tjaehnigen

The desserts were not so good, huh? I though, what is her name, Ann Americk, was the pastry chef and that the desserts were supposed to be great... Man I hope it was just an off night.

3/29/03 TJ Rating = 91 This was the second wine at VC Rocks at Equinox on 3/29/03. It was served with the scallops first course and paired superbly with it. Pale gold color with a nose of melons & nectarines. Nice acidity and wonderful balance. The same tastes on the nose followed upon consuming and spread out with some creamy butter hints interspersed with flint. A really good finish but faintly thin. Quite nice.

3/29/03 TJ Rating 90 The 2nd white served at the VC Rocks at Equinox event on 3/29/03. Paired nicely with the red snapper course. Very light gold color. Bitter lemon and lemon-butter nose and tastes. A little viscous. Some cream senses and the barest of hints of something I can't really think of the word, but sandalwood comes close. Decent finish.

1/25/03 Brought this as a BYOW to a dinner at Tosca in Washington DC tonight. This was one of the two bottles Mrs. TJ and I hauled back as the freebies from the 6/15 NY WS Forum Event that Board-o set up. Opened it at 6, did not decant. First consumed about an hour later and drank over the next hour or so. Served in what appeared to be Bordeaux Spiegelau stems, nice. This was pretty tight, what with me not having opened/decanted it prior to consuming. It was in my glass for about 15 minutes before I really dug into it. It took most of that first hour to really open up, but here are my notes for what it is worth... On the nose and to an extent in the mouth, I got a sense of charred, but not burnt, toast -- almost as if you plopped to toast on a grill a la BBQ. I also got candied black fruits. It took a good bit to finally settle down. Near the end, it evoked a sense of blueberries, lilac and more black fruits -- it was just coming into its own. To drink this now I would say you'd need to decant for an hour or so at least. This wine was quite delicious, especially at the end. It did seem a bit heavier than I expected, but then again, I did not know what the varietal mix of this blend was... TJ rating 89 as it is. If I'd waited, I think it could easily have inched up to 90, probably 91 and maybe higher. Not sure what this retails for, but worth at list a decent chunk of change in my book... ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3/29/03 TJ Rating 90, maybe 91 Had this again at the VC Rocks at Equinox event on 3/29/03. Courtesy of latour67. I believe that this was paired with the veison course and it paired rather well. Nice dark color with thick, slow moving legs. Lots of them, too. They almost oozed down the glass. Interestingly enough, I did not get the same sense of charred toast as I had before. Rather, I got a magnificent sense of rose petals and delicious black fruit. I am not sure, but perhaps latour67 decanted these bottles prior to coming to the dinner. Nice lingering finish.

3/29/03 TJ Rating 88 points Had this on 3/29/03 at the VC Rocks at Equinox event. My tasting notes started to falter at this wine (hey it was my 8th of the night), but here goes-- I wrote down that I thought this was definitely a Bordeaux, so I got that right at least. This had loads of nice fruit, but it had very interesting toffee & toffee notes along with a peculiar (but good) chalkiness to it. Really nice finish.

3/29/03 TJ Rating 86 (my notes are a little cryptic on the name of this so this is a guess) Had this at the VC Rocks @Equinox event on 3/29/03. Medium, to medium dark color. I got the sense of cherries jubilee -- why I thought this was California wine, I do not know but that is what was scribbled on my TN sheet. This wine was fairly 'thick' and, at first I could not sense this descriptior (cough syrup), but once I had some food with it, I could see it. Pretty nice finish to wrap things up.

3/29/03 TJ Rating 83 Had this at the VC Rocks at Equinox Event on 3/29/03. This was served with the lamb course I believe. This was a nice light-medium-dark, if you understand me. But this wine was pretty funky. I got the senses of tobacco, tar, moss and maybe even a little 'poo' (barnyard, brett, whatever). It was perhaps my least favorite of the night. The finish was longer than I expected. I think mfor many attendees, this was the first wine that they did not completely finish (ie it made it to the dump bucket).

3/29/03 TJ Rating 92+ I had this at the VC Rocks at Equinox event on 3/29/03. This was perhaps a step behind my WOTN, which turned out to be the 1994 Ridge Montebello. This wine had a nice dark density to it. Not inky black or anything, but it seemed to have this density to it that was alluring. I got sense of leatheriness, some really nice allspice and nutmeg notes along with some decadent mustiness (no taint here). All of this was surrounded by really delicious fruit. Nice finish.

3/29/03 TJ Rating = 93 I had this as the starter to kick off the VC Rocks at Equinox event on 3/29/03. While I was not yet settled down enough to really properly enjoy this, I must say that this is probably the best champagne I have ever had. Or at least in a long, long while. It was nice at toasty with some bread and nuts floating about it at well. Hints of honey made their way up my palate, too. This was a really, really enjoyable bottle of bubbly.

---------------------------------------------- 4/9/03 I had this again tonight. Had to make room in the storage unit for the 6 new bottles of Kistler I got through LCC. This wine has achieved a very nice golden yellow color. My bottle actually had a fair amount of sediment, which I found odd for a white that is thing young. I wonder if this is typical or not. Nice toasted nuts and toffee on the nose along with some enticing tropical fruits and pear perhaps. Nice richness to this when tasting, along with creaminess/butteriness. Interlaced with supple tropical fruits and a distinct nuttiness around the edges. This is more like I remember this wine than what I had for New Year's at my friend's place. Nice lingering finish. A solid 90. Maybe up to 91 TJ points.

3/29/03 I had this again at the 3/29/03 DC offline at Equinox, and once more last night with friends (where I got a bigger, better, longer taste). This is a super wine. I am very glad I can still find this locally. It's luscious. I agree totally with Dr.T's TNs, except I also got some medium toffee notes on this as well. This wine pours slightly thickly, but, as Dr. T pointed out, the acidity keeps it remarkably fresh and lighter than you'd expect. One weird experiement we tried was having a tiny piece of nice white chocolate with this just to see how it'd pair. It was unexpectedly pretty good. I still stand by my 93 point rating. Delish! For the record, Dr. Tannin's notes are -- "Color: amber to burnt sierra; slow thin legs. Aroma: olde English marmalade, clementine, toasted wood. Flavor:Orange peel with hint o lemon, burnt toast, and caramel. There is plenty of acidity to bolster the residual sugar. A slightly tangy finish tickles the tongue in a moderately long finish 92pts"

3/29/03 Cost -- about $32 TJ Rating = 90+ Finally getting around to posting this. Had this 3/29 at the VC Rocks at Equinox DC Offline. Nose was very there and burst with eucalyptus and mint. Followed were delicious sips with more of the same, including nice dark fruits and pencil. Near the end I got a bit of faint sour cherries, too. Nice finish.

I think it is still improving. It could easily go another 5-8 years IMO.

3/29/03 Cost = ??? TJ Rating = 88 I am finally getting around to post TNs on this. Had this on 3/29 at the VC Rocks at Equinox DC offline. This wine had what I like to call a light dark color (using the 9 gradations of light light, medium light, dark light, etc all the way to dark dark). It seemed a bit woodsy to me at first, but it then evoked what I am calling '...huge chunks of rock...', but not gravel. I was imagining something more along the lines of the vines roots fighting their way through boulders. It got better and better with time in the glass with nicely put together medium dark fruits, most notably blackberry. Well balanced with a good finish.

3/29/03 Cost ??? TJ Rating 87 Finally getting around to post TNs on this. Had it at the 3/29 VC Rocks at Equinox DC Offline. My palate was on overload I think. This came unfortunaely after the Sauternes we had that night, so that probably contributed to my lack of proper ability to judge this wine. It was a very light pale color and smelled of peach blossoms and white fruits. As I consumed it I remember thinking about pebbles and more light fruits but that is all. So, take this for what its worth. Still I found it an enjoyable wine all things considered.

3/29/03 Cost ??? TJ Rating = mid eighties, but really inconclusive I am finally getting around to posting TNs on this. I had this at the 3/29 VC ROcks at Equinox Offline. This was the last 'theme' wine, which turned out to be the ringer. This wine was a pretty densely dark color if I remember correctly. I got a sense of fairly heavy duty astringency followed by lots of gravel which surrounded the fruit. I am not sure if it was because it was pretty different to what we'd been drinking or what, but this wine did not do it for me. Granted, it followed up the 94 Ridge Monte Bello, so it would be difficult to wow me at that point. But that's all I have on my TNs, so take them for what they are...

3/29/03 Cost = ??? TJ Rating = 93+ I am finally getting around to posting TNs for this. I had this at the 3/29 VC Rocks at Equinox DC offline. This was my WOTN by edging out the 97 Tapestry. I find it surprising that the Tapestry came so close to beating this wine out or even sharing the title of WOTN. Anyway, this was near the end of the night andwe'd had many wines. So my TNs really only say "Wow" and "Violets". I do remember that it was a really well put together bottle of wine. This wine was supple and elegant, but never ever came close to being flabby. Still plenty of tannins in it so I know it will improve. And loads of fruit. A really terriffic finish.

3/29/03 Cost ??? TJ Rating = 92 I am finally getting around to posting TNs on this. I had this at the VC Rocks at Equinox DC Offline. This was the second to the last wine of the night. I think we were all felling pretty good. But still, this sucker woke me up and wowed me. A really nice golden yellow color. It dripped an unctious bouquet of honeyed apples and peaches. It was thicker than I expected and coated your mouth well when consuming. My senses were flooded with everything that I smelled plus faint bits of orange and something else I can't find the word for. A really wonderful finish.

4/11/03 TJ Rating = 90 points Price = About $10 Nice medium pale yellow color. Practically no legs to speak of. Nose that just gushed grapefruit. Upon consuming, I got loads of the grapefruit I had smelled on the nose, with melon notes and faint hints of honey suckle and crocus. Very nice finish. A well-balanced wine IMO. Paird superbly with the salmon with dill butter we had it with. Based on my more strict grading standards these days, this would likely only rate me an 87-88 these days. then.

$7 -- TJ Rating 83 pts I'd rate this higher, but I am trying to stick to a new 'tougher' rating policy I decided to institute... Had this with pan roasted chicken with a white wine & shallot reduction. Made with a little of this wine as a matter of fact. This had a pale very light gold color. This had nice pear and floral notes, and tasted slightly of lemons and melons. a longer short finish, not quite medium length.Slight sourness at the very end. A simple quaffer that is not at all unpleasing, just not complicated at all.

4/19/03 $ I can't remember -- TJ Rating = 83 points I had this with dinner the other night (burgers, super fresh from the meat market!). This had a medium to medium dark color. I had opened this and let it sit for maybe 15 minutes and then splash decanted it into a pitcher I use when it is just Mrs. TJ and I. I stuck my nose in the pitcher and it had a huge nose of cinammon and crushed cherry pits, but it faded all too quickly. Fairly uninspiring, but it slowly improved just a little bit with time. There was fruit there, but no complexity and it seemed slightly out of whack to me. The tannins seemed kind of faint and did not meld the wine into something with any framework. The finish was ok, but the flavors it was reminding you of were just average, simpler flavors.

4/21/03 Price = $18 --- TJ Rating 85 Points This wine is starting to show up finally. After reading comments about this going through a dumb phase, I decided to sit and wait for a bit. Considering that this was likely a lighter style than the 1998, I decided to pop it to go with some apple sausage tonight. It worked pretty well. I think it is just starting to emerge from its shell. The nose is still pretty muted, consisting mostly of plum and simple red fruits. It tastes basically more of the same, but the tannins are more prevalent than I expected and the fruit is starting to emerge with plum and cranberry showing through the most. The finish is of a decent length. I think that in 6 months or more, this wine will be coming around quite nicely. I think there is definite potential for this wine to gain several points as it evolves.

Either the Overture Riedels (essentially generic restaurant Riedels, right?) or most Spiegelau stems would be fine IMO as they don't cost $14, $20, $50 or more...

5/3/03 TJ Points = 88 -- $ I forget ($20-25-ish?) I had this this evening paired with a Mario Batali recipe with a few substitutions -- basically tilapia with mushrooms reduced in wine with totamto sauce and butter thrown in -- usually made with monkfish (which is better) but this was really quite good. Immediate nose of blueberries and meat. Layered spices and oak nuances later. Plenty of acidity and nice berried flavors. Decent tannins and nice long finish. I got the distinct feeling I was drinking bacon at one point. This is a pretty tasty wine and it expands my education in chianti classicos.

5/4/03 I had this wine tonight with pasta w/bolognese sauce. It didn't pair very well, so I waited until I finished eating to have most of it. I presently have about a half glass left from about 4 hours ago and it is pretty nice. It isn't a Kistler, but it is still pretty nice. I got peach syrup, pineapple, cake icing and butter out of this. The pineapple was mostly in the nose, but the rest of the falors peeked out everywhere. It still does have a good bit of acidity, which is why it butted heads with the bolognese, I think. All in all, an 88 pointer, maybe 89.