Mark Sommelier

Interesting choice of words FG. Yeah, I noticed that too.

Yeah, you need to wait for Michel to put the chestnut soup with pureed foie gras back on the menu.

That is interesting Mark. I tasted the 1994 and it lacked complexity and character and was heading down. I tried several bottles. Do you think 1996 is worth a try ? Yes, the '96 is quite a good bottle of wine. Deep in color, quite complex.

Tom has a book coming out soon that will include 175 restaurants with his reviews and stars, I hear.

Check Michael Broadbent's Great Vintage Wine Book. His tasting notes go back to vintages in the late 18th century. I checked the vintage charts on eRobertParker and they only go back to 1970. '62 was in general a lousy year in Bordeaux with several small exceptions.

The famous Sauternes vintage from the 60's was 1967. I serve 1996 Ch. Guiraud in the restaurant. It is a first class wine. I got to taste a 1908 Rayne-Vignaud last night. Very, very interesting.

I had an absolutely awesome dinner at Sushi-Ko last week orchestrated by Allan, the manager. We finished with the quick grilled toro, which was incredibly good. The shrimp tempura and miso with lobster were also standouts, along with the beautiful assortment of sushi and nagiri we were served.

Most interesting are the places that were not reviewed or given stars: Marcel's, Gerard's Place, Prime Rib, Tosca, to name just the most obvious ones.

Dr. Vengroff queried: "But it's best after 2am, no? " Yes, best after 2AM with Spanish chef in charge.

Give New Big Wong a try. Notice all the fish tanks when you walk in. The last time we went there they had live: razor clams, shrimp, dungeness crabs, lobsters and bass. The XO sauce rocked. I had the best fried rice of my life there, the "special" fried rice with scallops and lobster.

Jay, The reds have not been bottled yet, as far as I know. All the things I've heard are that they will be spectacular. Maranges is one of the newer appellations in Burgundy and has not really yet got its own following. Girardin's Maranges in the past have been quite tasty, and good bargains, too.

Zach, Welcome to eGullet! If you are going to Las Vegas, you absolutely MUST have some drinks at Kahunaville in the Treasure Island hotel. These guys are all "extreme" bartenders. You will not believe the showmanship that goes into the making of every drink. Throughout the night they stop the service for 10 minutes and have bartender contests. I saw one guy stack 16 shaker cups, tilt it and pour 16 drinks all at once. It was absolutely amazing. What they do makes the movie Cocktail look like kindergarten. For a little preview check out: http://www.kahunaville.com http://www.extremebartending.com

ctgm wrote: "I hear that there are still plenty of stocks of the 2001 vintage around, due to cancelled orders from the US as they decided to hang out for the 2002. Therefore if you want large quantities of the '02 it is more than likely that you will have to take some '01! Not sure if this it true but...." ctgm, I avoided buying reds from 2001 altogether, primarily because there is still so much '96-'99 around. I think many of the whites from '01 are what I call a great classic vintage. Of the smaller producers I have grown to admire, Borgeot and Maillard made stunning Meursaults and Chassagnes. The 2002's, IMO, are a stunning, great vintage. I will be buying them in great quantities as the quality of '03 is anybody's guess at this time. I was told that they lack acidity and will be useful for early drinking, not long term aging.

Carolyn, You hit the nail on the head.

I aspire to be the sommelier for Crate & Barrel

Monica, it looks interesting. I must tell you, though, Roanoke is 4-5 hours away from DC.

I had the opportunity to sit down and taste the whole range of Vincent Girardin's stunning 2002 white Burgundies yesterday. All I can say is that everything you have heard about 2002 in Burgundy is true. We started with a gorgeous, fat Rully 1er Cru "Les Clous". Tasted blind, this would easily pass for Meursault or Puligny. Nice toast, huge body, honey. Tasting this, I knew we would be in for a treat. Next up, a new offering from Girardin, Puligny-Montrachet "Vielles Vignes". Thick and viscous, this was a crowd pleaser. Personal favorites from the line-up, Meursault-Charmes, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru "Morgeot" Domaine Vincent Girardin, and the out of this world Corton-Charlemagne. I actually preferred the Corton-Charlemagne to the Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet, although only by a small margin. The C-C had huge body, great balance, perfect acidity, beautiful toast on the nose, length. I would rate it in the high 90's. The most amazing part was the price: less money than many top end California chards. This is a wine for the ages. These wines will begin to show up in stores and restaurants in mid November. Taste one, and you will buy a case or more.

Ah, for the good old days! The menu at Taillevent is gigantic. Its way cool.

I am currently trying to arrange the double blind tests with a friend of mine who is not only a world famous microbiologist, but a well known winemaker as well. I'll let everyone know what happens.

Bravo, Sammy!!

Rosé d'Anjou is sweet, Rosé de Tavel is dry. Bandol Rosé, Sancerre Rosé and Rosé de Provence are dry, too.

Wow, great post, Dick. Is it then possible to draw conclusions about TWC merely by tasting? How does or can science measure pleasure and taste among different people?

Great quote, Gracchus. Terry is a close personal friend of mine. I look forward each year to his new catalogues of his German, Austrian and Champagne estates because they are full of such interesting and hysterical musings, anecdotes and outright bad jokes. The poor man recently suffered through a guest appearance on Mark Squire's bulletin board. I don't think he'll ever be the same........

Yikes, Deb! 8 oz. is a third of a bottle. What do you charge for that? One glass like that is plenty. Most places pour 4-5 oz glasses to get 5 glasses from a bottle. At my place, I pour 6 oz to get 4 glasses from a bottle. The half glass, or tasting pour works like this: instead of giving one 6 oz. glass of wine, you can let people taste 3 2oz. pours of different things. This is called a "flight". Typically, you would offer 3 tastes of 3 different chardonnays, pinot noirs or cabernets for comparison, and charge what one glass, or slightly more, would cost. You need a lot of glassware to do this, though.

Doesn't Gallo (or somebody else) have a similar deal with Wal-Mart for their private label?