TNs- The Nice People Birds, Burgs, Bubblies & Berserkers Dinner at PDH (w/ pics)

WINE TALK
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Peter Czyryca and his lovely wife Trish decided to grace NYC with their glowing Bostonian presences this past weekend (though we’re all pretty sure he was in town for the Gay Pride Parade, not that there’s anything wrong with that) [gheyfight.gif] . So of course, since we’re all nice people, I gathered a few fellow Berserkers, grabbed a few bottles, and headed out to our favorite haunt, Peking Duck House (Midtown).

As usual, service was top-notch, food was excellent, and the duck… droooool… the duck… Anyway, I digress. We devoured a small flock of our feathered friends (4, to be exact, among 10 people, including the carcasses which they usually take away) and laughed ourselves silly. Then since we were still thirsty and hungry we headed West to Casellula, a wine and cheese bar in Midtown West. There, more (loud) debauchery was had, and the people rejoiced. Oh man did we rejoice. By 2:30am, I crawled into my bed, sweating duck fat from my pores and yet still eager for more.

Oh, yeah, we drank some good shit too, but I wasn’t taking notes, so I’ll list them here with some quick impressions. In not-particularly-correct order:

-NV Dosnon & Lepage Recolte Blance
Never heard of this, but this started us off with some real yeasty and cheesy notes. Palate was light relative to the nose, and it got progressively truffly as it breathed. Interesting, but not something I’d pop and pour at random. This is a real wine geek wine.

-1999 Gosset Cuvee Millesime
Yummy, quite nice with hints of maturity but still the freshness of youth.

-1986 Pol Roger Brut
Quite lovely, gracefully mature and delicious enough that we discusses doing a vertical dinner of nothing but Sir Cuvee Winston Churchill some other night.

-1990 Champagne Lechere
Unremarkable, not bad, but clearly outshone by the company.

-2002 Champagne Hebrart Special Club
Very good and crisp, but my notes are fuzzy.

-2004 Ramonet Chevalier Montrachet
WAY too young, but still lovely and full of baby fat, with that slight minty note Ramonet gets, but also the power and precision of a good Chevy. This wine needs another 10 years before being tasted again.

-1995 Vogue Musigny
Wow, beautiful nose, great aromatics of elegant but dark fruits, hints of sous-bois, and a real precision on the palate that carried through the mid-palate but then was marred only by a rather surprisingly clipped finish. Extremely enjoyable, but that finish was distracting when you analyzed it.

-1996 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes Chambertin
Another winner, with relatively big dark if slightly muddled fruit, a velvety mouthfeel and a long, long precise finish. I love this wine and have opened it several times, but like many 1996s it needs some serious breathing time (in this case about 3 hours).

-1999 Leroy Corton Renardes
Yet another beauty, and my WOTN. Loads of game were wrapped in ripe berries and an earthy aspect that I really appreciated. Very lush, and the fruit was surprisingly ripe and open for business, with hints of secondary aspects just appearing, ending in a long and balanced finish. This is a great wine and will remain so for many, many years. Wow.

-2000 Mugneret Gibourg Chambolle-Musigny Feusselottes
Very good, with ripe fruit balanced on an elegant, almost feminine (especially after the Leroy) frame. Ready to drink, like many 2000s.

-2006 Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin Vieille Vigne
Lovely, crisp, precise, clean, bright berries and stunning acidity, gorgeous balance, what more do you want, it’s Fourrier?

Then, as I mentioned, since we were still in a good mood, we headed west to Casellula, a cheese/wine bar in Midtown West. There, we had a 2006 Chasselas (name lost in the mysts of hangover) that was light and crisp, then a 2006 Morgon (name also forgotten, I think Javernieres?) that was dark and earthy and kind of brooding, followed by a 2006 Chateauneuf (first bottle corked, 2nd delicious) that was also full of dark earthy fruit but more on the meaty end of things. There were also some cheese and salami plates that were passed around, somehow we were still eating at 2am.

A HUGE MERCI to everyone who came and brought such lovely wines, it was great seeing you all and we need to do this again VERY soon. We had a BLAST. [thankyou.gif]
Cheers! [berserker.gif]

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As much as I wanted to join you guys, I can see the lineup was not too Pobega-friendly. Hope to catch y’all next time with a more caliicentric lineup.

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It puts the beef stick in its mouth…lol.

Just couldnt take notes with all the entertainment going on (about 25% of which was me posing for glam shots like above, or photogging Michel holding bread in queue via chesthair), so I’ll only comment on wines I definitely recollect impressions of. Amazingly, no tires were blown.

NV Dosnon & Lepage Recolte Blance
Fromage and sweat on the nose, definitely a unique bubbly and one I’d like to try again.

1999 Gosset Cuvee Millesime
Caramel and nuttiness, with subtle sherry notes on the periphery.

1986 Pol Roger Brut
I think this was the regular Brut, being a white label and all - but who knows? In any event, great mature bubbly.

2002 Champagne Hebrart Special Club
Young young young.

1995 Vogue Musigny
Very feminine and my first Musigny, so tough to draw comparisons. Loved it though - thanks to KS for bringing it.

1999 Leroy Corton Renardes
This was a beauty, never heard of Renardes before - must find some.

2000 Mugneret Gibourg Chambolle-Musigny Feusselottes
In a nice spot, drinking well.

2006 Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin Vieille Vigne
This is such an amazing wine even now, I must squirrel some away for drinking in 10 years. The problem is keeping hands off til then!

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Michel, is Peter the guy in the pics? If so, who is the young lassie in the first photo taking a slug directly from the bottle? I like her style [welldone.gif]

BTW, great line-up, and that Leroy sounds gorgeous.

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Bobulus,

Had you insisted, this past weekend I would have taken out our camera and photographed your better half doing the same thing with the 1990 Pape Clement bottle you brought over here … neener

Alex

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The Leroy and Pol Roger were both amazing.

I know there was a lot more at the table being enjoyed. We had an enjoyable 1988 Veuve Clicquot Rare and a 1989 Bert Simon Serriger Würtzberg Riesling Auslese* which had a lovely, intoxicating smell but a palate that just didn’t live up to the hype. I think Izzy described the taste as watered down apple juice, which was appropriate for this bottle. My third of this wine, and by far the most disappointing.

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That would be Peter’s lovely wife, who put up with a LOT that night. Luckily, most of the abuse was piled onto her husband.

Rick, I knew I forgot some wines, thanks so much!

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How the hell did I forget the 88 Clicquot Rare?

Seemed younger than previous bottles, great juice. Was that a Wine Library purchase Rick?

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Great time meeting the people I didn’t all ready know, though I doubt I will be able to burn the memories of flat tires [barf.gif] and 3 finger squigglies [gheyfight.gif] from my memory.

Just my $.02 on some specifics

NV Dosnon & Lepage Recolte Blance - I was actually very impressed by this. I easily imagined drinking this outside during the summer before firing up the BBQ, and as I love to grill (gotta love 45k BTU grill) this is right up my alley!

1995 Vogue Musigny - I am very familiar with this wine, and all of the characteristics on the nose and palate were right, but like Michel said, something about the finish was short and left me wanting more.

1999 Leroy Corton Renardes - mmmmm tasty

2006 Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin Vieille Vigne - def the wine I enjoyed the most, mostly because I was surprised at how good it was, especially with the duck. Would love it if someone could explain why there is no “S” on the end of Vieille or Vigne though…

I also don’t remember the exact name of the 1st wine at Casellula, but I do remember it was from Switzerland (which was why I ordered it) and was good, just wish it had lasted till the cheese actually came out!

When is round 3 happening?

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Sure would help if my computer didn’t have the wrong login info saved. Though all my notes still apply!

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It was. I’d love to go pick up another 6 or so, because it’s a steal and a half at that price. We’ll see. A consistently enjoyable bottle of aged Champagne at under a bill.

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Yeah, if I wasn’t on a buying-halt, I’d grab a few. Especially with the Free Shipping Code.

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Peter’s wife, huh? Interestingly enough, from the side view she seems to bear no resemblance whatsoever to Keira [wink.gif]

Alex, I think you’d have a much better chance of catching my wife taking a swig off a bottle of Raveneau Chablis than you ever would a Pape Clement.

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Keira’s his girlfriend. [winner.gif]

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Nice work Berserkers. Wish I could have been there.

Sounds like the Gosset was more advanced than it should be though.

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Sorry I couldn’t make it. I look forward to meeting you one of these days, Peter.

Looks like a nice group of wines for the duck.

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Awesome time Ben, we missed you! Where’ve you been hiding?

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I was in an undisclosed location, but I am out now. Game on!

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Cris - I dont think it was advanced, though I totally get where you’d interpret that given the caramel/sherry notes. I get them in mild quantities in Gosset’s Grande Reserve, too. Didnt seem fat or flabby fwiw.

Ben - ditto.

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Exactly, the Gosset was quite nice, I thought.