this week, and he was able to return and stay and take part with Rachel in this special night. The result, I am sure, is that I’ve now cemented a friendship which will last for decades. It can sometimes be that simple and that easy.
The watershed is that, for a few hours, for the first time since those bad 1.5 seconds, I felt normal. I felt like my old self, enjoying so much the food, wines and company. It was such a wonderful surcease, and I thank everyone who helped make it happen.
The rough-and-ready theme was “bring a wine that you think will be interesting to the others”
The wines:
With cheese tray and venison pate
2011 Luis Pato Bruto Vino Espumante
Another find by Jay, who is exponentially increasing my knowledge of non-port Portuguese wines. This has quite an alluring mineral and washed stones element on the sniffer, maybe even asparagus notes. A very light touch of sweetness enters the mouth, frames nicely easy drinking pink grapefruit and sidebar of ginger. Very quaffable wine that is hard to put down. It’s not the 89 Krug, but enjoyed if for sure.
With Peach Amaretto Fruit Soup
1997 Kalin Cellars Potter Valley Sauvignon Blanc
I’m the only one who’s had one of these, and even I could never have expected what 7 additional years had done to this wine. I served it in a decanter and had great fun mystifying the assembled. They could not believe it was aged Cali SB. And what a wild bouquet it has now—redolent with spices…saffron, nutmeg, ginger, coriander, and poached pear underneath it all. To taste, tremendous nougat, marzipan and nutty side interlaced with dried peach, it behaves rather like a Rhone white Ermitage. And yet, much later, a distinctive butterscotch side enters the aromatics and on the tongue—it tastes almost like bourbon. I had not been patient enough to wait this long for a Kalin, and where I was a somewhat swayed acolyte before, I’m a devout worshipper at the shrine now. This was absolutely glorious and fascinating and unique, quite possibly the most interesting wine I’ve had in years and one of the WOTY candidates this year. For those who do worship at the shrine, this is in its peak drinking window. For those who haven’t----give this stuff a try…if you can find it.
2007 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Heimbourg
We contrasted this with Jay’s additional contribution here. Young, but Z-H signature richness in the profile, wth sweet apple, lychee and tropical fruit. Tasty, and not too, too sweet at all. Very solid length and verve here, I really like how this does express “Alsace” to me, with energy and lots of citrus overlay. A fine wine in a very fine year.
With wow, I still can’t believe how good this was, bruschetta 5 ways prepared by Tran—Tomato basil with smoked mozzarella, garlic with shiitake mushrooms, hummus with homemade lemon and garlic preparation, tuna seared with duckfat, lemon and capers, and ricotta cheese with orange and shaved chocolate.
1989 Musar
I haven’t had a Musar in years and was delighted Angelo wanted to bring this. This is for me a definite Musar nose with hummus, animale, dried cherry, leather…pretty as a picture for me. In a fine place to drink, it is a good without being a great Musar—gentle yet with some authority, good nippiness around the mouth frames raspberry and currant and some earth. It does miss a more multifaceted personality, but loved how it matched with multiple dishes and this was a very enjoyable change of pace. It did show some elements of older northern rhone and even Barolo and Bordeaux at times.
With scallops, calamari and cod ceviche with black Hawaiian salt and lemon cognac (Tran will correct if I have this wrong)
1978 Jaboulet Aine CdP Les Cedres
This too Angelo wanted to share. It smells old—leather, light strawberry and cherry, some turned earth. Angelo is in my camp, where the only CdP we enjoy is aged CdP. I do like that, on palate, there’s still a fair amount of bright red fruit left, but it’s only at one level. Pleasant certainly, but not a distinctive wine. It was still very fine to try.
with mole chipotle chicken with Ghirardelli cocoa, chocolate sauce, cumin, garlic powder, cinnamon, 6 or so chili types, accompanied by saffron and amarula liqueur-laced mashed potatoes
1995 Chateau Lagrange
Jeff was very fine to bring this on short notice. Good, solid Bordeaux aromatics, lots of tabac, lots of dark plum, blackberry. Le gout is solid, but not spectacular. Continuation of pipe smoke, unripe blackberries and currants. Not overly interesting but decently representative.
With grapefruit mint granite in homemade limoncello and with bananas foster, vanilla ice cream (homemade), various chocolate sauces and with blue cheese mini-cheesecakes with pecans and bourbon-soaked cherries, blueberries and figs
2009 Chateau Climens Barsac
In exchange for something they brought me, and because I knew they would never have experienced anything like this, Mike and Rachel’s contribution was this half-bottle from my cellar. I’m sorry to start them at the top of things for Sauternes/Barsac, but there you go. This is like inhaling magic. Intoxicating wildflower honey that is always a signature part of Climens for me, that bouquet is laced with florals, vanilla, and all kinds of dried fruit. And to drink? It’s like drinking love. NOT sex. Love—with all its intricacies. This is a wine you could marry and live with for 50 years. Stunning mélange of balance, depth and richness, highlighted by coconut, grapefruit, pear granite and leveled botrytis. Someday, maybe sooner than one might think, this will be perfect…it’s very close now. 98.
I only had a small taste of the 30 year Gonzalez-Byass Noe, but it brought back happy memories of a sherry that is not like the others.
We all agreed, I think, that it was an extraordinary night of discoveries. Again, many thanks to everyone for helping me enjoy myself so much.
Mike
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