Robert Nesta Marley
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Posts posted by Robert Nesta Marley
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i believe you're correct.
indeed, brander's forte is SB, since the, what, late 70s, no? they've served as an early benchmark for a pretty long time, before santa barbara wines were cool.
it's not only the Nicholas that sees wood now, though; although most of their cuvees don't.
in new york they're distributed by domaine select estates now if you're ITB. more cool peoples.
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this week i found myself at both prune and the tasting room within three days of each other. what incredibly different experiences--aside from the service, as we were guests of staff at both establishments, for all sense of purposes.
i'd much rather have a table at the TR. and they're not that difficult to come by, relatively speaking. we were way too crowded at prune--clearly not there to be *seen*, which is the only reason i might see actually not minding the setup there. unless you're really used to eating in paris, where there's no space between tables, generally speaking. needless to say, we couldn't get much work done there.
the food at the TN has so much more finesse & style. such a delightfully *incongruous* way about it in this regard, as the wine list is all american....
not that there aren't esoteric productions on the list, which there are. and the wine service is impeccable, with the proprietor available if you so choose to solicit his assistance. one byo, one buy off the list is the policy. very generous.creamed chestnuts at prune were of a displeasing consistency. oatmeal-like, and milky; without a contrast in flavors.......?
i don't get them.
i'll reread plots & others posts if i have time.
also, it's april, though.
but the braised escarole (suvir's *bitter greens*, that brit) was also medium-poor. imbalanced, with way way, way to large of a *pinch* of nutmeg, which made them bitter. and underseasoned at that.
breaded sweetbreads could've been an entree, i swear. too heavy. moist, i'll have you, but it just left my date full after a gifted app & before an entree.
oh, but they do have foreau vouvray for $33 there. delicious. lots of non-u.s. wines, as a matter of fact (relatively speaking, i guess).
rabbit legs in a butter-laden broth. is it april?
although he did have a whole branzino. that was nice & refreshing.
tasing room rocked. just outstanding, everything on the list (we had chef's menus). just to get back to the point of this thread & post.
anyone go to WD50 soft opening this week?
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the sparkler from yarden is very, very, very good. it's on the list at AZ, or was about three months ago.
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Landeyran Saint Chinian Grains de Passion 2000: $35.95 cdn
Medium deep red tones. Cherry and dark berry notes along with bright floral characteristics on the nose.
Palate mimics the nose with a bit more fruit and a nice balance of acid and tannin.
Gres Saint Paul Coteaux-du-Languedoc Antonin 1999: $29.95 cdn
Rich red tones from the middle of the glass to the rim. Rich cherry fruit, garrique, deep earthy aromas but not dominating.
Big mouthfull of cherry and raspberry. Fruit is well contained with a firm balance of acid and tannin.
Puech-Haut Coteaux du Languedoc Saint-Drezery Tete de Cuvee $53.95 cdn
Sweet red fruit on the nose along with the smell of damp dry grass in the field. Not funky corked but sweet wet straw.
Black currants, blackberry compote(cooked berries), eucalyptus, anis on the palate. Medium acid with firm tannins.
After one hour of the bottle being openned rendered more fruit on palate and more relaxed tannin.
Marquise des Mures Saint Chinian Vielles Vignes (old vines) $27.99 cdn
Cherries, strawberries and floral notes on the nose. Violets, rose petals.
Palate mimics the nose with cherry flavours mingling with floral notes held in check with a medium dose of acid and tannin. Good long length with a smack of eucalpytus on the finish.
Soft, smooth wine with a good concentration of fruit.
That's it for now.
wow. you paid a lot of money for those wines. i've been really curious about puech-haut, though; thanks.
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Camembert with Vouvray? Salty Blue sheeps milk cheese with old Olorosso?
What about a crowd pleasing triple cream (St. Andre is standard level no?) with Moscato di Asti? No sophisticated enough? I'm quite interested in the idea of pairing Munster with an Alsacian Pinot gris, but I'm not sure if this would work?
i like a vouvray demi-sec with petillance paired with camembert for the same reasons i like sparkling cider. and of course champagne is classic with camembert. what you may be looking for is acidity to lift the cream. but again, the quality of the cheese is key.
don't worry about finding "old" oloroso. i recently spent $40 on a bottle of "very rare" oloroso from "older" soleras because i needed it at the last minute. i should've done some homework but i needed it in a pinch.
go with lustau, just seek out single estate productions from the almenecista line. generally speaking, i'd go for the weight of an oloroso over an amontillado for cheese.
st. andres are usually commercial productions, across the board. at least sample some pierre robert for your audience if they're beginners. but, yes, moscato d'asti is back in. screw "sophistication". coppo's moncalvina is fairly easy to find, but their petillance levels have been really inconsistent lately, so taste before you buy to be sure the bubbles aren't too huge, etc.
meunster, well....it depends what shape it's in, no? but i'd go with the richness (& residual sugar, again) of zind-humbrecht's cuvee laurence gewurztraminer more so than a pinot gris.
what about loire chenin blanc here? dry. i think i might want to play around with this idea. anyone?
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What about triple cremes and red wine? Don't you all love the contrast?
why drink corbieres with triple cremes when you can have climens
????what about royal tokaji & cheese? experiences anyone would like to share?
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I'm not entirely convinced by your reasoning. In the UK, where cheese was served after dinner, it was traditionally served with a glass of port. Over the last ten or twenty years, there has been a move away from that tradition and towards red wine - a good thing, I would say. In France, I guess wine is usually drunk throughout most meals; cheese follows the entree, indeed, but I should have thought the French - with wine of all kinds readily available - would have rejected the red wine option if they hadn't liked it. I mean, it's not as if French families were forced to drink red wine with the cheese because they didn't have any white knocking around. Customs and opportunities vary from country to country. I'm certainly not going to roll over and concede that such a common and enduring practice as matching cheese and red wine has stood unchallenged just because there's usually a drop of red on the table.
But I'm keen to get down to specific examples. What nasty pairings particularly stick in your mind? I have a feeling we are approaching this from very different perspectives, as I find red wine with Brie, Camembert, Livarot - and so on - perfectly acceptable (as does the population of Normandy), unless the cheese has a pronounced ammoniac character (indicative of over-ripeness).
wilfrid,
you don't find sweeter bleus tasting metallic with dry reds?
bobbie.
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I don't know if this would fit within the guidelines of your competition, but some of the artisanal ciders coming out of the Northeast U.S. (Hudson Valley Cider is one, and I had a great one from New Hampshire at CraftBar the other night but the name escapes me) make a tremendous match with serious cheddar (something from New England if you want to add a regional element to the pairing, or something from Neal's Yard if you don't).
Sounds like fun!
eric bordelet's sparkling ciders are much more intriguing (they're bottled under the chateau de hauteville label). he does pear & apple ciders in normandy. besides, the last time i checked, she stopped making hudson valley cider, unfortunately.
anyway, his ciders pair famously with bleus like old chatham's ewe's blue, that blue made in hubbardstown, MA that i always forget (of course there's only one & everyone will know what it is
). but others like bleu d'auvergne with lower salinity & a higher butterfat composition will be outstanding with his productions.one of my all time favorite meals is a lustau oloroso or domecq palo cortado (yes, they are wines & might win you smart points) with a sufficiently ripe, buttery, nutty brebis from the basque. take your pick. membrillo or unsulphured dried fruit if you wish.
that's living.
good luck.
p.s. dry white wine is always better than dry red wine with cheese. i don't care; i'm pulling a plotnicki on this one.
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the new wine director there is very knowledgeable & well-traveled, with great passion for his work. so even if you're completely unfamiliar with greek wine, he's likely to steer you in a direction you're interested in going. just tell him what you usually drink.
yes, everyone should go now. before the hoards.
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Will Rose d'Anjou ever be cool? What about some of the new English wines?
rose d'anjou is cool again. montlouis major cool points. lambrusco in again as well if you talk to the right people. so is moscato d'asti. and don't get me started on moscato d'asti rosso. aah.
but, as always, it's all about the right producer, especially in overlooked and/or overcropped regions. as evidenced, of course, by the gambero rosso this week.......
and by the plethora of franciacortas at their tasting this week, seriously. wow.
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i don't expect much from that wednesday section anymore these days. a shame.
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It troubles me that such a complex, amazing taste experience like beer can be relegated to its present status: a beverage one drinks on the couch while watching football. The reason this troubles me is because a far less complex drink like wine is held with such esteem by western culture. Just take a look at how popular this wine forum is. Now run over to the beer forum... you'll notice a discussion on how to remove a bottle cap with a cigarette lighter. Beer deserves a place if not above wine, then along side it. Allow me to explain:
A wine's flavor is affected by the grape, the yeast, the fermenting vessel, it's age, etc.
Beer's flavor is affected by the barley, how much the barley is roasted, any other grains that can be used (wheat, rye, etc.), the hops, the yeast (top fermenting for ale, bottom for lager, or naturally occuring yeasts for a lambic), the water, the fermenting vessel, etc.
In both cases I'm oversimplifying, but simple mathematics tells us beer (with 4 ingredients at its most basic) is more complex than wine (with only 2 ingredients).
Do more ingredients make beer better? Not always, but it does make it a beverage worthy of lengthy disscussions. The reason I put this thread here is because I'm hoping some wine drinkers will give quality beer a chance and join us in the beer forum. Thanks.
did you have a bad day? or did one of us push you on the playground?
who *relegated* beer to monday night football? the media? than don't watch tv--this is "america"; be proactive & run a beer campaign or something.
and comments like "a far less complex drink like wine" won't win you any points here. you'd be lucky to even see much discussion on this thread, but i could be wrong.
lambics like cantillon are wine-y to the max. i suppose you don't see the complexity in their geuze?
so you're on the beer board often? that's good to know.
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Three wines
in Wine
Craig, don't concede so quickly. Steve wants a run for his money.
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I personally wouldn't go this far back with Dujac, as a general rule. Either clos de la roche or village morey and certainly not chambolle. too feminine altogether. i've never had the clos st denis.
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estufarian! right on, brother! it would've been so apropos if this madeira thread would've been your first post, no?
one of the best sources on madeira is michael broadbent's brother (i think it's his brother). i apologize for not being able to recall his name right now. is he at the rare wine co.?
bobbie.
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Craig, could you provide more information or a link for the *Ambition Plan 2006* you're talking about? You seem to be touching on some careful things with regards to it. I'm sorry I missed the tasting in nyc; all the negociants turned me off.
Claude: yum. 1985s. ummm. there are quite a few of them in the aution markets these days, too. check the internet-only auctions out there, especially as the weather gets warmer: i'd think people would rather be out of the house than glued to the computer on the weekends.
I've decided that Lefarge is too expensive as per its QPR, in my opinion.
Bobby.
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1) Sorry to hear beachfan's thoughts - I actually loved the 2002 vintage in SB. I really think that it has more to do with the timing of the tasting than anything. Most wines are very awkward at this time; either just having finished ML or, worse, in the middle of it. The oak (if any) hasn't had time to really become integrated into the wine, and tannin levels can be very high due to youth. My guess is that if he attends the next tasting in April, the wines will show better, and if he goes out on a limb and buys some 2002 wines when they hit the market, he'll be pleasantly surprised. At least he liked my wines.
2) They are available at the Tasting Room (please see www.kuninwines.com for other outlets around the US).
3) Paterno didn't buy Sanford outright, just became a partner. And Bruno is definitely in it for the long haul - he's a partner as well in their new Riconada project. And crazy as ever.
zinfan,
welcome--whether you're seth or someone who works with him.
i do like westerly for the money. namely the sauvignon blanc. and this cab franc blend is fun for santa barbara cab franc. i think it's called the W or something.
is anyone going to the pinot fest in SB this weekend?
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I would have said an old French Viognier,
lissome, how old can you take your french viognier? i wouldn't drink dry condrieu more than three vintages old, arguments with regards to the ageability of grillet nonwithstanding (which i refuse to participate in for socio-political reasons
). or do you just like the angular way it gets as it loses its fruit?? -
This all being said, I think Chave Hermitage is pretty much a sure-fire gift for a wine-lover. Its kind of like getting TIVO for a guy.
thanks for reminding me, marty!.....
(SFJoe, i'll get you the muscadet if you get me a TIVO.
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i've defended josh jensen pinot enough here to add another dimension to my expressed opinion, since due to those comments certain people here think i like all west coast pinot. in fact, someone thinks i like it so much that he gave me a bottle of '91 jensen vineyard in january.
i opened it tonight. yes, great vintage for cabernets, hot as it was. maybe that's why he gave me this bottle of '91 pinot , presumably from his private collection?
this was so hot, i truly thought of little more than martinelli for the first few minutes, and those tastings where you "get" to taste all 38 vineyards & then don't remember what happened afterwards. miniscus bricking quarter of an inch or so. nice lighter garnet color. unfiltered, non-brilliant, etc.
oh, but there's that plastic-y way about the nose that i hate because i don't know what it's about. "plastic-y"? opinions on this? what's going on? it seems i get it in a lot of NW pinot, but i haven't done work on it. entire aromatic profile not immediately apparent initially, but there is quite a bit of, say, cherry ludens....okay, fine. ripe, hot, so i immediately start slicing baguette, proscuitto, & petite basque in anticipation.
the alcohol was nearly assaultive. funny how i almost let the heat disguise itself as black pepper or, say allspice. admittedly, i wanted to like it. but this was pretty imbalanced, with the alcohol lingering a bit long and deep on the finish, obscuring some of the fruit.
after about an hour figs start to show. and this distinct nuttiness that, combined with the figginess, really reminds me of pedro ximenez. this is not a great showing for josh jensen. i'll take '97 mills over this, gladly. so i amend my previous comments, perhaps generalized in favor of aging his wines (my purpose of this note).
this should go now. note i wouldn't enjoy it with mushrooms or a truffled cheese. acidity still persists, though.
of course you can always give it away if you're ridding yourself of all your NW wines.
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it's all about DeLille, darling.
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Dlc - Wine is organic. Try to imagine that it is still growing and evolving in the bottle.
i don't know; there's a lot of dead wine out there.
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The sinister Blue Vinny demands nothing less than a pint of scrumpy ...
a "pint of scrumpy".....
sounds, well, like the perfect accompaniment for the "sinister Blue Vinny"..... 
um, point me to them. ( )
TDG: The D.O.C.G. Disaster
in Wine
Posted · Edited by Robert Nesta Marley (log)
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