January 2005
January 31
The Jobard ‘88 was buttered nuts, bruised apple meat and tart citrus. Strange wine that needed to “decompress”, as one of us said.
My next bring was far better – 1987 Dervieux Thaize Cote Rotie La Garde. It was far cleaner than many from that vintage, but very smoky. There was a remarkable confluence of red and black fruits: perhaps cassis and red currants.
January 30
A 2001 Rapet Corton Charlemagne was very tense, vanilla cream notes (barrel) all over it. Very young, green apple, cinnamon, overt oak with the nervous fruit of young Corton Charlemagne.
I dragged along a 1988 Jobard Meursault which was dissed by half the crew and the other seemed to like it. I don’t think they were blowing smoke. Uhm, I don’t think so. Should I be worried?
January 29
1992 Egly Ouriet
January 28
The Top 100 wines tasting in
The annual Master of Wine dinner at La Toque in
Only Joel Butler insisted on tasting his wines blind. Joel, my friend, we are devising a fit revenge for next year.
January 27
The last wine of the evening was a producer that none of us recognized. Perez Berqueria from Montilla Morales had a bottle of Pedro Ximinez from the 1905 vintage. It showed ash, chocolate, honey, fig; indeed, the fig juice seemed solid, textured, almost alive, more chocolate, raisins, ash, something almost rum-like, cherries, and amazingly alive.
January 26
L’Ermite 1997 was corked. Alvaro is not happy.
L’Ermite 1996 is powerful of color and aroma. Tons of French oak. Confectionary plums, cloves, ginger, raisins, toast, cherries but not normal cherries. Instead these are crazy cherries, wild cherries, cherries on steroids. Now it becomes black cherries, raisins, allspice, clove, coffee (yes, the oak is growing) and roasted nuts. We don’t have enough time to observe this world-class wine.
January 25
Barbadillo Brandy Solera Gran Reserva is pretty like so many Spanish brandies are pretty in an odalisque way, ample, full, and generous. Some heat and caramel are present on the nose, but that’s not a bad thing. Maybe a little hint of rubber shows something less than perfect distillation, but perhaps it’s in the service of richness. This is an ample brandy, remember, and there are wonderful citrus notes, oranges, lemons and dark cherries. The rich and nutty notes aren’t false; it’s pecans and almonds, touches of chocolate. Really persuasive stuff.
January 24
The Pingus 1996 has very youthful and vanillin oak at the outset. As it sits in the glass (several hours later), it becomes chocolate-dipped cherries.
It’s also too youthful to assess. Three hours in the glass don’t do it justice.
January 23
Pingus 1996 is a legendary wine; actually every vintage of Pingus is legendary. In Pingus, enologist Peter Sisseck has created a wine that has jumped to the fore of an entire country’s wine produce. Indeed it has supplanted Vega Sicilia as the standard bearer for Spain’s abilities to compete with any other country in the world for intensity and power.
Initially, it’s minty with black and blue fruits. At first, it’s a little hot, but the fruit seems to grow in front of the alcohol.
January 22
1991 Vega Sicilia Unico – yes, I told Alvaro was crazy. This is another of the wines he bought and served to our little table.
I’ll leave aside our disco adventures late into the night. It was just about beer (I think) or maybe a few cocktails (I guess), at least it was good music and plenty of shouted conversations.
I was blinded on this wine and thought it was great Spanish Tempranillo, probably from Ribera del Duero (so far, so good) but figured it was a 2000.
Ouch.
Remarkable acids and structure. Lots of American oak, very compact. I felt compelled to describe it as a phenolic spiral with fruity acid right down the middle.
At the time it sounded perfect. Imagine how much great wine we had tasted and maybe you’ll excuse my silliness.
January 21
Alvaro is still overwhelmed by the food (he should be; it’s great and powerful. One dish is a fried egg, and a textured sauce made of sweet and delicate cepes. Equal proportions. Add about twenty slices of black truffle. Serve in a small skillet).
He order Salon Clos de Mesnil 1990. It has none of the difficult and troublesome mean and tart flavors that Clos de Mesnil can show when it’s underripe.
Instead, this is one of the great examples of this great wine. I can describe many, many flavors, most of them derived from the extensive time on the lees. Instead, I’ll simply toss out one descriptor; imagine sweet green apples slices dipped in white truffle oil. That was the wine.
January 20
Alvaro Palacios is crazy, like many of my favorite wine people are crazy. We’re having dinner at Viridiana in Madrid and Alvaro is buying expensive wines like a madman. We start with 1988 Cristal Rose which, like other great rose Champagnes, has bright fruit, but fruit unlike anything made in places known for bright fruit, like California. For one, the fruit is bright but tart. For another, the autolytic, yeast-derived character, the character that defines great Champagne, smothers that fruit.
It finishes dry; it tastes very young.
I’m a wine guy. I have to complain about something, don’t I? The Cristal has a touch of warmth at the end. It could be seen as a flaw or it could be seen as “muscular”.
Alvaro orders more great Champagne. “Since I don’t know what food is coming from the chef,” he says, I’ll just keep ordering Champagne. Next up? Billecart Salmon Rose 1999 and it’s a pleasure to drink – even more pleasurable than the Cristal.
January 19
Many of my colleagues think I’m kidding when I rave about hybrid wines from the Midwest. You’ve read about the wines we tasted at the Master Sommelier dinner. Now imagine that after all those wines (and some you didn’t read about that weren’t important) I poured a HolyField Cynthiana 2002 from the Kansas winery you’ve probably never heard of.
HolyField kicked butt at this year’s Jefferson Cup Invitational, out-doing great Norton/Cynthiana producers such as Montelle and Stone Hill. Everyone at the table knew they were drinking a Norton. None of them had any complaint.
Instead, the group was respectful of the wine. I don’t want to say of the wine that it was the equal of the other wines. But no one complained about it. And most seemed, well, impressed, even if they couldn’t possibly say so.
January 18
Nunzio brings the best wines of any of the MS’s. Master Sommeliers reading this? Cowboy up, or stop whining. Nunzio not only brought great old Italian wine, he brought Cheval Blanc 1982.
Cheval Blanc 1982 – strawberry, red currants, cedar and vanilla. Despite the utterly seductive oak, the fruit is far more powerful than the oak.
Yeah, I hate Cabernet Franc. Don’t you?
January 17
About one of these wines (I’ll leave you to guess which one), one of our assembled MS’s called it “livestock and lingerie”.
About the 2001 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, I would say that it continues to show lovely and rich character, unlike anything the Trebbiano grape is likely to show. Yeah, that’s right. There’s no way this is the Trebbiano grape. Instead, the scuttle that this is the Bombino grape makes the most sense to me.
January 16
My next wine was the 1989 Verset Cornas. I feel very emotional about Verset, just as I do about Gentaz Dervieux.
And 1989 is supposed to be a keeper. But this bottle of 1989 Verset is a stinker; the Brettanomyces overwhelms the fruit. Yes, I have had other bottles that are less stinky. Yes, this bottle had beautiful texture and length.
But I am frustrated by the dominating Brettanomyces to this wine. Noel Verset has not usually made that mistake in his wines.
January 15
My own contributions were hardly as mind-boggling. But I was pleased with their condition. First, I poured the Gentaz Dervieux Cote Dervieux 1988. I love that wine; I am pre-disposed to love it.
But it screams of earth. It’s has iron rich earth, as well as smoky Shiraz with red currant extract. It has structure but very bright fruit. It is unbelievably textured.
I think it should be consumed now, but the flavors are remarkably long. That usually means that the wine is not done aging.
January 14
1971 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva, another great Nunzio bring, is just as remarkable as the Taurasi, if somewhat less shockingly youthful. I mean, you expect a great vintage of Barolo Riserva to show well, even if it’s thirty plus years old.
People use terms such as “tar and roses” to describe great Nebbiolo. In fact, many writers will use “Burgundian” terms in depicting the characteristics of great Nebbiolo.
Well, this is exactly what people are talking about when they use those cliched terms. This has a lovely floral background, such as rose-laden potpourri. It has some earthy tar. But more than any other aromas it has chocolate and white truffles. This is like truffle oil poured over dusky plums. Amazingly young and just plain amazing.
January 13
Why do I bring up this sensory confusion? I mention the vanilla in the Taurasi because vanilla is only supposed to come from oak, according to the wine punditry. Hell, half of the wine writers seem to think it comes only from American oak. They are, as it were, shooting mezcal.
Like overripe aromas, vanilla is a component that usually means one thing, but can mean another. That is, overripe aromas are supposed to mean overripe grapes, but long time in oak can mimic the character of overripe grapes, while retaining the structure of better balanced grapes.
Vanilla, it would seem from the evidence of the 1968 Taurasi, can be emulated simply by aging a wine. It turns out that those old Bordeaux wines and the old Riojas we thought smelled like vanilla because of their oak barrels, smell like vanilla simply because they are old.
January 12
Dinner with the MS’s is fun. It is. I love these guys. And some of us bring good wine. Nunzio brings Mastroberardino Taurasi 1968; yeah, that’s good.
It is astoundingly youthful. From the moment it’s opened to two hours later, it shows lovely ripe black plum and cooked plum skins with the tannin and richness that suggests. The damn thing looks and tastes like it’s ten years old.
It also has a Tuscan-like flavor to the finish - hazelnuts and hazelnut paste like great Brunello can show. There is a vanilla note, such as one sees from Bordeaux, such as one sees from new oak, but that’s not what has happened here. Instead, the wine has the overripe notes of aged wine (raisins, dates) and a vanilla that is more about the nuttiness of Sangiovese than about the oak.
January 11
Nighttime in San Francisco and Dr. Lonnie Smith is healing the sick at the Boom Boom Room. He is crazy. His manner at the Hammond B-3 is far different than I had imagined. His style on record is masculine but he is so much more playful than I heard him on vinyl. Playful masculinity, must be an oxymoron there. His muse is smooth as butter, but there are razor blades in that butter. Momentarily I feel sorry for the kids playing with him, all of them are very, very skilled but far too eager to resolve the progressions. What’s your hurry, he seems to say and play, let’s wait another ten minutes before we worry about resolution.
January 10
1990 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese is far more advanced than I expected. The Gunderloch 1992 GKA is less advavced but richer. There is nothing that is as complex as mature Riesling from a great vineyard. Both of these are so compelling that we totally forget the two Burgundies on the table.
Well, and we're eating at the Slanted Door, where Riesling should prevail.
January 9
1989 Verset Cornas announces itself as Cornas from the first pouring. Fresh, cracked, black peppercorns in a plum and cherry stew. Sinewy notes, more Brettanomyces than I remember (that saddle and band-aid version) but nothing too bothersome. Lovely texture and very persistent length. Still young and still going. Verset’s wines are a marvel.
January 8
Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2001 – if this is Trebbiano, pigs are flying from my hinterlands. This has a rich, fat, green pear note with fun earth notes, nothing like Trebbiano. It’s genuinely textured, and that alone proves it’s not Trebbiano.
The rumors have always been that it’s Bombino but I know no one who can confirm it. I’ve had Bombino wines that tasted similarly but I wouldn’t make such a claim without visiting and seeing the vines.
Unlike Trebbiano it ages well too. No way it’s Trebbiano.
January 7
Then Lidia Bastianich came along with her first non-New York restaurant and embarrassed everyone with her updated cuisine and friendly prices.
The response has been a deafening silence. Kansas City restaurateurs mostly seem to be unable to do anything but move on to other foods.
So A-16 is a joy. Vibrant, simple recipes. Great execution. Easy, not too expensive.
January 6
We had a great meal at A-16 in San Francisco and even greater wines. What a wonderful restaurant. It’s the sort of place that doesn’t exist in my town, as rich in cuisine as it might be. Kansas City has always had an inferiority complex about Italian food. First, it was the shadow cast by St. Louis’ Italian Hill restaurants. Never mind that most of them were caricatures of Italian food, sloppy red sauce and plates full of melted butter.
So Kansas City’s finest (with exceptions made for Jaspers) pretty much sought to make something like you buy on the Hill. Great. A caricature of a caricature.
January 5
The tip-off for me occurred one day when I happened to try a German Riesling with a corn relish. The match was indelible.
So I had to move on to other lightly sweet, earthy wines after that. Chenin Blanc, Gruner Veltliner, Albarino and especially sparkling wines. And Chardonnay is a critical component of sparkling wine, most often.
Corn and Chardonay makes good friends as well. After all, most old California Chardonnays taste like popcorn...
January 4
So why tamales and Champagne? Like I said, it’s about the masa. Corn is sweet, all by itself. It’s sweet and earthy too.
Champagne, if it’s yeasty, has a strange earthy character in it. Champagnes are often sweet. And they bubble. The rich goo of a great tamale needs bubbles to clean it up. A tamale has heat and it’s needs sweetness to clean that up.
January 3
This year I got the tamales from only two vendors down near the Boulevard. For non-Kansas Citians, that’s a nice part of town if you like Mexican food, although it’s mostly NordAmericano Mexican. If you want the real deal, you go to the Northeast side.
But there are two restaurants that I like in town and they’re both on the WestSide, by the Boulevard.
La Fonda’s tamales are too much about the meat, but most people like them and they are good.
Ortega is a little grocery with some tables in the back. They make nice tamales.
Both were great, but I’m going to the Northeast side next year.
January 2
Tamales are not in tamale sauce. They are naked, or you can put some of my homemade salsa on them (chipotles, guajillos, cascabels, garlic and onion all ground up with mortar and pestle, and maybe a secret ingredient or two).
Tamales are not the pork inside. It’s important that the pork be one of the least interesting things about a great tamale.
Tamales are masa. Cornmeal. Sweet cornmeal with lard holding them together. Not a lot of lard, just enough to make their texture maddening.
January 1, 2005
Oh, I forgot to mention my favorite part of New Year’s Eve. First we burn the calendar. Yeah, we take the calendar off the wall, take it outside, set flame to it and then we all dance around it.
The kids really like that part.
My other favorite part is that we eat tamales. Tamales and Champagne. Hey, you haven’t tried it, so whaddyou know?
