tjaehnigen

2001 Siduri Clos Pepe Pinot (Santa Rita Hills?) This was tasted at the November 2003 DC Crü event I disagreed with jaimetown here. This was a super wine. It was unlike any pinot that I have ever had. It had shades of the Kistler Cuvee Elizabeth Pinot I had in June wandering about (no it was not like it, but there were elements that could be construed as similar). I got gobs of cherry buttercream and vanilla on the nose, which later developed into wonderful floral essences. Upon consuming, this had bucketloads of fruit – especially mid-red fruits. I do not think this is a very friendly Pinot Noir in that it was not something that you could pair food with easily. After it’d been open for a goodly while (I nursed alittle bit of it almost to the end of the evening), it lost the gushiness it had in the beginning and had settled into its transformation. I think that, if decanted for a few hours and then consumed over several more this would be quite a stunner. For now, it was a delicious boisterous, but brilliant child. Call him Mozart. This sucker was worth 92+ TJ points. With this rating this my WOTN. (Jaimetown’s TNs)-- I was in the minority here, but this wine did not do it for me. Too big and thick, it lacked the grace I look for in Pinot. Maybe bottle age will help this, but I'm not sure. (Fred’s TNs)— This was the troublemaker of the evening and would have provided us with problems had we tasted it blind. This was mostly because everyone tasted this and guessed that I poured out the Pinot and refilled it with either Zin, Shiraz, or Cabernet. It had a classic Cabernet nose when we first poured this. the pallete was filled with really jammy fruit that with intertwined with great floral notes, lavendar and honeysuckel. Big finish with solid tannins. I loved this wine. Quite frankly it overpowered the venison but I don't care I thought it was very good. (Dinwiddie’s TNs)-- My WOTN. When I first took a whiff I would have sworn it was a big Zin. Gobs and gobs of fruit. Almost port like. Wonderful. Boysenberry and cherrys with a kick. What a wine. Thank you Fred and bring more to another dinner if you want.

1994 Domaine des Comte Lafon Meursault 1er (Clos de la Barre?) This was tasted at the November 2003 DC Crü Event This was a nice, deep golden color. It was a tad on the warm side, but it was voluptuous and silky. THIS is the wine that gave me the sense of a fresh hardback book’s pages, especially near the spine. I thought at first that it reminded me of faint Brussel Sprouts, but I think my nose was just recalibrating to the cool and delectable book paper/binding. I also got more interesting descriptors as I consumed this in the form of peach sorbet, slight peppermint and cotton candy, white fruits, orange peel, gunpowder and more of the fresh book paper. This was pretty terrific. Worth 92 TJ points. (Jaimetown’s TNs)-- My WOTN. It was a little warm, but the wine was complex, elegant and silky. I need to consciously purchase and age some white burgundy.

2000 Alex Gambal Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru "La Maltroie" This was tasted at the November 2003 DC Crü Event This was quite different from the Gary Farrell. I’ll side with the cheese comments and go with apricot yogurt, chees rind (a mildly moldy one, too) and the like. This had a pretty distinct acidity that gave a bit of a sour note on the finish (fairly long, too), but this went well with my appetizer – which was a mélange of black trumpeter shrooms (with garlic and parsley and more) which lay beneath a chick pea fritter. It worked well. It had a nice earthy/flinty character to it as well. (NOTE: The book binding comment comes next, but not on this wine!) I’d give this 90 TJ points. (Jaimetown’s TNs)-- Contrasting this white burgundy with the RRV Chard was interesting. This had more of the cheese/yogurt element on the nose and was more primary. (Fred’s TNs)-- This provided an interesting comparison against the Gary Farrell. Definelty got a brie or cheese rind aroma from this. Very earthy and this wine provided the TJ Tasting Comment of the night....."New book binding" I think that was it? someone correct me if I'm wrong. Great body in this wine and even though I'm not very experiance with french whites I found this to be a white I could drink more of. (Dinwiddie’s TNs)-- I really liked it. Nice nose, smoky with tastes of honey, herbs and a touch of brie in the background. You guys are going to turn me away from the ABC crowd in a hurry.

1999 Gary Farrell Chardonnay Rochioli Vineyard This was tasted at the November 2003 DC Crü Event This was quite a tasty chard. It was light medium gold color. This initially had a nice heady tropical frui nose, but, when you compared this with the ‘La Maltroie’, and then immediately smelled this wine again, I got a faint sense of onions, specifically slightly sweated onions in a pan. The wine was quite ready to drink and I never got to pair it with anything since I finished it before the appetizers came around. Nice fruit, nicely balanced and nice finish. It had a delicious creaminess to it as well. Nice. Worth 91 TJ points. (Jaimetown’s TNs)-- All I can remember was that this was a very well integrated wine that was ready to drink. Generous fruit, restrained oak, good balance. Very nice. (Fred’s TNs)-- This was an awesome chard, yellow gold color with big legs and a soft mouth feel. I got alot of tropical fruit with a solid back bone of french oak which lended a fantactic buttery texture. This got better and better as it warmed up a bit and the alcohol subsided into a good long finish. (Dinwiddie’s TNs)-- The Farrell was excellent, with pear, apple and melon flavors. Not better than the other, but definitely different. Loved them both. You guys are going to turn me away from the ABC crowd in a hurry.

Thank you so, so much!!!!

That link was great. Thanks. However, I still have a question, which I will post here, too (as well as on the question thread indicated on the link you posted)---- I have a question about the mince pie recipe. There is a reference to the meat part of the 'mincemeat', but it was not included in the recipe. I am interested in creating a completely authentic mincemeat pie -- thus it needs to include the meat. Got any tips or suggestions? The recipes I have found thus far talk about ground meat, but it does not clearly state if it is to be groud prior to cooking or only after cooking (and whether or not the mixture is to cool first before continuing with the recipe, etc). It also does not give indications as to time needed to cook, or even until a certain event occurs (like 'until the onions are soft' as an example). So, if you have any tips on how to include meat in the pie and in what manner, I would be very interested in this. THANKS!

I have a question about the mince pie recipe. There is a reference to the meat part of the 'mincemeat', but it was not included in the recipe. I am interested in creating a completely authentic mincemeat pie -- thus it needs to include the meat. Got any tips or suggestions? The recipes I have found thus far talk about ground meat, but it does not clearly state if it is to be groud prior to cooking or only after cooking (and whether or not the mixture is to cool first before continuing with the recipe, etc). It also does not give indications as to time needed to cook, or even until a certain event occurs (like 'until the onions are soft' as an example). So, if you have any tips on how to include meat in the pie and in what manner, I would be very interested in this. THANKS!

Mrs. TJ and Mrs. TJ-Mom and Mrs. TJ-Sis are all getting together to try to make a mincemeat pie in the next couple of weeks. They have a recipe, but it fails on how to clearly execute the ingredients in a way that will result in the finest quality mincemeat to go into the pie (the pie and crust and so on are definitely NOT the problem, it's how to create and prepare the mincemeat). So, if any of you have any tips or sources of info on how to prepare a proper mincemeat filling for a mincemeat pie, including any recipes you're willing to share, PLEASE DO!!!

Futronic, I think the bin 61 will improve even a bit more. Give it another 6 months and pop one. Let me know how it goes. Oh and I am falling hard for Chianti Classicos and BdMs. I just need to go out and buy more. I am on wine budget hold for the forseeable future, so that means cheap stuff for a while and only to buy what I consume relatively immediately. Buying new windows for your house can mess with your wine buying habits!

I popped this again tonight as it'd been about 6 months since the last time and I had no available Chianti Classico to go with dinner... This has gotten a bit better over the last 6 months. The bottle has been open a few hours now and it's a good thing. The initial funk on the nose blew right off within a minute or two as I, despite my intent to decant this the next time I had it, became a drink & pour. This is a really quite dark wine. The nose is still ever so slightly muted, but it's gotten nice black plum and spice on the nose. After tasting it it's picked up some nice mocha and black plum tastes. There is a faint hint of dried pine needles there, too. Nice lingering finish ends up a smidgen thin at the very end. I'll ratchet this up a few points to an 87-88 TJ point rating.

I used to have this boss, great guy. But he had lots of odd personal habits. One of these habits was the way he would eat. At a work-related party, he sat down next to me and we were talking while chowing down on some good food. He insisted on speaking while he was chewing and also insisted on shoveling more food in his mouth while he continued to talk. All I can remember from the conversation was watching the dangly bits of food hanging from his teeth while he talked AT me as I continued to stare at him, transfixed by these gloriously grotesque dangly bits. It was like watching a train wreck.

Il Ritrovo. Without a doubt. Heck, I'd go twice in one week without thinking about it.

I rarely buy wine over $50 at retail. I have been extremely good at restaurants, too, thuis year. I broke my NY's resolution only once and bought a bottle for $70 off a list -- $20 over my self imposed limit.

I have never been there for lunch (?), but all of my meals there for dinner have been great.

Below is some commentary of mine for my attendance of the first Vinocellar anniversary wine dinner in NYC this past Saturday evening followed by an 'after-party'. Don't worry, you don't need to know who I am talking about -- just check out the wines. What a night. I was very much looking forward to this event and it did not disappoint. jb, you arranged one helluvan evening. Thank you, vielen dank and grazi! The folks at The Mark were extremely accommadating and went out of their way to make our experience very pleasurable. The food was great, I particularly enjoyed the dessert (paired with that Sauternes!). The squab was wonderful, the lobster was great (esp the meat from the claws!) and the lamb was tasty. Thanks also to all of you for sharing wines from your cellars, it was quite amazing. The raffle was exciting, even if I didn't win anything. The Grab Bag event was also fun (even if Ant got a bottle of the Laughing Magpie (I bought 2 more to add to the two I already had at home in June) which he doesn't like as much as me (Ant, PM me and we'll work out a suitable grab bag replacement for ya! (I feel terrible dude!))) -- I got a budman entry (which reminds me, we ought to start a thread on that) which blew me away. Also, got to hand off a couple wines I'd been couriering to him from jaimetown, picked up a few bottles from LCC to give to jaimetown, and got a couple of bottles budman had been holding for me, too. Woo-hoo! The event was winding down and so was Mrs. TJ. So, off in her Magick Pumpkin she went and I headed to spend a few more hours with y'all at the Afterparty. Got to drink even more great juice. Thanks all for those who provided the wines and the food and everything. A special thanks to whoever was keeping me balanced while I tried to ram the ceiling tile back into the ceiling after my ceiling stretch to the alarm didn't do the trick to shut it off... Anyway, I had an all around great time. Many thanks to all of you. I hope to do it again sometime soon. But, you know, what are we going to do NEXT YEAR to top this??? :grin: :grin: DINNER WINES 1996 Chartogne Taillet Fiacre Tete de Cuvee I'll agree with Jimmyv's comments here where he said 'Crisp and lively, with dough and citrus. 91 pts.' I concur. 2001 Aubert Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay Golden and cloudy, I mistook this for a Kistler upon sampling the nose (of pineapple). I moved on to more pineapple, white pepper, grystalized ginger, scorched creme brulee topping (yes I mean that and not a generic caramel), and even seaweed&bean sprout salad (yes, I know, I am weird). Long, long finish. This is one heckuva wine. 94 TJ points. 2001 Guffens-Heynen Macon Pierreclos Le Chavigne This wine had one funky nose that took time to blow off, I think almost 15 minutes. And, it suffered because of the side by side with the Aubert. Still, it developed into a nice wine.Sulfur nose blew off to reveal some nice white fruits like pear and white peach, maybe lichi (sp?). It clearly paired better with the lobster, too. I honestly can't remember anything about the finish so it must have been average as I didn't jot down anything positive or negative. I'll go with a scraping by 90 points. '01 Siduri Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir Heady cherries, slate, chocolate (not overpoweringly so) black rasperry -- a shorter finish than I'dhave expected. This was a good wine, IMO, but outclassed by the Ojai overall. Worth 90 TJ points. '99 Ojai Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir I got a sense of a lot of, uh, interesting descriptors that eventually merged into something quite beautiful. Chocolate cherry bomb, violets, cough medecine, vanilla extract later tranmogrified into blueberris and white chocolate. A great finish. Plus, this wine went quite well with the food, especially the later tastes of the food as it opened even more in the glass. Worth 92 TJ points. 1992 Dominus Since I am not a drinker of many Bordeaux like the rest of you, I will take for granted that this wine had a 'classic Bordeausx profile'. I got plenty of leather, ashes, graphite, autumn spices, pomegranate and decayed hay. While I think this wine is drinking really well now, I think it will be even better in several years. This wine was not as good a pair with the lamb, IMO, as the Beringer was more food friendly, particularly with this course (lamb). Nice, nice finish. I need to figure out what a cigar box smells like to keep an eye open in the future. Worth 94 TJ points 1994 Beringer Private Reserve I thought this wine was excellent. In fact, it easily rivaled the Dominus -- but did not beat the potential that the Dominus has. But the lamb with this wine was simply sublime. This wine was drinking extremely well right now. If I had any, I would find excuse after excuse to drink it now and over the next few years. I got plenty of currants, charcoal, purple roses (like the ones in my yard) and macerated red & dark fruits. A great mouthfeel and wonderful finish. IMO, this was catchintg this wine at the right time. I think the Dominus, in a few more years, will be even more amazing than this wine was at this time. Hence this gets the ever so small nod of 94+ points. My dry WOTN (at the main event). 1990 Ch. Reiussec I will add to my original notes on this when I had it in June. Here's what I originally said-- "But this was some great juice. After being warned we could not say 'honey' as a descriptor, we dove right in. I will use 'honey' as a color description though, because that is what it looked like. Lots of general notes here, but it was loaded with butterscotch, apricot, strawberries, gree apple (yeah), varnish, creamy chunks (maybe white chocolate?) with carmelized pineapple." -- I'll add only that this got more velvety -- perhaps because I had a much, much better dessert pairing this time. I'll amend the apricot comment and change it to apricot gelato (and I can say that because I have had the real McCoy!). This wine was even better than in June when I rated it 94 points. This was my WOTN as I gave it 95 points. My one most interesting comment on my TN sheet was 'ungodly'. NV Buller Muscat Calliope All I wrote down for this one was 'toffifay' -- anyone remember that candy? This was one dripping sticky concoction that was a little overwhelming and concentrated. I haven't had enough of these to really fairly rate it. I could see that it was quite complex and it could be quite awesome. I just have no real point of reference for this stuff. THE AFTER-PARTY WINES 2000 Albert Mann Gewurztraminer Furstentum Vieilles Vignes I got to taste this, too. It was supple and wonderful -- I remember saying white peach and apricot sauce or something silly. Winetex, you were standing there, what the heck did I say? I think you said honeysuckle. It was great. 2001 Shirvington Cab Did not try 1994 Caymus Did not try. 1998 Hartford Port Did not try. 2001 Martinelli Pinot Noir Blue Slide Ridge Did not try (dagnabbit! It was gone before I knew it was there!) 2000 Martinelli Pinot Noir Reseve Did not try -- also it was quickly gone. 1998 Shafer Hillside Select Cab. This was super, super tight. It was difficult to evaluate. I wished I had had another glass to hold it in while I moved on. 2002 Hendrys Drive Cab Did not try. 2002 Hendrys Drive Shiraz Good Stuff. I think the 2001 is better, IIRC, but this was great 91-92 pts. 1996 Etude Did not try, but this was excellent in June. 2001 Oliver Taranga Shriaz I had a tiny sip of this, I think, but for the life of me I can't remember it. 1997 Forman This is gonna be really good in a few years. Really good. Uh-huh. 1999 Whitehall Lane Did not try. I think I was gone by now. 1997 Arrowwood Cab Did not try. This was there?!?! Dagnabbit! 1970 Dows VP This was great, great stuff. No idea how to rate it since it was my first vintage Port, but it was impressive. Amazing even. Thanks, Rev!!! 2001 Muscat de Beaunes de Venise Did not try. I think I was gone by this time.

I popped this tonight and paired it with pizza (I know, I know pizza twice this week -- what can I say, I'm busy!) and it paired well. I have lost the blueberries this time around, but picked up more meat, this time slightly seared/charred, along with charred wood, a wild sort of iodidic sense and darker berries. It brought on a deep sense of marrow , charred bones and meat along with plenty of meat and berries in the mouth. Kind of peppery and spiced this time around, too. Legnthy finish was good too. I'd rate this at 89+ now, not quiiiite over the top to a 90, but an improvement over last time and last time wasn't bad at all!

WTN: 1997 Beaulieu Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Had this with a thrown together 'Hamburger Stroganoff' last night. Popped it and poured into Spiegelau Bordeaux stems. This wine was what I'd like to call garnet in color, at least that is what came to mind when I saw it. Pretty thick though. The nose revealed little for quite some time and when I sipped it I was surprised at how tight it was (this being a lesser BV bottling). After about 30 minutes it started to reveal itself and it was drinking well after about an hour. It had your typical Napa Cab flavors and plenty of 'Rutherford Dust' in it and a decent finish. For $14 or whatever I paid for it, it's pretty good. Worth maybe 87 TJ Points.

I'll add more later, but, when tasting at wineries, remember to spit. Do not consume the wine, unless you only plan on hitting one or two wineries. If you spit, you can, time permitting hit up to 4 or 5 depending on how dedicated you are. Also Highway 29 regularly backs up with tourists. You can go off the beaten path (say Silverado trail or over into Sonoma county) and get around much easier. A favorite lunchtime spot is the Waippo Grill in Calistoga. Outstanding.

I cracked my first bottle of the 6-pack I got. Had it at Palena for dinner with Mrs. TJ, TJ-bro and TJ-bro-partner on 10/18/03. This is one great wine. I decanted it for about 45 min at home, re-bottled it and brought it along to dinner (opening it, but not re-decanting it at the restaurant). Took my first sips about 3 hours post opening. Wow. I got the cocoa/chocolate, but also some mocha/coffee notes along with lardons and braised meat. gobs of fruit well structured and a great finish. One excellent wine that I iam glad to have tried and one I know I have 5 more bottles of. Woo-hoo! Worth 94 TJ points

I also tasted the 99 Numanthia at a wine dinner and it was great. I've read these suckers need some time to open up indeed. Here's my WTN.

Tasted 10/18/03 -- at Palena in Washington DC 'Cloudy dark red color, big fruity nose showing currant, spice, and American oak. Graceful, full, rich and complex, this really needs another several years in the cellar.' A friend on Vinocellar posted this from a BV GdL vertical tasting in Feb 2003. I heartily agree with the TNs and would rate it 92-93 pts.

Stars will give people more reasons NOT to read the actual reviews. 'Hey it's got # stars, it must be good/suck'.

I ALMOST ordered the chestnut soup on Saturday at Palena but instead opted for the oxtail broth with veal tongue and foie gras. I love a great butternut squash soup.

Tako Grill was a favorite of mine when I worked in Bethesda.

The following have also been suggested to me elsewhere. Any comments? Pearl Oyster Bar. 18 Cornelia St. between West 4th and Bleeker sts. in the West Village. Shaffer City Oyster Bar. 5 West 21st between 5th and 6th Avenues. (212)255-9827 Docks. 3rd Avenue and 40th street (212)986-8080, also Broadway between 89th and 90th streets.(212)724-5588 Redeye Grill. 7th Avenue and 56th street (212)541-9000.