Cafes & Wineries

For years - repeatedly invited Chef/friend to come to one of our tastings - reiterating the magic of the double blind  - i.e - you bring your wine in a brown paper bag - decant it into a generic carafe - pass it around the table - everyone getting half a glass (quarter for a 375) - guessing (educated?) - country of origin? - varietal? - age? - vineyard? - best of all - you never know what anyone is going to bring -

So when he finally walked in - for me - pleased that he had actually accepted my invite (taken up the gauntlet) - for him - the idea of not knowing what anyone was going to bring - would pay off like winning the lottery (see last wine of the night) -

Wines of the night -

Chateau Du Tertre - Margaux - 1996 - lovingly stored - gently decanted before the tasting - poured equally to the eight glasses around the table - corked !!! - swirled - prayed to - swirled again - corked !!! - TCA to the max -

Clos Saint Theobald - Tokay Pinot Gris - Alsace - 2000 - served as an early white - could have gone either way - Marty nailed the grape - but not with great confidence - everyone else was in disbelief

Sagana - Nero D’Avola - Sicily - 2003 - guest brought this wonder wine from Sicily - no one was even close until the clues were proffered - not what I was expecting -

Planeta - Santa Cecilia - Nero D’Avola - Sicily - 2004 - my offering - picked it up at Young’s in Manhasset - it was the only 100% Nero D’Avola that they had - as I expected - rich - warm - crisp - almost with a cool quality - love this grape - 180 degrees from the previous Nero D’Avola

Nuits St. Georges - Domaine Jean Grivot - 2001

Donnhoff - Riesling Spatlese - Nahe - 2002 - very nice

Clio - Jumilla Spain - 2003 - 70% Monastrell - 30% CS - stump the band - every one was off on the country of origin - France ?? - California ?? - neither - first jump - down under - Australia - New Zealand - nope - moving south - Chile ?? - not a chance - folks were skeptical it could be Spain - but indeed it was - drank like a rich California Cab - have to get more of this - wonderful -

Rennia - Brunello De Montalcino - Santa Restituta - 1990 - found this on a back shelf - half bottle - shame - as it drank so smoothly - no much fruit left - but full of subtle allure - thank you Chuck for the preview - right on the $$$ -

Chateau La Tour Blanche - Sauternes - 1967 - we had two birthdays this week - Larry thought it would be nice to bring a thoughtful gift - I hope he thinks like this in May when its my turn - coincidentally I had sampled La Tour Blanche 2004 at the Bordeaux tasting the day before - 2004 vs 1967 vs 2004 vs 1967 - its hard to describe how far this jewel had traveled - sooooo if I buy the 2004 ($400 for the 67 - if available - lay it down for 40 years - in perfect storage - open it in 2044 - I’ll be ……… - I think I’ll go to Plan B -

An amazing night of diversity and surprise and wine wealth - think the Chef/friend enjoyed himself - we’ll see if he come back - in the meantime - koodos for the double blind - and all those brown paper backs containing their liquid jewels -

HBH