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Birthday Party, Hedonist Style

Apr09

Location: 3101 W Olympic Blvd – Los Angeles, CA 90006. 213-381-3003

Date: April 1, 2013

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: very solid electric Chinese

Hedonist regular, Penny, wanted to go out for her birthday, so 15-18 of us descended on Korea Town Chinese restaurant Shin Beijing. As far as I can tell, except for the Kimchi, Korean Chinese is pretty much Chinese (food wise).

Birthday girl Penny on the right next to Hedonist leader, Yarom, who’s sporting his best Myspace pout.

In Chinese style, the staff brought us out some of our victims alive before cooking them up.

You can’t really see it, but we had a nice private room, one of several.

From my cellar, Parker 90, “With respect to Saint-Cosme’s white wine offerings, readers should check out the 2007 Cotes du Rhone blanc, a blend of Roussanne, Marsanne, Picpoul, and Viognier. Flamboyant scents of melon, tropical fruit, and honeysuckle jump from the glass of this beauty. It offers amazing richness, a dry, medium-bodied mouthfeel, superb freshness, and far more quality and complexity than one would expect from a white Cotes du Rhone. Luckily, there are over 1,000 cases of this cuvee.”

Kimchi. No self respecting Koreans would do without.

Kimchi spiced daikon?

Parker 91, “The Monchof 2007 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese Mosel Slate is scented with fresh tangerine, heliotrope, wisteria, and mint. Lush and brimming with ripe pineapple, musk melon, and tangerine, it spreads a creamy fruit concentrate over the palate yet remains infectiously refreshing in its long, sappy finish. Once again, this high-volume Eymael calling card represents an exceptional value and should go right on pleasing for a decade or more, provided anyone both thinks to cellar it and can resist temptation in the interim.”

Cold jelly fish (right) with wasabi sauce. Shrimp with mustard sauce (left) and aromatic braised beef (top) in black bean jelly.

In the upper right, Chinese pork sausages.

Some very unusual artisanal “sour” beers. Stawberry flavors and very… unique.

A stir friend chicken dish.

2008 Domaine Macle Cotes du Jura. This old fashioned wine is made in a manner a little like Sherry where a layer of bacteria is used to prevent oxidation. It was very dry and hot with sherry fino like notes.

Ma po tofu (a.k.a Pockmarked-Face Old Lady’s Tofu).

2003 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. Very nice with strong notes of pear.

Bamboo shoot w/ black mushroom.

1978 Joseph Phelps Zinfandel. Not something you’d expect to still be good, but it was. Tasted like an old Bordeaux, very nice.

Crab w/ ginger and onion sauce. This sauce was delicious. Some wonderful crabs. Almost as good as the ones I had in Singapore.

2010 Domaine Gauby Côtes du Roussillon Villages Les Calcinaires. A little funky, with a distinct barnyard taste that someone described as “dirty piggy.” I liked it quite a bit though, as did many others.

Fried shrimp w/ hot sauce (traditionally twice cooked spicy shrimp). Damn tasty shrimp!

A Turley Howell Mountain Zin.

Lobster hunan style. Good stuff, some really great lobster. Lightly fried with hunan chillies (but actually pretty mild).

w

Fried whole fish w/ chili sauce. Yummy!

It’s not pretty, but great with white rice.

2007 Chin Chin Syrah.

Beef w/ black mushroom, bamboo shoots. Classic Chinese (American) dish.

Noodle with black bean jelly.

The noodles are hiding underneath. Looked cool, but the black bean jelly was a little mild flavored. I would have preferred pork ragu 🙂

Assorted fried rice (shrimp, chicken, pork). Great fried rice.

Parker 95, “Peter Michael’s Bordeaux program is built around their flagship Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine, Les Pavots. The 2008 Les Pavots, a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and 11% Merlot, offers up notes of roasted coffee, cocoa, chocolate fudge, black currants, licorice and a hint of truffles. This full-bodied, beautifully rich red boasts an opulent texture, impressive purity and a long finish. Impressively made with impeccable attention to detail (it is sorted berry by berry rather than grape bunch by grape bunch), this 3,500-case cuvee should drink well for two decades or more.”

The condiments for Peking duck.

Both pancakes and buns! I’ve never seen both at the same restaurant.

Peking duck. Looking good!

For the uninitiated, you put some duck skin, duck meat, onions, and hoison sauce in the pancake and roll.

1980 Château Nairac. Yarom always manages to find these ancient Sauternes. Tons of buttered popcorn and apricots. Not as syrupy as many desert wines. Still has a bit of acidity.

Apple pie (brought in).

2002 Domaine Weinbach Tokay Pinot Gris Altenbourg Cuvée Laurence. Parker 95, “Among the few slightly older wines from Weinbach that I tasted recently, the 2002 Pinot Gris Altenbourg Selection de Grains Nobles was especially notable. Black tea, citrus zest, musk, white truffle and honey aromas lead intoxicatingly to a plate the combine delicacy with density and richness, Like mandarins marinated in honey, tea, and grapefruit juice on the palate, on which 166 grams of residual sugar are tossed off and practically forgotten. This finishes with unquenchable refreshment rare for an S.G.N., and the sort of complexity and clarity that accrue to the best wines of this under-rated vintage.”

Glazed sweet potato. Basically sweet potato fries coated in sugar. Carby yum.

Overall, this was a great evening. Shin Beijing turned out to be a great find with a nice ambiance (as far as Chinese restaurants go) and terrific food. They really treated us well too. It’s not so easy to handle a boisterous group of this size and they managed perfectly. The price was very reasonable too, $60 a person all inclusive of tip and tax, considering the number of dishes and the fact that we had several lobsters, several crabs, and two peking ducks.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

The crab is making a break for it — unfortunately for him, he didn’t make it.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beijing, Chinese Food, Côtes du Rhône AOC, crab, duck, hedonists, Kimchi, Korean cuisine, Lobster, Marsanne, Roussanne, Shin Beijing, Viognier, Wine

Game of Thrones – Episode 22

Apr07

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 22 – April 7, 2013

Title: Dark Wings, Dark Words

Summary: Lots of great scenes

ANY CHARACTER HERE

There is a process of narrative separation happening with GOT, inherited from the novels. The first book of the series begins with two story threads and fractures into four. With the second, and increasingly so as the series progresses, the number of plots grows and grows. They interweave, split and merge. For good reasons of pacing and tension, the editors of the series inter-splice these during an episode, but I’m going to put them back together for the purposes of discussion.

Bran – Opens with a dream (he’s walking after all), that in several ways harkens back to both his previous three-eyed raven dreams and to the beginning of the first episode of the entire series. Two of the magics of Westeros are introduced and explained in this episode, with a clarity not present in the book. Martin is pretty much the ultimate example of “soft magic” in the fantasy genre, and rarely explains his mystical systems. But, for the sake of the TV audience, they’ve made it pretty clear here that Bran is both a “Worg” (able to cast his spirit into an animal — Summer) and has “The Sight” (clairvoyance of a classic sort). The dream here foreshadows the eminent arrival of the Reeds — who I actually thought the writers had compressed out of the story.

It’s also worth noting that several of the kids, most notably Bran, look A LOT older this season. It makes sense, he’s hitting puberty, and he’s taller, leaner, and his voice (and presumably balls) have dropped. Rickon looks older too.

In the second Bran vignette the Reeds actually show. Both of them. This show is sometimes willing to cast woman that aren’t always “cute” in the typical fashion of American productions. Anyway, the male half of the Reed duo (Jojen) serves to explain both mystical systems, hinting into actions of book 5. I also like that the wolves get some real presence, and they look good, and big.

Robb/Cat – The Robb portions always feel anemic because they don’t exist in the source material, although technically this merges in chunks of Cat’s narrative. We have a little moment with his wife, then Bolton (the usual go to man here) bringing double bad news. That of Winterfell’s destruction, and of Cat’s father’s death. This is a substantial change from the book where we go to Riverrun on several occasions and Cat hangs out with the dying Holster Tully. No more.

The second vignette has them on the move to the funeral and takes an opportunity to remind the audience that Robb’s new marriage was politically disastrous. Then a moment with the wife and Cat, which given Cat’s hard side in season 2 is uncharacteristic, but perhaps she’s shaken up by the loss of her father. It’s also a change from the books, where she makes up a complex emotional story about her feelings toward Jon Snow, which in season 1 were pretty cruel. The scene shows to return our sympathy toward her, and I have to say, given how hard she felt, it’s probably a welcome change.

It’s also worth noting a favorite stylistic technic of the series, in that the last line/thought of one scene sets up the next. So we transition from thoughts of Jon to:

Jon – Sure has gotten in close with Mance quickly, as their marching together across the countryside. We learn a bit about the composition of the Wildlings and then get a sort of show and tell demo of the Worg powers where a guy is remote controlling his hawk. We hear about dead crows and then again to:

Sam – Our viewpoint back with the crow expedition. Not my favorite scene, as Sam isn’t looking to good. Although I like how the Commander handles the situation.

Theon – We have two Theon scenes! More and more the show is taking on a life of its own. Theon is basically absent from books 3 and 4. But here he’s captive of the Bastard of Bolton (presumably) and subject to some nasty torture. Nail pulling and a some variant of the knee splitter? Yes, I know way too much about medieval torture, as clearly do Martin and the other writers (they did after all, last year, include the Rat Torture, and it’s alluded to in this episode). But then at the end, we have a big change: a guy is there “sent by his sister” to rescue him! Does he evade the long skinny shadow of Reek in the show?

Joff – He’s such a shit, but such a delicious shit to watch in action. We get a study of contrasts in terms of the relationships with the two major women in his life. First up is mom, and she ain’t doing too well because while this Cersei comes off as considerably smarter and more reasonable (if still a cold bitch) than in the novels, she sure is losing control over her madman of a son.

Second, Marg comes to visit, and even with Joff being not only a shit, but in a shit mood, she manages to wrap him around her little finger. This is one talented handler, as she knows just how to appeal to his vanity and perverse interests. Here we see Joff at his more vulnerable, really a disturbed little boy (and still an unredeemable human being). Also, I have to admit, Marg with the crossbow was kinda hot. There is also, some what oddly, continued and voluminous mention of Renly’s sexual orientation. This was only vaguely hinted (obvious, but subtle) in the novel, but is a subject of continuous over the head beating here. I wonder why?

Sansa – She and Shae are talking and Shae is getting protective. She too has taken on a depth and complexity not present in the novels. Loras visits and brings Sansa to have tea with Marg and her Grandmom, Dame Tyrell. Well, the dame is one funny lady, well played, and disarmingly direct. Good fun. Sansa does a deft job handling the crisis, because she’s under A LOT of emotional pressure with no outlet, and she can’t help but seize one.

Tyrion – Uncharacteristically has only one brief scene in the episode, with Shae, but their back and forth is highly entertaining, and further develops her character — and his.

Arya – Finally we return to beloved Arya (my favorite character along with Tyrion), alas, all too briefly. As she, Hotpie, and Gendry march through the forest, Gendry makes obvious what we all felt last season: that Arya chose rather poorly who to have Jaqen kill. Then they wander right into Thyros of Myr’s little party. This is an amusing scene and I’m already liking the lush of a priest (although no mention of his relgio-magical side yet).

Arya has also grown over the year and it’s getting harder for her to pass as boyish. Nice longbow also.

In the second segment, Thyros gets into his cups and Arya scenes are great as always. Then some of his men drag in the Hound. I can’t remember if this happened so soon in the books, and I don’t think in the same way. I’m wondering if the undead Lord Beric Dondarrion will make an appearance.

Jaime – I saved Jaime for last because we end with him, even though he shows twice. He and Brienne make for great fun because she’s such a stick in the mud and he’s a riot. I particularly like the way in which he’s so endearingly baiting, only to occasionally soften with a meaningful and honest line (like the “we don’t choose who we love” from the above clip). Perhaps it’s because his style of banter is actually so honest, if deliberately provocative.

His maneuver to trick the sword away from Brienne and the fight that follows is delicious as well. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau really does have a natural charisma. And we end with the usual uh, oh.

Overall, a fun episode, if not particularly meaty in any one area. Lots of great scenes. Each individual story is but a blip in the bigger picture. When viewed one at a time, they feel a bit fragmented, but from the perspective I’ve gotten watching seasons 1 and 2 all together on Blu-ray (which looks awesome BTW), I think it will feel coherent as part of the continuous whole.

Another interesting review of this episode.

Or see my review of A Dance With Dragons.

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My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

My three year-old at the gardens where Sansa chats with Grandma Tyrell

By: agavin
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Posted in: Television

Tagged as: A Song of Ice and Fire, Episode 22, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Season 3 Episode 2, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Burghounds at Melisse

Apr05

Restaurant: Melisse [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 1104 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-0881

Date: March 21, 2013

Cuisine: California French

Rating: Awesome in all ways

Melisse is a real standout in LA for many reasons. It’s almost the last of the European style haut cuisine restaurants and it maintains an ever evolving cuisine at the highest level. Food, presentation, and service here are all top notch. Tonight, I returned (for what must be the 20th time) with a bunch of Burgundy loving friends. Melisse provided the food and we provided the wines. Joining us were two reps from London wine merchant Justerini & Brooks and they brought along a number of excellent bottles.

We settled on the “10” a good sized tasting menu, but not quite as crazy as the carte blanche (my usual favorite).

The first amuse is a Melisse staple. Grapes two ways. Out of the spoon are half grapes coated in goat cheese and pistachio. On the spoon sphereized grapes dusted with pistachio. The first has a nice contrast of the sharp cheese and the fruit, the second is an explosion of grapeness.

And the bread arrives. I went for a piece of bacon, and a basil brioche.

Domaine Bachelet-Monnot Puligny-Montrachet “Les Refèrts” 1er 1er Cru White.

Burghound 88. Very mild reduction that didn’t blow off even after 24 hours does not completely hide the otherwise fresh and pretty citrus and floral aromas that give way to precise, racy and intense middle weight flavors that possess a very firm, indeed one could safely call this assertive, acid framework on the dry, persistent and solidly complex finish. Like the Folatières, some will find this to be overly austere as the finish is bone dry.

IWC 91+. Bright yellow. Exotic aromas of apricot and grilled nuts. Quite powerful and concentrated, with sweet fruit countered by strong acidity. In a rather muscular style for this cuvee Alexandre told me these vines were picked very slowly and that the 13.4% natural alcohol was high for 2008. The yield here, he says, was just 30 hectoliters per hectare.

Kumanto Oyster, avocado. I don’t remember all the details of this amuse, but it was lovely.

No trip to Melisse would be complete without the classic, “Egg Caviar, Lemon Creme Fraiche, American Osetra Caviar.” It’s a classic for a reason. The Creme Fraiche is so good, and there is raw egg yolk at the bottom. Amazing combo, particularly with the little toast stick.

The aftermath.

2009 Pierre Boisson Meursault

Almond, caramel, Nice long finish. True and excellent meursault.

Poisson Cru. Crysanthemum, Pistachio, Breakfast Radish and Black Mustard.

Very much fusing Japanese influences with the french, this was a nice sashimi meets pesto dish.

Sweet Pea Soup. English Peas and Whipped Porcini.

With the soup itself poured in. A typical lovely vegetable creme soup Melisse style.

1999 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault Les Chaumes des Perrières

Nice mature white burg with plenty of fruit and firm, racy acidity. A very enjoyable wine, and paired excellently (as suggested by master Sommelier Brian Kalliel) with:

White Asparagus Cocotte. Morel Mushrooms, Savagnin Sauce.

It’s white asparagus season, and these were done up to perfection with my favorite mushroom and a nice oxidized butter reduction. All sauce was mopped up afterward.

1978 Robert Ampeau & Fils Blagny 1er Cru La Pièce-sous-le-Bois

From my cellar. Dark red with a brown hue. Scents of prunes and raisins with strong cherry scents underneath. Medium bodied with nice intensity and mouth feel. Interesting, but delicious, taste of brown sugar with a nice consistent aftertaste.

This was slightly cloudy, not bitter at all, but not quite as good as the 1978 Ampeau Volnay I opened a couple weeks before.

Truffle Pasta. Fresh Tagliatelle, Perigord Truffle.

Have a little truffle. Always too small a portion (of the pasta)!

Domaine Henri Jayer Echézeaux Grand Cru Red

Burghound 93. Knock out aromas of kirsch, blackberry extract and ripe earth lead to big, robust, quite structured, deep and sappy flavors of incredible depth and complexity and as grand as those characteristics are, it is the simply mindbending length that really sets this apart from the average Jayer Ech. A wine that should last for 25 years if well stored.

The 1990 Henri Jayer Echezeaux had a lot going on in its nose. It was heavy and thick, beefy, brothy and foresty, with that citrus pitch and spice. It was like a forest sledgehammer, so thick and sweet, displaying that purple signature style. The palate was rich with endless acidity that was still somehow reined in. The palate was so rich, so saucy, so concentrated, so spectacular. It also had that cedary, foresty edge to its flavors. If the 1991 was a girlfriend, the 1990 was a bodyguard.

1990 Louis Jadot Musigny

Parker 93. The Musigny (75 cases produced) is a textbook example of this vineyard. The color is deep ruby. The nose consists primarily of sweet black-cherries and new oak. In the mouth, there is a soft, velvety texture, medium to full body, low acidity, and gentle tannins in the long finish.

My favorite wine of the night.

Dry Aged Sonoma Duck. Forono Beets, Mustard, Orange Scented Duck Jus.

This duck was aged for 28 days (I think) and had a wonderful “aged” complexity.

1988 Domaine Maume Charmes-Chambertin

From my cellar. John Gilman 91 points.

This was drinking nicely, but wasn’t quite as bright and balanced as the other three grand cru reds. If I’d had it without such stellar competition, I’d have thought better of it :-).

Windrose Farms Lamb. Violet Artichoke, Young Garlic, Camelina Seeds.

Aged for 5-6 weeks! Delightfully gamey.

1988 Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux

Burghound 94. Intense and penetrating nose of spices and high-toned pinot fruit with remarkably youthful, rich flavors that completely buffer the still substantial tannins. The extract is sweet and seamless and renders the tannins almost invisible. This is extremely impressive Echézeaux.

Another knockout.

Fourme d’Ambert. Pear Tart, Wild Watercress, Peppered Honey.

I’m always good with blue.

1995 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Auslese

Wine Spectator 89. One of the sweeter auslese of ’95, its melon, peach and botrytis flavors are wrapped around a core of racy acidity. Concentrated and long. Drink now through 2000. 350 cases made.

Golden color, honeyed fruits with a touch of petrol. great body that expands on the finish. Loads of honey and mango.

Molten Chocolate Tart, peppermint Sorbet.

Not your average “molten chocolate cake”!

Sangria. Moro Blood Orange, Pineapple and Mugwort.

Light and refreshing.

Macarons, cookies, and canelles.

Orange slices and pate de fruits.

The full lineup.

Melisse has two Michelin stars, and it deserves every ounce of them. The service is amazing too. The setting is not as fully formal as some French three-stars, or the service quite so orchestrated (that level is more amusement than actually pleasant), and there are no zany carts for teas and sugars, but the food and creativity demonstrate Melisse’s deserved position as one of America’s top kitchens. I ‘ve gone several times a year for a decade and it keeps getting better and better!

For another Melisse meal, click here.

Or for other Foodie Club meals, click here.

Small table, lots of glasses!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Allen Meadows, Burgundy, Chef Josiah Citrin, Justerini & Brooks, Los Angeles, Melisse, Michelin, Puligny-Montrachet

The Last of Us – Red Band

Apr03

Naughty Dog and Sony released an awesome “red band” (uncensored) trailer for their upcoming post apocalyptic survival game, The Last of Us:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4pYIsaZqE0]

Looking cool! Damn, those people look realistic.

Find the previous batch of teasers here.

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By: agavin
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Burgundy at Bouchon – Faiveley

Apr02

Restaurant: Bouchon Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

Location: 235 NORTH CANON DRIVE | BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210 | 310.271.9910

Date: March 14, 2013

Cuisine: French Bistro

Rating: Good, but expensive

Through my recent Burgundy aficionado dinners I was hooked up with a series of winemaker dinners that Wally’s Wine and Spirits throws. These seem to be at Bouchon and feature great wines from a particular winemaker as well as an intimate opportunity to meet the winemaker himself.

This particular dinner features Faiveley, which is a solid traditionalist B+ Burgundy house that I buy very frequently as they offer a wide range of wines from all over Burgundy and very good value.

With regard to Bouchon. In the last three-four years there’s been a bit of a French Food revival in Southern California, but the emphasis has been on Bistro fare. Of course this is consistent with the post-recession trend toward less formal restaurants anyway. Bouchon is the small-chain spawn for Thomas Keller, the highly acclaimed chef of The French Laundry.

The Beverly Hills space is very pretty. Check out the bar (both raw and booze). Lobsters oversee the diners.

The elegant dining room has a very spacious, even Parisian feel.

For the special wine dinner tonight we have the private room.

The NV Brut Rose is a pretty, understated wine graced with notable class and finesse. This is a decidedly feminine, delicate style best suited to drinking as an aperitif. Sweet berries, flowers and spices are layered into the refined, well-articulated finish.

And a special (i.e. limited) menu.

Flight 1: 2011 Whites

These 2011 whites are essentially bottle samples, as they haven’t been released. Bernard (the winemaker) brought them straight from the domain, probably labeled for our pleasure.

88 points. 2011 Mercury Clos Rochette. A perfumed and expressive nose features a pretty mix of various red berries, earth and wet stone. This is one of those wines that is defined by its minerality on the racy, intense and pure middle weight flavors that possess a lovely sense of underlying tension while culminating in a firm but refined finish. Good stuff.

89-91 points. 2011 Domaine Faiveley Meursault Blagny. Bright yellow. Precise aromas of spices, bitter almond and minerals. Juicy, spicy and and a bit metallic, more Puligny in style than Meursault. Conveys a low-alcohol impression and will need more elevage to put on weight. Finishes quite dry, with a hint of bitter lemon. This tight wine is almost dangerously refreshing.

93-96 points. 2011 Domaine Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne. (made from three kinds of grapes, said Hervet: “yellow like Meursault, classic Puligny-type fruit, and green/yellow grapes with a touch of noble rot, like Montrachet”): Soil-driven aromas of apple, mint, anise and menthol, with complicating notes of fresh herbs and white pepper. Dense, saline and seamless; at once very dry and chewy. Conveys a rare impression of glyceral texture without much alcohol (this was actually 12.5% potential alcohol chaptalized to 12.8%). Wonderfully perfumed on the bracing finish, with is dusty with extract. Not at all a fruity style of white Burgundy. But this should make for an utterly compelling wine.

96-98 points. 2011 Domaine Faiveley Batard-Montrachet. An ultra-elegant perfumed glass of Chardonnay. Lots of floral notes.

Dill creme fraiche tartlet.

Smoked duck cubes with a bit of pickle.

Little puff pastries filled with Gruyère cheese.

Salmon pate.

Goat cheese and beet tartlet.

Flight 2: Mature Whites

1999 Faiveley Chablis 1re cru Montmains. So rare I couldn’t even find a review, but drinking very nicely.

Burghound 89-93. 2005 Maison Joseph Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru White. There is more wood here than I’m used to seeing and enough influence where there is both toast and vanilla notes that presently tussle for dominance on the very ripe orchard fruit and floral aromas. The big-bodied flavors offer impressive richness and a real sense of concentration with ample amounts of dry extract present on the powerful and driving finish. The wood is not subtle and it’s enough that it will bother some and even though the track record of this wine is that it will eventually eat the wood, I suspect this will always show vestiges of it.

Burghound 91-94. 2007 Maison Joseph Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru White. Subtle wood sets off more elegant aromas of green apple, floral and wet stone notes that are also reflected by the rich, intense and impressively powerful big-bodied flavors that seem extracted from liquid rock, all wrapped in a palate staining and driving finish. Another aspect worth noting is that this is often a distinctly oaky Corton-Charlemagne but in 2007, thanks to the policy of reducing the wood influence, the oak influence is much more moderate if not invisible.

Burghound 91-93. 2009 Maison Joseph Faiveley Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru White. Moderate wood surrounds the very ripe apricot, peach, spiced pear and mango aromas that are in keeping with the opulent and succulent broad-shouldered flavors that possess imposing size, weight and power while culminating in an extract-rich and palate staining finish. While impressive, I would like to see a bit more depth though there is so much underlying material that it may very well develop once in bottle.

The have good bread here.

Salade de Farro. toasted farro, winter squash, pecans with Treviso & blood orange vinaigrette.

Confit de Canard. Duck leg confit, French green lentils, a matignon of root vegetables & red wine vinegar duck jus.

Very tasty. All that duck fat had saturated into the lentils and made them delicious.

Flight 3: 2011 Reds

More early samples of some highlights from the 2011 reds!

Burghound 91-93. 2011 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1ru cru Les Cazetiers. A background application of wood does not materially diminish the layered and classic Cazetiers nose of humus, earth, animale, stone and cool wild dark berry fruit aromas. I very much like the mouth feel to the tautly muscled, intense and powerful flavors that possess real drive on the very firmly structured but not hard finish that delivers exceptionally good length. This is worth considering.

Burghound 92-95. 2011 Faiveley Corton des Cortons. As is usually the case with this wine when it’s young, the nose is restrained to the point of being almost mute though aggressive swirling liberates aromas of earth, spice, red currant and hints of the sauvage. And instead of the robust and well-muscled mid-palate there is an almost caressing mouth feel to the full-bodied yet refined flavors because while the supporting tannins are definitely firm and dense they are also quite finely-grained. There is excellent length to the moderately austere, tight, focused and linear finish that delivers outstanding persistence.

Burghound 91-94. 2011 Faiveley Echezeaux. An intensely floral nose is notably ripe with notes of plum, spice, black raspberry and cassis in evidence. There is a seductive texture to the solidly well-concentrated medium weight plus flavors that benefit from plenty of structure-buffering dry extract such that this seems more forward than it really is. The tannins are dense but fine and this should significantly reward 12 to 15 years of cellaring.

Burghound 93-95. Faiveley Chambertin Clos de Beze. An exuberantly spicy, cool and airy nose that mixes a variety of wild red berries, humus and earth nuances where the latter component is also well-represented on the solidly well-detailed and powerful medium weight plus flavors that possess superb length. This is a big but not burly Bèze that is actually more a wine of finesse than outsized power and weight.

Truite Grenobloise. pan-roasted Idaho rainbow trout, cauliflower, capers, lemon confit with brioche croutons & beurre noisette.

Poulet Rôti Grand-Mère. roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes, button mushrooms, bacon lardons, pearl onions & chicken jus.

Steak Frites. Herb roasted, caramelized shallots, maître d’hôtel butter or sauce Béarnaise served with French fries.

The table is getting crowded!

Bernard Hervet, managing director of Faiveley.

Flight 4: Red Cortons+

Burghound 92. 1999 Domaine Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru Red. This is right behind the superb ’99 Mazis in quality with its closed and reserved black fruit merging seamlessly into full, firm, structured big-boned flavors that offer terrific complexity and outstanding length. This is sneaky in its intensity and possesses brooding power but it clearly offers grand cru quality flavor precision. This will require at least a decade to unwind and offers excellent aging potential.

Tanzer 88-91. 2000 Domaine Faiveley Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley. Ruby-red. Deep but rather austere nose of red berries and rust. Large-scaled, chewy and sweet, with good depth of red fruit flavor. Still rather monolithic and oaky but not heavy. The chewy, granular tannins are slightly dry but hit the palate late. A sizable wine but it won’t be in the same class as the ’99.

Burghound 90. 1999 Domaine Faiveley Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley Grand Cru Red. Big, ripe, intense black fruit aromas followed by rich, relatively dense flavors offering plenty of character and supported by a moderate tannic backbone. The ’99 Clos des Corton is not a bruiser but make no mistake, this is still a big wine. It will clearly require some time to smooth out and resolve the solid tannins but there is good mid-palate density and sève to permit the tannins to soften gracefully.

Burghound 90. 1990 Domaine Faiveley Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley Grand Cru Red. Black fruit nose that is quite rich and complex with slightly rustic tannins and a long, intense, moderately structured finish. This is still going strong and has developed none of the advanced secondary aromatics that more than a few 90s are displaying, which augurs well for its future development. Still a very big, young wine and this needs another 5 years or so of cellar time before it really comes into its own. Note: this bottle was materially better than another bottle tasted in 2000, which merited a score of 87.

Selection de Fromages Artisanaux. Selection of artisanal cheeses with honeycomb, candied nuts, cranberry currant campagne & walnut bread.

The bread part.

Flight 5: Chambertin

Tanzer 89+. 2000 Domaine Faiveley Mazis Chambertin. Medium red with an amber edge. Complex nose combines plum, cherry, currant, game, cinnamon and menthol. Dense and layered, with sappy, slightly austere flavors of black cherry, licorice and minerals. Lovely intensity without any excess weight. Strong spicy oak gives the persistent finish a slight youthful dryness.

95 points. 1990 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin. Very intense, almost searing, nose of blood, menthol, red fruit, earth, sous bois, tobacco, and some hot iron. Impeccably balanced fruit, tannin and acidity on the palate. Not as elegant or poised as the Latricieres that preceded it but equally good. My notes are regularly punctuated by the word long – long, lingering nose; long, complete palate impression; long finish of iron and fruit. Again, they end with ‘fabulous’. To me this was Mazis at it’s finest and was drinking perfectly.

Burghound 92-95. 2007 Domaine Joseph Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru Red. A slightly cooler, distinctly floral and more deeply pitched and much spicier nose offers up reluctant red and black berry fruit aromas as well as game and smoke notes that continue onto the mineral-driven, powerful and well-muscled broad-shouldered flavors that possess another, if small, dimension of depth and length. This is very primary, even backward and will need plenty of cellar time. A most impressive ’07.

Burghound 95-97. 2005 Domaine Joseph Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru Red. As aromatically complex as the Clos des Cortons is, the Clos de Bèze goes it one better with a dazzling array of spice, earth, mineral, fruit and subtle floral aromas that change every few seconds but continue onto the elegant, pure, transparent and vibrant flavors that possess superb power and striking depth of material on the unbelievably long finish. This is also quite firmly structured but completely balanced and the flavors are the perfect example of the term power without weight. A monument in the making but a wine for the patient.

Burghound 88. 1998 Domaine Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru Red. Barest hint of oak frames slightly underripe but nicely complex fruit leading to medium weight, intense flavors of moderate richness and firm but not hard structure. There is good if not exceptional material here and the character of the wine is presently on the austere and understated side. I suspect this will always retain a certain reserve, given that the Faiveley style is not given to fruity exuberance in the first place. A wine for the patient.

A very fun evening. I was surprised how good the food was. Not modern or innovative per se (haha) but really very tasty. And there were some great wines plus the interesting opportunity to meet the winemaker and hear his perspective. He was very nice and extremely gracious. There was a bit of a mismatch in that there were far too many wines for the number of courses — but it’s rare for an event to plan on 7+ courses — unless it’s one of mine!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bernard Hervet, Bistro, Bouchon, Burgundy, Faiveley, French Cuisine, French Laundry, Southern California, Thomas Keller, Wine

Game of Thrones – Episode 21

Mar31

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 21 – March 31, 2013

Title: Valar Dohaeris

Summary: Excellent start

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Right off the bat you can feel a difference in pacing. Season 2 suffered from the crunch required to compress a gigantic book into 10 hours, and given that A Clash of Kings is even longer, the decision to split book 3 into two seasons is clearly a smart one. Valar Dohaeris has some leisure to establish (in many cases reestablish) the situations for its gigantic cast. This episode doesn’t even try to handle all of them, leaving Jamie/Brienne, Arya, Bran, and Theon for episode 22.

We begin where we left off, with the decimation of the Black Brothers by the White Walkers (an ironic reversal of color). In somewhat typical budget saving fashion the battle itself is left off screen (sword clanks under black). Sam is our focal point although he doesn’t do much except run through the snow and get rescued by Ghost. This first scene is anticlimactic, turning last season’s big “event” into more of just a reveal (there are lots of White Walkers, uh oh!).

The award winning titles have been updated with a smokey Winterfell and Astapoor (the harpy slave city).

Sticking to the North for the moment, Jon Snow arrives at Mance Rayder’s camp with Ygritte. I do like her, although the way she shuffles on the snow in her heavy boots and parka looks anything but fearsome. Perhaps no one looks fearsome in Eskimo outfits. Perhaps she’s too cute for fearsomeness. In any case, the production takes the time to show off a giant in all its CGI glory, which I’m very happy with. I worried that they might try to play down some of the fantasy elements, particularly as they pick up in intensity in later books, but it seems not. The first meeting with Mance is well handled. I’ve liked Ciaran Hinds since Rome, and the writers hit on the crux of the meeting, with Jon having to convince them why he’s really there. He does.

Our return to Kings Landing fittingly comes down (haha) to Bron in a brothel. GOT loves its whores, and this one is cute, although serving of little purpose. Back in his dungeon of a room, Tyrion contemplates his new scared face. Just as the show didn’t ugly up Peter Dinklage to begin with (he might be height challenged, but he’s a handsome guy), it didn’t dare maim Tyrion like in the book. Just a scar, no missing nose and the like, although when Cersei visits in this scene, she alludes to the missing sniffer. These Tyrion/Cersei scenes are always fun. My favorite line this time is “You’re not half so clever as you think you are” followed by “still, that makes me cleverer than you.” Bron comes to defend Ty, bookending his earlier appearance. Last season they would have cut both bits out of expediency, but this time around they have room for more nuance and secondary characters. The visual scope feels somewhat bigger too, as Bron and Tryion go for a wander on the Dubrovnik (achem, Kings Landing) walls and we get a sense of space. It’s funny too, having been there myself last year, I have a sense of the positioning in the real city.

Turns out Davos survived his encounter with green fire only to be stuck on a rock (I recognize those too, as they’re just North of Dubrovnik, I believe). He’s rescued by Salladhor Saan. More characterization and setting up what’s going on with Stannis at Dragonstone. First time we’ve seen his missing fingers too in a nice artsy shot.

Robb and Bolton show up at Harrenhal after the Mountain has deserted it. This is pure setup, showing the nasty pile of corpses the big guy left behind, Robb with his new wife, and Cat a virtual prisoner of her son. The slight unrest of his men… well, little in a TV show is an accident.

Tyrion goes to visit his father Tywin, having not himself been visited during his presumably lengthy convalescence. Given that Tywin seemed fairly reasonable last season, and Tyrion really did do a pretty decent job (considering) in his defense of the capital, you’d expect him to get a little love — but no, poor Tyrion, and this is one of the many reasons we love him, just never gets the tall straw (see what I did?). Tywin lays it on pretty thick. Poor little guy.

In another scene that expands the visual grandeur Sansa and Shae hang out together at the little harbor near Dubrovnik’s north gate watching the ships sail. Littlefinger comes to work his little plot involving her, with Ros in tow. Parallel conversations between Sansa/Littlefinger and Shae/Ros allow for compact establishment of character. This is substantial compression from the books, but deftly done. And Ros isn’t a real character anyway, but her exchange isn’t bad.

Tyrion may not have gotten any love, but the dragons do. Drogon in particular has a very fun draconic take on fish BBQ. We learn that Dany is headed to Astapoor to get herself an army. A slave army, which she’s not necessarily a fan of.

At Dragonstone, Davos finally shows up and confronts Stannis and Melisandre. I’m no fan of all three of these characters, but Mel does do a good job being fey and spooky, like an evil shadow mom version of Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel.

Joffrey, the king we all love to hate, doesn’t bother to ride a horse, he takes a fancy litter, clutching a handkerchief to his nose (they should have used an orange stuffed with cloves). Margaery, his new finance, has a mosque shaped litter herself, but she isn’t afraid to get out, step through some shit (literally) and work the people. A talent that not only extends to orphans, but to Joff and Cersei as well as we see next scene when she manipulates them all at dinner. I’m liking Natalie Dormer’s take on this character.

Dany arrives at Astapoor in all its CGI grandeur, and from a distance it does look damn good. But close up, it’s probably Dubrovnik again, or perhaps a nearby Croatian city. I guess it could be Morocco. I’m not sure yet, but it sure looked like Croatia. This scene is basically an intro to the slave culture of Astapoor and the concept of the Unsullied. The subtitled back and forth between the translator girl slave and the master was particularly hilarious, and the slave soldiers well enough handled. They probably won’t be able to justice to what is to come because it involves citywide happenings, but we’ll see.

As the “previous scenes” reminded us about season 1’s dismissal of Barristan Selmy. His return involves some interesting adaption from the novels. Martin loves to reintroduce characters by new names and only slowly reveal their identity, which is great fun, but it isn’t really realistic in a TV show where the audience will just recognize the actor. So Barristan’s return is stripped of his extended posing, and the fun but unnecessary character of Strong Belwas seems written out. But I did love the warlock girl with the blue mouth and the bug ball!

All in all, a great start, if not exactly action packed. My concerns from season 1 about visual scope have been addressed as best as possible on TV. This is a grand looking show, probably one of the most impressive productions in the history of the medium. And it looks like they’ll have room in the script to do far more justice this season to Martin’s nuanced character portraits.

Another interesting review of this episode.

Or see my review of A Dance With Dragons.

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My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Me at Kings Landing

By: agavin
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Posted in: Television

Tagged as: a game of thrones, Dubrovnik, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Jon Snow, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Natalie Dormer, Season 3, Season 3 episode 1, Tyrion, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

CUR-ATE – Alexander the Great

Mar28

CUR-ATE is an interesting program run by LACMA where a museum visit is combined with a unique take on cuisine. This event, hosted on March 11, 2013, revolved thematically around Alexander the Great’s epic conquests across Asia.

The evening began with a brief (one hour) tour by Maite Gomez-Rejón (above) through some of the antiquities galleries. This was fun, but rather lightweight for a series Alexandrite like myself. I’ve always had a thing for the conquerer, particularly given that I was born (reborn?) the night he died (albeit 2293 years later), and succumb myself on occasion to delusions of grandeur.

The menu for the evening, “inspired” by culinary influences along the road Alexander traveled.

We were hosted in LACMA’s Ray’s and Stark Bar and the meal was designed by Executive Chef Kris Morningstar.

Bread, probably far more leavened than the son of Zeus was accustomed too.

Crispy Paneer. Spinch-almond puree, cinnamon scented gold rice, pickled sultanas.

This kind of pan fried fresh cheese is very traditional actually, and particularly paired with a bit of sweet and savory. There are similar dishes in Apicius. It was also delicious.

Rock Cod. Coconut curry, charred lime, cilantro, lentils. Another fabulous dish with an almost Tom Yum Goong vibe to the broth.

An extra, a tandoori charred octopus.

And for a vegetarian, a homemade buccatini with cheese and vegetables.

Lamb Sirloin. Skordhalia, braised artichokes, feta cheese, salsa verde. Also fabulous melding Italian, Middle Eastern, and modern sensibilities.

Spiced Carrot Soup. Pistachio financier, saffron-honey frozen yogurt, candied pistachios, cardamon opaline, pistachio yogurt.

What do you get when you mate carrot cake with bouillabaisse? This dish! And it was fabulous.

Homemade oreos. Hardly Alexandrian, but lovely.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations with regard to this meal but it turned out to be absolutely first rate. The dishes were exciting and memorable with very interesting flavors and excellent execution. Very impressive for a modern riff on exotic and traditional ingredients.

It was a fun evening too, with foodies and history buffs alike!

You can also check out this Roman meal at the Getty based (more authentically) on Apicius.

Often considered one of the better likenesses of Alexander from antiquity

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food, History

Tagged as: Alexander the Great, CUR-ATE, LACMA, Ray's & Stark Bar, Silk Road

The Wretched of Muirwood

Mar25

Title: The Wretched of Muirwood

Author: Jeff Wheeler

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Length: 300 pages

Read: March 3-15, 2013

Summary: Great prose, characters, and setup

The first half of this novel was pure and unadulterated fantasy pleasure. The prose is very good. Descriptive but quick and lively. It’s pretty straight up third-person past, but it has a tinge of the poetic about it.

The story tightly follows Lia, an orphaned kitchen drudge living in an alternate Medieval Abbey. She’s a very lively personality and a lot of fun. There’s an interesting magical/religious system which is about halfway between “hard” and “soft” magic. I’m not going to get into the plot, per se, but this first half is basically of the “something new and strange comes into someone’s life” variety. This part is excellent.

About halfway through the book, this intrusion forces Lia to leave the Abbey and go on a quest. This occupies the second half of the novel and in the end the secret of her parentage is more or less revealed. There was nothing seriously wrong with this second half and I read it easily enough, but it somehow lacked the visceral grab that the setup did. Putting on my structural hat, I’d have to guess that the problem was one of drama and complication. There are complications, but they just sort of pop up and are resolved one way or another without a tremendous amount of agency from the protagonist. I’m excepting the final confrontation, which while abbreviated, did have said agency. This is all in contrast to the first half of the book where Lia is extremely proactive, even if it got her in trouble.

But there could be other factors. In the first half, she’s pretty sharp tongued, but this takes a back burner outside the Abbey.

I admit to sometimes having this “second act” myself, as it’s hard to both adhere to the plot target and simultaneously make the protagonist proactive rather than reactive. Still, it robbed Wretched of some drama. I felt less engaged.

There is also the possibility that it’s all me, as I seem to be having this problem in recent years where I enjoy the first act and not the second or third. Maybe I’m jaded. But this complaint aside, Wretched is still one of the better fantasies I’ve read in some time. It’s more personal (and shorter) than the traditional epic novel, but that seems to be a trend in this new e-book centric age.

For more book reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Books

Tagged as: Fantasy, Fiction, High fantasy, Jeff Wheeler, The Wretched of Muirwood

A Night of Cheese

Mar22

The other week we hosted a little wine and cheese night.

The is a nice little cheese spread put together from Andrew’s Cheese Shop. I’ll discuss the cheese itself in a bit, but on the right are various artisanal crackers and on the left: honey, dried figs, olives, cornichons, and quince paste.

Here is the cheese. I tried to build a progression from “mild” to “potent.” Now, this should all be taken in the context that I never go boring, being a more is more kind of guy.

I selected a small series of very interesting ascending wines and forced all 20 or so people to move through sequential small pours, even the occasional “I don’t like white” naysayer. But they were glad they tried them as these were all drinking in peak form.

2002 Gravner Breg Anfora Venezia Giulia IGT

Deep golden orange (or orange gold) in color. Big full nose dried orange, dry flowers, and honey. Palate is complex with orange rind, dry flowers, a bit of Pinot must, and what would be honey if the wine were sweet (which it is not). Full body and firm tannins with a finish of tea and brandy. An excellent example of Gravner’s OLD Old World philosophy!

1988 Joseph Drouhin Corton

The nose was medicinal, ethereal, and fragrant with hints of coffee, dill and rich dark fruit, more of the same on the palate, lovely mouth filling burgundy, medium finish

1998 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Colonnello

Tanzer 93-95 points, “Medium red. Subdued but noble aromas of plum, smoke, marzipan, minerals and dried flowers. Sweet, silky and concentrated, with lovely vinosity giving the wine a highly aromatic quality in the mouth. Sappy and elegant; a distinctly feminine style of Barolo, with lovely brightness and sweet, broad tannins. Long on the palate.”

2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Parker 96, “Beaucastel has been on a terrific qualitative roll over the last four vintages, and the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape (which Francois Perrin feels is similar to the 1990, although I don’t see that as of yet) is a 15,000-case blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the balance split among the other permitted varietals of the appellation. This inky/ruby/purple-colored cuvee offers a classic Beaucastel bouquet of new saddle leather, cigar smoke, roasted herbs, black truffles, underbrush, and blackberry as well as cherry fruit. It is a superb, earthy expression of this Mourvedre-dominated cuvee. Full-bodied and powerful.”

I always try to represent all three “animals” (cow, sheep, and goat). This is my goat.

Monte Enebro is handmade in Avila, Spain, by legendary cheesemaker Rafael Baez and his daughter Paloma. The Baezs make their complex goat’s milk cheese from pasteurized milk and then inoculate the logs with the mold that is used to make Roquefort, adding to Monte Enebro’s complexity and distinctive appearance. It is creamy, lemony and slightly acidic; as it ages, the texture becomes denser and the flavor becomes more intense with a pungent finish. This award-winning cheese has proven to be a versatile pairing partner for many wines; it pairs exceptionally well with Chenin Blancs, Sauternes and sweeter sherries.

The Gubbeen Dairy makes effectively one cheese – Gubbeen. Like the Chateaux that produce just one wine from their land, their milk produces Gubbeen Cheese – the trick is what they do in the curing processes. Cheese vintages come from ageing plus the milk quality and the seasons.

The Gubbeen herd is out earlier than most Irish farms as they are influenced by the Gulf Stream bringing in warm winds and early grass. In the Summer their herd will be grazing the pasture and is out all night, coming home at 6.00 in the morning to be milked. During the winter weather the herd is in their main shed where they feed on silage produced here at Gubbeen with supplements of nuts that Tom chooses each year.

The tags for the next two cheeses are actually flipped. This is the Cave Aged Marisa.

A cave – aged beauty! This natural-rind variety gets its complex, sweet and slightly rambunctious flavors from open-air cave aging. Cave Aged Marisa has been a judges favorite and was awarded the prestigious “Best of Show” 1st Runner Up at the 2011 American Cheese Society and 1st Place at the 2012 World Championship Cheese Contest.

Maxx 365 is the elder brother of Scharfe Maxx 365 an Alpine cheese from Toggenburg, Switzerland. The first thing that sets it apart from other Swiss cheese is that it’s not made from part-skim, or even full fat raw milk; it’s actually classified as a double crème. This essentially means they add cream to the milk to increase the richness of the cheese. This is what gives Scharfe Maxx and Maxx365 their unrivaled richness and depth.

Epoisses de Bourgogne is one of my all time favorite cheeses.

Époisses de Bourgogne is a cheese made in the village Époisses, which is in the département of Côte-d’Or in France. It is located around halfway between Dijon and Auxerre.
Commonly referred to as Époisses, it is a pungent unpasteurized cows-milk cheese. Smear-ripened (washed in marc de Bourgogne, the local pomace brandy), it is circular at around either 10cm or 18cm in diameter, with a distinctive soft red-orange colour. It is sold in a circular wooden box, and is best served with a good dark Trappist beer, or even Sauternes.
Napoleon was a particular fan of the cheese,[1] and the famous epicure Brillat-Savarin himself classed it as the “king of all cheeses”.

Bleu du Bocage is an amazing treat for the taste buds. Packed with a variety of flavors, it is salty, milky, fruity and minerally and not overly “goaty” in any way. Assertive in taste, this blue is perfect for dessert with a fruity white wine.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Andrew's Cheese Shop, Cheese, Wine

Untimed Book Trailer

Mar20

This awesome Trailer for Untimed was made for me by The Other House, a LA based firm specializing in book trailers. They’re one of the few houses with consistently classy output. I went with an animation style because I’m bothered by live action or straight up photography (in a book context). Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 70s and 80s when only cheesy Tie-In novels had photos on the cover, who knows?

In any case, I also had to keep my trailer short (mostly for budget reasons) and so it was also an interesting exercise to squeeze the basic concept into about 15 seconds of storytelling.

Let me know how we did! And make sure to watch it in 720p!

Buy Sample Characters Reviews Reviewer Info

By: agavin
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Posted in: Untimed

Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Book Trailer, Short Narrative, The Other House, Trailer, Untimed

Valentines at Michael’s

Mar18

Restaurant: Michael’s Santa Monica

Location: 1147 Third Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403. 310-451-0843

Date: February 14, 2013

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Great job with a tough night

Valentines is a notoriously difficult night to get a great meal on. The frenzied rush to maximize profits usually results in lackluster service and stilted over-priced fixed menus.

The first Valentines my wife and I celebrated was at Michaels, a Santa Monica staple that many credit for inventing New Californian cuisine, so we decided to head back and try it out. Things have been substantially updated this year both in decor and with regard to the menu — which is a necessity for any restaurant entering it’s 4th decade!

Michaels has a fantastic garden in back, which remains a nice temperature all year round due to heat lamps.

The special Valentines menu.

The ripe pear and hazelnut nose is marred by a note of lactic acid that leads to rich, sweet and generous medium-bodied flavors that possess good detail on the linear finish. I found this to be a bit disappointing reative to what I originally saw in cask as the nose is curious. This was a tad “advanced”, way more oxidized than it should have been.

Fromage blanc infused with maple and salmon roe.

Roasted Winter Squash Soup. Sherry Gastrique, Burrata, Sage, Chive.

Cowgirl (WA) and Cowboy (NY) Oysters on the half shell, Citrus Mignonette.

Asian Pear with Thyme, Citrus Brown Butter, Walnuts, Pecorino Fiore Sardo.

Seared Ahi Tuna “Carpaccio Style” Parsley, Roasted Garlic, Bone Marrow Vinaigrette.

Grilled Wild Stripped Bass. English Peas, Caramelized Shallots, Orange Nage.

Braised Prime Short Ribs. Coconut Polenta, Watercress and Pickled Chile Salad, Aromatic Soy Reduction.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Bar. Almond/Sesame Brittle, Blood Orange Caramel, Creme Fraiche.

Coconut Tapioca Pudding. Berry Caramel, Lime Zest, Coconut Oat Crisp.

This was both a nice menu and good execution. There were a few small service errors, but they recovered nicely. Overall, as Valentines dinners, go this was a very good one and we need to return and try the new menu on a regular night.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: 2005 White Burgundy, American Cuisine, Burrata, California Cuisine, Meursault, Michael's Santa Monica, valentines day, White Burgundy

Damaged Hermione is still a babe

Mar15

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Cast: Emma Watson (Actor), Logan Lerman (Actor)

Genre: Coming of Age

Watched: February, 2013

Summary: Good, serious, teen film

This film adaption is very faithful. Perhaps not so surprising because the author wrote and directed it! This is tremendously rare. It’s unusual enough for an author to write his own adaption (I’m doing it for Untimed, but I’ll dance the Snoopy dance if I can even get it produced, and set off fireworks if I land any kind of production roll. Actually directing it? That’s a serious wet dream.)

As a stand alone film, this is an excellent contribution to the teen angst drama. It’s also funny at times. Not so much as the amazing Adventureland, but more serious and just different. Way better than the putrescent likes of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

The acting is excellent. It’s been obvious since Prisoner of Azkaban that Emma Watson would end up a serious babe. She’s got looks, spunk, smarts, and charisma all locked down. Ezra Miller is also a standout as Patrick. The two of them have so much life in them that they overshadow Charlie — he is, after all, a wallflower. Nina Dobrev (also a favorite of mine, but not as good an actress as Emma) has a small role as Charlie’s sister. The part has a different feel than in the novel, nicer for the most part. Paul Rudd is good (albeit the part is a bit forced) as the teacher.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5rh7O4IDc0]

(NOTE: film is much better than the trailer)

The film doesn’t go out of its way to reveal the time and place. As I saw it cold, not knowing anything about the story, I had to come to the gradual conclusion (based on music, costumes, lack of computers, etc) that this was the late 80s or early 90s. It was the presence of certain Nirvana songs that cinched the early 90s vibe.

The film strips out a lot of little details about Charlie’s family. This is to be expected, as in adaption, even of a short novel like this, something has to go. These changes thin out the parents and sister to cut outs. Sad, but there really isn’t much else Chbosky could have done. He also stripped out most of the sexuality. A producer generated change? Probably, but the I liked the sudden dashes of it in the novel. A few of those tidbits stuck with me. But most importantly, the de-sexualization washed out the “twist.” It was so subtly handled in the film for fear of offending that I half-missed it, only fully realizing after the credits.

There are also subtle character shifts. Charlie is a little more passive and trending toward schizophrenic in the novel. Sam a little more broken in the film. The sister is meaner in the book (although she comes around). It’s hard to say how much of this is in the writing and how much is what the actors bring to bear. Some characters, like Patrick (who really is a great character), come through 110%.

Overall, if you like teen films (and I do), see this one. It’s several standard deviations above the mean.

My review of the novel is here, or

For more Film reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Movies

Tagged as: Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Logan Lerman, Nina Dobrev, Paul Rudd, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Game of Thrones – The 1984 Miniseries

Mar14

If Game of Thrones had aired when I was growing up, in the era of Krull and Beastmaster, the titles might have looked a little like this:

NOTE, that while the makers of this video say 1995 style, it feels more 80s to me. Power chords?

And another amusing GOT video, this one cutting together bits from the Princess Bride (one of my all time favorite movies by master craftsman William Goldman).

An awesome 3/18/13 trailer, “no mercy” which includes a Daft Punk (Tron) soundtrack!

A 3/20/13 trailer called “Enemies”:

And less funny, but perhaps cooler, the latest (3/15/13) official promo:

And another promo, apparently from 3/16/13:

Don’t miss these Season 3 trailers of and making of videos.

If you liked this post, follow me at:

My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

By: agavin
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Tagged as: 1984, a game of thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones, game of thrones season 3, game of thrones spoof, George R. Martin, George R. R. Martin, miniseries, Season 3, season 3 trailer, spoof video, television titles

Burgundy at Bouchon – Jadot

Mar13

Restaurant: Bouchon Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

Location: 235 NORTH CANON DRIVE | BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210 | 310.271.9910

Date: March 4, 2013

Cuisine: French Bistro

Rating: Good, but expensive

This particular dinner features Jadot, which is a solid traditionalist B+ Burgundy house that I buy very frequently as they offer a wide range of wines from all over Burgundy (150 in total) and very good value. In general, their reds are better than their whites.

The Beverly Hills space is very pretty. Check out the bar (both raw and booze). Lobsters oversee the diners.

The elegant dining room has a very spacious, even Parisian feel.

For the special wine dinner tonight we have the private room.

And a special (i.e. limited) menu.

Amuses

The non-vintage Brut Reserve offers orange, sweet spice, and yeast aromas. Light to medium-bodied and delicate, this refined wine has floral flavors intermingled with touches of citrus.

Little puff pastries filled with Gruyère cheese.

Country pate with corchicons.

Salmon pate.

Goat cheese and beet tartlet.

Flight 1: Whites

The only non-Jadot wine of the evening. The 2007 Mugnier Nuits St. Georges “Clos de la Maréchale” 1er. Burghound 89, “An expressive nose of green apple, white flower and lemon zest aromas trimmed in a deft touch of wood merges into rich, clean and beautifully detailed middle weight flavors that possess a fine sense of underlying tension and punch on the layered and very dry finish that lingers nicely. Lovely and balanced.”

1999 Jadot Meursault Les Genevrieres. Burghound 91, “This just oozes minerality and spice from an expressive, forward nose offering fresh herbs and citrus that continues on to the rich, nicely powerful and generous medium weight flavors and long, intense and detailed finish. While this remains entirely primary, it is sufficiently forward to suggest that it will not need much more time to approach peak drinkability.”

The 1990 Jadot Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres.

2007 Jadot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 94, “A strikingly complex nose that possess excellent breadth to the ripe, pure and airy aromas of white flower, spice, green apple and subtle pear aromas that complement to perfection the big-bodied, rich and mouth coating flavors built on a base of fine minerality, all wrapped in a sappy and mouth coating finish that oozes dry extract. This is really a lovely effort with a chiseled and driving finale of superb persistence though note that while patience will be required, there is sufficient mid-palate sap that the finishing austerity is not forbidding. A “wow” wine.”

And the same wine, but 1997 Jadot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 90, “Very expressive, broad and rich aromas of minerals and green apples followed by rich, full, medium weight flavors and excellent acidity in the context of the vintage. This is brighter and more vibrant than most ’97s and though the flavors are quite forward, this should age gracefully for some years to come.”

Truth is, this was younger, fresher, and better than the 2007. Probably the magnum helped.

2002 Jadot Batard-Montrachet. Burghound 93, “This is a huge wine with full-on, expressive aromas of white flowers and fresh citrus extract followed by huge, oily, almost viscous broad and deep flavors that display extremely impressive and fine acid/fruit balance and length that is hard to believe. This is a powerful, precise, almost painfully intense Bâtard that is altogether imposing in its sheer size and power yet it never lapses into heaviness. A genuinely great effort.”

The have good bread here.

Frisée aux Lardons et Oeuf Poché. Frisée lettuce, lardons, poached Jidori egg with bacon vinaigrette & toasted brioche.

Confit de Canard. Duck leg confit, French green lentils, a matignon of root vegetables & red wine vinegar duck jus.

Very tasty. All that duck fat had saturated into the lentils and made them delicious.

Flight 2: Reds

1990 Jadot Corton-Pougets. Burghound 92, “A ripe and now mostly secondary nose of earth, spice, leather and hints of animale lead to rich yet elegant flavors underpinned by still noticeable but not hard tannins and a mineral-infused finish that offers admirable length and depth. This is aging beautifully and while ripe, the balance is such that the wine should continue to hold at this level for years though I don’t forsee much if any additional improvement from here. In short, a very successful ’90.”

2000 Jadot Corton-Pougets. Burgound 88-91, “Stylistically closer to the Grèves with even better richness and power though it is not quite as complex and does not deliver the same level of finesse. Somewhat animale in character though not at all rustic. Very fine and quite long and not quite as structured as the other two Corton grands crus.”

2005 Jadot Clos Vougeot. Burghound 92-94, “A reserved and notably ripe earth-infused nose of red and dark berry fruit that possess a subtlesauvage character leads to Cistercian caliber youthfully austere flavors that are big, structured, well muscled and powerful and while not raw, it’s clear that this will need time to settle down and find their center. This is not an elegant wine but the potential is considerable and I especially like the bold character. A wine that will last 3 to 4 decades.”

This was from my cellar, but unfortunately it was way too young. It should be great wine in 10+ years :-).

ad hoc Fried Chicken. Wedge salad with roasted cauliflower & biscuits with gravy.

The best fried chicken I’ve had in years. Really really good! Not exactly light though.

The “light” salad that comes with the chicken.

Steak Frites. Herb roasted, caramelized shallots, maître d’hôtel butter or sauce Béarnaise served with French fries.

Flight 3: Reds

1989 Jadot Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots. Very nice, but I couldn’t find any reviews.

And the wine of the evening: the 1990 Jadot Chambertin Clos de Beze.

Parker 96, “It will be interesting to follow the evolution of the 1990 Bonnes Mares, Chambertin-Clos de Beze, and Chambertin. All are magnificent examples of not only the heights red burgundy can achieve, but also of the thrilling quality of the 1990 vintage. The Chambertin-Clos de Beze gets my nod as the wine in the Jadot portfolio that should hit the highest peak in quality and pleasure. It needs at least 5-7 years in the cellar, and has the potential to last for 25 or more years. The color is a saturated dark ruby/purple, and the closed nose offers sweet, jammy aromas framed by noticeable smoky new oak. The magnificent richness, highly structured and delineated style, as well as the explosively rich finish, all make for a show-stopping impression.”

Burghound 91, “From a bottle in the big Chambertin and Clos de Bèze tasting: Somewhat stewed, roasted fruit nose cut with very ripe earth and pungent, very ripe plum/prune notes. The flavors are big, very structured and intense but without sufficient mid-palate sap to completely buffer than and thus this finishes with an edgy, dry, slightly astringent quality. Perfectly good but not better and I found this wine a bit perplexing because the 1990 Clos St. Jacques is a really beautiful effort. 88/2005-12 Note: from a bottle tasted in October of ’04 – While the aromatics are certainly quite ripe, indeed even slightly roasted, this bottle delivered much more youthful, balanced, intense and savory flavors that displayed only a touch of the finishing astringency of the above example. While not destined to be a genuinely great wine, it’s certainly a fine effort.”

Really drinking great tonight (me says).

Selection de Fromages Artisanaux. Selection of artisanal cheeses with honeycomb, candied nuts, cranberry currant campagne & walnut bread.

The bread part.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

The tallest and Gaulist gentleman is the new Jadot winemaker!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bistro, Bouchon, Burgundy, Chardonnay, Cheese, French Laundry, Jadot, Pinot noir, Southern California, Thomas Keller, Wally's Wine & Spirits, winemaker dinner

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Mar11

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky

Genre: Coming of Age

Length: 224 pages

Read: March 2, 2013

Summary: intensely readable

To be clear, I actually saw the film before I read the book, but I’ll discuss the novel first as its the original. Perks is a teen coming of age novel set in 1991. It has no supernatural elements at all.

This is a compulsively readable book. Casually, before picking at the flaws, this is the kind of book you read in one sitting. Every time I run across something this engaging, I feel an intense relief — pleasure really — because so much of what I read is a bit of a chore. Probably just me being jaded. So while I’m going harass Chbosky on a few fronts, any criticism should be framed in context: This is a novel that really sucks you in and holds you.

As to voice. Technically, the book is epistolary. The protagonist, Charlie, writes letters to some imaginary friend. It’s a gimmick that neither adds or subtracts. This is basically a first narrative with a slightly confused back and forth between past and present tense. The writing is deliberately clunky. Chbosky is trying to sound like a 15 year-old boy — and a gifted one at that — but he does it by being wordy and stilted. I’ll give an example:

I am trying now to practice not to do that. He also said that I should use the vocabulary words that I learn in class like “corpulent” and “jaundice.” I would use them here, but I really don’t think they are appropriate in this format.

My inner editor would rewrite this as:

I’m trying to practice not to. He also suggested I use the vocabulary words from class like “corpulent” and “jaundice.” I would, but they might not be appropriate in this format.

This clunk-factor lessened after the first third, and I’m not sure if it was because I adapted or because the character was maturing. Either way, it does provide a bit of youthful feel and the frank honesty of the voice is highly engaging. Charlie is a straightforward reporter, cold even, rarely leaping to extreme judgement. He is most definitely not snarky.

For me, the early 90s setting was a big plus, as it’s free of some of the annoying distractions of the post internet age (cel phones, Facebook, etc). It’s also nostalgic, being closer to my own high school era, even if Charlie is a good seven years younger (my Freshman year was 1984, his 1991).

The character development is very good. Charlie, Sam, and Patrick are all very well crafted and distinct. Likable too.

In retrospect, after finishing the book, I feel several elements of the story construction are a little forced. It seems unlikely that two seniors like Sam and Patrick would take a Freshman under their wing and into their social circle quite so easily. Not impossible, just a bit contrived. More substantially, the major “twist” in the story feels a bit forced, unnecessary even. This is a book with a clear theme. The writer even states it, several times: “We accept the love we think we deserve.” Fine. But there sure is a lot of abuse flying around. Like 90% of the major characters experience it at some time or another in their lives. I don’t mind these themes, but to have the same “startling” thing happen to not one, not two, but many characters feels forced. All this thinking was only in retrospect. While reading, the novel just draws you in from start to end.

Having seen the film first, which is sexually rather tame, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a bit of frank sexuality in the novel. I’m not sure why it was removed, and it’s presence provided punch. Nevertheless, it’s pretty incomprehensible that a smart well read 15 year-old like Charlie wouldn’t already know about masterbation. Again, a little forced. This book has a lot of forced moments, they just play off well.

So I must reiterate, these are intellectual nitpicks on a compulsively readable novel. One last observation: It’s odd that Chbosky published this in 1999, went on to sell a bundle, yet has never published another novel.

My review of the film can be found here, or

For more book reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Books

Tagged as: Arts, Book, Book Review, Literature, Perks of Being Wallflower, review, Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Yamakase – Crab Guts are Yummy!

Mar08

Restaurant: Yamakase [1, 2]

Location: You wish you knew!

Date: March 1, 2013

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Best meal in months!

Back before its unfortunate incident and closure, The Hump was one of my favorite restaurants. I went every week or two for years. So it was with great pleasure that I discovered its chef, Kiyoshiro Yamamoto has recently opened a new venture. This is a tiny 10 seat sushi bar that follows the semi-secret invitation only style of another of my LA Japanese favorites: Totoraku (going again next week, yay!).

There is no official frontage and just a tiny little room and a 10 seat sushi bar. Yama-san does all the cooking himself with just one wait-person. There is no corkage, which is awesome!

We started with this champagne brought by white and bubbly maestro Ron. The NV Brut Rose is a pretty, gracious wine. Freshly cut roses, red berries and spices take shape nicely in the glass as the wine shows off its understated, timeless personality. Billecart-Salmon’s NV Brut Rose is a reliably tasty wine.

Jamón Ibérico with Caviar. I’ve had a close cousin of this dish several times at various Jose Andres restaurants. This was nice thick cuts of the ham in Spanish style. Yum.

Baby eels (you can see the eyeballs) in a creamy (probably mayo wasabi with flying fish roe) sauce. The green thing is baby peach. These little fellows, besides being tasty, are in season right now.

Burghound 93-95, “It seemed relatively supple and forward, indeed more or less ready to drink. To be sure, there was no obvious secondary nuances in evidence and still good freshness to the rich, intense and vibrant flavors brimming with minerality on the impressively long finish. Impeccably stored bottles might need another few years to arrive at their peak but absent this bottle being an aberration, I don’t think that opening one today would be infanticide.”

In the front, Hokkaido uni with black truffle and some kind of white stuff, which I think is Kusshi oyster or soft-boiled quail egg. It was damn good.

And in the back, arguably better, is “kanimiso” (crab guts) the oyster/egg and truffle. This had a long briney finish. Really long. It paired best with the Champagne.

H Boillot Batard Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, July/Aug 2006:
and spices. Then wonderfully flavorful and gripping in the mouth, with a sweet orange marmalade flavor framed by lively acidity. At once superripe and precise, and fresh and very long on the aftertaste. This was picked at the beginning of the harvest, with potential alcohol of 13.8%. Boasts superb intensity and density of material. 92-95

Allen Meadows, Burghound Database, April 16, 2011: An intensely floral and still exceptionally fresh nose is nuanced with hints of spice and citrus where the latter can also be found on the textured and borderline massive flavors that display absolutely no sense of heaviness on the exceptionally rich finish that drenches and stains the palate. This is a big wine yet there is a firm acid backbone that keeps everything in ideal balance and overall, it’s an extremely impressive effort. While the abundant dry extract enables this, like many ’05s, to drink

with pleasure now, in magnum format I personally would allow for at least another 4 to 5 years of bottle age. 95

Giant clam, sesame, in the same sauce as the eels. There was probably some citrus in here too and it was very tasty with a nice texture.

More spoons. There is quail egg and some blue crab in sauce on the left, and Santa Barbara uni, oyster, and quail egg on the right. Also awesome, particularly the crab.

Homemade tofu infused with kanimiso and topped with salmon roe. Brine on brine and very good.

Yama-san torches the next course.

Belt fish, charred with sauce.

A pair of Robert Ampeau Volnay-Santenots, 1990 and 1978. Ampeau is a rare producer who releases his wines years after the fact, only when they are ready. This 1990 was released only last year!

1990: Perfect ruby color with a nose of spicy cherries and sweet earth. Quite full and rich for an Ampeau and made in a reductive style that makes for a mouth-puckering style with a flavor of sour cherries. There is depth to the wine and the finish is complex with great spice notes. Drinking very, very young.

1978: While this was clearly the same terroir, the 1978 blew away the youngish and middle-aged 1990. This had that more even more mouth-puckering thing going on that is one of the great parts of mature Burgundy. Lots of complexity.

The best spoon yet, toro, wasabi, quail egg, and crab. Totally awesome.

Hello, what do we have here?

Hairy crab from Hokkaido, steamed straight up. Delicious all by itself.

Chawanmushi, a egg custard. This one was very hot (it usually is) and included 7 kinds of seafood. Various crab, fish, lobster, uni. It was delicious, rich, and very unami.

King crab legs cooked in the sous vide, with caviar, and truffle butter. A really nice subtle combo!

Parker 94, “The 2001 Barolo Falletto impresses for its layered, silky personality. Sweet roses, tar, licorice and menthol are all woven together in this deceptively medium-bodied Barolo. There is plenty of muscle to back things up. Today the Falletto is quite a bit more delicate than it has been in the past.”

Ron had opened this wine 30 hours before — and that was to our advantage because it was just coming into its own.

Frozen (nitro?) toro with crab, egg, and brioche. Very interesting, and the toro was completely different at this temperature.

A bit of Japanese beef. No fat here.

The chef salts the steaks with his 10 million year-old Tibetan rock salt.

The were sautéed up with mushrooms, ponzu, and Maui onions. Delicious. Rich. Tender.

This older village wine, the 1986 Drouhin Aloxe-Corton, was drinking fabulously. Quite youthful even, but in that mature stage of extended finish.

Don’t piss off the chef with the big knife!

A fantastic simple piece of tuna (Maguro).

An even better piece of toro with a bit of uni on top.

Then a toro, uni, shiso handroll — delicious. The chef sure loves his uni, and clearly, so does Erick (the tongue).

And his crab guts. This vinegary rice with crab guts and wasabi was really quite excellent. Don’t be scared.

2002 Gerhard Hattenheimer Schützenhaus Riesling Eiswein. An unctuous syrupy dessert wine, really fabulous.

A bit of sorbet. I was so drunk by this point that I don’t even remember the flavor.

This was one of my best meals in a long time — really quite excellent — and regular readers know I have more than my share of great meals. We had fantastic wines, stunning and innovative food, and a really great format. The restaurant is only 10 seats all at the sushi bar and so we chatted and shared wines with our neighbors — and the chef. This made for a really fun time (until the hangover set in at about 5am).

Click here for more LA restaurant reviews,
Or for Foodie Club extravaganzas.

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Allen Meadows, Foodie Club, Jamón Ibérico, Japanese cuisine, kanimiso, Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, Stan Liu, Sushi, The Hump, Uni, Wine tasting descriptors, Yamakase

Untimed and Forbidden Giveaway!

Mar07

My friend Kimberly Kinrade and I did this cool live interview online tonight. It’s about 45 minutes long and part of the awesome Untimed and Forbidden Trilogy giveaway party. All week we will be giving away stuff, including an awesome Tick Tock watch, so go to the event page if you want in on that, and or, check out the video below!

Don’t miss out on free stuff at our giveaway party!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Writing

Ethiopian BBQ Ribs?

Mar06

Restaurant: Awash

Location: 5990 1/2 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035. (323) 939-3233

Date: February 26, 2013

Cuisine: Ethiopian

Rating: Amazing ribs

My Hedonism group does a wide range of dinners — from high end blow outs like STK or Saddle Peak to more casual ethnic joints. Tonight we tackle Awash, a very authentic Ethiopian restaurant off the “strip” (i.e. a few blocks away from Little Ethiopia proper).

Typical interior. One thing that can be counted on for these dinners is that we dominate the restaurant. We have the largest and loudest table (14-15 people this time) and are the only ones opening and drinking a ridiculous amount of wine. Here, as is often the case with more casual places, we even bring our own stems.

The NV Brut Grande Cuvee emerges from the glass with freshly cut flowers, almonds, pastry and spices. This is a relatively floral, bright Grande Cuvee with fewer of the oxidative qualities that are typical of the house style. According to Krug’s ID Code, this bottle is based on the 2004 vintage, which explains the wine’s tense, taut personality. Another year or two on the cork will only help the wine gain expressiveness and depth. Today, the Grande Cuvee is quite reticent and not showing the full breadth of its personality.

Here is an example of the surprising unpredictability of wine. This Chardonnay is a Parker 88, “There are close to 14,000 cases of the 1998 Chardonnay Los Carneros. Made in an elegant, medium-bodied style with the emphasis on honeyed citrus, leesy complexity, and a touch of pear and tangerine-like flavors, it is a refreshing, pure, fruit-driven Chardonnay with a subtle dosage of oak.” Parker said it will last through 2003. But we had it in 2013 and well… it was actually pretty great, extremely balanced and tasting like a 15 year-old Grand Cru white Burgundy. Go figure. Your milage may vary, it was presumably very well cellared.

This is a vegetarian plate. As is typical of Ethiopian there are various mushy stews that you eat with the spongy bread (that’s below the dishes). I have no idea what any of these in particular are other than the salad and the giant Jalepeno peppers. Many of them were really good.

The first of a pair of awesome Chateauneuf du Papes.

Parker 97, “I believe the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape is the finest wine ever made at Charvin. Their wines never achieve a lot of color, but this is one of the most saturated ones they have produced. The blend from the 45- to 50-year-old vines is 85% Grenache and the rest equal parts Syrah, Mourvedre, and Vaccarese, all aged in cement tanks prior to being bottled unfiltered. A terrific nose of kirsch, lavender, licorice, forest floor, and spice box soars from the glass of this full-bodied effort. With fabulous density, a multidimensional mouthfeel, and a 45+-second finish this brilliant, elegant, feminine-styled wine is loaded with concentration and intensity. Like many 2007 Chateauneuf du Papes, the extraordinary fruit level makes it hard to resist.”

From my cellar, Parker 96, “The heady 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Centenaire is more evolved than either the 2001 or 1998. Extremely full-bodied, with low acidity, and a knock-out bouquet of blackberry and cherry jam intermixed with licorice, pepper, and dried Provencal herbs, this sexy, voluptuous, enormously concentrated 2000 possesses a huge, silky, seamless finish.”

This is what we came for, this “brontosaurus” sized ribs. To get an idea of the scale, see the picture below (that’s a small one). These are great BBQ ribs, very tender and almost under cooked.

Who says girls don’t like meat?

Burghound 88, “An extremely ripe panoply of menthol, cola, briar, pepper and red/blue fruit aromas precede liqueur-like, opulent and extremely rich flavors that possess excellent concentration and a textured finish where plenty of creamy oak is in evidence. Again, this isn’t for me though it should be noted that the 4-Barrel is a stylish if completely fruit-driven effort that lovers of big, ultra ripe pinots will certainly find interesting.”

Some chicken with veggies in garlic sauce.

And a beef “stew/curry”. This was good stuff, eaten again with the spongy bread. It had a bit of kick.

This is a slightly sweet Alsatian white.

And some rice.

And a serious “farmer’s cheese.” Bland and milky, much like a queso blanco.

A tasty enough Tempranillo from Spain.

Some raw beef and spices. Not so different from the appetizer at Esso. Very tasty.

A roughly 92 point Barbaresco. Young and tanic, but nice enough.

Now this is a peculiar one. Somehow, there is an Ethiopian/Italian connection and they serve Spaghetti! This was actually quite good, simple, but nicely garlicky.

And for dessert, from my cellar, the good old. About 92 points, “Definitely superior to the Himmelreich Kabinett. Again, a touch of sulfur on the nose – herbal, not as sweet or ripe as the GH. Spicy with some sweet lime. Similar on the palate – really excellent drive with lime, brown spice, nice acid – somewhat lively with good balance. Delicious. Lots of minerals and spice on the finish.”

Then we grabbed some oddball pastries from the Indian bakery next door, including those giant brown Gulab Jamun balls. These are deep fried cheese balls soaked in syrup and also a character in the Naughty Dog game, Way of the Warrior.

And, because perhaps these are Ethiopian jews, and it’s Purim, hamantash.

This wasn’t the most gourmet meal we’ve ever done, but it was plenty tasty and we had a lot of great wine (as usual). The price was definitely right too, $25 all inclusive! Next time I go back, I want to get more meat stews like that vegetarian plate, but not as vegetarian (although those were good too).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Awash, Barbecue, Chardonnay, Ethiopia, Ethiopian, Grenache, gulab jamun, hedonists

Dream Sale

Mar04

The e-book versions of The Darkening Dream will be on sale for only 99 cents this week until Friday March 8th! Take the plunge, it’s certainly a great deal.

Buy it on Amazon!

Tweet, share, like, follow, blog and grab a copy of my book.

Also, on the publishing front, I have Audiobooks for both my novels in production and am finished with the first draft of the Untimed screenplay! But, being a first draft, it needs plenty of work.

About The Darkening Dream

As the Nineteenth Century gives way to the Twentieth, modern science and steel girders leave little room for the supernatural. But in dark corners the old forces still gather. God, demon, and sorcerer alike plot to regain what was theirs in Andy Gavin’s chilling debut, The Darkening Dream.

1913, Salem, Massachusetts – Sarah Engelmann’s life is full of friends, books, and avoiding the pressure to choose a husband, until an ominous vision and the haunting call of an otherworldly trumpet shake her. When she stumbles across a gruesome corpse, she fears that her vision was more of a premonition. And when she sees the murdered boy moving through the crowd at an amusement park, Sarah is thrust into a dark battle she does not understand.

With the help of Alex, a Greek immigrant who knows a startling amount about the undead, Sarah sets out to uncover the truth. Their quest takes them to Salem’s brutal factory workrooms, on a clandestine maritime mission, and down into their foe’s nightmarish crypt. But they aren’t prepared for the terrifying backlash that brings the fight back to their own homes and families. Can Alex’s elderly, vampire-hunting grandfather and Sarah’s own rabbi father help protect them? And what do Sarah’s darkening visions reveal?

No less than the Archangel Gabriel’s Horn, destined to announce the End of Days, is at stake, and the forces banded to recover it include a 900 year-old vampire, a trio of disgruntled Egyptian gods, and a demon-loving Puritan minister. At the center of this swirling conflict is Sarah, who must fight a millennia-old battle against unspeakable forces, knowing the ultimate prize might be herself.

“Gorgeously creepy, strangely humorous, and sincerely terrifying” — Publishers Weekly

“Wonderfully twisted sense of humor” and

“A vampire novel with actual bite” — Kirkus Reviews

“Steampunk Lovecraftian Horror by way of Joss Whedon”

Buy Sample Characters Reviews Reviewer Info

By: agavin
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Posted in: Darkening Dream

Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Audiobooks, Promotion, sale, Screenplay, The Darkening Dream

Mostly Montrachet at Melisse

Mar01

Restaurant: Melisse [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 1104 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-0881

Date: Feburary 27, 2013

Cuisine: California French

Rating:?

And so we arrive at Part 3 of the epic three night 2005 White Burgundy Dinner series (Part 1 can be found here and part 2 here). This series of dinners, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell, explores in great detail the best wines of a particular vintage, in this case 2005.

Tonight features “Mostly Montrachet” that is, the wines of the great “Le Montrachet” Grand Cru, often considered the best white wine in the world.

This particular dinner is at Melisse, one of LA’s few 2 star Michelin restaurants and also one of my favorites (you can find links to three epic Carte Blanche meals at Melisse in the brackets at the top of the post). Let’s just say that Melisse generally has every area of fine dining covered: great food, great wine service, great everything service, etc.

Our testing was setup in the elegant private room just to the right of the entrance.

Tonight’s special menu.

Less glasses tonight than on the previous occasions, as we have fewer wines and fewer drinkers.

Amuses

1988 Alain Robert Les Mesnil Reserve Tete de Cuvee Champagne. This rare vintage Champagne from magnum was wonderful and very fresh for it’s age (25 years!).

Blue Fin Tuna (Toro), Chrysanthemum, Pistaschio and Mlack Mustard. This dish borrows stylistically from LA’s Japanese influences. In many ways it’s very similar to the “Toro Tartar with caviar” at Matsuhisa/Takao.

Liberty Duck breast on shrimp toast? A pork rind? Tasty.

A spoonful of Lobster Bolognese. This is one of my favorite dishes at Melisse and I could have eaten a whole portion.

A Melisse staple. Grapes two ways. Out of the spoon are half grapes coated in goat cheese and pistachio. On the spoon sphereized grapes dusted with pistachio. The first has a nice contrast of the sharp cheese and the fruit, the second is an explosion of grapeness.

The official amuse, which was a bit of Santa Barbara Prawn (ebi) with avocado in a citrus sauce.

Flight 1: Montrachet

2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pale color. Steely wet stone, pear, apple and nutmeg on the nose, with floral and spice nuances adding complexity. Large-scaled, dense and oily, with deep pineapple and nut flavors framed by penetrating acidity. Finishes with outstanding palate-saturating length. Not quite as impressive as the Chevalier-Montrachet but this is built for slow development in bottle. 94+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: An incredibly fresh¡ pure and elegant nose of acacia blossom and distinctly ripe orchard fruit displays added nuance from the gorgeously exotic spice notes that seem to change every few minutes. The palate impression is breathtaking as the classy¡ pure and finely detailed big-bodied flavors possess both seriously impressive power and wonderful refinment that continues onto the multi-dimensional¡ dense¡ long and palate staining finish that delivers simply dazzzling length. This is very much of a baby¡ particularly in magnum format¡ and will need plenty of time to really open up so be prepared to wait. One other aspect bears mentioning and this is how vibrant this is. Many ’05 whites are a bit heavy yet this is impeccably well-balanced with all the freshness¡ verve and acid support that one could wish for. In short¡ this is stunning. 97

This was one of only two wines in this flight that wasn’t advanced in some way. Arguably it was the best.

2005 Marc Colin et Fils Montrachet

Allen Meadows, Burghound: Here there is absolutely no issue with the integration of the wood because it is at best a background presence on the equally reserved but fresh and bright aromas that are strikingly complex and broad. The full-bodied flavors are deep, dense and massive with an exceptionally powerful drive on the gorgeously long finish. This could actually surprise to the upside as everything is here, including great material, perfect balance and superb harmony and it’s built for the long haul. 94

The Marc Colin was also still youthful and in the top two of the flight.

2005 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pale yellow-straw color. Sexy nose melds fresh pineapple, stone and musky quinine. Large-scaled and showy, with superb fruit intensity and a sweet, tangy quality to the flavors of lemon, lime, pineapple and quinine. A huge and superripe wine with superb building length. This has the balance for extended aging and may well shut down in the bottle. Philippe wanted to harvest these vines early but his father Joseph wanted to wait-“like he did in ’59,” said Philippe. In the end, the last batches of fruit came in with potential alcohol of 15% but no rot. 95

Allen Meadows, Burghound: A gorgeously fresh and highly complex yet still rather primary white flower and notably ripe orchard fruit nose introduces broad-shouldered and powerful though refined flavors that retain excellent cut and terrific detail on the perfectly well-balanced and strongly lingering finish. There is so much dry extract present that this has a chewy texture on the vibrant¡ driving and explosive finale. It’s abundantly clear that this is very much on the way up and this is a while that will require another 4 to 6 years to arrive at its peak. The other aspect that I very much admire about the ’05 Monty is how light on its feet it is because some ’05 whites can be a bit ponderous¡ this is really quite graceful. 95

We tried this both from 750ml AND from magnum. The 750ml was significantly advanced, and the magnum less so, but still not stunning.

2005 Louis Jadot Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pungent, very ripe aromas of spiced apple, marzipan, honey and hazelnut. Large-scaled, round and impressively rich, but with slightly disjointed flavors of superripe fruits, nuts and fresh herbs. Very full but not heavy. This seemed to harmonize a bit with aeration and should be superb with extended bottle aging, but I wouldn’t broach a bottle now (if you do, pour it into a carafe). From the Chassagne side and thus a bit less vibrant, especially in the 2005 vintage. 92+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: Moderate oak frames more reserved white flower and acacia blossom aromas that introduce round, rich and sumptuous full-bodied flavors that possess a suave mouth feel because there is dry extract here to burn and this extract confers an almost thick but not heavy palate impression on the imposingly persistent finish. Like the Bâtard, this is presently almost painfully intense and should age well. 95

Our bottle was oxidized and bordering on unpleasant.

2005 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Aromas of iodine, clove, apple and minerals. Superrich, fat and sweet but a bit youthfully subdued, even musclebound today (this was moved from barrel ten days before my visit), with the fruit in the deep background. But this rock-solid wine boasts terrific acidity and palate-staining persistence. There’s virtually no sign of new oak today, and yet this wine is very difficult to taste. Lafon told me this was the first time he ever picked his Montrachet later than DRC. 94-96

Allen Meadows, Burghound: Here the incredibly fresh and vibrant yet discreet nose reveals even more aromatic breadth that is brimming with spice, toast, honeysuckle and acacia blossom, all of which introduces broad-shouldered yet tangy full-bodied, notably ripe and utterly classy and sophisticated flavors of striking depth and length. What is perhaps most impressive though is that such a big wine retains such solid delineation that continues on to a palate staining, wonderfully intense finish. In short, this is just flat out brilliant. 94-97

Somewhat advanced.

True Day Boat Scallops. Camelina Seeds, Celeriac and Meyer Lemon.

The bread. I’m particularly partial to the green bail bread and the bacon bread (far right).

Flight 2: Montrachet

2005 Henri Boillot Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Captivating floral nose of clove, iodine and linden tea. Wonderfully sweet, seamless and full, showing outstanding density without undue weight. This has the texture of a red wine. An extremely young Montrachet with great intensity of flavor and inner-mouth floral lift. This will require, and repay, a decade or more of cellaring. Finishes with compelling sweetness. 96+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: This is almost as elegant as the Chevalier with a perfumed and wonderfully classy nose that is airy and pure, featuring a beautiful mix of floral and ripe orchard fruit aromas nuanced with hints of spice, honeysuckle and citrus that can also be found on the almost painfully intense, textured and focused full-bodied flavors that are a mix of the size and weight of the Bâtard and the delineation of the Chevalier, all wrapped in an explosive finish that spreads out on the palate like the proverbial peacock’s tail. A choice but what a wonderful choice! 96

Perhaps a little advanced, but one of the better wines of the flight.

2005 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pale color. Compelling nose melds peach, nectarine, iodine, nutmeg and spicy, charry oak. Tactile and vibrant in the mouth, with superb intensity and density to its flavors of citrus fruit, apple and crushed stone. The finishing flavors of dusty stone and citrus peel saturate the palate. This is more backward than the Batard today but its inherent flavor intensity is more obvious. 94+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: This is a massive wine of immense proportions but it’s also a very generously oaked wine that has ample toast, vanilla and wood spice yet as much oak as there is here, it can’t hide the elegance and purity of the ripe orchard fruit that has exactly the same character on the highly toasted but wonderfully deep full-bodied flavors underpinned by ripe citrus infused acidity and huge length. I have seen quite a number of vintages of this wine in its youth and this one seems to be all over the place, at once given to excess and blurriness on the mid-palate to tight, firm and focused on the finish. It is also, like the Chevalier, at distinct odds with what I am used to seeing with this wine and while my appreciation of its style is neither here nor there in terms of quality, I can’t say that I like the style here. However, it is a most impressive wine and while I don’t believe that it will go down as one of the all time great vintages of one of the most storied wines in Burgundy, it is indisputably a huge wine of immense proportions and for fans of size, weight and power that have the entry scratch (or can find a bottle), I would put this on your short list of the ’05 vintage. By contrast, if you’re a fan of what’s been done with this wine in the past, you may be less enamored. 93

The only really good wine in the flight, but still a little funky, with some bitterness in the finish.

2005 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet

Fairly maloactic, but one of the better wines of the flight.

2005 Lucien Le Moine Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Deep aromas of menthol, rocks, white truffle and iodine. Superrich and mouthfilling; as tactile as a solid, and like a red wine in texture. This begins quite linear, then expands impressively on the back half, and finishes with superb building length, texture and grip. Uncompromisingly dry Montrachet with a near-perfect balance between its strong material and fresh acidity. 95+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: In contrast to the expressive noses of the 3 priorgrands crus, this is positively discreet and almost reticent by comparison and only vigorous swirling would coax the broad-scaled nose to reveal itself, offering up notes of anise, peach, pear, citrus, orange blossom and honey that also merges seamlessly into textured, sweet, powerful and robust full-bodied flavors that possess a seductive mouth feel yet excellent precision and cut as well. This is a big wine and not overly refined but the sheer depth of material is almost hard to believe and as such, this will eventually transform into something very, very special. Patience required however. 96

Strong advanced notes of sherry and somewhat thin.

2005 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Montrachet

Allen Meadows, Burghound: As one would expect, and has always been the case in my experience chez Fontaine, this is the class of the cellar with its gorgeously complex nose, indeed by far and away the most complex wine in the range. The aromas are ripe, pure and elegant, indeed one can simply smell this and be knocked out which then dissolves into textured and classy flavors that possess excellent mid-palate fat and buckets of dry extract on the opulent, refined, mouth coating and palate staining finish that is decidedly austere but not aggressively so. In short, this is a baby and will require plenty of patience from those fortunate enough to acquire a few bottles. 94

Advanced and acidic.

Dover Sole Filet. Potato Gnocchi, King Oyster Mushrooms, Wild Spinach.

This dish was on the boring side, despite the truffle.

Have a few glasses!

Flight 3: Coche-Dury

This extra flight isn’t Montrachet, but instead three wines by top producer Coche-Dury. These were made in a very traditional manner and do not exhibit the oxidation problems endemic of many of the other wines in the vintage. All three were excellent.

2005 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières

Stephen Tanzer: Tight, stony nose is youthfully subdued but vibrant. Distinctly less showy and fat today than the Genevrieres but already displays superb energy and thrust, with sharply delineated flavors of lemon, lime and minerals. All cut today and in need of extended bottle aging. As backward as this is, its deep sweetness suggests that it will be more than outstanding. 94+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: A wonderfully expressive and broad nose of ripe, pure and elegant pear, white peach, floral notes and liquid rock. The intense and broad-shouldered flavors are not only quite concentrated but seriously powerful with buckets of mouth coating dry extract yet the palate impression is cool and refined with no trace of heaviness on the massively long finish. The really astonishing thing about this wine is just the sheer amount of extract it brings to the party yet there is more than enough acidity to keep everything in perfect balance. Along with the ’90 Coche Perrières when it was in its prime, this is the best young example that I have ever tried. To be sure, it is still very much in its infancy but I am confident that this will be reference standard juice in due time as it is already genuinely remarkable. 97

Really a rather wonderful Chardonnay at this point.

2005 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières

Stephen Tanzer: Wonderfully aromatic nose of tangy soft citrus fruits and crushed stone. Dense, silky and sweet, with perfectly integrated acidity framing the rich, broad fruit flavors. A wonderfully complete Meursault whose powerful, explosive fruit builds inexorably on the back end. This must be the best bottling to date from these vines, now 60 years of age. 94

Allen Meadows, Burghound: A relatively closed but clearly quite ripe nose is composed of floral, white peach, pear and a hint of the exotic plus a discreet application of wood toast. The concentrated, powerful and broad-scaled flavors possess an abundance of mouth coating extract with excellent energy, particularly in the context of the vintage, all wrapped in a powerful and hugely long finish. This is a big Genevrières that carries its weight well, but note that despite the impressive richness, this is a long way from being ready. 94

A strong sense of sweetness, almost a touch Riesling like.

2005 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne

Stephen Tanzer: Steely aromas of citrus peel, apple blossom, wet stone and nutmeg; an essence of this grand cru. Wonderfully sweet and rich, gaining breadth and texture as it mounts on the back half. As dense as this is, it’s all about energy and verve today. A monumental, utterly complete Corton-Charlemagne that combines extraordinary subtlety and complexity with intense, palate-staining minerality. As long as anything I’ve tasted from this vintage. 98+

Lots of citrus and mineral. Fabulous.

Overall, this flight was BY FAR the best of the night.

Roasted Jidori Chicken. Baby Broccoli, Braised Yuba, Vadouvan Spice. There was also a reduction sauce poured over top, but I forgot to photo it.

This was probably the best chicken dish I’ve ever had. The skin was delightfully crispy and the meat absolutely perfectly cooked and juicy.

The whole array of bottles.

Standing is Brian Kalliel, Melisse’s Sommelier. He’s quite the master, and did an impeccable job with this complicated tasting.

Moi.

Dessert

2005 Turley Roussanne Alban Vineyards Late Picked Reserve. Stephen Tanzer says, “Orange-amber color with an unfiltered appearance. High-toned dried apricot, caramel and floral aromas offer an exhilarating penetrating character. Extremely thick and sweet but with pungent racy acidity giving lift to the saline dried apricot and peach flavors (the actual acidity level, which Jordan told me was around 17 grams per liter, is virtually off the charts). An incredibly concentrated wine with a chewy, tactile, extremely long finish that’s hard to scrape off the palate. This x-treme wine, from grapes harvested at 55o Brix, took 20 months to finish its alcoholic fermentation.”

This wine was cloudy and tasted much older than 8 years. It was rather wonderful, but very unusual with a honied apricot thing combined with some kind of exotic herb vibe. Elderberry? Hard to pinpoint.

Tarte Tatin!

Apple Tarte Tatin. Ricotta Ice Cream, Black Sage Syrup.

With the syrup added. The herbal note in the syrup went perfectly with some of the peculiar (but good) herbal tones in the wine.

Overall, 2005 is a problematic vintage with regard to aging. And it’s the best wines that suffer the most. The Montrachets just plain aren’t worth the money right now, and very few of them are likely to be getting better. Many are already past their prime or headed toward steep decline. Perhaps things were too ripe for these top vineyards. Perhaps it has something to do with vinification.

You could pretty much spot the problem wines in the glass as their color was several tones darker (toward the amber). 2005 Grand Crus should still be straw/green yellow.

That all being said, it was a fabulous night and we had a great time. It’s always interesting to get such a concentrated look at winemaking and it really broadens one’s ability to distinguish nuance in the specialized area of Burgundy tasting. Plus, the company and food were great! There are a lot of really sensitive palettes in the room and it’s great to collate and integrate the various opinions.

Part 1 (Chablis, Meursault, and Corton-Charlemagne) at Spago can be found here.

Part 2 (Batard-Montrachet, Criots Batard-Montrachet, Batard-Montrachet, and Chevalier-Montrachet) here.

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