WTN: Wines with dinner

[Brad Ballinger]

Seafood dinner last night due to the monthly arrival of the Shrimp Truck. All three wines drunk too young.

1996 Champagne Pierre Gimmonet "Cuvee Fleuron," Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru. A yeasty, biscuity aroma filled the room the second the cork was pulled. Very active bead in the glass. Aromas of baked biscuits, lemons, and the smell of rain when the first few drops hit the ground. Fairly intense mousse that needs to soften a bit. Poweful lemon and lemon pith flavors rounded out by some toast and rich minerality. Finishes with a bit of a pucker. Served with a noshing course of cheeses, pate, olives, prosciutto.

2001 Josmeyer "Le Kottabe" Riesling. This is one of Josmeyer's "Artist Labels." I have no idea what "kottabe" means. Aften ten google.com pages where the items returned were all about this wine in different vintages, I gave up. This is a very pleasing wine that shows very nice harmony amongst its fruit and minerals. The nose was a bit closed, but there was petrol, floral, some herb. Ripe and playful acidity on the palate showcasing apples, limes, orange zest, and a stony minerality. Good partner to crab cakes with chipotle mayonnaise.

2002 Huet "Le Mont" Vouvray Demi-Sec. This is a wine to leave alone for a long time. Whereas the Josmeyer showed finesse, this wine showed power. At this point in time its all tangerine and honey with a mineral and acidic backbone. It keeps building with more air and with every sip, and absolutely refuses to depart on the finish. Paired with grilled shrimp (marinated in EVOO, garlic, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and cayenne), grilled asparagus, and roasted potatoes with garlic chives. Showed very well.

[spanky]

I have no idea what "kottabe" means. Aften ten google.com pages where the items returned were all about this wine in different vintages, I gave up.

This piqued my interest. The Josmeyer site talks about a Greek game that related wine with love and women, so I looked a bit further and came up with this:

"In kottabos, the dregs or drops of wine were flicked from the drinking cup at a target set in the middle of the room. Pride was taken, not only in hitting the object, which usually was a small metal disk balanced on a lamp stand, but in the the correct form of the throwing motion. A simpler form of the game was to hit a basin without spilling any wine, or the symposiasts could attempt to sink one or more small saucers floating in a basin of water. A more complicated version involved striking a small scale and bringing it into contact with a figure below. There were prizes, perhaps special cakes or kisses from a serving girl or boy, as well as penalties. Athenaeus says that some took as much pride in playing kottabos as others did in hurling the javelin."

Oh those ancients and their japes!

Spanks

[Brad Ballinger]

And to think, I've only been in accuracy contests where spitting is involved.