Beachfan

I had the 89 and 90 this weekend, I would certainly say the 1990 is worth drinking. Not the same class, but very nice. I also like the 1994 and am glad no one else does. I picked up several 375mls and they are drinking very well now.

The Opus Vintages to care about are 94 and 96. 97 was very disappointing, a surprise for the vintage. I echo Charles comments on the Beaucastel.

It must be to eat with me, since I've had three perfect meals out of three visits.

Nice post. I haven't had much of the recent releases. I'll list some memorable wines; not necessarily the best (which were usually older wines). One I did love is the 2000 Jannasse Cote du Rhone Village, an outstanding QPR, very tasty in it's own right. I also tasted the 2000 Jannasse CDP, which was great, but it was only a small taste; my bottles are still in the cellar. The Turly Old Vines 2000 also was a great QPR, I think I got mine at $20 or $25. Oh, how could I forget the 1999 La Fleur de Confiance Rasteau from Soumade. And given the price, I'd put the regular Confiance there too (thanks to Steve P for the Soumade tip). It's no longer the current release but 1999 Etude Pinot Gris was a very nice 90 point wine for under $20 retail, great with food. I ordered it several times at restaurants, sometimes in half bottles. Ogier's regular Cote Rotie was delicious, and the tasting at the winery was very memorable. His La Belle Helene might be my wine of the year (i.e. current release that I've tasted). Stunning! The other killer new release was Chapoutier's Cote Rotie Morderee 1999. Wow! Better than his more highly rated Ermitage Le Pavillion. I also found true in the whites, preferring the Ermitage le Meal to the Ermitage l'Ermite (which was a 100 point wine). That tasting at the winery was my luckiest one ever, to find so many top bottles being poured (a wine writer had been there earlier in the day). I liked the 2000 Martinelli Bondi Home Reserve Pinot a lot. It's not as deep as there regular reserve, but I like the clear fruit notes.

Sierra Nevada, I don't care for Anchor steam

I understand Riedel is coming out with a Manischevitz glass. Look for it on Amazon just before Passover.

Kudos for the graphics!

I wasn't confusing the two, but I didn't express myself clearly. Amarone is indeed fermented dry (or close to it), but most people will still taste some residual sweetness to it (anyone know the residual sugar levels?). Raisiny or pruney are common descriptors for the wine. It is definitely not a desert wine though.

Actually, Quintarelli is in a price range under Dal Forno, but well above the others. Wine-searcher lists some hefty triple digit prices. I haven't had either the dal Forno or Quintarelli, but the Allegrini was in the $35 range until a few years ago, now, I get it at about $50. Very fine stuff.

Hmm, too bad. I've eaten there three times and been absolutely wowed.

Valpolicella is an area in the Veneto. I first had Amarone (by Allegrini) in Venice, and I loved it. Interestingly enough, the price of the same bottle varied dramatically in restaurants of similar quality. This was several years ago, but it went anywhere between $25 and $60. The $25 was a bargain, since when I hunted it locally at retail, it was more than that. The major grapes that go into Amarone are Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara (ok, I looked it up, I never heard of Molinara before). The key is that they are dried on timber racks after harvesting. The raisin like grapes are then fermented after a few months of drying. To me, Amarone is port like, because of it's sweetness, fruit core, and chewiness. It often ages extremely well. Allegrini is a great producer of Amarone del Valpolicella. Other names include Dalforno, Quintarelli and Masi. 1996 and 1997 were great years. The 1990 is drinking well now, and the 1993s, which seemed a little lighter than 1990, are also drinking well.

I tried Norman's last night. I wasn't too hungry, so I add two apps and some sorbet. I was somewhat dissapointed with the first appetizer, Yucca stuffed shrimp with sour orange mojo, torn greens and habenero tartar salsa. Not much sour orange mojo flavor, it was really glorified fried shrimp. I was steered towards this by the waiter (away from scallop spring rolls). If I knew the shrimp were fried, I wouldn't have ordered it (I should have asked I guessed). The tartar sauce was excellent. The next appetizer was the Carribean fois gras with a griddle brioch, passion fruit caramel. This was absolutely outstanding. So good that I forget to ask whether the blini was what is called the french toast (or was it left on the plate). A real winner. For desert I got pineapple sorbet, exotic fruit sorbet (mostly passion fruite) and lime ice cream. They were very good; the lime ice cream was like the flavor of the best key lime pie. The wines by the glass were surprisingly good. While I was initially disappointed with the list, it turned out much much better than expected. I had a very pleasant 2000 Pinot Gris by Kuntz-Bas, Norman's Kabinett Riesling (by Von Buhl) and a lovely Beaume de Venise (forgot the name, sorry). The waiter made up for the problem with the first app by giving me a half glass of the Riesling and of the Beaume de Veinise when I couldn't make up my mind which I wanted with the Fois Gras. (The Riesling was a great a palate cleanser). While the wine list had a lot of cherries, I didn't find it balanced. Very few offerings around $50. However, the ones they had went very well with the food. The cheese course looks very tempting. Overall, it was a very pleasant light meal. I hope to go back and do a more serious tasting.

Great post. There's nothing quite like one's first meal there. It's a style of fusion that is both unique to Hawaii and taken to higher heights than anywhere else. Real mind blowing delicious.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of appreciation. Now I can sleep better, knowing that I'm not missing the best meal ever. I'll keep my domestic strategy the same - save my money for NY (and a little for SF.)

I thought I got the point, and I thought others did as well. But if you think we didn't, this last post would not be considered clarifying. You might want to restate it.

I had some cheap good (in context) Uruguayan wine when I was there a few years ago. I remember thinking "Now thats what a $2 bottle should taste like!" But it wasnt worth schlepping to Argentina, let alone the US. It wasnt as good as basic Argentine wine.

I think its wine-searcher.com i.e., with a hyphen

Yumm!! They are a nice spot to get one's truffle jones attended to, aren't they?

It's true, but the mold is on cheese that should be moldy. It usually isn't green, at least not the bright green that american cheese gets.

Many thanks for the barrel o' tasting notes

Here's the link to egullet's main thread on the subject: BYO egullet thread Here's the link to a couple of LA Times articles from yesterday BYO LA Times The gist of the article is that Fat-Guy was pretty right on regarding how restauranteurs feel. And that we Californians, who have been treated very very nicely when we want to bring our own, may no longer be treated that way. It also talks to BYOers, and even Manfred Krankel (winemaker extraordinaire and former GM of Camponile) to get the other side. Manfred is a big proponent of BYO (but then again, he is the "former" GM). While I still feel my reasons are valid (I'm a collector and want a place to drink my wine with good food), I am no longer under the illusion that the warm welcome I get implies happiness on the part of the restauranteur. The only error I found was that it labeled $20-$25 corkage fee as high. Personally, I find it very reasonable, and have accepted Jean Georges $75. (I'm just looking for mutually acceptable, affordable options).

Try a phone call. That's how I got it from a couple of restaurants, including Fifth Floor.

All I can think of is call them and see if they can email you a version. Some restaurants have them in pdf format (you'll need Adobe Acrobat software I think).

Hmmm, since I haven't gotten mine yet, I'll see if they give me a credit. Especially since some other boards report long delays.

I thought it was pronounced "riddle".