Mark Sommelier

Any restaurant that can't be bothered to learn about wine who lets a local distributor make and print their list. Any restaurant that can't be bothered to update the list more than twice a year. Any restaurant that thinks vintages are unimportant. Any restaurant where more than half the selections are out of stock.

Bush's Baked Beans: "Roll that beautiful bean footage".

'Self-placing' I think - i.e. Naturally occurring in their habitat. Kind of non-farmed. But I may be wrong. Might be another word for prawn. Oh, you mean like "indigenous"?

badthings said: "autochthonous" I don't know what that means.

I am not worthy. My favorite list in the world is at Taillevent in Paris. The huge quarto sized menu lists menu items on the outside, the winelist covers the entire inside of the fold. The wines are listed not by price, but by vintage. Any winelist that starts with 1811 or 1871 has my respect.

The wine -- an aglianico from Irpinia -- drank well, thank you Where the hell is Irpinia ?

Yes, much of what she says is right. There are plenty of wines that only sell to restaurants. Newton was the first. Now there are lots of them. Most of them are really small, like Littorai.

American vineyardists did not have the benefit of hundreds of years of experience with the soil when grapes were planted in California. If they had, Yountville would be synonomous with Cabernet Sauvignon, Carneros with Pinot Noir and Santa Maria with Chardonnay. If you remember the vineyards in California in the 60's and 70's, it seemed most vineyards included gewurztraminer, colombard, chenin blanc, riesling, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot noir and very little merlot. As long as wineries feel the need to produce multiple varieties of wine, grape variety will remain as important as place name. Today, still, only a handful of wineries are devoted to a single grape variety.

Well... you are a man of taste with a sophisticated palate. Of course you do! It should have vermouth in it. Perhaps I should have said, "the vast majority of gin martinis consumed these days (by Philistines, natch) is straight gin, more or less." Bombay Saphire's not one of my faves, though, but that's for a different thread. I also like Tanq 10 . Old Raj is a bit much for me.

The Chateau de Nozet is one of the most stunning Baroque castles in the area. I believe it is nearby in the town of Pouilly-sur-Loire. It is owned by Baron Patrick de LaDoucette, one of the more well known Pouilly-Fumé producers. The Baron owns vineyards in Sancerre, as well, most notably La Poussie. (I'm not making that up!).

I actually like some vermouth in my Bombay Sapphire martini.

Baumard is good. I just put the 2000 Clos de Papillon on my list. I'm sure the '96 is great now. The close-out price was great, also. Normal wholesale is around $16 a bottle. Sorry the Kistler PN sucked for the dish. Those are hard to come by and very expensive.

Hi and Welcome. On the main page, click "discussion forums", and mark that as a bookmark. Look through the different folders that interest you like the local folder (DC&DelMarVa) and any others. When you read through there, go back to the forum main page and click "Todays Active Topics", this is where you get a flavor for what people are discussing here on a given day. You get exposed to lots of different topic areas. Have fun!

Bill, If you have 9:30 reservations at FL, count on being done somewhere around 1AM. That might cut into the next day....... There are scores of great wineries on Highway 29 , the main route through Napa Valley. Don't plan on seeing more than 2 or 3 - the wine has a way of sneaking up on you. The fees involved are nominal. The larger wineries have the more elaborate tasting rooms and tours. Think Mondavi, Beringer, Opus.

mmmmmmm.........crullers (Homer Simpson voice)

Latour was the sleeper of the '63 vintage, as I recall. I tasted it a few times.

Hey! Wait a minute. I'm an eGulleteer and I work at Citronelle. Sorry I didn't meet you. Glad you enjoyed it. By the way, "Citronelle sauce" is the French word for lemongrass sauce.

SHHHHHH YOU GUYS! This is the last great wine bargain in the world. Don't tell everybody!!!

Stopped into Cashion's last night after not having been there for several years. Happily, I found all my favorite dishes on the menu from my previous visits. We started with lightly battered, perfectly fried oysters. The other app was sauteed sweatbreads with spinach, garlic and pine nuts. Great dish. The middle course was Ms. Cashions spectacular tortellini with Tuscan meat sauce. The depth of this sauce is amazing. Very complex and rich. This was the most comforting plate of the evening. For main course, both of us ordered another Cashion's signature dish, the fritto misto. It is always interesting to see how a chef refines a dish over the course of a few years. In this case, the heaping plate of fried goodies has given way to a beautifully composed bowl with fried shrimp, vegetables, tuna croquette and fresh sardines. Very pretty to look at as well as eat. The last plate we shared was the pork shoulder. This arrives as a nice pile of savory pork with onions and cilantro, tortillas, perfectly cooked rice and crunchy beans with a fiery pico de gallo. Very tasty and fun to eat. An excellent walnut brownie finished us off. The wines were: Chassagne-Montrachet "Les Baudines", Domaine Bernard Morey 2001, Muscat Reserve, Domaine Weinbach 2001 and Domaine Brana Irouleguy 2000. Our server was very engaging and helpful. The place was quite busy on a Sunday night. Eating at Cashion's was like seeing an old friend again.

Nope. I'm done with the clip.

So, what do you want your girlfriend to smell like: cat pee, rotten fruit or mildew?

My friend Henry stopped by the other evening to celebrate his 75th birthday. He asked what I would like him to bring. "Something simple like 1961 Cheval Blanc" says I. Henry has quite an extensive cellar collected over the past 40 years. We started with a 1949 Auxey-Duresses rouge, a simple village wine from Domaine de la Bousseliere. The wine was still going strong. Very mature on the nose, still retaining significant sweetness, this was a great reminder of how pre-'73 scandal wines were made. A surprise for me was that the wine did not take a dive after 15 minutes or so, but kept blossoming. What a great appetizer. I opened and decanted the '61 Cheval Blanc. This is my favorite wine among all. It did not disappoint. In a tasting several years ago of all the First Growths on both banks, the CB kept pace with the Petrus as my all time two favorite wine tasting experiences. The initial sniff of the glass brings to mind the opening of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Quiet power lies there promising great things to come. Re-checked 45 minutes later, it is like seeing an old friend after many years. The bouquet haunts. Exotic spice, sweet fruit, chocolate. Not typical Medoc-like leather and graphite. A seriously long finish rewards me. This is the most harmonious wine I have ever tasted. Henry has a habit of writing purchasing info on the corner of his labels. The Cheval Blanc was purchased in Washington in the mid-60's for $6. ! ! Next came 1928 Cos D'Estournel. This was a chateau bottling recently released, not the expected Nicolas or Berry Bros. bottlings so commonly seen. The wine had been recorked, as well. Light in color, the bouquet was the most unusual I have encountered. Sweet parrafin, almost like crayons pervaded. This was the third wine of this vintage I have tasted, and the best. Not youthful, but long from dead, the fruit stood up strong. I cannot find words to describe the complexity on the palate. The surprise for dessert was a 1908 Rayne-Vignaud Sauternes. Very dark amber. It certainly showed its age. Wines of this age have sherry like components. Oxidation is definitely part of it, but the wine was really interesting in the glass, changing on cue every 5 minutes. Such a treat. Life is tough.

Dick, First, Frau Müller would correct you as she did me; the famous Doctor vineyard is spelled for some reason with a "c". I tasted her magnificent 2002's with her. This is a vintage every bit as deserving praise as '01. I bought many cases of these wines, both the Bernkastelers and some Doctor TBA and Eiswein. You should also look at my friend Terry Thiese's book. Aside from the trophy wines like Christoffel and Dönhoff and Muller-Catoir, he has some very fine producers like Merkelbach for Urziger-Wurzgarten and Kerpen for Wehlenner-Sonnenuhr. These are easier to get.

I am currently pouring Erbacher Marcobrunn Kabinett 2001 by the glass in our restaurant. Very tasty stuff. Schloss Vollrads has not been the same since Count Erwin committed suicide several years ago. One importer, Winesellers Inc. is located in Skokie, Dick. They have Dr. Thanisch. You should check these wines out. They make the famous Bernkasteler Doctor wines. I tasted them recently with Barbara Rundquist-Muller, whose family owns the winery. They are super delicious.

I went to a party last week that had cheap wine, beer and sodas. The cheap "chardonnay" and 7-Up were quite refreshing together. 2/3 wine, 1/3 pop. As far as what the article says, I best liked the quote "Marketing is about lies".