tjaehnigen

I've done restaurant week almost every time I go. Most times, I stick to the set usually mor elimited choice of the menu but it's all really pretty good. Tosca was a lot of fun. We're planning on hitting somewhere new this time. Anyone know if Chef Geoff's is participating?

The 2000 Numanthia Toro being one of those exceptional Spanish wines....

Silver Queen Corn, preferably right off the stalk, husk it on the way back to the kitchen to be thrown instantly into a boilin gpot of water and consumed immediately. fresh local strawberries and blueberries and raspberries super fresh still warm from the sun peppers from the garden

that is really cheap considering Lobel's prices (and Morrell's). Wow.

June 2002 52% merlot 34% cab fr 8% cab 6% petit verdot Smooth tannins Nose that drops back to your throat and tongue. Violets? Nice legs Medium to full body color Smooth velvety silky Some meatiness Vanilla/oak later (30 min) Nice finish Polished and drinkable $40 in restaurant I liked it pretty much, as I went out and bout 3 more bottles at $20 each. TJ rating maybe 89/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/23/03 had this again tonight. This time with pan roasted chicken served with mashed potatoes and a shallots, cognac, wine and mustard sauce. Delicios. The bottle has been open now for about 4 hours or so. This does not have the immense nose that I remembered it having, EXCEPT when it's first opened and say for 15-20 minutes after that. Since I splash decanted this after popping the cork maybe 30 minutes prior, I stuck my head into the pitcher I used to decant it (no need for the fancy decanters with just Mrs. TJ and I). Man, it is one powerful nose that filters its way all the way down into your lungs. Quite impressive. The wine is a bit darker than I remember it now, too. Rich and somewhat decadent. Hints of syrupiness (just hints) if you drink it on its own (as I am doing now) but delicious tastes of fresh currants and blackberries along with more floral traces that seem to keep it lighter, overall. The tannins are smooth and hold it all together quite well. The finish is quite long and nice. I stick by my 89 from when I first had this last June.

3/2/03 Had this at a Shiraz tasting we hosted. I know it's only 15% Shiraz, the person ho brought it forgot about the 'majority Shiraz/Syrah' requirement. $20 Opened about 30 minutes prior to concuming, not decanted. This wine smelled of cranberries and sour cherries. Nice medium color with thick juicy legs. More darker fruits in the mouth followed by flint, pepper and some woodsy characteristics. A somewhat abrupt finish. 84 TJ points

3/2/03 This was served at a Shiraz/Syrah tasting we hosted. This wine was opened for abpout 75 minutes prior to consuming but was not decanted. This wine cost about $15. The nose on this medium to medium dark red wine made you think it was not really a Shiraz at all. I thought to myself that this might be a blend (it was tasted blind) of some sort, perhaps with cabernet franc??? ANyway, I got a faint floral sense on the subdued violet nose. It spoke of things to come. This wine was really well integrated and was very smooth. Currants, black raspberry, vanilla and some lingering floral notes made themselves evident on tasting this. Nice medium long finish. At $15, this wine is a bargain. I honestly would not have expected this from this producer. 90+ TJ points

Here is a link to one option. Another suggested possibility is Horse Ridge Wine Cellars in CT , suggested by someone over on VC.

I used to collect the labels too, but decided it was easier to post WTNs instead. Helps me remember the wine even more clearly.

Not having read this entire many-posted thread, I thought I'd throw this in... In Montgomery County MD, they had passed a law a few years back where the 'dining room' of a restaurant needed to be kept separated from the 'bar' section of the restaurant, physically speaking, so that the smoke would only stay in one place (never required separate ventilation systems, though). This seemed to be a great compromise. Recently, the same county enacted a new law that eliminates this, effectively requiring the elimination of all smoking is restaurants/bars. This is crazy, since Washington DC is literally just a hop skip and a jump away. And, being the seat of the US govt, I doubt that a smoking ban of this sort will ever be passed. Way too many international (important international) folks dine in DC for that to ever happen.

If NY or, to a lesser extent, NJ or CT, falls and starts allowing direct wine shipments, all bets are off.

I'd love to see them, whenever it's possible. For now, I am posting only a few at a time so folks can 'digest' them without hiccupping. Heh heh

I posted your request on another wine forum to see if the folks over there know of anyplace that can help you. Many live in the NY metro area. I'll report back with any suggestions...

Spartikus, that stinks that they make you take the whole thing over. They don't even make you do that for the CPA exam of the Bar. Sheesh.

Whatever we served at our reeption was also consumed, in leftover fashion, back at my folks' place during the after party. The first honeymoon night was our first (massively jetlagged) night in Oahu and we ate at a Benihana. But, the star food of the evening was watching my wife's eyes light up as she tasted her very first Hawaiian pineapple (you west coasters are lucky bastards, on the east coast all we get is costa rican blechy pineapples). We woke up at 3AM and killed a whole bottle of champagne between us. Heh heh

Vacuums -- Oreck. Light and powerful and good. Clean-up-- Get the food in the fridge, clear everything into the Kitchen at least, dump any garbage-y stuff and toss garbage bag into 'collector' garbage bag in the garage, toss linens into laundry room, go to bed. Clean everything the next day in similar fashion as detailed by others above. Refrigerator inventory???

3/2/03 This wine was tasted blind at a Shiraz/Syrah tasting we hosted. It was opened about 2 hours prior to consuming but was not decanted. This wine cost about $10. This wine smelled a bit thin, if that is possible, with traces of acetone but quickly followed by macerated cherries. Faint and sparse thin legs were there, too. medium to light dark color. Around the ring a bit translucent. Upon tasting I sensed some pretty basic dark fruits, cherries, vanilla, and other simple fruit tastes. The acids in this wine were not properly balanced. Finish on the shorter side. Certainly drinkable. 84 TJ points

3/25/03 I can't remember, but I think this as fairly inexpensive. Maybe $13? Tastes out of Riedel Chardonnay stems. Really light color. This wine has a super nose that has stayed with it for like 4 hours+. It's full of pear blossoms & pear mash along with some toast and chalk. All of this follows the wine into your mouth. Nicely balanced and put together. Decent finish. I liked it so much before dinner that I did not drink it with dinner but only before and after since I chose it not for the pairing, but rather wanting something light and cool. Worth 87-88 TJ points, surprisingly so.

3/25/03 We had a 1999 Hess Select Cab last night. It was only OK. But you know what, I enjoyed it. I think I really enjoyed it since it's been about three weeks or so since I last had some vino. I'd splash decanted it and we started drinking it about 15 minutes later. Drank out of Spiegelau Bordeaux stems. Thin wispy, runny legs and medium to light-dark color. The nose was really quite nice -- really deep forest flowers & warm mixed fruit jelly -- but this blew off about 10 minutes later (sadly). It was a little thin for my tastes and lacked the polish I look for in a cab. Decent enough varied fruits, mostly dominated by simple currants and blackberries. Finish was a little shorter than I'd originally hoped for, but what I came to expect as I tasted the wine. I'd bought this to fill out a case last summer while at the beach, I believe. I'd rate this a solid 82-3 points. It's a good wine, but there is nothing special. Had the nose stayed longer or had the finish been better or had it been a little more mouth-coating, I'd have rated it into the next bracket (85-89 range). I think I paid like $15-20 for this, but I am really not sure.

Here is a link to a great post over on WS' forums about Tokajis in general (and specific!!)

I have heard the stuff from Oremus is great. I picked up a bottle of 1981 5 or 6 puttonyos recently and am awaiting an appropriate moment to pop it.

hotle-- I agree, it's a decent pizza wine. For me, though, I won't be buying more of this due to the bottle variation. It's worse, IMO, than the Marquis-Phillips bottle variation. By the way, keep posting WTNs. We like em all. Good for discussion. Besides, seeing who you agree with and disagree with tends to let you figure out what other person's palate you align with. This is especially helpful when you are making your shopping list for the wine shop!!

Correct, hotle, indeed.

It was good, but I think it might benefit from a bit more time in the bottle. Others at this dinner enjoyed it more than I did. It was a little tough for me to properly judge this one as it was like wine #9 or 10 of the evening ...

MS, that dish sounds great. Is it on the 'super secret menu' that most restaurants have? I wish I had remembered about RW, we're heading to Palena next week for our inaugural dining experience there....