WTN: The first night of Hanukkah

[Brad Ballinger]

Technically, yes, it was the first night of Hanukkah. But this wasn’t a “Hanukkah” event. I’m not Jewish, and the Jewish people present seemed to treat this being the first night of the festival of lights as an afterthought. But I couldn’t come up with a better title for the post.

Marcia and I had dinner plans out at a newer restaurant that has made quite a splash in the Twin Cities. One knock against it, however, is that it is loud, making it difficult to have a conversation. And we were going to be two of a group of ten. So when we received an invitation to dinner with Bruce and Karen Schneier and whoever else they happened to invite, it was a no brainer. “What can I bring?” “What would you like to bring?” Bruce emailed me the menu and I packed up a stash of wines, some of which I figured we’d open, some of which we wouldn’t. But it’s always nice to have options. The other guests were Lee Short, and some non-geek friends of Bruce and Karen.

For starters, there was a rabbit terrine on crostini, and we pulled the cork from a NV Francois Chidaine Brut Methode Traditionale, Montlouis. Extremely tiny and extremely active beads. They leant to just a little spritz in the mouth. Not really creamy, not mousse-y. Although the label was limited to what I’ve indicate in bold font above, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the word “petillant” would have been there – it was really at that classification, if you will, of spritz. A bit of a biscuit aroma with some wet stone and quince. Flavor profile was quince, pears, and minerals in a chalky package. For about $13, it can go toe to toe with most sparklers in its price range, and come out on top more often than not.

We then moved on to a crab (Dungeness?) in a wine sauce on more crostini. We pulled out a 1999 H. Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese, Nahe that I had brought. The wine was disappointing, and I think the bottle was off. I had the same wine about three weeks back and it was glorious. This bottle came nowhere near approaching the other one. Some of the other diners thought it was okay, and I wanted to think it was getting better with air and warmth, but it never fully approached the quality of its cellarmate. Lots of latex on the nose underscored with sulfur. While some of this blew off, it never went away entirely. An odor (I can’t bring myself to use the word “aroma” here) that never went away, though, was something that I can only describe as “trumpet spit valve.” I used to play, so I know (and if you’ve ever played, you know as well). On the palate, there was little acid to speak of (definitely not the same wine). The slate, apple, lime flavor profile was muted, and the wine finished short. I left some in a glass and kept coming back to it with hope, but it was hope unfulfilled.

Our next course was lobster bisque (minus any tomato in the liquid). Accompanying it was a 1999 B. Morey Puligny-Montrachet, La Truffiere Premier Cru. This wine had the richness to do battle with the lobster – barely. It had an attractive (to me, at any rate) earth and mineral component. Butterscotch notes, also, on the aroma and even on the palate to a lesser degree, which balanced nicely with a crisp apple element. Teriffic acidity, and a multi-dimensional finish of fruit and earth. This wine still has some maturing to do, and I’d revisit it in a year or two.

We followed up the bisque with an angel hair pasta in a porcini paste/pesto. I hesitate to use the word sauce. The porcini concoction was a jarred product that Bruce and Karen brought back from Italy. Whatever it was, it had a terrific flavor. With this, Lee opened a 1959 Antoniolo Gattinara. I’ve had one of these from Lee on a previous occasion. When the rubber capsule was removed, there was no cork to be found. The question was whether the bottle ever had one, or if it fell in. I suspected the latter, and that turned out to be the case. The only thing we couldn’t tell was when it fell in. At any rate, the wine was unaffected. It was lively, with active acids. The fruit seemed to be dusty, but not over the hill and tired. There was some oxidation on the nose, but not so that it got in the way. Another descriptor that might be used here is raisiny, but, again, not all bad. Also, there was a very attractive dried floral component. After 30 minutes, it still had stuff to show, but was starting to fade.

Our next course was pheasant with black rice and broccolini. The pheasant was shot by a friend or relative of Karen’s and one had to look for buckshot. With this dish, I opened a 1999 F. Magnien Fixin I had brought. Fixin is a Cotes de Nuits village in the far norther reaches of the region. This wine accompanied the dish serviceably enough, but was otherwise unremarkable. It seemed a little awkward and unfocused, and maybe needed more time to get over the awkwardness of its adolescence. There was some oak that was noticeable on the nose. Solid red cherry fruit enveloped in some licorice/molasses spice on the the palate. The acid was present enough, but the texture was more creamy than snappy. A wine that, at the end of the night, would come up in conversation along the lines of “oh, I almost forgot – we also had a Burgundy.”

Our final hearty course was broiled tenderloin served with a mélange of mushrooms and greens. Bruce offered Lee and I a choice of several Rhones to look at beforehand, and we decided upon the 1989 Champet “La Vialliere” Cote-Rotie. Quintessential Rhone syrah. Spicy (and more than just pepper). Black and blue fruit profile. There was a little bit of sweet corn on the nose, and I have no idea where that came from. Good texture. Fully matured. Tannins probably started to lose their grip about a year ago, and just in time to allow some fruit to share the stage. This wine went down very easily.

If it’s a dinner with Bruce and Lee, it means a cheese course. Lee opened another wine I’ve shared with him on previous occasion, this time a 1962 Antoniolo Gattinara, and this time with cork in place. This wine by far upstaged it’s older sibling, and also was better than the other 62 Lee had opened a year or so ago. The balance was unbelievable. No oxidation, or anything that could even be considered it, whatsoever. Strong red fruit and floral core. Tannins are still holding the wine together, and the acidity gives it a terrific lift. This wine was in a well-knit package, but didn’t have the legs of the 59. It faded more quickly. But it was a helluva wine while it was around.

Cookies for dessert. No wine. No problem. Great dinner and a great evening.

[docsconz]

By the posts of yours that I've read (by the way welcome to eGullet), you sound like you know your wines pretty well, so I'm hesitant to suggest this, but was it that your 1999 H. Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese, Nahe was simply corked? That is what it sounds like to me, but I would suppose that you would recognize a corked wine when you smelled it and would have used the word.

[tsquare]

  The other guests were Lee Short, and some non-geek friends of Bruce and Karen.

That was one non-kosher meal, but what a treat! So were these friends non-tech geek, or non-food geek? And is that a compliment or not?

I'm going out to find the NV Francois Chidaine Brut Methode Traditionale, Montlouis.

[Brad Ballinger]

I'm hesitant to suggest this, but was it that your 1999 H. Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese, Nahe was simply corked?

Nope, not corked. Just off (or maybe the first one I had was off, and this was how it's supposed to be ) I'm pretty TCA sensitive. thanks for the welcome. Craig Camp was after me about a year ago to check out this site, but Bruce Schneier really put the screws to me. I'm still trying to figure out the forum software, and all the features of the web site.

So were these friends non-tech geek, or non-food geek?

Non-wine geek. I can't speak to the techie or foodie tendencies, but one of them was a cheese shop manager, so I would think she's food-geek material.

[tsquare]

I'm going out to find the NV Francois Chidaine Brut Methode Traditionale, Montlouis.

Got the last bottle at the local wine shop for $10 (and that's in WA state with its regressive (?) taxation.) Thanks. Will open it next week.