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Eating Senigallia – Uliassi

Jul28

Restaurant: Uliassi

Location: Banchina Di Levante 6, 60019 Senigallia AN, Italy. +39 071 65463

Date: June 19, 2015

Cuisine: Italian (2 star Michelin)

Rating: Awesome and inventive

One of the reasons I was drawn to visit the town of Senigallia was its pair of 2 star Michelin restaurants. It seemed to me that any small resort town with TWO of them had to be a nice place.

I was right too. We visited both, but Uliassi was first and it’s tucked away in the corner of Senigallia’s main seaside drag right near the river, just a block or two from the center of the old city.

We began with a bit of bubbly.

Bread sticks. The darker one was anchovy flavored!

Rice puffed nori. Delicious crispy seafood puffs.

The menu. We opted more or less for the Classic (with supplements and substitutes).

Amuse. On the left was one of those wafer cookies… filled with foie gras and some kind of nut butter — delicious. The center was beef tartar crusted in something. The right was a bit of fish with truffles.

A shot of Kir Royal.

Tempura vegetables. Super light and delicious fry.

Artisan bread.

2013 Azienda Agricola Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore. 89 points. The young Bucci Superiore is very light and fruity. An excellent seafood wine.

Cuttlefish tagliatelle with nori seaweed pesto and fried quinoa. A “pasta” made of cuttlefish. As squirmy as the idea is, it was rather delicious.

Raw amberjack “a la puttanesca.” A lovely seafood carpaccio.

Crispy red mullet, parsley soup and rhubarb. The bread-like thing was the mullet. I don’t even like red mullet, despite it having been the most prized local fish by the Ancient Romans — but this was fabulous. It tasted like a super grilled cheese or something.

Salad of cheese and almonds.

Rimini fest skewer. Squid covered in bread crumbs and ham bits. The balls were sphereized frozen cheese!

Potato puree and truffles. A simple version for the vegetarians.

Albanella jar, shellfish and aromatic herbs. A semi-deconstructed seafood pot. Not so unlike an Italian version of the Lobster Pots we used to cook up on the East Coast as a kid. The sauce was nice but light, emphasizing the fresh seafood.

Seasonal vegetables and pesto.

Roasted cuttlefish, wild herbs and sea urchins water ice. Not for the average American pallet, with that briny squid ink taste and the frozen bits of sea urchin!

Cappelletti butter and sage. A simple but lovely pasta.

Potatoes puree, roasted teal, roots and black truffle. The more elaborate version of the puree, with teal meat and lots and lots of black truffle. Really delicious.

Smoked spaghetti, clams and grilled cherry tomatoes. Almost a classic vongolle pasta, but with a lovely smokey flavor.

Monkfish, pork cheek and wild fennel soup. We were getting pretty full here, but this monkfish and “bacon” (pork cheek) was rather delicious — if rich. You can see from the menu why they probably don’t sell a lot of red wine!

Strawberry, cream, mascarpone and cardamon merengue. This was amazing! The berry flavor was so strong, and the frozen berries were cold on the tongue. The merengue provided a nice crunchy counterpoint.

Molasses cookie, chocolate ice cream, coffee, caramel, and licorice.

passionfruit soup, yogurt ice cream, pink pepper, and candied banana.

The hazelnut in different consistence: cream, brittle, crumble, cookie, powder, ice cream, and sponge. Pretty awesome.

Alex’s special 4 course tasting:

Rigatoni pomodoro.

Crispy potatoes, two ways. Homemade potato chips above, beneath them are french fries.

Artisan parmesan.

Mascarpone and chocolate. Fresh sweet cheese (it’s basically cream set with lemon juice) and cocoa powder.
Overall, Uliassi served up a great meal. They were extremely accommodating to our various needs (small child and Kosher style eaters), particularly given that I had forgotten to warn them. The attitude was great too. The meal ran a little long, particularly as they got busy, but still, you could see how many (technical) courses there were.

Our evening was oddly rainy and blustery, so we sat inside. But the restaurant is in a lovely seaside location with a casual elegant shore vibe. On a nice night (and the other 4 we spent in the town were lovely) it would be fabulous to dine outside.

The food itself was DELICIOUS and very inventive. Extremely Italian, local to Le Marche, but also very modern. Perhaps there was one too many cuttlefish dishes, but many of the dishes were fabulous and most really spot on.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Michelin Guide, Senigallia, Uliassi, Wine

Eating Assisi – Buca di S. Francesco

Jul26

Restaurant: Buca di S. Francesco

Location: Via Eugenio Brizi, 1, Assisi PG, Italy. +39 075 812204

Date: June 17, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun meal, good food

Night three in Assisi and we search out a third place.

We actually found this one just walking on the way to the square.

The menu looked pretty good.

It had both a large outside patio.

And a vaulted interior.

All those plates are from sister restaurants in some kind of hand painted “signature dish” club.

1970 Fattoria dei Barbi (Colombini) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. 92 points. These grapes of this beautifull wine were on the vines when I was born! Amazing that this wine is still so full of character. This bottle has once and for all confirmed for me that Brunello di Montalcino can be a real classic. It tasted much like an older Burgundy but was full of character and depth.

The waiter decanted it of course.

The usual insalte mista.

Salmone affumicato. Smoked salmon.

Penne pomodoro (of course).

Spaghetti with mushrooms.

Tagliatelle alla norcina. The sausage and cream sauce!

Tortellini with cheese and cream sauce.

Piccione all’assisana. Pigeon with liver again, this was fine, and the bird very rich and meaty, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the awesome version we had in Orvieto.

Onions with balsamic. Delicious sweet onions.

Torta con pere e ciocolato. Tort with pear and chocolate!

Tortino di ciocolato. Like a chocolate cupcape.

Torta di ricotta alle nocciole. Ricotta tort.

Semifreddo al Bacio. A semifreddo with bacio (chocolate and hazelnut flavor). Given that Perugina (the chocolate company that makes Bacci) is just 40 minutes from Assisi, it seemed apropos.

Biscotti. Some strange cornflake covered cookies!

Overall, this was a fun meal even if only because the setting was great and the service and waiter were absolutely delightful. The food was good too, not mind blowing or anything, but that kind of solid that you find in kitchens all over Italy.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

They had cool ancient caves carved in the limestone below too

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Assisi, Brunello, Buca di S. Francesco, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, pigeon, Wine

Dirty Dozen – Locanda Veneta

Jul24

Restaurant: Locanda Veneta

Location: 8638 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048. (310) 274-1893

Date: July 22, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: great night w/ retro 90s Italian

After a few months respite the Dirty Dozen ride again, our club of blind tasters club within a club. The numbers have swelled a bit, tonight being the Dirty Sixteen, and the theme “good white wine.”

The location is Los Angeles classic, Locanda Veneta, a Beverly Hills Italian with several decades of history. Above, Chef Andre in the kitchen.

So big is our number that we split into two tables, which was a bit of a shame given the format.

Most of the dinner is blind but we had a few open bottles to begin with:

1999 Pommery Champagne Cuvée Louise Brut. 90 points. Light yellow in color, fine mousse, quite forward with ripe citrus fruit, toast and nut. Quite full and lush palate, yet pretty nice acidity lift in the back. Long finish with minerals, at a great time to drink now.

1983 McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Wines Elizabeth. A very aged Australian Semillon.

Bread with a Spinach pesto.

The wines at Dirty Dozen dinners are all served fully blind. No one has much idea what’s in there except for their own wine. Winner of the WOTN gets dinner free. They were served in 4 flights (roughly of 4 wines). Since no single person knew what wines there were, flight contents were fairly random. Tonight people put them roughly on the course they thought they should be on, but this didn’t seem to make much difference.

2003 Marcassin Chardonnay Zio Tony Ranch. VM 94. Pale yellow-green color. Explosive nose of flowers, caramel and marzipan, plus an exotic honeycomb character. Wonderfully sweet, round and forward, with compelling flavors of honey, spice, hay and nuts. Very long and sweet on the aftertaste.

agavin: knew it was Cal Chard, so flabby (no acid).

2004 Camille Giroud Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 92. A maturing nose features very mild reduction combined with ripe and ever so slightly exotic fruit trimmed in a discreet touch of wood before dissolving seamlessly into rich, delicious, round and relatively forward medium weight plus flavors brimming with lovely minerality and excellent length. While not quite at its prime, it’s not far away and another year or two should see this fine offering at its best.

agavin: ours had a touch of cork on the nose, fruit a little thin.

2001 Château Laville Haut-Brion Blanc. VM 90+. Bright silvery color. Semillon-dominated aromas of dried apricot, wet stone and earth. Fatter and richer than the 2002, but less tightly wound and gripping today. But this has lovely underlying sweetness and really spreads out and lingers on the finish.

agavin: older, acidic, with no fruit. Somehow voted #3 WOTN. Our table disliked it, the other table enjoyed it.

Insalata di Carciofi. Finely Chopped Baby Purple Artichoke with Chopped, Arugula and Mixed Baby Green in a House Vinaigrette, topped with Shaved “Reggiano” Parmesan. Tasty, but a little acidic for the wine.

Bocconcini Prosciutto. Baby Size Fresh Mozzarella tossed with Fresh Cherry Heirloom Tomatoes, Fresh Basil and our Aged Balsamic Vinegar from Modena and Thin Slice of Parma Prosciutto.

1996 Chapoutier Ermitage Cuvee de l’Oree. Parker 99. It is no secret that I adore Chapoutier’s luxury cuvee of white Hermitage called Cuvee L’Oree. Made from 90-year old vines and microscopic yields of 10-12 hectoliters per hectare, this wine flirts with perfection. It is a compelling white Hermitage. Made from 100% Marsanne, it is as rich and multidimensional as the fullest, most massive Montrachet money can buy. It is unctuously textured, yet extraordinarily and beautifully balanced. I suspect it will drink well early in life, and then shut down for a few years. It should last for 4-5 decades. The 1996 possesses some of the most amazing glycerin levels I have ever seen in a dry white wine. In short, this wine must be tasted to be believed.

agavin: I think this wine was drinking exactly as it is supposed to, but the older Hermitage Blanc style is so heavy and oxidized that people don’t love it. Not bad though, and a nice pairing with the prawn.

1989 Louis Latour Montrachet. Burghound 88. A big, rich and intense smoky nose leads to complex if not particularly elegant flavors that have become somewhat heavy and frankly fat, without the requisite acid backbone to delineate the flavors. In short, there is good power and better than average density plus a lovely textured quality to the finish but ultimately, this does not deliver what it should. Drink up, not because it is declining but rather because the balance is slipping.

agavin: Brown and oxidized, nutty

2009 Bouchard Aîné et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 93-96. A cool, fresh and densely fruited nose of crushed citrus, green apple and mineral reduction gives way to seriously concentrated and overtly muscular flavors that possess a suave and silky mouth feel yet do not lack for an underlying reserve of power. This isn’t as fine as the Montrachet but it’s even longer, at least at present with a chewy character that provides evidence of the massive levels of extract. Even so, don’t buy this with the intention of drinking it young as it will require plenty of cellar time, at least if you want to see its full potential realized.

agavin: very nice young White Burg. Voted #2 WOTN by the group.

2004 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 91. This is surprisingly elegant and expressive for young Bâtard with a highly complex nose featuring apple compote, fennel, apricot and brown sugar hints that continue onto the powerful, textured and mouth coating flavors, all wrapped in a punchy if less refined finish. This is a fine effort with much to like but one that is ultimately less complete than the Bienvenues.

agavin: Nice, and generally pretty good.

Scampi alla Grigliata. Whole Large Prawns grilled with Fresh Spices served on a bed of sautéed Swiss Chard and Maître’D Butter. Savory, but perhaps a tiny bit over cooked.

2007 Sine Qua Non Body & Soul. VM 94. Vivid gold color. More energetic than the previous wine, with zesty aromas of Meyer lemon, pear skin and grapefruit pith complemented by deeper notes of peach pit and yellow rose. Juicy and finely etched, with the palate displaying sweet orchard and pit fruit flavors and a strong note of grapefruit pith. Strikingly pure, lively and incisive on the finish, which clings with excellent juicy persistence.

agavin: no acid at all, but it grew on me after a while. Tasted a bit like a Gewurtz. Nice balance.

1997 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. Burghound 91. This is a beautiful wine with an elegant, even airy white fruit nose that introduces exceptionally rich, full and punchy flavors that possess excellent delineation for the vintage and plenty of the hallmark minerality plus fine length. I would be drinking this wine now as even well stored examples are showing mature aromas. However, note that I have encountered some bottle variation as two recent examples, both from the same source, were oxidized to the point of being undrinkable.

agavin: our bottle was brown and oxidized.

1999 Chapoutier Ermitage Cuvee de l’Oree. Parker 99. The awesome 1999 Ermitage Cuvee de l’Oree flirts with perfection. It is full-bodied, with an incredible bouquet of liquid minerals, licorice, honeysuckle, citrus, and a hint of tropical fruits. One-hundred percent new oak aging has been completely absorbed by the wine’s fruit and glycerin. This is a winemaking tour de force, made from exceedingly low yields of 12-15 hectoliters per hectare (less than one ton of fruit per acre). However, readers should understand that these are often unusual wines to drink because they tend to show exceptionally well for 4-5 years after bottling, then close up until about age 12. They can last for 4-5 decades. Anticipated maturity: now-2006; 2012-2050. Along with Gerard and Jean-Louis Chave, Chapoutier is producing the finest expressions of white Hermitage. His single vineyard cuvees are to die for if you like these eccentric, idiosyncratic, mammoth dry whites.

agavin: no acid, heavy. Again not that popular despite its technical quality.

LEC brought: 2006 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 95. Here the incredibly fresh and vibrant yet discreet nose reveals aromas of green apple, pear and wet stone, all of which introduces tautly muscled, broad-shouldered yet tangy full-bodied, notably ripe and sophisticated flavors of striking depth and length plus absolutely impeccable balance. What is perhaps most impressive though is that such a big wine retains such solid precision that continues on to a palate staining, wonderfully intense and bone dry finish. In short, this is a seriously impressive, indeed brilliant Corton-Charlemagne that should age for years.

agavin: Voted #1 WOTN as it was drinking nice and fresh. LEC was therefore winner of the coveted title and able to lean back and enjoy a free meal, all being quite fair as he treated most of us to dinner a week ago.

Risotto al Tartufo Nero. “Carnaroli” Rice simmered with a Shaved Fresh Summer Black Truffles. Lovely.

Cappellacci di Funghi al Tartufo. Large Fresh Made Ravioli filled with Baby Portobello, Porcini, Wild Mushrooms sautéed in a Light Butter and Summer Black Truffle Sauce.

2001 Château Laville Haut-Brion Blanc. VM 90+. Bright silvery color. Semillon-dominated aromas of dried apricot, wet stone and earth. Fatter and richer than the 2002, but less tightly wound and gripping today. But this has lovely underlying sweetness and really spreads out and lingers on the finish.

agavin: older, acidic, with no fruit. Again. This is one of the problems with no supervision of what people are bringing: repeats. What are the odds?

2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri. VM 93. Deep yellow-gold. Ripe pit and exotic fruits on the nose, with complicating notes of honey, sweet butter and green almond. Becomes more floral with air, picking up suggestions of jasmine and chamomile. Lush but focused, with a spine of acidity adding structure and carrying through a very long, sappy and gently sweet finish. Krankl said that he’d serve this with a rich shellfish dish.

agavin: drinking pretty nice. Weird and rich, with a LOT of stone fruits, but very interesting and nice.

From my cellar: 2000 Domaine Jacques Prieur Montrachet. VM 93+. Bright but reticent aromas of iodine, clove and nutty oak. Fat, round and silky, with superb weight and volume. By far the richest and longest of this set of wines, with the most volume. Very suave and mouthfilling, but with plenty of underlying backbone and power. Very tightly wound but also very long on the aftertaste.

agavin: Sigh. This bottle was corked. Otherwise, under the nasty cork there was a nice Monty lurking, but it was ruined by the cardboard. I hate when this happens. I should just resort to bringing some young Boillot Batard to blind white dinners, I have plenty of them and they are always reliable. haha.

2004 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc. Parker 95. The 2004 Hermitage blanc, which hit 15% natural alcohol, is another superb effort, continuing a succession of totally profound white Hermitages from 2003, 2004, and 2005. As many readers know, this small family producer has been making wine in Hermitage since 1481! The 2004 (about 1000 cases) reveals a light gold color, terrific finesse and elegance in spite of its enormous power, unctuosity, and richness. Of course, it is not as honeyed as the otherworldly 2003 (which hit 16% natural alcohol) but it is an amazingly full-bodied, powerful wine with pervasive honeysuckle, peach liqueur, and nectarine notes intermixed with licorice, quince, and acacia flowers. This is gorgeous wine which should evolve for 20-25 years.

agavin: old and honeyed. Kinda icky, tasted like $6 Ethiopian honey wine.

Medaglioni di Vitella. Grilled Boneless Veal Loin served with Tortino Saffron Risotto, sautéed Spinach and a Blueberry Porto Sauce.

Braciola di Maiale con Granchio. “Berkshire” Premier Bone-In Pork Chop stuffed with Imported Fontina Cheese, Crab Meat and Sautéed Spinach served with a Porcini Mushrooms Grappa Sauce. This was an odd dish. The meat was tasty, but the sauce was pretty old school, not bad, but not a great white pairing (the sauce) and totally oddball with the cheesy crab stuffing.

The polenta was dry and crumbly, more like a carrot cake with no sugar.

1959 Moulin Touchais Anjou Blanc. 93 points. Light straw color with open nose of straw and honey. Perfect acidity and balance. Not a heavyweight but still bright. Delicious and could probably keep another 50 years.

agavin: not sweet at all, but very nice acidity.

TORTA DI CIOCCOLATO. Chocolate Flourless Cake served with Raspberry Sauce.

TORTA DI MELE. Sliced Apple baked in a light puff pastry served with caramel sauce.

PANNA COTTA. Italian Vanilla Custard served on a Strawberry Coulis.

TORTA DI PERA. Sliced pear baked in a light puff pastry served with caramel sauce.

Our Somm, Massimo, did a great job considering the complexity of the task and the lack of info and preparatory time he had.

Overall this was a fun evening. I’ll bring apart commentary into different areas.

Service: The restaurant did a great job managing a group of our size. They were on top of things for the most part and extremely nice and accommodating. Whoever helped pick the menu for white wines did a good job pairing out all those red tomato sauce dishes.

Food: The food was good. Some dishes were excellent like the prosciutto salad, pastas, and desserts. Some were just nice. It all feels a little 90s Italian-American (which it is), but isn’t fully contemporary or fully Italian. But it’s good. Plating is very 90s.

Wine: Mixed bag. Everyone stepped up and brought the right kind of bottles for the most part, but we had a lot that just didn’t drink well. Some of this was because of the mix of Chardonnay and Rhone varietals — they just don’t mix well in the same flights. Some was shitty luck with the White Burgs. 4 out of 7 were flawed, 3 badly so. Only the 89 Monty was old enough to make that likely, although Jadot 97s have a lot of premox. Still we were unlucky to have cork on 2 bottles that shouldn’t have. The “expensive” part of the picking precludes a lot of nice fresh white wine types that might actually have impressed.

Format: While this and the last Dirty Dozen dinner were better than the earliest ones in terms of format, we still have some issues. Tonight we had 15 drinkers, which is the max possible and perhaps 2-3 more than would be best. It forced us into 2 tables which is far from ideal. If we were going to have 15-16 we need to find and prearrange a place with a huge square table that can seat 4 to a side. On a similar note we need to choose somewhere that can handle providing 8 or so glasses per person — or at least 4. If 3-4 of us hadn’t brought our own stems we wouldn’t even have had enough for everyone to have one flight in the glass! We need to go over that with them in advance. Food handling/format was fine this time around with 4 + dessert distinct courses. That worked well. But most importantly we need to designate a “wine czar” to collect what people are brining in advance, ensure no duplicates and that they are on theme, and then organize them into flights properly. It’s impossible to do unless you know wine and can see all the bottles. No casual restaurant wine guy will have the time to do that, particularly when they are already wrapped (mostly). This is really important because you need to get the varietals lined up in flights. The Rhone grapes fought against the Chards. If they had been against their own kind (Cali Chard can mix with Burg) they all would have tasted better. We also need a little more bandwidth for labeling the bottles properly and stripping the capsules. Maybe the wine czar could bring preprinted number labels. A “somm” who is also handling the rest of the restaurant will rarely have time to do that kind of stuff.

Anyway though, a very fun evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chef Andre, Dirty Dozen, hedonists, Italian cuisine, Wine

Eating Assisi – Locanda del Podesta

Jul20

Restaurant: Locanda del Podesta

Location: Via S. Giacomo, 6, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy. +39 075 802455

Date: June 15, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: More hearty Umbrian goodness

After finishing with Lazio with continue inland into Umbra, Italy’s rural Etruscan heart.

Our first dinner in the hillside pilgrimage city of Assisi. We had to walk UP quiet some way to get to this restaurant. Work off 10% of the cream.

Like most of Assisi the buildings are all old medieval stone structures, heavily restored and in great shape. Apparently JC watches over modern Italian dining. The city is older than him though, as it has a Roman forum under the main square — and they weren’t the first either. There was a town here when the Etruscans took over before that.

2012 Goretti Grechetto Colli Perugini. Some local Grechetto.

Antipasto of meats. It seemed appropriate to sample the local pigs.

Raddicio, pecorino, and walnut salad.

Cacio pasta. Simple pasta for the kid.

Cacio e pepe. The peppered version.

2008 Scacciadiavoli Sagrantino di Montefalco. AG 91. Smoke, tar, licorice and a host of dark aromas and flavors develop as the 2008 Montefalco Sagrantino opens up over time. This remains an essentially fruit-driven style of Sagrantino, but at the same time the wine’s balance and sense of harmony are both impeccable. The 2008 Sagrantino is another harmonious, beautifully balanced wine from Scacciadiavoli.

Penne Norcina. An Umbrian speciality. Pasta with pork sausage in a light cream sauce with truffles! Yum yum. Really great stuff.

Chicken breast with rosemary.

Lamb chops. My dad loves lamb chops.

Scrambled egg and truffle. This is some serious Italian comfort food!

Insalate Mixte.

Fava beans with truffle. The fagioli felt left out when the eggs got truffled, so they had to join the party.

Overall, nothing fancy, but a very nice meal showcasing the Umbrian love of truffles.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

The Basilica of St Francis in Assisi (Sun set just as we hiked past)

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Antipasto, Assisi, Charcuterie, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Locanda del Podesta, Meat, Salami, Umbria, Wine

Epic Ocean Party 2015

Jul17

I was lucky enough to be invited again to a absolutely fabulous wine dinner hosted by Eric Cotsen at his lovely Malibu pad. The group was mostly Hedonists, with a few other wine pals of Eric’s mixed in. Eric has these diners regularly and they feature an awesome setting, great company, wonderful food, and amazing wines provided by both him and the guests.

You can see the ocean is right there! Like under the house.

Eric has these crazy high tech nitrogen dispensers that preserve (and aerate) the wines. He even has sets of glasses with etched number and letter combos so you can pair to the wines. Tonight there were two white wines in here as the set of 6 reds he opened had bottles too big to fit.

During this early phase of the party all the wine is served as a blind free-for-all. Eric himself served up seven wines (blind) as follows, with a red theme of “syrah.”

2009 Mollydooker Verdelho The Violinist. 90 points. Floral and flashy Verdelho with a pretty, light golden hue and fresh cut flowers on the nose. Behind a veiled buttery texture, sweet grapefruit, star fruit and quince shine with a round and full mouthfeel. This Portugese white grape provides a real twang on a long, detailed finish.

I really hate this Sine Qua Non lead “no vintage etc on the front” trend.

2012 Sine Qua Non In the Abstract. VM 94. The 2012 White Wine In The Abstract represents a return to a much more opulent style after a few years in which the Sine Qua Non whites were a bit more energetic than is typically the case. Honey, apricot, mint, orange blossom and spices meld together in a huge, viscous wine that covers every inch of the palate. The purity of the fruit here is simply striking.

2005 Pax Syrah Cuvée Christine. VM 90. Deep violet. Strongly perfumed aromas of raspberry and baking spices, complicated by a sexy floral tone. Immediately appealing, with vibrant strawberry and raspberry flavors, energetic mineral notes and fine-grained, silky tannins. Very suave stuff, with deeper cherry and dark berry flavors developing with air. This is 100% syrah this vintage, sourced from seven different sites.

agavin: tannic mess

2007 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne. VM 95. Vivid purple. Heady aromas of candied red and dark fruits, incense, violet and smoky minerals. Cherry-cola and blackberry compote flavors show an intriguing blend of richness and vivacity, with bright mineral snap on the back half. Finishes sappy, sweet and extremely long, with resonating floral and spice notes. This wine blends the richness and power of the Turque with the vivacity of the Mouline and should age effortlessly.

agavin: I thought this had a nasty funk to it, almost corky.

2002 Shafer Relentless. VM 88. Good full ruby. Musky aromas of bitter chocolate and espresso turned oakier with aeration. Bright, penetrating black raspberry fruit offers excellent intensity but comes across as a bit hard-edged. Turned a bit drier on the back end under its load of oak.

2012 Sine Qua Non Syrah Stock. VM 94-96. The 2012 Syrah Sticks & Stones is gorgeous. The radiance and suppleness of the year comes through in spades. Dark red cherries, plums, cloves, violets and rose petals wrap around the silky, super-expressive finish. The 2012 should drink beautifully pretty much right out of the gate. This is the last vintage in which White Hawk fruit is part of the blend.

agavin: big and a bit grapey

2007 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline. VM 94. Deep ruby. A highly complex bouquet evokes dark berry preserves, potpourri and cola, with a smoky overtone. Juicy and precise, with penetrating black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors firmed by zesty minerality. Rich but light on its feet, with a bright, focused finish that features suave floral pastille and spice nuances.

2007 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque. VM 93+. Opaque ruby. Dark berries, cherry-cola, licorice and Indian spices on the pungent nose. Deeply pitched blackberry and floral and licorice pastille flavors brighten with air and show an intense spicy quality, along with a touch of mocha. Clings tenaciously on the finish, which strongly repeats the cherry and licorice notes. In a more brooding style than the Mouline and years away from maturity.

During this early phase, there are a variety of munchables:

Cheese plate. Lots of fermented milk.

Spreads.

Carbs.

This steak quesadillas were pretty awesome.

Tomato cheese toasts.

I list the wines brought my myself and the other guests in one big block. In practice these were consumed first blind before dinner, then brought to the table to be revealed and finished.

From my cellar: 2001 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. Burghound 92. Ripe and extremely opulent intense citrus fruit and white flowers coupled with medium weight flavors dripping with minerality and enough fat to buffer the bracing acidity. There is a subtle underlying complexity and this is remarkably intense, assertive and precise yet there is excellent power and depth as well.

agavin: Meadows is so stingy, this was a very nice, even reductive white Burg.

2003 Domaine Perrot-Minot Mazoyères-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. VM 93. Bright ruby-red. Musky aromas of minerals, cola, licorice and chocolate. Then juicy, powerful and fresh, with highly concentrated flavors of blackberry, violet and licorice; fruitier in the mouth today than on the nose. This boasts terrific volume and density. Finishes with round, sweet tannins and superb length. With extended aeration this showed a deep roasted nut character without losing its fresh blackberry and blueberry flavors.

agavin: Many of us thought this might be wine of the night. It was certainly great for a “cheap” Grand Cru Gevery.

1996 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. VM95+. Deep ruby-red. Very sexy aromas of currant, blackberry and brown sugar, all lifted by an ineffable floral quality from the thoroughly ripe cabernet sauvignon that comprises three-quarters of the blend. Dense, fresh and thick with extract; a wonderful combination of texture and guts. Has a core of steel and a powerful structure I haven’t found in more recent vintages from this chateau. A very serious style of Pichon-Lalande, with much less merlot than usual. Finishes with terrific length and grip. Drink between 2005 and 2025.

agavin: nice. good thing too as I have 6 bottles of it in my cellar.

1990 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 96. Two great back to back vintages are the 1990 and 1989. The more developed 1990 boasts an incredible perfume of hickory wood, coffee, smoked meat, Asian spices, black cherries, and blackberries. Lush, opulent, and full-bodied, it is a fully mature, profound Beaucastel that will last another 15-20 years.

agavin: a little cloudy/funky, but good.

From my cellar: 1998 Guigal Cote Rotie la Mouline. Parker 97-100. The 1998 Cote Rotie La Mouline boasts a dense purple color in addition to an astonishing, pure nose of jammy blackberry, currant, and cherry fruit intermixed with honeysuckle/apricot liqueur. Exceptionally seamless, full-bodied, and voluptuously-textured, with extraordinary flavors, this fabulous La Mouline is structured and tannic. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2020.

From my cellar: 2007 Paolo Bea Sagrantino di Montefalco Secco Pagliaro. 94 points. This is a big, powerful, and absolutely beautiful Sagrantino from Bea. The fruit is lush, rich and dynamic. Acid is right and tannins are still strong. It was an amazing wine on all levels, but I think it will be even better in a few years when the tannins calm a bit more. When it hits that spot, it will be truly majestic.

agavin: I brought this bonus both because I was just at the winery and because I wanted to show off an unusual grape. The format isn’t so great for it though. Blind there are too many wines, people might enjoy it, but don’t notice. Revealed they focus on the big names.

1959 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. 93 points. Drinking quite well and not really showing 50+ years of age. Drinking like a 10 to 15 year old Rioja. I believe Jeff said he bought it in the late 1980’s. The nose has cherries, slight dried herb notes, a bit of an old wood note; very pretty. Great acidity without being out of whack. Cherries, cherry juice layered on the palate with earthy notes. Long finish. Happy Birthday Jeff and thank you for quite a treat!

agavin: an oldie but a goodie!

1994 Dominus Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 97. Deep garnet-brick colored, this has quite a perfumed nose with notes of potpourri, game, anise, baking spices and kirsch plus hints of toast and yeast extract. Generously fruited and full bodied, it offers a medium-firm level of grainy tannins, crisp acid and a long, layered finish.

1993 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 95-97. The 1993 should be as prodigious as the 1992. It is an opaque purple-colored wine with spectacular ripeness, purity, and potential. Dense, full-bodied, with a chocolatey, toasty, mineral, and blackcurrant-scented nose, this wine has a rich, full-bodied, chewy texture nicely buttressed by ripe tannin. In addition, the wine reveals more noticeable tannin in the finish, particularly when it is compared to the 1992 or 1994. This is another 20-25 year wine.

2002 Pride Mountain Vineyards Reserve Claret. Parker 96-100. The 2002 Reserve Claret (two-thirds Merlot, one-third Cabernet Sauvignon and a tiny dollop of Petit Verdot) is the most flashy, exuberant and flamboyant of this trio. Close to full maturity, it offers complex, intense, pervasive notes of unsmoked cigar tobacco, licorice, graphite, spring flowers, blueberries and blackberries. Gorgeous ripeness, full-bodied opulence, decent acidity, and ripe, silky tannin make for a hedonistic as well as intellectually provocative wine. This rich, mountain-styled proprietary red can be drunk now and over the next 10-12 years.

2006 Sine Qua Non A Shot In The Dark (Syrah). Parker 100! The soon-to-be-released 2006 A Shot in the Dark is composed of 96.5% Syrah and 3.5% Viognier from the 11 Confessions Vineyard in the cool Santa Rita Hills. Performing better from bottle than it did from barrel, this prodigious red exhibits incredibly velvety tannins, a seamless style, and no noticeable oak (which is remarkable given the fact it spent 32 months in barrel). Dense purple to the rim with an extraordinary perfume of blueberry pie, blackberries, soy, Asian spices, and hints of forest floor and charcoal, this is a complex, rich, seamless, well-balanced tour de force in winemaking. A full-bodied, exuberant, unabashedly California Syrah, it will offer stunning drinking over the next 10-15+ years.

1992 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Parker 91. Over the next year readers should be on the lookout for some of the 1,000 case production of Don Bryant’s Cabernet Sauvignon from an old vineyard on Pritchard Hill near the Chappellet Vineyard. Bryant’s 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon offers an impressive black/purple color, rusty tannin, immense concentration, full body, and enormous richness in the finish.

2005 Colgin IX Syrah Estate. Parker 95. Colgin is one of the reference points for just what heights mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux varietals, and more recently, Syrah, can achieve in Napa Valley. This beautiful estate and winery overlooking Lake Hennessey is owned by Joe Wender and his wife, Ann Colgin (equally renowned for her auctioneering skills), who are assisted by David Abreu, the well-known Bordeaux wine consultant, Dr. Alain Raynaud, and Allison Tauziet, who has skillfully replaced the brilliant Mark Aubert. As the scores and tasting notes suggest, this was an exceptional tasting. Colgin’s 2006s are among the finest wines produced in the vintage.

2001 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder. Parker 100. An utterly perfect wine that exemplifies this extraordinary vintage for North Coast Bordeaux varietals is the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder, which comes from the Jackson family’s Veeder Peak Vineyard. Unfortunately, slightly less than 300 cases were produced, so availability is limited. A dense opaque blue/purple color is followed by notes of lead pencil shavings, ink, blueberry liqueur, raspberries and black currants. The wine is super intense as well as extremely full-bodied and opulent with great structure, purity and density. (I know this sounds weird, but when I smelled and tasted it, it reminded me of the 2010 La Mission Haut Brion that I had tasted a month earlier, no doubt because of its volcanic/hot rock-like character.) This phenomenal wine is a modern day legend from Napa. Still a youngster in terms of its development, it should hit its peak in another 5-6 years and keep for 30+.

agavin: slutty!

2007 Gargiulo Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Money Road Ranch. Parker 92. The least expensive offering, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Money Road Ranch (a 1,000-case blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Merlot), offers copious aromas of espresso roast, new saddle leather, cassis, spice box, and red currants. A judicious touch of oak provides a spicy character, the tannins are sweet and soft, and the wine is fleshy, full-bodied, expansive, and savory. The most approachable of these cuvees, it should drink beautifully for 15 or more years.

2009 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon Cinnamon Rhapsody. Parker 93. The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Cinnamon Rhapsody is quite a bit richer and rounder than the Stags Leap. It boasts striking inner perfume and gorgeous textural richness all the way through to the generous, creamy finish. The blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec and 1% Merlot. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.

2012 Wayfarer Pinot Noir Mother Rock. Parker 89+. The 2012 Pinot Noir Mother Rock was made from Dijon clones 777 and 37. It reveals an attractive dark ruby color as well as beautiful strawberry and black cherry fruit, underbrush and spice characteristics. Medium to full-bodied and earthy, with good acidity, it should drink nicely for a decade. 400 cases were produced.

agavin: hear is an outlier!

Dinner itself was enjoyed here at the outside table and its warming firepit.

Pea soup with parmesan crisp.

Pasta with asparagus and mushrooms. Quiet nice actually.

Salad of tomatoes, corn, and mozzarella.

Lamb chops with curried spinach. Yum!

Part of the crew as the evening wears on.

Grabbed from Eric’s cellar (by me actually):

1988 Climens. Parker 96. The 1988 reveals layer upon layer of honeyed pineapple-and orange-scented and -flavored fruit, vibrant acidity, high levels of botrytis, and a fabulously long, yet well-focused finish. It is a great wine.

Bread pudding with vanilla ice cream.

The night included a tour into Eric’s large, crowded, and chaotic cellar (only partly pictured).

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: cotsen, Eric Cotsen, hedonists, Malibu, Wine

Cassia – Vietnamese Reinterpreted

Jul10

Restaurant: Cassia

Location: 1314 7th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 393-6699

Date: July 7 & November 10, 2015, July 7, August 26, and October 3, 2016 and January 28, 2020

Cuisine: French Vietnamese Brasserie

Rating: really tasty

My friend Liz Lee of Sage Society organized this July excursion to the brand new French Vietnamese Bistro from Chef Bryant Ng and the group that brought us the excellent Sweet Rose, Rustic Canyon, and Milo & Olive.

Also, merged in, are photos from dishes we ordered at an impromptu Hedonist dinner in November.

Ng made himself famous the other year with Spice Table Downtown, now I’m happy to have him Westside.

The space is oddly located on 7th street (never been to a restaurant there before despite 21 years in Santa Monica) but its large, light and airy.

Check out those high ceilings.

A specialty cocktail. Mango Mezcal Fizz. Mango infused mezcal, Brovo dry vermouth, passionfruit, lime, egg white.

The creative menu. This is not your usual brasserie. I mean, it feels like one, but the dishes are so Vietnamese inspired. I ate my way through Vietnam last year, and the ingredients feel very authentic. The presentation is all new.

The menu January 2020 — a few dishes have changed.

Liz as usual orchestrated our wine brings, in this case Champy, Riesling and the like.

From my cellar: 1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. VM 96. Rich, multidimensional, highly aromatic nose of pear, red berries, apple, honey, toast and spice. Extremely rich and concentrated, with its medium to full body leavened by bright citrus notes and compelling minerality. Great inner-mouth aromas. Conveys an impression of powerful yet remarkably fine raw materials. The spicy finish offers exceptional persistence and richness.

agavin: our bottle was a bit oxidized and tired. sigh.

Kaya Toast. Coconut jam, butter, slow cooked egg. This is listed under appetizers, but really tasted like a dessert. It was pretty awesome though, with the flavors of sweet coconut French toast.

Jellyfish Salad. Shredded organic chicken, crispy rice, green leaf, sesame-bacon dressing. Delicious, with the jellyfish adding a nice crunch/chew.

2004 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé. VM 94+. Relative to many other recent vintages, the 2004 Dom Pérignon Rosé comes across as quite delicate, feminine and graceful. Floral notes are woven throughout, adding to a very appealing and attractive sense of lift. It will be interesting to see if the 2004 puts on weight in bottle. At the moment, the 2004 is a bit understated, but I will not be surprised if at some point it takes off given the extremely positive way in which the 2004 blanc has developed over the last few years.

agavin: This was not tired at all!

Cucumber Salad Watercress, grilled avocado, charred tomatoes, clay oven bread croutons. A fine salad, although not mind boggling.

Green Papaya Salad. Watercress, purslane, spiced walnuts. Not bad, but not as “Vietnamese” as we expected.

Masumoto Farms Nectarine Salad. Bibb lettuce, herbs.

Vietnamese Caesar Salad. Anchovy croutons, dried figs, herbs, red onion, white anchovies.

Raw spicy scallops. A very small dish, with a bit of corn, dried shrimp, ham, onion and mint for flavor and crunch. Tasty, and despite the white look, not too mayo-ish, but hard to get onto the spoon.

Grilled Chicken Wings. Cucumbers, sweet chile sauce. Not bad at all. Nice tangy salty spicy sauce. I actually liked the cucumbers soaked in it.

Vietnamese “Sunbathing” Prawns. Fresno chiles, garlic, Vietnamese hot sauce — very hot actually.

2013 Zardetto Prosecco Zeta. Pairs great with food. A very simple wine, but its simple fruit allows it to go with anything.

CHARCUTERIE PLATTER. Salted Pork with Grilled Bread, Sichuan Lamb Ham, Singaporean Grilled Candied Pork, Vietnamese Meatloaf, Smoked Red Sausage, Cabbage Relish.

The Singaporean Grilled Candied Pork had a substantial heat and was sweet and delicious. The Sichuan Lamb Ham was a bit like Spanish ham. The smoked sausage was great, and I particularly loved the rich meatiness of the “meatloaf” — not unlike dumpling filling. The cabbage relish added to the softer ones as well, plus the herbs. Mixing the herbs and pickles with the meat in the same bite was quiet lovely.

Smoked Salmon Dip. Pickled shallots, horseradish, grilled country bread. Nice kick from the horseradish and an interesting mix of textural elements between the soft spread and crunchy bread. I really liked this dish.

Chopped Escargot. Lemongrass butter, herbs.

Spread on the pizza-like bread this was staggeringly good. It might have been the dish of the night.

Vietnamese Pâté. Pickled chiles. A similar presentation. Looks a little like barf.

But it tasted great. Super rich and meaty. I’m a big pate fan and this didn’t disappoint. I liked the added crunch of the pickles.

Fried Cauliflower w/ fish sauce. So fried they were like fried shrimp.

Cold Sesame Noodles. Young soybeans, cucumbers, crushed walnuts. Spicy with blue crab. I had to try this because I make my own Dan Dan Mein. This had some spice, but none of the savory complexity of my version.

1997 Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Weissenkirchen Ried Klaus. agavin 93. Herbal and complex, delicious.

Spicy Wontons. Cod, shrimp, country ham, napa cabbage, roasted chile oil. These had some heat, not unlike Numb Taste Wontons, but with a bit of a fishy tone.

2001 Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Trocken Zwerithaler. agavin 90. More oxidized than the 1997, this had an unusual cilantro/basil finish!

Chino Valley Egg Custard. Sea urchin roe, braised mushrooms. Very soft egg custard was extremely pleasant, although the sea urchin just didn’t stand out like one might hope.

2001 Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach Steinberger Riesling Kabinett Goldkapsel. agavin 91. Medium sweet. Quiet nice.

Cereal Scallops. Hazelnuts, chiles. These were super tender and reminded me of Eastern Shore fried scallops from my childhood.

1996 Domaine Touchais Coteaux du Layon Réserve de nos Vignobles. agavin 94. Super sweet and delicious.

Coconut lemongrass curry. I don’t remember what was in here, but it was an awesome creamy coconut and lemongrass curry with a bit of spicy heat. Pretty similar to the amazing snail curry I’ve had at Phong Dinh.

Pig tail. Special order. Looks at that disgusting thing and all the fat.

I tried carving off some of the meat and not much fat and wrapping it with the herbs. The first bite was piggy, but the finish was actually quiet nice. Erick gnawed on the bone!

1998 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Barbe Rac. Parker 94-96. Chapoutier’s 1998 Barbe Rac is close to full maturity. It exhibits an abundance of Provencal herbs intermixed with new saddle leather, kirsch, framboise, and spice box. The intoxicatingly heady, complex aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, lush, succulent style of wine with a relatively high alcohol/glycerin content and loads of fruit. This wine is drinking terrifically well after going through an awkward stage about two to three years ago. Drink it between now and 2020.

agavin: Nice and grapey. Young, but drinking great right now.

Vietnamese Pot Au Feu. Creekstone farms short rib stew, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, bone marrow, grilled bread, two sauces.

We had five people and it was a few too many to really split this. The broth was very nice, and quiet interesting when doped with the sauces — but I didn’t get much and it was hard to experiment.

Grilled Lobster. Shallots, Asian basil, pistachio butter (Half or Whole).

The meat itself had a wonderful grilled basil flavor. Hard to split five ways though.

Whole Singaporean. White Pepper Crab. Same splitting problem with the crab, and there wasn’t much meat on this Dungeness. But the sauce was great with a real potent white pepper kick. I love pepper crab. None beat the ones I had in Singapore.

Black Cod. Anchovy broth, Chinese romaine, lychee relish, herb salad.

Beef Rendang. Beef cheek curry, jasmine rice, sambal, kaffir lime, peanuts. This had some heat to it, but was a spectacularly delicious curry dish. That rich red/meat/nutty curry over rice and the interplay of soft and crunchy textures. Yum!

Grilled Spicy Lamb Breast. Sichuan peppercorn, cumin, sambal, jasmine rice, sesame sauce. This was a nice dish, fairly Indian in vibe. There was that loose lovely Indian rice, which although labeled as jasmine in the description sure seemed like Basmati. Then the juicy bits of pork and a bit of heat. Nice stuff.

Grilled Chinese Broccoli. Caramelized fish sauce. Pretty good for straight up veggies.

Grilled Dwelley Farms Corn. Scallion-coriander butter. Sort of like Mexican street corn!

Charcuterie Fried Rice. Chinese bacon, lap cheong, salt pork, salted fish, lettuce. Really tasty fried rice. Loved the sweet Chinese sausage.

Grilled Pork Belly Vermicelli. Thin rice noodles, oysters, pickled kohlrabi & carrots, herbs, green leaf, peanuts.

Again a hard dish to split five ways as that little bowl of meat/broth didn’t stretch far enough. It was delicious and Pho-like with the noodles and herbs.

Here is the combined soup, which was quite excellent.

Smoked Beef Short Ribs. Spicy Chinese BBQ sauce, pickled Chinese cabbage, Bibb lettuce, herbs.

Laksa. Rice noodles, spicy coconut-seafood soup. Basically udon noodles in a red curry broth. I liked the dish, as I love red curry. Others complained that the curry flavor was a touch mild and “short” and it was (although there is some considerable heat). This doesn’t have the depth of a great red curry like at Jitlada. Still, I enjoyed it. It’s just been “toned down” for the Santa Monica crowd.

Wok-tossed Yard beans & avocado. Preserved turnips, ginger, chili oil. Interesting contrast between the crunchy yard beans and the soft avocado. Not bad at all for a string bean dish.

The dessert menu.

Chocolate Banana Tart. Banana chips, candied walnuts, vanilla whipped cream. The weakest of the five desserts. A little sweet and not enough chocolate flavor.

Blackberry, Cherry Napoleon. Green tea Bavarian cream. This was great and refreshing with bright berry flavors.

Deep fried Paris-Brest. Housemade lemongrass ice cream, candied lemon. That lemongrass ice cream was awesome. The whole vibe was key lime pie like. Really refreshing.

Summer Fruit Floating Islands. Passion fruit creme anglaise, poached peaches, Santa Rosa plums, Pudwill raspberries & fresh mint. And this was amazing with a rich creamy passionfruit flavor.

Vietnamese Coffee Pudding. Coconut shortbread. Plus I loved this “pudding,” which is more like a pot-a-creme. The coffee cream thing worked just as well as a dessert.

Coconut ice cream balls.

Overall, commenting after my first visit, I’m really psyched to see this new addition to the long subdued Santa Monica restaurant scene. I love Vietnamese food and while this isn’t strictly Vietnamese, but more like Vietnamese, Chinese, Singaporean fusion with a very modern brasserie sensibility. Fairly unique and really quiet fun and excellent. I hope they evolve and refine and aren’t forced to backpedal to pander to the local tastes. There is some tendency in Santa Monica toward just that. For example, all of the more interesting (and not really that bold) new mall places of a couple years ago have shuttered and been replaced by a Cheesecake Factory. Cry.

And readdressing my opinion a few months later in November, Cassia has continued to come on strong. It was mobbed on a cold Tuesday November night, the food was perhaps a touch more consistent, and service was good. It was extremely friendly, although pacing was a little uneven (but not enough to be a problem). Since it’s busy, the menu hasn’t backpedalled — because people seem to be responding well. Sure it’s a little “white-a-fied”, but it’s it’s still great to have it here on the Westside.

And reassessing again July of 2016, the food has tightened up even further. The menu may have changed a dish or two, but it’s still aggressive (a good thing), but the execution has tuned up even further. These dishes were on fire, offering some really serious and interesting flavor that hits its own unique spot between traditional and California Vietnamese.

Returning in January 2020, the food continued to be excellent. My favorite dishes were still great. I’m reminded that Cassia is still quite spicy — which I like — but surprisingly so for a mainstream restaurant. Service itself was pretty good but their wine service is a little wonky, or at least my unusual perception of wine service. They seem to have the dreaded (and totally inane) “two bottle limit” now. Sucks. Stupid. Counterproductive to making money and good customer service. I’ve ranted about it many times before like here. And they didn’t want me to open the wines myself, saying their ABC license didn’t allow it. That’s a new one, and I’m pretty sure totally false. Even if vaguely true, probably has never been enforced. I’ve certainly opened 1000s of bottles in restaurants.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or compare to some Vietnamese Vietnamese (in Vietnam).

Some wines from the 1/28/20 dinner:

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bryant Ng, Cassia, Dessert, Foodie Club, gruner, hedonists, Riesling, Sage Society, Vietnamese cuisine, Wine

More Meat – Chi Spacca

Jun30

Restaurant: Chi Spacca

Location: 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 297-1133

Date: June 01, 2015

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Rich but delicious, a carnivore’s paradise

The little Mozza empire on Melrose now includes the Pizzeria, the Osteria, Chi Spacca, and Mozza 2 go. They do a great job with all their restaurants (annoying corkage policy notwithstanding), and I’ve been itching to sink my canines into Chi Spacca for some time. When a plan earlier this year for the larger Foodie Club gang to go to Chi Spacca failed, we ended up at Spear instead, and despite that being a great meal I still wanted to get here. But because of the annoying corkage policy (a complaint I will continue to reiterate from my soap box), we had to wait until a small dinner (3 of us), this time nominally for my birthday.

Chop chop.

The menu.

The small room.

The smoky in the room grill.

From my cellar: 1989 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc. VM 95. The 1989 Barolo Bric del Fiasc (3-liter) is still striking for its freshness. Some of that is a factor of the large format, but standard bottles have also develop very positively. Here we find a classic flavor profile of tobacco, herbs, spices, plums and licorice with the depth, muscle and concentration of the modern school. The 1989 is a touch more layered and aromatically intesne than the 1990, with a little more length and overall complexity. Tar, smoke and licorice linger on an eternal finish.

Pickles. spring onions, carrots, fennel. Nice crunchy pickled vegetables. The acidity is a nice contrast to all the fat to come.

Affettati Misti-Daily Selection of Cured Meats. Calabrese salame, oregano salame. pork butter. That white stuff that looks like butter, pure lard (smoked and aged).

Pate & Terrine. butcher’s pate, trotter fritti. The fried things are stuffed with pig feet meat. Now, I’m not normally a fan of pig’s feet at all, but these were delicious (maybe because you can’t SEE the trotter). The terrine was also very good, classic country pate.

Bread for the meats.

Erick brought: 1979 Chateau Margaux. Parker 93. This wine is just now reaching full maturity, much later than I initially expected. It is a classy, elegant example of Margauxpossessing a dark ruby/purple color, and a moderately intense nose of sweet black currant fruit intermixed with minerals, vanillin, and floral scents. The wine is medium-bodied, with beautifully sweet fruit. This linear, more compressed style of Margaux possesses a good inner-core of sweet fruit, and a charming, harmonious personality. Although not a blockbuster, it is aging effortlessly, and appears to take on more character with each passing year. Anticipated maturity: Now-2010.

Burrata Primavera. Snap peas, carrots, mint. Very nice salad with good contrast of sweet and acidic.

Pane bianco. Fett’unta. Super light, crispy cheese “pizza.”

Whole Branzino. herb salad, olive oil. Extremely herby and fabulous, with an almost Thai like lemongrass flavor.

Grilled Octopus. pureed & fried ceci, parsley leaf. Very soft tender octopus.

2003 Di Prisco Taurasi.

Braised Lamb Ribs. Castelvetrano olive, preserved lemon. Nice rich lamb meat.

Grilled Lamb Sausage. Calabrian peppers, roasted onion. Basically Merguez with a bit of heat. The herby salad is a nice counterpart.

2005 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. JG 94+. Beautiful dark rose color. Really unusual nose with an off note I can only describe as like something you might smell in a petroleum refinery or maybe cordite. Mild notes of Indian spices and perhaps a bit of prune. This wine is very hard for me to describe. It is spicy with deep red fruits.

Tomahawk Pork Chop. fennel pollen. The top (far) part is the pork chop itself, wonderfully tender and with a lovely flavor. The bottom long parts are the pork belly, similar flavor but WAY richer.

Dessert menu.

Cocoa Nib Caramel Tart. whipped creme fraiche. Rich.

Butterscotch Budino. sea salt & rosemary pine nut cookies. OMG, I love these creamy puddings.

Seasonal Gelati & Sorbetti. Mint, coconut Stracciatella, and a berry flavor. Nice complex Italian flavors.

Overall, I thought the food at Chi Spacca was quite awesome, if not exactly authentically Italian. Certainly more to my taste than any normal steakhouse. They should import some pastas over from Mozza though :-). From the menu I thought prices looked crazy, but the total turned out to be reasonable ($130 a person before tip) even though we went to town. Really to town as the above was for 3 people!

Service was great too, and the atmosphere fun. My only complaint is with the bottle limit. The $30 corkage is fine, and you can even wave the corkage ordering off the list — again great. But the 2 bottle hard limit, apparently very strictly enforced (we brought the Barolo and the Margaux), is quiet annoying. It barely worked for 3 people and totally breaks down for wine dinners. Their list has interesting Italians, but the wines are two young. Plus I just resent having to buy off wine lists altogether (beyond the occasional white or rose). If they priced a fixed $30-50 markup, and had my kind of wines, it would be fine, but they always use a multiplicative markup. I’m not paying $400-600 for a $200 bottle!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

More Foodie Club craziness.

A post dinner yummy cucumber gin drink

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burrata, Chi Spacca, Dessert, Foodie Club, Meat, Mozza, pork chop, Steak, Wine

Eating Rome – Trastevere

Jun26

Restaurant: Eating Italy Rome

Location: Trastavere, Rome

Date: June 8, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun and tasty

Just a week or so before leaving for Italy my mom learned that one of my second cousins actually lived in Rome, and not only that, that he ran a gourmet food tour business. Turned out some of our other cousins had been on one of the tours and loved it — so we hastily signed up.

We met in this typical looking church square on an island in the Tiber. This particular tour was a four hour later afternoon/evening stroll around Trastevere trying out all sorts of various little eats.

Our lovely and vivacious guide was Jasine.

Here is the map and menu so to speak.

First stop is Da Enzo, a popular trattoria.

Not a giant place as you can see. We began with some Prosecco, but I forgot to photo it.

Burrata, Prosciutto, melon. A classic bit of antipasto. The burrata might have warmed up a bit much as it was making a valiant effort to return to the milk from which it came. Still, a yummy start.

And the vegetarian version featured eggplant instead.

Next up is Spirito di Vino — an auspicious name.

And down into the ancient cellar.

Really down.

2013 Molino a Vento Nero d’Avola Sicilia. A robust Sicilian red. Not my usual wine “level” and a bit over-oaked, but nice enough.

Baked pasta. A layered baked dish of pasta, cheese, and tomato sauce. Like lasagna meets baked ziti.

Ancient pork. A pork shoulder recipe from ancient Rome!

Cheesy grits. Not really, but mashed potato or polenta mixed with cheese. Delicious.

Third is a bit of mid dessert. Innocenti biscotti (cookies).

They make traditional tarts.

And various cookies. This kind had an apricot jam layer.

Then on the left chocolate dipped and on the right hazelnut macaroons, not so different than my mother’s Passover macaroons, but those use almonds.

Fourth is cheese at Anitica Caciara.

Dairy on display.

And the fresh stuff that never is that great in the states.

It goes on and on.

But we came for the Pecorino Romana, here seen aging. Notice the olive oil drip to the right. It literally oozes oil as it dries.

Fresh Pecorino. Nutty and mild.

Aged Pecorino Romano. Stronger and delicious.

After cheese is meat! Antica Norcineria.

Specializing in the famous Porchetta!

Have a few cured meats.

Or olives.
The “white pizza”, otherwise known as focaccia.

And the porchetta itself, drizzled with olive oil.

These last two are assembled into the “sandwich.”

And the vegetarians got some olives, ricotta, and honey.

Next, on to I Suppli for more snacks.

Fried stuff.

And this kind of Roman pizza by the slice.

The Suppli is really well fried and served piping hot.

Inside is a delicious mix of risotto, cheese, and meat. Really delicious.

Enotecca Ferrara is where we will fill up apparently.

Typical cute inside.

Some slightly sweet prosecco.

This Italian Merlot doesn’t even make it onto Cellar Tracker. It wasn’t too bad for a YOUNG merlot.

Ricotta with cheese and pomodoro sauce. A bit of a peppery kick too, quite nice.

cacio e pepe. The classic Roman pasta. Love it.

Gnocci with scamorza (smoked mozzarella).

And what would an Italian food tour be without gelato? Fatamorgana.

All organic, this gelato place was has very interesting flavors like “pears, porto wine, and elder”!

I got passionfruit and grapefruit with orange or lemon. The grapefruit in particular was amazing, with a 10 minute finish! This place is a little less creamy (I think they use less dairy) but VERY tasty.

And they have gelato sushi!

Or some of these Italian ice cream confectionaries.

All in all, a delightful evening of really yummy treats. If you are in Rome and love food I highly recommend it. The wine was too young and casual for my taste, but the food, without being fancy, was fabulous. It showed up the kind of street food and ingredient focused items that would easily be overlooked, but make Italy just so tasty.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating-italy, Gelato, pasta, Rome, Trastevere, Wine

Saint Martha Modern

Jun07

Restaurant: Saint Martha

Location: 740 Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90005. (213) 387-2300

Date: May 29, 2015

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Really savory

I’ve been wanting to try Saint Martha since it opened, having heard really good things about it.

The tiny frontage in a random Koreatown minimall.

There is a little chef’s counter and behind the camera the small table space.

The menu.

2002 Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Cuvée Palmes d’Or. VM 92. Vivid yellow-gold. Ripe orchard and pit fruits complicated by flowers, smoke and spices on the nose and palate. Broad and fleshy but lively as well, with gentle acidity adding back-end lift and cut. Spreads out very nicely on the leesy finish, which hangs on with strong toasty persistence. This hefty Champagne could handle the richest foods.

Fried mussel with saffron. A deconstructed fried moulles.

Hamachi nuoc cham, tiny green things and crispy rice cracker. Small but delicious with bright flavors.

Juniper cured salmon with smoked goat cheese, pickle and everything bagel churro. Really yummy take on salmon.

Uni “tataki” with avocado mousse, serrano, hearts of palm and seaweed doritos. Delicious briny bite.

From my cellar: 2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. VM 90. Complex, precise aromas of apricot, mirabelle , honey and smoke. Silky, fat and full if quite dry; considerably richer than the young 2003, with sound framing acidity. Finishes very long, with a subtle whiplash of flavor. This has filled in quite nicely since I tasted it from barrel last spring.

agavin: needed a little time to open, and a touch of reductive funk. Delicious, but not as good as the previous bottle I opened.

Chicken liver mousse with mushroom, hazelnut praline, pickled blueberries and toast. Tasted like holiday dinner chicken liver mixed with Nutella! Rich and delicious.

The toast for the liver.

Octopus with koshihikari rice, sauce nero, lardo and espelette. Really nice light octopus bite.

Crab and sake cream “okonomiyaki”. I used to get these all the time in Japan. This was definitely taken up a notch.

2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots. Burghound 92. There is a hint of exotic fruit to the expressive nose of dried apricot, white peach and pineapple hints. There is outstanding size, weight and muscle to the overtly powerful middle weight plus flavors that possess a lemon character on the lightly mineral-infused finish that delivers terrific complexity. As is typical for this wine, it’s no model of finesse but it certainly delivers excellent depth and plenty of development potential.

agavin: Fresh and highly reductive, this was drinking great. It might close down soon, but was certainly highly enjoyable young great white Burg.

Beets with avocado, curry-almond streusel and coriander. Sweet, almost like a beet dessert. Really good though with a great interplay of textures. The beet was sorbet like constancy and texture.

Mixed baby carrots with coconut, tamarind sriracha and puffed amaranth. A bit of a kick. Delicious combo and cold smoothness of the coconut (ice cream?).

From my cellar: 2005 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. Burghound 91. A discreet touch of pain grillé and reduction frames fresh and exotic aromas of peach, melon and mango that continue onto the round, rich and concentrated flavors that possess real texture due to the solid dry extract on the mouth coating and solidly long finish. This is notably better than it usually is.

agavin: A little advanced, as there were oxidative notes, but drinking great right now.

Chicken skin granola with spiced date jam, sunchoke, parsnip milk and frozen foie gras.

He adds the parsnip milk.

Then shaves foie on! The whole thing tasted like granola cereal. It was weird how much it did.

Japanese sweet potato tempura with lime cream, chili and crushed peanuts. Great little bit of sweet fry.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

agavin: like delicious cherry soda.

Yellowtail collar. Super super and flavorful.

Brassicas with brewer’s yeast broth, mushroom and egg.

Bread to dip in it. This wasn’t the easiest dish to split!

Scallop steamed in smoked kombu with braised kohlrabi, enoki and brown butter dashi. Yum!

Whole Thai snapper that was cooked with all these aromatic leaves.

The chef brought of the fish to show us.

Thai snapper with black puddling broth. This was a delicious fish. Smoky and full of flavor and the broth was amazing. I even loved the blood sausage.

1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. agavin 91. A little leaner than the 93 above, but still lots of bright cherry action going on.

Pecan wood smoked brisket with lettuce, carrot, daikon and chili-hoisin. Soft, fatty and A LOT of flavor.

Fried chicken thigh with snails, acorn spaetzle and parsley garlic sauce. Super tender chicken.

Braised pork belly with eggplant parmesan, grits, rapini and manchamantel. Decadent!

From my cellar: 1990 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos Betsek. 93 points. Like mostly sweet raison juice. A very enjoyable oxidative quality too, like a sweeter mid sweet sherry.

Passion fruit. This was an amazing dessert. Interesting texture and temperature plays too.

Strawberry. More great texture plays. This tasted great too, like some soft strawberry cobbler.

PB&J. A sort of take on the classic with peanut butter and strawberry inc cream, brioche, and chocolate crackles.

Shortbread cookies. Really nice ones out of some odd grain.

Overall I was super impressed with Saint Martha. This is some really inventive cooking. Every dish worked to some degree and 80% of them were fabulous. Great textural playfulness, and bright bright flavors with a good amount of subtle Vietnamese influence too. But very modern American. Nick Erven is an extremely talented chef. Service was first rate too and it had a fun and lively vibe.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Nick Erven, Saint Martha, Wine

Sauvages in the Forest

Jun03

Restaurant: John Gerber [1, 2, 3]

Location: Flintridge

Date: May 22, 2015

Cuisine: New American

Today’s Sauvages lunch is a lunch in honor of late Co-Poobah Steve Levin. It’s graciously hosted by Paul at at his beautiful home in Flintridge. This event is held outdoors in memory of the Zinfandel barbecues that Steve would hold for our group every summer at his home (it being Paul’s idea to maintain this fine tradition). To that end, we always enjoy a few Zinfandels at this lunch in addition to the theme wines for the lunch. The annual lunches at Paul’s home always rate very high on the scales for ambiance, camaraderie and food quality.

The main wine theme: This year, as it has been the past few years for our lunch at Paul’s, our primary wine theme will be “Grenaches of the World”, in this case from the 2006 and older vintages (the older the better). Just to be clear, “Grenaches of the World” means any Grenache or Grenache-based blend (at least 60-70% Grenache), as long as it is rated 93+ by a reputable critic, and is from the 2006 or older vintage. Grenache-based wines from Australia, California, Washington, Priorat, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Sardinia (called Cannonau) or any other parts of the world are fair game as long as the wine has a qualifying score.

This California style building isn’t the house itself, but the amazing top of the integrated cellar.

2012 Progeny Mount Veeder Trinity Blanc. Interesting blend of Roussanne and Marsanne.

Inside the upper level of the cellar where staging occurred.

The backyard.

2003 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay Ashley’s Vineyard. VM 91. Medium yellow. Smoky, lower-toned nose offers dried fruits, baking spices and leesy traces. Superconcentrated and creamy but with bright acids leavening the wine’s sweetness. The broadest and longest of this set of chardonnays on the back end, but finishes with a slight youthful aggressiveness.

agavin: Golden yellow, quite enjoyable, but by Burgundy standards oxidized for its age and not going to last much longer.

Grilled crab claws with avocado mouse.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

Grilled peaches wrapped in prosciutto with gorgonzola.

The pool patio where we dined.

On the left is our chef, John Gerber, formerly of the French Laundry! On the right is our host Paul.

A lot of the food used the wood burning oven.
Today’s menu.

Flight 1:

2003 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul. Parker 97. Deep, layered and rich, the 2003 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de mon Aieul is comprised almost all of Grenache and always comes from three lieux-dits: La Crau, Guigasse and Les Serres. Aged all in tank and showing none of the negative traits of the vintage, it has a rich, meaty bouquet of semi-mature red and black fruits, wild herbs, melted licorice, dusty minerality and roasted beef. Full-bodied, gorgeously pure and seamless, with solid underlying structure and a core of sweet fruit, it is a brilliant wine. I don’t see any upside to holding bottles, yet given the balance, richness and mid-palate depth, it should continue to hold for another 5-8 years and certainly drink nicely well past that.

2001 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. Parker 100. More youthful and backwards, the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de La Reine des Bois has been incredibly consistent for me and always comes in near the top of the scale. Black raspberry, blackberry, wood smoke, licorice, crushed rock-like minerality and smoked beef are just some of the nuances here, and it hits the palate with serious levels of fruit, thrilling structure and blockbuster length. It still needs another handful of years to hit full maturity, but its off-the-hook good today (assuming you’re not completely against tannin).

2001 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Deux Freres. Parker 99. The 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Deux Freres elicits “wows”. Aged 60% in neutral wood foudres and 40% in one, two, and three-year old Burgundy barrels, this 2001, which tips the scales at an awesome 16.2% natural alcohol, boasts an inky/purple color along with a sensationally pure bouquet of blackberries, graphite, acacia flowers, licorice, and sweet kirsch liqueur. Unctuously textured and full-bodied, with high tannin as well as a closed personality, this prodigious yet fabulous Chateauneuf du Pape is a potential legend in the making. It requires 3-5 years of cellaring, and should keep for two decades. The texture, purity, and magnificent concentration suggest tiny yields, old vines, and non-interventionalistic winemaking. By the way, this wine represents a selection of the finest lots in the cellar as the sources are the same as for the Cuvee de Mon Aieul, although a large component of Deux Freres is from the Usseglio holdings in the sector of Chateauneuf du Pape called La Crau. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2022+.

2000 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul. Parker 95. The profound 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul (85% Grenache and the rest equal parts Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsault) tips the scales at 15% alcohol. From an old vineyard and cropped at 15 hectoliters per hectare, and aged only in foudre, it boasts a dense purple color in addition to an exquisite nose of violets, minerals, blueberries and blackberries. Pure and concentrated, but atypically tannic, it requires considerable aging as it is one of the vintage’s more backward, broodingly powerful efforts.

Wood Oven Roasted Clams. Saffron Gnocchi, Chorizo, Peas, Charred Scallions and Grilled Bread. A very lovely partially deconstructed bouillabaisse.

Flight 2:

2003 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee. Parker 98. Starting with the 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reserve, this wine showed spectacularly on release, closed down for a few years, and has now emerged, at close to full maturity, and is straight-up fabulous. Out of the entire tasting, it remained my favorite. Giving up gorgeous blackberry, currants, garrigue, pepper and beef blood, it hits the palate with a massive, full-bodied texture that carries layers of sweet fruit, awesome concentration and blockbuster length. Tasting like the essence of both this estate and the terroir, it’s an incredible wine that I’m happy to taste/drink anytime. It will continue to evolve gracefully, but I see no reason to delay gratification.

2004 Les Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape A la Gloire de Mon Grandpere. Parker 91. Almost all Grenache (98%), the 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape a la Gloire de Mon Grand-Pere comes from the Gardiole lieu-dit and was aged 12-18 months in concrete tank, foudre and demi-muids. Sweeter and more feminine in style compared to the traditional cuvee, it offers loads of baking spices, cinnamon, dried garrigue and sweet Grenache fruit to go with a medium to full-bodied, supple and pure profile on the palate. Rich (especially in the vintage) and nicely balanced, it’s a joy to drink and makes the most of the vintage. Enjoy it over the coming couple of years as well.

2000 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 95. The 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape reveals 14.6% alcohol, and is stylistically similar to the great 1990. The 2000 is open-knit and fat, with higher levels of glycerin as well as a more corpulent style than the structured, backward 2001. A deep ruby/purple color is followed by sweet, black cherry/kirsch liqueur-like notes presented in a voluptuous, full-throttle, intense style. It is already revealing such secondary nuances as pepper, garrigue, and truffles. Chewy, full-bodied, and moderately tannic, this cuvee is accessible, but not ready to drink. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2025.

Grilled Sonoma Duck Breast. Confit Crepe, Mole, Pickled Cherry. A stunning bit of duck breast accompanied by a stunning smokey “chipotle” sauce. The crepe was even better if possible.

Flight 3:

2000 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 93. The 2000 Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape, which Emmanuel Reynaud believes is better than 1998, came in at a whopping 15.2% alcohol. It is reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of the 1998 and 1999, with a medium to light ruby color, and a sumptuous bouquet of kirsch liqueur, spice box, and licorice. Full-bodied and fleshy, with low acidity, it is a sweet (from high glycerin and alcohol), seductive, intoxicating offering with no hard edges and a rich, fleshy mouthfeel. While it will be hard to resist, I feel the 1998 still has more structure. Anticipated maturity for the 2000: 2005-2016.

From my cellar: 1998 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 94-96. There is no doubting the extraordinary depth and layers of flavor the 1998 Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape contains. The color is medium to deep ruby, and the bouquet offers aromas of ripe strawberry and cherry candy, with kirsch liqueur thrown in for additional interest. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and fat, with high levels of sweet fruit, a velvety texture, multiple dimensions, and an explosive finish. It is an undeniably sexy, compelling Rayas that is already performing exceptionally well, despite having been bottled only a few months ago. There are several thousand additional bottles available for the world’s market. My best guess is that this voluptuous, sexy Rayas should drink well young, yet age easily for 15-16 years. Do not be surprised to see it put on considerable weight over the next few years.

1998 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee. Parker 95. The 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reserve showed the warmth and richness of the vintage, with knockout kirsch and blackberry fruit, garrigue, game and leather aromas and flavors that literally come jumping from the glass. Full-bodied, rich, textured and beautifully focused, if not still structured, it’s a rock-star to drink through 2020 or so.

Grilled Wild Boar stuffed Morels. Fiddlehead Ferns, favas with red wine farrotto and ramp pesto. I’ve never had these before, morels stuffed with boar mousse! Really pretty amazing.

Just so you can see the inside. Sous bois like crazy.

Flight 4:

2001 Clos Erasmus. Parker 98. A wine of great intensity, this 415-case blend of 78% Grenache, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Syrah aged in 100% new French oak casks, reveals an inky/purple color as well as a tight but promising bouquet of acacia flowers, raspberries, blackberries, and hints of blueberries, smoke, and the essence of minerality. With extraordinary richness, good underlying acidity, firm tannin, and a multilayered mouthfeel, this spectacularly concentrated 2001 is only hinting at its ultimate potential. Patience will be rewarded as this is a tour de force in winemaking, marrying the elegance and complexity of Priorat with the extraordinary concentration and intensity that comes from low yields and ripe fruit. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2020+.

2001 Alvaro Palacios Priorat L’Ermita. VM 95+. old-vines garnacha with a bit of cabernet from the Dofi vineyard added to bring more structure) Bright ruby-red. Discreet but nuanced nose hints at black fruits and flowers; quite subdued today. Then explosive in the mouth: huge, suave, deep and layered, with powerful yet somewhat cool black fruit, mineral and graphite flavors. This really expands to fill the mouth. Wonderfully concentrated wine that’s not at all heavy. Finishes very broad and rich, with noble tannins and great persistence. Still a baby, and likely to merit an even higher score six or eight years down the road.

1998 Clos Erasmus. Parker 99. The spectacular 1998 flirts with perfection. A saturated opaque blue/purple color is not dissimilar from ink. Dazzling aromas of ripe, pure blackberries, violets, blueberries, wet stones, and smoky, toasty oak soar from the glass. Powerful, with an unctuous texture, and super-extracted, rich, concentrated flavors, this blockbuster effort boasts extravagant quantities of fruit, glycerin, extract, tannin, and personality. The wine displays a firm, structured edge, but a viscous texture from super concentration gives it immediate accessibility. This 1998 should hit its plateau of maturity in 7-8 years, and is a strong candidate for 20-30 years of aging. It is a winemaking tour de force.

1999 Clos Erasmus. Parker 93. The 1999 Clos Erasmus, a blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Syrah aged in 100% new French oak, was fashioned from yields of only one ton of fruit per acre. Its dark ruby/purple color is followed by an elegant perfume of pure, sweet black raspberries, currants, creosote, and minerals. It reveals complex flavors, tremendous purity, and a long finish with no hard edges. Drink it now and over the next 12-15 years.

The lamb grilling on the BBQ.

Rotisserie Leg of Lamb. Fennel, potatoes, spring porcini, and olives. Have a bit of lamb!

Flight 5:

2001 Alban Vineyards Grenache. Parker 92. The 2001 Grenache (an 800 six-pack blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah) exhibits an opaque blue/purple color in addition to peppery, kirsch, raspberry, and blackberry aromas and flavors. With a viscous texture, medium to full body, and a gorgeous up-front style, it begs to be drunk over the next decade.

2001 Linne Calodo Sticks and Stones. Parker 95. The extraordinary 2001 Sticks and Stones (a blend of 60% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah) tastes like an old style of Rayas, or the renowned Chateau Lafleur from Pomerol. I know that sounds ridiculous, but those were the two wines that came to mind when I smelled and tasted this wine. It’s pure cherry liqueur with notions of raspberries, flowers, and minerals in the background. This deep ruby/purple-colored Rhone Ranger simply blew me away. With gorgeous texture, purity, perfume, and fruit presence, it has enormous amounts of both soul and personality. Enjoy it over the next 5-6 years.

2006 Sine Qua Non Raven Series (Grenache). Parker 98. 2006 Ravens Series (# 6 and 7 Grenache): This blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, largely from the 11 Confessions Vineyard, with a small amount from Bien Nacido, spent 21 months in barrel. It is really strutting its stuff now, and showing even better than my original note predicted in August of 2009. The wine has loads of meat, licorice, smoke, charcoal and graphite, as well as huge peppery, blackberry and black cherry notes. Full-bodied, with great acidity, nicely integrated tannin, an admirable mouthfeel and tremendous length, this killer Grenache is still young and probably 3-5 years away from prime time drinking.

2013 Progeny Winery Grenache. 94 points. Tasted from a barrel sample. This was just yummy – candied fruits, spicy, reminds me of a slightly softer form of the SQN version (not a meal in a glass) but oh so wonderful. Still quite a bit of tannin and still very young. Might never make it to being a wine that’s produced, but I very much hope it is as it was just delicious.

Cheese plate. Point Reyes Blue, California. Noord Hollander, Holland. Heublumen, Switzerland. Somehow skipping France!

Flight 6:

1979 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Sonoma County. 88 points. Had a light garnet core fading into a tawny colored rim with oranges hues. Fdruit aromas and flavors included dried cherries, black and red currants, plums and a touch of citrus; secondary aromas and flavors included baking spices, brown sugar, dried herbs, touch of old leather. This wine had bright acidity and a fresh character, was enjoyable however the finish was shorter than expected and appeared to be declining.

1980 Ridge Geyserville. 91 points. Pretty red raspberry nose. Medium bodied with medium+ acidity. Mix of tart and ripe raspberry fruit sprinkled with cinnamon. Tasty, great acidity.

1995 Ravenswood Zinfandel Dickerson. 87 points. Dark fruit, smoke, and light spice. Medium-full body.

1993 Turley Zinfandel Aida Vineyard. 90 points. Layers of flavors, mostly blackberry, but with a very peppery overtone.

My scribbled thoughts on the wines.

Overall, a delicious afternoon — food and wine both! As a Burgundy nut, a often forget all the Châteauneuf-du-Pape in my cellar, but it’s really great stuff — and so consistent. Grenache is a nice grape, if a powerhouse. Even the Zins were enjoyable. We didn’t have a mediocre wine today, just good and great ones.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: California, Chateauneuf du Pape, Grenache, John Gerber, Rhone, Sauvages, Wine, Zinfandel

Happy Table – New Bay is Old Bay

May29

Restaurant: Happy Table

Location: 203 West Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA. (626) 872-6677

Date: May 22, 2015

Cuisine: Northern Chinese

Rating: Solid

Six weeks ago we said a sad farewell to New Bay Seafood, which was one of the premier high end Cantonese places in the SGV.

In it’s place, as risen Happy Table, a new Chinese establishment…

With a diffuse menu of vaguely North Central slant. Not exactly Szechuan it has Szechuan dishes. Inside the place is identical, even the pictures of food on the walls are the same from the old menu.

2004 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 97. This tasting only serves to highlight just how great the 2004 Dom Pérignon is. A wine that has totally blossomed in bottle, the 2004 is firing on all cylinders right now. Rich, ample and beautifully nuanced, the 2006 has it all; expressive aromatics, deep fruit and more than enough structure to age well for decades. I have been tasting the 2004 since before it was released and it just keeps getting better and better. Today, it is stunning. It is amazing to consider that in 2004, yields were the largest ever recorded in Champagne.

Various cold appetizers like this spicy beef jerky. I liked it a lot.

Or this great Kimchee. Obviously some northern influence.

Smoked fish. A few bones didn’t detract from the excellent flavor.

Marinated pepper. These green peppers had some heat — and were delicious.

Pickled root vegetable. Which one, I don’t know, but they were tasty.

NV Franck Bonville Champagne Brut Rosé Grand Cru. 90 points. Lovely pink color. The nose shows fruity aromas of strawberry, raspberry, mineral, flowers and cream. This is medium bodied on the palate with a distinctly fruity touch. There is good structure and finesse on display here, and the finish is long. Delicious.

Pork ear with chili sauce. I never met a pig ear I liked. The slimy rubbery texture and lack of flavor… ug.

2006 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons. Burghound 91. The nose reflects only modest aromatic development on the notably ripe, spicy and intensely floral nose that introduces strikingly intense and sappy flavors that are supple and textured yet the finish tightens up very quickly and possess a lovely sense of underlying tension on the palate staining finish. This is impressively long and possesses good if not truly class Chablis character. To my taste this is nearing the front edge of its peak drinkability though it will be capable of holding here for years to come.

agavin: drinking great!

Shrimp, smoked fish, and squid. Straight up but fine.

2013 Zardetto Prosecco di Conegliano Superiore Spumante Dry Z. 92 points. Very nice slightly sweet Prosecco, went great with slightly spicy dishes.

Hot and sour soup. The classic. The texture and flavor of this soup were nice, although it was oddly dilute, slightly mild in flavor.

2012 Franz Gojer – Glögglhof Kerner Karneid. 91 points. Nice herby wine.

Three flavor dumplings. The northern steamed kind. Whatever the three flavors were, they included pork and were pretty good.

From my cellar: 2003 Weingut Graben-Gritsch Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Schön. 89 points. nose of lychee pineapple lemon, creamy lemon and peach on the palate. Bright acidity medium finish.

Cumin lamb. Not super spicy and of medium cumin level. Pretty tasty.

2008 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Clos du Bourg. JP 92. Pale golden yellow. Rich aromas of candied quince, white truffle and lemon oil mingle with a faint hint of spicy botrytis. The intense depth of rich pit fruit and glazed honey is well framed by the wine’s elegant chalky minerality. The herbal element to this wine’s depth is typical of this unusual vintage.

Szechuan eggplant. Always a winner, this was a dish bursting with flavor.

Dönnhoff Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese. Corked 🙁

Sautéed shredded pork. Reasonably tasty.

2004 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain. VM 88+. Bright golden-yellow. Singular nose combines lemon, smoke and iodine, plus a saline, peaty note that Humbrecht, a single-malt scotch aficionado, assured me was Skye or Orkney and not Islay. Big, round, broad and glyceral, with superrripe nutty, earthy flavors, moderate sweetness and fairly strong acidity. Slight mushroom note. Finishes with suggestions of macadamia and Brazil nut. “An extreme style,” Humbrecht admits. For soil hounds, this will be one to follow.

Ma Po Tofu. One of my favorite dishes in general this was an okay version with a medium amount of numbing Szechuan peppercorn. Over rice it was quite nice and I ate more than my share.

Spicy fried chicken. The aromatic type. This was an okay, but not great version of this dish. A little too fried maybe?

Scallion pancake. These were okay, the second bread below was better.

2009 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten. VM 89. One of the Sea Smoke flagships, the 2009 Pinot Noir Ten impresses for its depth and sheer power. Layers of flavor flow through to the huge, dramatic finish in a full-bodied, intense Pinot. Once the intensity of the fruit fades, there is not much development in the glass, which results in an overall impression of one dimensionality. The Ten is one of Sea Smoke’s flagships. It is made from all ten Pinot clones planted on the property. While a solid effort, I expected more from this offering, which also happens to be the wine through which I discovered Sea Smoke years ago.

Mu Chai Whole Lamb. People loved this. It was a tad fatty for me, but had a nice deep lamby flavor.

Steamed cod. A little over cooked.

1997 Silverado Hill Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon. I don’t try this kind of stuff, particularly with Chinese.

Stir fry lobster. The fried part was typical, a bit over-fried and fine, but not spectacular. Certainly not nearly as good as at New Bay.

The meat in the center was undercooked and mushy with no flavor. Fairly disgusting actually.

Sweet bread. This pancake-cum-pita Chinese bread was fresh baked and delicious. There was a slight sweetness to it.

2009 Carlisle Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard. VM 93. Glass-staining purple. Intense, exotically perfumed bouquet of blueberry, boysenberry, incense, black pepper and cola. Lush, expansive and surprisingly lively on the palate, offering sweet dark fruit flavors and firming but velvety tannins. Finishes with outstanding clarity and cling, repeating the boysenberry and violet notes.

Crystal Shrimp. Mild and fine.

Chung King Style hot pot. Every possible thing (including pig intestine, fish filets, beef) in a spicy chili oil sauce. This was fairly solid and a very typical Szechuan dish.

1998 d’Arenberg Cabernet Sauvignon The Coppermine Road. 91 points. Robust cab though showing its age. Had a bit of a brown hue and a ton of sediment.

Ox tail with Wolfberry. Inedible tail tendons with berries. I don’t know what one was supposed to do with this pile of cartilage.

Spicy dry pot chicken. Very boney, but a nice flavor and the potatoes in the sauce were good.

Bone in!

Overall Happy Table serves up decent but not great fare. I’m not even sure what region it really is, but the Northern and Szechuan dishes were pretty good (although I’ve had better). The Seafood and more Cantonese dishes were so-so. The place was empty too, and at 7:30 on a Friday night. But the service was great. We had a big private room with two tables (same room we ate in as New Bay). They were very attentive and served things up at a nice place, so I’ll give them an A+ for effort.

It’s different than New Bay, but doesn’t offer up the same level of super high end Cantonese at all, so the former will be missed as there are a good number of these mixed places.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

They are still located next to the best shaved ice place though.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Happy Table, hedonists, New Bay, Riesling, Wine

The Doctor is In

May20

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: May 12, 2015

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

OMG, Republique again! This time for another special wine dinner, hosted by Sage Society and featuring Ernst Loosen of Weingut Dr Loosen, one of the world’s premier riesling producers.

The main interior is nearly church-like. It’s been all opened up and looks great, but it’s big, tall, and covered in hard surfaces. That means loud! We just had our appetizers here, before moving to the quieter private room upstairs.

On the left is Ernst Loosen, owner of the winery and on the right our hostess, Liz Lee of Sage society.

Flight 0: Champagne

NV Guillaume Sergent Champagne Les Prés Dieu. 90 points. Very nice, young bright acid bomb of a champagne.

Potato chips, mashed potato, caviar. The chip was super rich. Really the mashed potatoe tasted like butter! The caviar was a bit overwhelmed, but certainly delightful.

Smoked hamachi croquettes. With pickled radish. Like a fancy modern version of the classic Spanish cod croquettes.

NV Doyard Champagne Cuvée Vendémiaire Brut. VM 89. The NV Brut Cuvée Vendémiaire is a beautiful wine that shows lovely complexity in its aromas and flavors, suggesting a period of extended aging on the lees and/or a relatively high percentage of reserve wines in the blend. The Cuvée Vendémiaire shows plenty of Chardonnay character and a refined, subtle mousse that is a result of the lower-atmosphere vinification. The Vendémiaire is made from parcels in Vertus, Avize, Cramant, Oger and Le Mesnil.

Tuna tartar crostini. Avocado mousse.

Upstairs is much quieter and more intimate.

Tonight’s special menu. As usual it was designed/produced by chef Walter and Liz Lee.

Before we get into the Riesling itself, it’s worth looking at the chunks of Mosel that Ernst brought. From the bottom to the top, gray slate, red slate, and red volcanic stone. Different vineyards we tasted tonight have different compositions of these stony soils.

Flight 1:

This flight, and its 3 wines, all come from the same vineyard, same year, same juice. The only difference is the juice was placed into three separate barrels and aged on its lees for 12, 24, and 36 months respectively. They are all dry.

2011 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Großes Gewächs. 90 points. Gorgeous nose. Probably the best nose of the three as it was fruitier and more open. Mineral, fresh nose; great acid, more mineral.

2011 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Großes Gewächs Reserve. 92 points. A little more closed at first but with poise and balance. Drinking very nicely.

2011 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Großes Gewächs “Hommage”. 90-94 points. This smells and tastes like a wine that needs more time, but hints of additional complexity. Maybe even some grapefruit. Really nice and unique.

Vichyssoise. Oyster, uni. A delicious slurry of green with briny orange lumps.

Flight 2:

A trio of 2013 dry rieslings from different terriors, all made in the same basic style.

2013 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben. 90 points. This had the best nose, but was the softest, perhaps most elegant, and subtle of the flight.

2013 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben. 92 points. To my taste this had more zing.

2013 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben. 92 points. Extremely similar to the Ürziger Würzgarten.

Dutch White asparagus. Morel mushroom, meyer lemon sabayon. A pretty classic version of the in-season delicacy. The sauce was so buttery good, we had to order bread to sop it up. An amazing pairing.

Flight 3:

A pair of 2011 dry rieslings from the same vineyard, Erdener Prälat, which many regard as the greatest of Mosel Valley Grand Crus. The only difference is the reserve was aged in barrel for 24 instead of 12 months.

2013 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben. 92 points. Very nice.

2011 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben Reserve. 94 points. The extra time in the barrel clearly works because the reserve is just better on all fronts. There is more balance, more power, and a clear feel of longer aging potential. Again, this is from a wine that is essentially identical except for the time in barrel.

Santa Barbara Spot Prawn. Bonito, yuzu, shitatke mushroom, brown butter. Scrumptiously soft and sweat with more of that crazy good butter sauce. Head sucking good.

Flight 4:

Now we move up to sweet and back in time, with a trio of Spatlese.

1989 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese. 92 points. Light yellow in color, this wine smells and tastes very fresh with a great mixture of youngish fruit ( singed peaches and citrus ) along with some aged characteristics of smoke and a little petrol. Medium bodied with a long finish, this wine seems to be at it’s peak now.

1973 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese. 89 points. Maybe I’m not totally used to old Riesling, but this was certainly mature. Sous bois. Fresh though. Weird complex notes. Certainly in great shape for its age.

2002 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese Auction. 93 points. I loved the fresh sweetness of this bottling.

Cook ranch pork chop. polenta, stone fruits, brown butter sauce. Walter dropped the curry and lentils (on the menu) at the last minute. This undoubtedly paired better. Perhaps an unusual wine/food melding, but a phenomenal one. Very tender meat, nicely sweetened up by the fruit.

Flight 5:

Now getting into the old sweet stuff, but not yet the mega sweet.

1971 Christoffel-Berres Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. 93 points. Here I thought the increased sweetness offset the oxidation of aging in a more harmonious way. Really quite nice and rounded.

1966 Christoffel-Berres Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. 89 points. This wine might be a little flawed, or just 49 years old!

Sweet potato agnolotti. Foie gras, applewood-smocked bacon. Wow! As if the agnolotti wasn’t amazing, through in bacon, and if that wasn’t enough, a huge chunk of foie!

Flight 6:

And our final flight is the mysterious and massive long Goldkapsel, with 100% shriveled raisiny fruit!

2004 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese long Goldkapsel Auction. 96 points. Like liquid candy. Fabulous power and depth.

1999 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Lange Goldkapsel Auction. 95 points. Most people liked the 2004 better, but I kind of loved the 1999 because it had a real long zingy finish.

Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese. Fruit bread. Local honeycomb. A nice might blue cheesy that offset the intense sweetness of the wines nicely.

Again Liz organizes a great dinner. The wines were first class. I hadn’t known exactly what to expect, but these were some of the best rieslings I’ve had — and I love riesling. Lots of variety and complexity and there is a consistent harmony to the Loosen wines. Lovely stuff. Plus, Ernst was highly informative and engaging, and I felt I learned quite a bit about the different processes and decisions employed at the winery — where they make a fairly bewildering array of wines from each vineyard (all with long German names, of course).

Walter really does his best work at these custom dinners. First of all, you get new dishes. Second, he really tunes them up to the wines at a superlative level. It isn’t easy to make an entire multi course meal that pairs with Riesling, but the Walter/Liz team rose to the occasion again!

As usual, Taylor did an amazing job with the wine service.

An overall fabulous afternoon.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Dr Loosen, République, Riesling, Sage Society, Wine

Homestyle Korean Double Dinner

May15

Restaurant: Seong Buk Dong

Location: 3303 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 738-8977

Date: May 7, 2015

Cuisine: Korean

Rating: Super flavors

My friend Liz Lee of Sage Society wanted to take a bunch of us out to her favorite homestyle Korean restaurant, but they don’t allow alcohol, so we decided to do a “double dinner” with a part 1 at Republique (including wine) and a part 2 at Seong Buk Dong.

We sat near the Republique bar, early in the evening.

I just had to show off their Normandy butter.

Tonight’s menu.

Liz, being Liz, whipped out a bottle of P2! (Dom Perignon’s high end cuvee). Check out the fancy box.

1998 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon P2. VM 95. Pale gold. Intense, mineral-tinged citrus and orchard fruit aromas, with a suave jasmine nuance adding complexity. Smoky and penetrating on the palate, offering vibrant orange, anise and toasted brioche flavors and a touch of poached pear. Shows outstanding clarity and power on the mineral-driven finish, which clings with remarkable tenacity and resonating florality. This late-release bottling was formerly called Oenotheque; P2 stands for Plenitude Two.

agavin: Fresh, bright, and delicious. Got better and better in the glass.

Oysters, 3 types.

Bread and normandy butter.

2000 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. VM 97. Very pale color. Extraordinary nose reminded me of a great riesling from schist soil: pineapple, wet stone, iodine, spring flowers, even a hint of petrol. Compellingly rich and ripe but extremely dry, with great breadth and depth of flavor. Coats the palate with liquid stone. Builds slowly and goes on and on; all minerals and white flowers today, not yet fruity at all. A wine of great precision and suavity, but with its richness and sweetness it comes across as less sharp than the Forest. I couldn’t get this wine out of my head on my drive to Paris the next day and on the flight home: is that long, or what?

agavin: fine, but not as good as the 2002

Tempura. Green beans, zucchini flowers, sweet onions, fresno chilies, basil aioli. Some great tempura, amplified by the pesto-like aioli. The zucchini and chilies were particularly good.

2002 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. VM 96+. Very ripe but unforthcoming aromas of wet stone, honey and oatmeal. Extremely primary on the palate, with bracing grapefruit and mineral flavors and superb vibrancy. This offers great sweetness and breadth without any impression of weight. Finishes with explosive citrus and mineral flavors and great finesse. Wonderfully refreshing wine that’s the perfect antidote to dry mouth. Like the young 2003, the finish of this wine seems to come in waves.

agavin: awesome depth and complexity.

Crispy Soft Shell Crab. Just pure fried crab — awesome!

From my cellar: 1995 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 92 points agavin. Fresh, young, still some reduction. Meursault richness, very nice.

Charcoal grilled Atlantic Calamari and razor clams. Very fresh.

Chips and Dip. Crispy pork rinds…

Ora king salmon crudo, cucumber, yogurt. Really good stuff. I particularly liked the dill.

1991 Domaine Groffier Bonnes Mares. agavin 90. No nose, but a nice palette.

Grass-fed beef tartare. tarragon aioli, pickled red onion, potato chips.

1996 Domaine Leroy Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots. VM 92-94. Excellent deep ruby-red color. Subdued but vibrant aromas of cassis, blackberry and violet. Superb sweetness and flavor intensity; penetrating flavor of spicy blackberry. Lovely acidity gives the wine juiciness and great cut. Very persistent and fine on the finish. Has fruit of steel. Great Nuits-Saint-Georges premier cru.

agavin: Really nice with a sexy nose and that classic Leroy style. Lots of depth.

Charcuterie. All sorts of amazing pates. Pickled vegetables. Spiced persimmons which were to die for, cured duck, and salami.

Duck Liver mousse — amazing and some other kind of potted meat.

Duck filled agnolotti in brown butter sauce. Amazing pasta. Rich too, no surprise.

The wine lineup.

We ubered over to K-Town to visit this slice of Korea.

Looks the part inside.

The menu.

Barley tea.

Banchan.

Delicious Kimchi.

Pickled spiced green.

Pickled spiced green.

Egg custard with greens.

Chewy sweet beans.

Marinated bean sprouts.

Seaweed.

White rice, necessary to sop up the spicy sauce.

Godeungeo Jorim. Braised Mackerel in a spicy soy sauce mixture with white radish and kimchi. Amazing sauce and very tender fish. I particularly loved the daikon radish.

Galbi Jjim. Braised Beef Short Ribs. trimmed of (some) fat, seasoned in a sweet soy sauce & braised until tender. So tender, this was some of the best “beef stew” I’ve ever had.

Jaeyuk Bokum / Kimchi Bokum. A stir fry of sour kimchi, fatty pork, & green onion. Amazing dish. The pork was full of flavor and the kimchi sauce was awesome and balanced. This is actually relatively similar to the twice cooked pork we had the previous night at Lucky Noodle King, but about 10x better.

Samgyre Tang. Ginseng Chicken Soup. Tender whole young chicken stuffed w/ ginseng, jujubes, sweet rice and whole garlic cloves & simmered until tender. Homestyle Korean chicken soup, which is much like any chicken soup. A bit mild for my taste, but certainly very tender.

Jogi Gui. Grilled yellow croaker. Classic grilled fish.

Haemul Pajeon. Seafood and green onion pancake. Tender young green onion steams folded into a flour batter with squid, clam meat, and oysters. Pan fried.

The all important pancake sauce.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Burgundy, Dom Pérignon (wine), Kimchee, Mackerel, pork, République, Sage Society, Seong Buk Dong, Wine

Babykiller Birthday

May06

Like many of us, my friend Matthew likes to celebrate his birthday with Burgundy. In this case, a free-for-all house party with lots of it. NOTE: this group doesn’t have real name, but I call them the Babykillers because they’re mostly younger than me, and because of a tendency to open great wines young (like 2010 DRC!). But hey, after who knows how long in the decanter those young DRCs were pretty awesome.

The birthday boy.

It should be noted that this dinner, like many Babykiller birthdays before it, has an unusual format. Food is casual, and all the when is just popped and self serve with small pours. There are 1.5-2 bottles per person, so there is no huge rush. Even the 1990 Dujac took 2 hours to be finished.

1988 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. 95 points. howed beautifully, but not as well as the last bottle. The wine is light golden honey coloured, with fine mousse and effervescence that’s still alive, although fading. Notes of toasted brioche, hazelnuts and dried fruit on the nose. On the palate the wine is smooth, rich and long, with good, muted fruit and great balance and decent effervescence. Drinking at its peak now.

1999 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 95. The 1999 Salon, tasted from magnum, is the first wine in which fresh, primary fruit flavors are replaced by more mature notes. Lemon oil, light honey and chamomile flesh out in a radiant, expressive Champagne loaded with class. Here it is the wine’s texture and breadth that impress above all else. The 1999 is a fabulous transition to the older wines in this tasting, as it is both youthful and complex.

From my cellar: 1995 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 93 points. Quite refined nose and palate with subtle nose of flowers, green fruit and brioche. Fresh and not even slightly premoxed.

1996 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. Burghound 91. Exquisite nose of hazelnut and ripe melon with flavors that are not particularly dense but very fine, tight and beautifully detailed with plenty of minerality and outstanding acid/fruit balance. Even though this is young vine fruit, it shows excellent intensity on the long finish.

1999 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Auxey-Duresses Les Clous. 94 points. This seems to be a mix between the roundness of a Meursault (buttery flavor, texture on the palate) and the minerality of a Puligny (fresh, citrusy scents, length on palate). This one is a knockout, that clearly rivals the grands crus, let it be Chevalier/Batard and the likes. But for a fraction of the price. A knock-out effort by Mme Bize!

2002 Bouchard Aîné et Fils Montrachet. 95 points. A real stunner. We decanted and it had a knockout power.

2004 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Montrachet Le Montrachet. 93 points. The aromas are softer and lighter than the ’05, with some slight green notes. Soft palate entry, with a creamy, chunky texture, without quite the complexity of the ’05. Still very rich, offering nice lemon notes coupled with some good minerality. Nice blossoming finish, which really opens up beautifully, and surprisingly considering the palate. Lovely puckering notes linger, but they are particularly graceful. Nice tartness. Really wonderful on the finish.

Lucky to be having more Amiot Monty!

Various cheeses. I always forget how great a pairing cheese and White Burgundy is.

Antipasta.

Caprese.

Panna.

Arugula salad.

2001 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle. Burghound 92. Riper red fruit nose and with excellent finesse and purity of expression as the intense, understated, precise and detailed flavors display outstanding length. I very much like this as it’s harmonious, subtle and dazzlingly pretty.

2010 Finca Allende Rioja Martires. 91 points. Holy oak, vanilla, alcohol batman. Served blind. Thought it was high octane california chardonnay. Yowsers. No me gusta.

From my cellar: 1997 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. 94 points. Drinking great. Very RSV, round and expressive. Hedonistic.

1997 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. VM 93. Deep red-ruby. Precise, floral aromas of red fruits, flowers and minerals; less superripe and perhaps more vineyard-specific than the Boudots. High-pitched, fine and light on its feet. Really impressively delineated and lively. Fruity but with firm underlying backbone. Firmly tannic, pure aftertaste.

1990 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux. Burghound 91. A beautiful and fully mature nose of dark berry fruit, spice and earth with just the initial hints of sous bois leads to round, rich, powerful and still moderately structured medium full flavors underpinned by still firm but softening tannins and excellent length. This is still quite well balanced and displays none of the “fruit/tannin” separation that so many ’90s do today and as such, the ’90 Ech should drink well over the next 20+ years.

agavin 96: a knock out and clear WOTN.

1986 Michel Bonnefond Ruchottes-Chambertin. 88 points. Short.

2006 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant. VM 95. The 2006 Romanée-St. Vivant is backed up by firm veins of mouthwatering salinity and acidity. The characteristic Romanée-St. Vivant perfumed bouquet is very much in evidence, while there is a sense of energy and pure drive that distinguishes it from the Échézeaux. The RSV can be drunk today, but knowing how these wines age, patience will be rewarded as 2006 still isn’t showing all of its cards.

2010 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux. Burghound 94. Exuberant and ripe spicy purple fruit also exhibits distinct floral and warm earth nuances that go on to suffuse the rich and finely detailed medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent underlying tension before terminating in a focused, intense and gorgeously long finish. This is pure silk and lace but the really impressive aspect of this wine is just how much depth it has. A sublime knockout, particularly by the usual standards of this wine.

2006 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 94. Despite being harvested first, this is clearly the ripest wine in the range where the wonderfully dense fruit is highlighted by a background touch of wood that continues onto the refined, pure and concentrated flavors that are supported by dense but fine tannins and flat out terrific length. This is a lovely wine in every respect and while not exactly understated, everything does seem to be in perfect proportion.

agavin: tighter than a witches tit!

Spaghetti with seafood.

Spaghetti al carbonara.

Baked ziti. I haven’t seen that in a while!

My plate.

195x R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia. Can’t read the year, but it was good. Very dirty, in that good Rioja way.

1960 Fonseca Porto Vintage. 91 points.

Beard Papa cream puffs, both chocolate and vanilla.

Cookies.

More cookies.

The damage.

Overall another night of great fun and fabulous wines.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Babykillers, Burgundy, Chardonnay, Italian cuisine, Matthew G, Pinot noir, Wine

Papilles – Guy Amiot

Apr29

Restaurant: Papilles

Location: 6221 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 871-2026

Date: April 15, 2015

Cuisine: French

Rating: Great French Fun

My friend Walker, who is the Director of the LA Wine Department at Bonhams Auction House organized this fabulous look into the terrior of Domain Amiot Guy & Fils, a boutique Chassagne-Montrachet producer. After we all went to a nearby French restaurant (Papilles) for even more Burgundy!

The auction room at Bonhams filled with art — but in our case with tasting tables.

Walker (white shirt on the right) introduces Fabrice Amiot, scion of the Amiot wine family.

Flight 0:

We began with this nice Aligote:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Bourgogne-Aligoté. Burghound 86. A fresh, spicy and very cool nose offers up lovely aromas of pear and apple. There is good verve and the same appealing freshness to the delicious and lightly mineral-inflected flavors that terminate in a clean, dry and slightly saline finish.

agavin: I’d give it more an 89. Very crisp and nice.

Flight 1:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles. Burghound 87-90. Reduction. Here too the middle weight flavors possess an attractive texture as there is plenty of palate coating dry extract present that imparts a sappy and seductive mouth feel on the lingering finish that displays a bit more depth.

2011 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain. Burghound 89-92. This is aromatically similar to the Macherelles with the addition of an appealing floral element. There is good volume to the fleshy and opulent middle weight flavors that possess plenty of mouth coating dry extract, all wrapped in an intense, linear, focused and impressively long finish that is quite dry without being particularly austere. Worth considering.

2010 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain. Burghound 91. By contrast here the wood treatment is much less visible which allows the grapefruit, pear and rose petal scents to shine. The textured, cool and pure middle weight flavors possess a sophisticated and refined mouth feel before terminating in an intense, dry and impressively persistent finish. Good stuff.

Flight 2:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers. Burghound 89-91. Here the expressive nose mixes notes of resin, white flowers, peach and apricot. There is excellent volume to the very concentrated and intense middle weight plus flavors that ooze a very fine dry extract that coats the palate and does a fine job of buffering the moderately firm acid spine on the delicious and impressively persistent finish. This isn’t elegant but I like the character and balance.

2010 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers. Burghound 92. While not invisible the oak regimen here is much less prominent and allows the complex and pungent nose of petrol, citrus zest and acacia blossom aromas to have center stage. The old vines are definitely in evidence as there is a remarkable amount of palate staining dry extract that imparts a distinctly textured mouth feel to the impressively deep and persistent finish. This is worth considering.

Flight 3:

2011 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Demoiselles. Burghound 91-93. An overtly floral nose of pungent citrus, honeysuckle, pear, spice and wet stone introduces refined, pure and gorgeously intense flavors that possess fine precision and a lovely sense of vibrancy. There is a restrained mouth feel to the impeccably well-balanced and highly complex finish and this should amply reward medium-term cellaring.

2011 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Montrachet. Burghound 93-95. A discreet but not invisible application of wood frames a ripe and quite phenolic nose of both yellow and white orchard fruit where added breadth is present in an array of spice and floral elements. There is superb size, weight, punch and intensity to the big-bodied, suave and overtly powerful flavors that possess really strong underlying material, all wrapped in a superbly long finish. This is an excellent Montrachet and one of the better vintages for this wine in some time.

Flight 4:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Bourgogne. Nice and bright and young.

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 86-89. Reduction flattens the nose but there is good freshness and energy to the suave and attractively textured medium-bodied flavors that possess solid length but only average complexity, at least at present. Still this will need a few years to arrive at its peak so more depth may very well develop.

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean. 91 points. Quite light in appearance. Cherry / Chocolate (Cherry Ripe??) on the nose with some exotic spice – fennel & lemongrass. Very bold and brooding up front with rich mouth feel. Tight on the backend – stacked with dark fruit and plums with some tar on the finish. Really enjoyed this now but assume improvement.

After all that goodness we moved on to Papilles:

Small place with an open kitchen tucked away in the corner of a Thai town mini-mall!

Le menu.

French Bread.

1989 Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay.

Asparagus Salad. Cooked and raw, 63 degree duck egg. Tres francais.

2002 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet. Burghound 86. A deft hint of toast complements moderately spicy, very fresh pear and apple suffused aromas that lead to complex, precise, linear and pure if not especially dense flavors that finish on the lean side.

Chilled Asparagus Veloute. One of those nice gazpacho like soups.

From my cellar: 1999 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 89-91. Big, powerful and rich aromatics of honey, oak spice and limestone merging into intense, medium weight flavors and a penetrating, relatively fine finish. While not especially big or complex by the standards of classic Bâtard, it is quite intense with beautifully textured, luxuriant, almost opulent flavors.

agavin: nice!

Smoked Ora King Salmon. Sungold, egg yolk, pickles, rye.

2006 Camille Giroud Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 92. Here the nose is distinctly more elegant and a bit cooler, revealing notes of ripe green fruit and wet stone that continue onto the rich, full and powerful flavors that possess plenty of size and weight and culminate in a tangy, intense and mouth coating finish that is explosive and persistent. This is a big but balanced and harmonious effort that should age well over the medium-term.

Foie-Gras. Crostinni, strawberry gel. One of those lovely terrine type classic preps for foie. yum!

1990 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Olivet Lane Vineyard. 94 points.

1995 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 90. Classic sexy nose that is both spicy and still relatively primary with solid, middle weight flavors and a lightly structured finish. This is beginning to become approachable now and while it’s pretty, it could perhaps use a bit more density. Still, an impressive, opulent effort.

agavin: kicking ass and taking names right now.

2005 Domaine de la Vougeraie Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Bel-Air. Burghound 89-92. A more elegant and high-toned nose of red and black fruit plus lovely floral notes, especially violet, leads to rich, forward and generous flavors that possess a beguiling texture on the long finish that evidences a hint of mocha. This is quite ripe yet fresh and there is so much sap that one could approach this now though it clearly has the material to improve for 6 to 8 years.

2008 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard. VM 94. Bright red. Highly perfumed, seductive bouquet of black raspberry, cherry-cola, incense and dried rose, with a slow-mounting mineral element. Lively but strikingly concentrated as well, offering incisive red fruit and floral pastille flavors underscored by intense spice and mineral qualities. Really stains the palate and finishes with superb clarity and juicy, spicy raspberry and cherry notes. Etzel told me that a tiny bit of stems were used in this year’s wine.

2007 Domaine Y. Clerget Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Verseuil.

1985 Domaine Ponsot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes. Burghound 90. This may have been ever so slightly corked and opinion was divided on this aspect. However, the richness of the flavors and sheer complexity of the finish plus the outstanding performance of all the Ponsot wines in ’85 suggest that the benefit of the doubt is in order, if not for this particular bottle then certainly for the wine itself. Tasted only once.

agavin: I think our bottle was corked too.

1989 Domaine Joseph Roty Gevrey-Chambertin.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

agavin: great again!

1993 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens. Burghound 90. I had acquired a case of this in the late ’90s and have never had a great deal of luck with it because while there was reasonably good precision and pruity to the middle weight flavors, the finish was mildly dry and not at all what I typically find with this wine. Then I was able to try a bottle at the domaine that showed appreciably better and without the dryness that my bottles displayed. While this is not a great vintage for what is often an amazing Rugiens, it does underscore that there can be significant differences. In sum, a very good but not truly excellent wine that is just now beginning to come into its own. As noted, inconsistent experiences.

1976 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Aloxe-Corton. Clean and bright, medium, medium-plus colour – a mahogany rim but clearly still a ruby-red core. From opening this was just a little monolithic on the nose; faint baked fruit and a savoury undercurrent. If you wait – over 1 hour – the nose tightens to a very nice and tight powdery red fruit impression The palate is surprisingly plush and intense – it’s hard to keep hold of the wine, as your mouth starts watering in response to the acidity. I’m very impressed by the balance here. Slowly some sweetness builds to counterbalance an edge of tartness in the finish. The tannins are still there and quite chewy. This is a surprisingly robust and healthy wine – just like the label says, this is a village wine so no real fireworks or mind-bending length.

Alaskan Halibut. Peas, carrot, fava, radish, tendrils.

2003 Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 92-94. The powerful 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape comes closest in character to the 1990 (which is still drinking beautifully). Its dark ruby/plum/purple color is followed by sweet aromas of resiny pine forest interwoven with creme de cassis, black cherries, melted licorice, and smoky herbs. In the mouth, gamy, meaty flavors emerge along with black currants, cherries, and a hint of the sushi wrapper called nori. Full, rich, and moderately tannic, this 2003 requires another 1-3 years of bottle age, and should keep for 12-15 years.

Sonoma lamb. Weiser potato, zucchini, confit tomato. Nice healthy chunk of lamb.

1999 Dominus Napanook Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 87. The soft, supple, easygoing 1999 Napanook (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot) exhibits cherry, earth, leather, and foresty aromas, sweet fruit, and a forward personality. It is best consumed over the next decade.

2012 Morlet Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Coteaux Nobles. Parker 93. Luc Morlet produces between 450 and 650 cases of three cuvées of Pinot Noir, all of which come from the second ridge from the Pacific Ocean in the Sonoma Coast AVA. The vineyard elevations range between 1,000 and 1,250 feet. All of them come from suitcase field selections of Pinot Noir, largely sourced from the most famous domaine in Vosne-Romanée. About one-third of the aging process is in the larger 500-liter wood pungeons, and the rest in smaller barrels. The wines are also bottled without fining or filtration. The 2012 Pinot Noir Coteaux Nobles displays meaty, spicy, clove, nutmeg and earthy notes intertwined with ripe plum and black cherry fruit, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and lots of spice. Drink now-2025+.

Flat Iron Steak. Morel, asparagus tips, ramps, carrot.

Cheese plate. Fig, almonds, honey.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crisp. Delicious.

Overall, a super fun night!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bonhams, Burgundy, Dessert, Domain Amiot Guy & Fils, Guy Amiot, Papilles, Wine

From Russia with Love

Apr24

Tonight David, our Hedonist brother (and Yarom’s actual brother) is hosting a home-cooked Russian feast prepared by fellow Hedonist Ilana.

On the right is ChefIlana, and on the left our co-host Kimberly.

Here Ilana and David’s daughter slave away in the kitchen.

Handmade dumplings!

And frying, always a staple.

1996 Henriot Champagne Cuvée des Enchanteleurs Brut. JG 95. Blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, all from grand cru vineyards; L0909920608) Vivid yellow-gold. Kaleidoscopic aromas of citrus fruits, poached pear, mango, lees and licorice, with slow-building florality. Supple, palate-coating orchard and exotic fruit flavors are complicated by notes of herbs and buttered toast, with a smoky quality in the background. Seems younger than it did last year, showing excellent finishing clarity and persistent smoke and spice character. This really won’t let go of the palate, which is fine by me. I’d still hold this.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

The appetizer spread being assembled.

From my cellar: 1990 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. 90 points. Surprisingly young and fresh. Took a few minutes to open up, but very good when it did.

2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros. Burghound 92-95. Here too there is a very subtle influence of wood that frames ripe yet elegant and impressively pure aromas of citrus, spice hints, tidal pool and oyster shell notes, all of which are picked up by the highly complex and deep big-bodied flavors that are incredibly intense and quite unusually for Bougros, possess ‘hot knife through butter’ cut and delineation. An atypically elegant effort for the appellation.

Sardine toast. Marinated fish, pumpernickel toasts, marinated radish and parsley. These had a delightful vinegary tang to them and the various textures harmonized. Crunchy radish, smooth fish, etc.

2001 Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère. Burghound 92. This cuts like a knife with an incredibly pure, positively crystalline minerality that defines and characterizes this wine from the nose to the powerfully long finish. Elegant, fine and understated fruit framed by the barest hint of wood spice leads to wonderfully detailed, medium weight, extremely rich flavors plus a finish that goes on and on. This is an extremely impressive effort.

2009 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard. VM 93. The 2009 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard is the most vibrant, mineral-laced of these 2009 Chardonnays. Clean, mineral notes frame the fruit all the way through to the vibrant, pointed finish. This is a terrific effort from Rhys. Bright citrus and crushed rocks frame the finish. The 2007, which I tasted alongside it, has aged gracefully.

agavin: not a bad Cal Chard at all. Burgundian, and with some real acid.

Salmon roe and crepes. Uh, yum.

2012 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carrière. VM 93. Hazy yellow. Powerful, seductively perfumed aromas of Meyer lemon, orange pith and pear, with an undercurrent of smoky minerals and iodine. Chewy, penetrating pear skin and bitter citrus zest flavors gain flesh with air while maintaining impressive energy and focus, with a hint of ginger emerging on the back half. Finishes pure and focused, with repeating notes of iodine and smoke.

agavin: flabby, not enough acid or backbone.

Blini with creme fraiche and Russian caviar. A classic, and for a reason.

Pickles. Oh so Russian.

Tomatoes.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

agavin: our bottles was killing it (very good).

Beef rolls in mushroom sauce. These delightful rolls feature soft beef inside and a heavy mushroom cream sauce. They were delicious.

1974 Ridge Lytton Springs. 90 points. Great bottle. The nose is beguiling, showing fruitcake, sweet raspberries, spice and aged tobacco. Complex, integrated and simply riveting on the palate. The raspberry fruit is sweet and abundant and supported by nice acid levels. Similar flavors as aromas with the addition of some cedar. It’s nicely integrated, long and in no danger of falling apart anytime soon. The alcohol weighs in at 13.3%. I wish a lot more Zin were made like that. A real treat to try. Solid A-.

agavin: Tired, but not bad for a 41 year old Zin.

Borscht. What would a Russian feast be without Borscht? This was an awesome one with a heavy beef stock, tender chunks of meat, rich beat, onion, flavor and a healthy blob of sour creme. I couldn’t help but notice some resemblance to the Afghan Aush soup.

Pirogies. Bun like fellows stuffed with egg and seasonings. At this point, as we EACH worked our way through one of those giant soup bowls and a couple of these buns we were beginning to feel a tad full!

Potato pancakes. It’s just feeling more and more like a Jewish holiday.

1982 Château Gloria. VM 87. Dark red. Plum, mocha, meat and leather; grew distinctly gamier and more rustic as it opened in the glass. Sweet, fat and broad, with lovely texture and palate presence. Finishes with fine tannins and persistent sweet fruit.

agavin: in good shape.

Dumplings stuffed with potato and covered in butter.

Beef Stroganoff but using the dumplings as the noodles. Awesome! Best Beef Stroganoff I’ve ever had.

Cole slaw.

2006 Saxum Syrah James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock. Parker 96-100. No wimpy wine, the 2006 Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard (76% Syrah, 18% Mourvedre, and 6% Grenache) has over 16% alcohol. It possesses phenomenal texture, stunning purity, and remarkable freshness, which, again, is attributable to the limestone soils as well as the proprietor’s brilliant hands-off winemaking philosophy. A complex perfume of roasted meats, black fruits, spring flowers, charcoal, and spice is followed by a wine of enormous richness (yet it is neither overweight nor heavy). Beautiful freshness permeates the wine’s black fruit flavors and full-bodied power and length. The finish lasts for nearly a minute. This 2006 should evolve for 12-15+ years.

agavin: over 17% alcohol probably, and as extracted as Welshes Grape Juice!

Russian pastry. Sweet heavy pastry with raisons and cherries.

Dairy free cookies.

Some of the ladies had enough wine and vodka and started dancing.

The audience.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beef Stroganoff, hedonists, Russian Cuisine, Wine

Sauvage Republique

Apr22

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: April 10, 2015

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

Back to Republique again? I was just there last night!! Well, it seems in 2014 half the serious wine events are here. Possibly it’s because Sommelier Taylor Parsons is so good. In any case, today is Sauvages annual “Grand Cru Lunch.” How could I resist more great Burgundy?

The building is an interesting fusion of pre-war factory…

The main interior is nearly church-like. It’s been all opened up and looks great, but it’s big, tall, and covered in hard surfaces. That means loud!

Our lunch is in the back half, where is just ever so much less loud. We have this big table in the middle of an even bigger room.

A close up of our table and below our menu:

Flight 0: Whites

2004 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay Melville Vineyard. 90 points. This wine is very traditional for this winery. Not huge nose, but fragrance of lite melons and honeysuckle. Straw hue. Cold, it is closed, but as it warms, it starts to open with notes of melon, cream and sweet pineapple– but not acidic. It also has some effervescence, and a clean, Stoney finish. Some vanilla and hay and a little stone fruit.

2010 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 94. A reserved yet classic Chablis nose that is ultra-fresh, pure and elegant with the hallmark floral and stone notes of a fine Montée de Tonnerre complement well the rich, dense and impressively well-detailed flavors that culminate in a mineral-inflected and driving finish. A wine of harmony and balance that should age well plus it offers so much Chablis character that this would be almost impossible to miss blind. In sum, one to buy.

agavin: I have 6 bottles of this stuff in my cellar.

2008 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 96. Here too the elegance of the nose is simply stunning with a layered and perfumed aromatic profile trimmed in an almost invisible touch of oak that allows it to ooze Chablis character and in particular, a fine minerality that continues onto the impressively concentrated and palate staining flavors that possess striking precision on the explosively long and bone dry finish. This is a great Les Clos that will make old bones.

The famous bread.

Flight 1:

It should be noted that Sauvage lunches always have the lunch itself arranged into (usually 4) flights of food with wine flights matched by the organizer (in this case, Kirk). They are not blind.

1971 Louis Latour Romanée St. Vivant Les Quatre Journaux. agavin 93. Surprisingly fresh. Lots of fruit. Very mature, but a nice singing finish.

1974 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant. agavin 87. Brown and tired. Tea like. Got a bit better with a few minutes and was enjoyable.

From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. agavin 92. Round, mature, and delicious. A very nice well balanced Ech with considerable fruit and power.

1995 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes. Tanzer 96. Similar deep ruby-red. Pure perfume on the nose: cassis, kirsch, violet, licorice, tobacco, game. Like a rare liqueur whose formula is locked up in the heads of two monks. Great volume and sweetness in the mouth; fruit saturates the entire palate and anything else it can reach. Really extraordinarily concentrated. These grapes were picked with near-14% potential alcohol; the yield, according to Roty, was about 28 hectoliters per hectare, not particularly low for these ancient vines planted in 1881. Fabulous brooding fruit on the finish, along with suave, superripe tannins. Another dimension of concentration and texture.

Rhode Island Black Bass. A perfectly nice bit of fish “juiced” up by the bacon based sauce.

Flight 2:

2001 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin. Burghound 92. A moderately pitched nose that exhibits only traces of secondary nuances also features notes of cool red berry fruit, earth and a hint of the classic Mazis sauvage character that continues onto the delicious, well-detailed and intense middle weight flavors that exude a fine minerality on the mildly austere but not dry finish. There is a bit of unabsorbed wood that is present on the finish though it’s not enough to really detract from the overall sense of harmony. While this could easily be enjoyed now, for my taste there is just enough unresolved structure to warrant allowing this to continue to age for another 5 or so years.

2002 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir West Block. Burghound 90. An expressive nose of violets and ripe black cherry introduces complex, elegant and sweet medium full flavors that coat the palate with ample dry extract, culminating in a sappy, persistent and generous finish underpinned by firm and ripe tannins. This is clearly a ripe effort yet the finish displays only the barest trace of warmth. Lovely stuff and recommended.

agavin: one of the better New World pinots I’ve had, very Burgundian.

2002 Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. Burghound 92-94. Dramatically earthy, spicy and sappy black pinot fruit beautifully frame the dense, intense, superbly complex flavors that are supported by ripe, solid, firm tannins and incredible length. As good as several of the preceding wines are, there is a class and presence here that only the Musigny possesses and this is extremely impressive and built for the long haul.

2004 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot. Burghound 90-2. This too displays more than a trace of wood with very floral and unusually high-toned red pinot fruit aromas nuanced by hints of iron, underbrush and earth that lead to sweet, round and again unusually supple and forward flavors that are textured, punchy and vibrant and finish with excellent length and precision. While there is a touch of the youthful finishing austerity that a typical Clos de Vougeot often displays, this is more forward and expressive than normal.

agavin: green on the nose, green on the palette. Disgusting really, I couldn’t handle it.

Stinging Nettle Cavatelli. Same pasta as last night, but with an oxtail ragu, cheese, and a bit of bone marrow. This pasta was a “10.” A really rich tasty concoction of goodness.

Flight 3:

1996 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot. Tanzer 92+. Deep, bright red-ruby. Complex, wild aromas of raw crushed blueberry, violet, raw meat and iron. Intense, primal flavors of crunchy berries and powdered stone. Integrated acidity gives the fruit an urgent quality. Quite powerfully structured for aging. Very long and bright on the back end, with tannins nicely supported by extract.

1996 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Echezeaux du Dessus. Tanzer 93+. Deep, bright ruby-red. Explosive nose combines dark berries, kirsch, violet, spice and smoked meat. Sweet, sappy and large-scaled, but with great delineation of flavor for a wine of this size. Like a solid today, and quite backward. Finishes with substantial but silky tannins and a whiplash of fruit. Along with the example from Emmanuel Rouget, this is as impressive an Echezeaux as I’ve tasted from 1996.

2001 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart. Burghound 95. I have been in love with this wine since I first encountered it in barrel and it seems only to have gotten better and better. An elegant, pure and refined nose of earth, coffee, spice and intensely perfumed black cherries combine with focused, tautly muscular, remarkably complex and precise full-bodied, sweet and palate staining flavors that seem to go on and on. But the quality that impresses me the most is the dazzling combination of finesse and power, all wrapped in a finish of near perfect harmony and balance. This should be capable of aging well for at least two decades. A great wine that is not as dense or monumental as the ’05 but this is finer. Multiple, and consistent, notes.

2000 Dominique Laurent Bonnes Mares. Tanzer 92-5. Ruby-red. Confectionery aromas of tiny wild fruits, minerals and smoke; the Chambolle character dominates today, whereas last year the ’99 Bonnes-Mares was more Morey. Sappy, sweet and quite refined; an extremely pure wine that already exudes compelling inner-mouth perfume. Finishes with firm tannins and superb fruit intensity and persistence. Tasted from only 100% new oak, as this wine had not yet been racked into a second new barrel. A wine of extravagant sweetness, and the best in the cave on this day.

Sonoma Duck Leg Confit. A rather perfect and meaty duck leg with a great sauce, over a bit of nice oatmeal with some blueberries. A stunning wine pairing too.

Flight 4:

1990 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes. Burghound 91. The classic truffle-infused Ruchottes nose is missing though the usual game, subtle earth and spice notes are present with remarkably rich, full, broad-scaled flavors that offer lovely balance and fine length. Many ’90s are overly ripe and over the top but this remains balanced and really quite pure and understated if not particularly dense. In sum, this is an attractive and satisfying effort that is just now coming into its own.

1990 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 89. As long time readers know, I have never thought very highly of this wine and I have had on the order of 3 cases of it without ever finding one that I thought was very good, let alone great. This would include a bottle that was air expressed directly from the domaine so my objections have nothing to do with storage, provenance or shipping. However, the bottle in this tasting displayed the best fruit/acid/tannin balance of any ’90 VV that I’ve yet had and while I would stop well short of according it the accolades that it once received in abundance, it didn’t not display the green finishing tannins and overtly advanced aromas that its predecessors have. In short, a wine of moderate promise and while by no means great, at least acceptable in the context of the extremely high standards of this wine and this vintage.

1995 Domaine Philippe Charlopin-Parizot Clos St. Denis. No reviews. Woah!

1995 Dominique Laurent Romanée St. Vivant. 90 points. Typical pinot noir aroma but sense of inbalance. Hint of barnyard but does blow away. Sour oak juice! Mouth puckering dryness from the acid. Does not resemble my previous RSV experience which was warm. Light bodied and smooth tannins. Spicy with bitter pears, chempaka and granny smith apples. Medium finish.

Cheese.

Finish:

2001 Marc Colin et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. agavin 90. A nice Corton Charlie drinking in a good spot.

Expresso. Needed after a wine lunch.

My notes on the wines.

Chef Walter Manzke pays us a visit.

Wine director / Somm Taylor Parsons handled this event himself and did a superlative job.

Enough wine for a Friday afternoon?

This was probably the best Suavages lunch I’ve attended, and that’s saying a lot as these are very fun events.

While the food wasn’t as extensive as the previous night, our three non-cheese courses were still fabulous. The pasta and duck in particular were killer. I generally like the private room, but this big downstairs space was cavernous and comfortable — although at night it would be too loud. Each course was brought by an army of 6-7 waiters and dropped elegantly in front of us.

As usual Taylor did an amazing job with the wine service. My only regret is that we had just four glasses each and so had to dump the previous flights.

An overall fabulous afternoon.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Kirk juggled the credit cards

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Pinot noir, République, Sauvages, Taylor Parsons, Walter Manzke, Wine

Republique of Vosne

Apr17

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: April 9, 2015

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

Back to Republique again? Well, it seems in 2014 half the serious wine events are here. Possibly it’s because Sommelier Taylor Parsons is so good. In any case, tonight’s special dinner is an exploration of my favorite wine sub region,Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echézeaux. This dinner was organized by Dan Perrelli of the Wine Hotel.

The building is an interesting fusion of pre-war factory…

The main interior is nearly church-like. It’s been all opened up and looks great, but it’s big, tall, and covered in hard surfaces. That means loud!

Tonight our dinner was in the private room upstairs, but our champagne and appetizers began on a little table in the upstairs hall.

Flight 0: Champagne

1996 Alfred Gratien Champagne Brut Millésimé. AG 94. The 1996 Brut Millesime shows why this vintage is so highly regarded. Everything is in the right place. Rich, voluptuous, yet also structured, the 1996 impresses for its superb overall balance. There is lovely complexity in the glass, but none of the aggression found in some wines. A soft, gracious finish laced with a totally refined mousse rounds things out in style. The 1996 is 65% Chardonnay, 18% Pinot Noir and 17% Pinot Meunier.

agavin: nice oxidized notes.

NV Doyard Champagne Cuvée Vendémiaire Brut.

Here is our host Dan, who combines an eerie resemblance to George R. R. Martin with a deep voice and an equally deep wine knowledge.

Fresh oysters.

Tonight’s menu.

Flight 1: Replacing Expectations with Experience

2012 Forey Père et Fils Vosne-Romanée. Burghound 89. A very spicy nose is comprised of mostly black pinot fruit that is also cut with plenty of earth, plum and floral notes. Once again there is a completely different texture to the velvety, pure and relatively refined medium weight flavors that possess good mid-palate concentration, all wrapped in a slightly austere and beautifully persistent finish. This is also recommended as it’s a fine Vosne villages that should repay 7 to 9 years of cellar time.

agavin: very young, almost with a bit of cherry lifesaver

2011 Jérôme Chezeaux Vosne-Romanée. AG 87. The 2011 Vosne-Romanée comes across as a bit wild and rough around the edges, with less density and fruit than is typically the case. Today, the 2011 is dark and brooding. Hints of smoke, earthiness and tobacco add nuance to the dark fruit, while firm tannins support the finish.

agavin: had a vegetal green character that I really didn’t like. I even thought it might be corked.

2010 Cecile Tremblay Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 91. An exuberantly spicy nose of both red and black cherry liqueur aromas leads to suave and silky medium-bodied flavors that are blessed with plenty of sappy dry extract that coats the mouth. Once again there is a lovely mouth feel due to the extremely fine-grained tannins and while this is not the most complex of these villages level wines, the sense of harmony and outstanding length make up for it. This is also worth looking at carefully.

agavin: Fabulous. Tasted like a nice 1re cru. Very vosne.

Turbot with chanterelle mushrooms. Supposedly line caught in the English channel. A very lovely bone in fish.

Flight 2: Vintage Characteristics and Terroir

2010 J. Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 91-4. Again, reduction is present but not enough to totally diminish the appeal of the spice notes that continue onto the rich, intense and remarkably vibrant flavors that also possess excellent volume along with an abundance of dry extract that confers a velvety texture to the linear and austere finish. It is a very good thing that there is so much sap because this is especially firmly structured and will need every bit of 15 years or so to fully resolved the underlying tannins.

2009 J. Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 91-3. A highly spiced and very Vosne nose offers up cassis and black raspberry aromas that precede the very seductive, concentrated and mouth coating flavors that are suave, indeed even silky yet culminate in a firm, powerful and balanced finish.

2008 J. Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 92. A notably ripe and ultra fresh nose of spiced black cherry and cocoa powder nuances combine with more typical hints of soy and anise that also are reflected by the rich, full-bodied and relatively supple flavors that are blessed by concentrated mid-palate but the long, palate staining and youthfully austere finish tightens up immediately to become very firm. Patience will be required.

Pig’s Head, frisee, lardons, duck egg, and lentils. A sort of breakfast-style dish, and rich rich all around. The pork (wherever it came from on the animal) was rich and delicious. Particularly smothered in egg yolk and laced with lardons.

Fresh baked bread and normandy butter. I had to skip, passover and all.

Flight 3: Style in Middle Age

2000 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux (from magnum). Burghound 92. Ripe, rich and spicy with crushed black fruit flavors that display good power, impressive length and simply outstanding precision and focus. This has an element of the floral quality of the Beaux Monts but there purity of expression here is stunning and this displays wonderful density for the vintage. Complex, subtle and very classy.

agavin: great for about 20 minutes, really great, then started to close down a bit.

1998 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Echezeaux. Burghound 89. A mildly toasty note detracts slightly from the otherwise expressive, fresh and mature nose of spice and some secondary fruit aromas. There is good verve and detail to the middle weight flavors that offer reasonably good depth and length on the ever-so-slightly astringent finish. I would advise drinking this over the next 5 to 10 years as it risks drying out if cellared too long. Tasted only once recently.

1998 Forey Père et Fils Echezeaux. AG 89+. Medium-deep red. Expressive aromas of plum, cherry, coffee, spices and mint. Supple and sweet but firmly built; already displays enticing inner-mouth aromas. Less forbidding and more elegantly styled than most of these ’98s but still rather unforthcoming and tannic on the end. Is it long enough for outstanding?

Cavatelli, four story hill farm avian poularde. The chicken here is some kind of special milk fed chicken. Awesome dish.

Flight 4: Cru Classification & Vintage are no Guarantee of Longevity and Age is no Guarantee of Enjoyment

2007 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. AG 92. Captivating, fruit-driven aromas of cherry, raspberry, minerals and cocoa powder lifted by rose petal. At once sweet, pure and penetrating, with excellent vinosity and energy. Quite refined and suave on the back end, where the late-arriving tannins give the sappy fruit a chance to expand and linger. As sexy as this is now, I’d give it three or four years in the cellar as it’s still a bit hardened by CO2.

agavin: young but good.

1996 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée. Burghound 88. Bright and spicy, somewhat earthy fruit aromas introduce racy and moderately structured flavors that have enough richness and sweetness to buffer the tannins. With food, this is easily approachable today but it will continue to positively evolve for another 3 to perhaps 5 years. A lovely effort at this level. Consistent notes.

agavin: good, but the 96 Suchots was better

1996 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. AG 92+. Fresh, deep red-ruby color. Sappy, higher-pitched, very complex aromas of cassis, raspberry, minerals and game. Terrific concentration and freshness, but slow to open in the glass. Thick but lively; a floral note contributes to the wine’s impression of brightness. Finishes very long and subtle, with a burst of dark berries. Premier cru with the palate presence and nobility of a grand cru.

1973 Joseph Drouhin Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. agavin 92. Popped and poured. Surprisingly fresh and delicious, although certainly an old Burg.

Risotto, Oregon morel mushrooms. A classic rich and buttery risotto and a fabulous pairing.

Flight 5: Five Decades of Similar Geology, Three Classifications

2012 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulees Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 91-3. A strikingly complex nose features notes of Vosne spice, black cherry, plum and sandalwood. There is first-rate intensity and verve to the beautifully well-detailed medium weight flavors that display plenty of minerality and dry extract on the firm and austere finish that delivers marvelous length. This is also an exercise in harmony allied with finesse.

1991 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulees Vieilles Vignes. Much more mature.

1964 Charles Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. Burghound 91. Heavy bricking to the core. Upper register aromas of ripe secondary aromas cut with really lovely oriental spice nuances and hints of sous bois, earth, leather and truffle that introduce fully mature, velvety and utterly delicious older burg flavors and a finish of sneaky persistence. As pretty as this is, there is real grace and style underneath the spice veneer and while it must be noted that the flavors are now in gentle decline, I very much like the overall package. That said, it’s time to drink up. Another recent bottle with ullage of ~ 5 cm was almost as good but was exhibiting a somewhat curious nose of celery and peat-infused aromas. Otherwise, the flavors were consistent with the first bottle.

agavin: our bottle was sadly pretty gone, very brown, like tea. Not much fruit.

Beef, sauce bercy. The sauce is made from bone marrow, and there were little bits of bone marrow on top. This was a super rich, soft, beefy slab.

Flight 6: Another Geology, Another Wine Entirely

1995 Domaine Jean Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas. Burghound 88. Tasted blind and immediately identified as a lower level Vosne 1er because the nose is wonderfully spicy and if not particularly elegant, then certainly expressive and pretty. The flavors are nicely complex and offer good authority and a certain beguiling velvety texture, which helps to smooth out the otherwise rough tannins. This could be drunk now or held for a few more years.

1971 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche. Burghound 95. Classic and very ripe mature burg fruit intermingles with a wonderful array of spices, especially anise and soy all of which are framed by a touch of caramel. The flavors are extremely rich, sweet and wonderfully concentrated with a deep, very sweet essence of pinot finish that still retains glimpses of its former power. The tannins are fully resolved and the finish is nothing but pure silk and velvet. Tasted many times and while there is some bottle variation, well-stored bottles are consistently marvelous.

agavin: long long finish and a lot of fruit (considering the 44 years!)

Consomme, four story hill farm avian poularde, foie gras.

With the actual soup added. Delicious stuff. Moist and tender meat, and the fat from the warm foie distributed into the broth in an amazing fashion.

Flight 7: Bonus

1961 Palmer. Parker 99. The 1961 Palmer has long been considered to be a legend from this vintage, and its reputation is well-deserved. The wine is at its apogee, with an extraordinary, sweet, complex nose with aromas of flowers, cassis, toast, and minerals. It is intensely concentrated, offering a cascade of lavishly ripe, full-bodied, opulent fruit, soft tannins, and a voluptuous finish. This is a decadent Palmer, unparalleled since in quality with the exception of 1983 and 1989.

agavin: great stuff, even if I had the sediment at the end of the bottle.

Chef Walter Manzke pays us a visit.

Wine director / Somm Taylor Parsons handled this event himself and did a superlative job.

I’ve now been to Republique 7-8 times and the restaurant is at its best in the private room with a special tasting dinner. Walter really cooked his butt off for this one, carefully pairing each course to the wines. Downstairs, the room is very loud and there are some timing and pacing problems. We had none of these. Each course was brought by an army of 6-7 waiters and dropped elegantly in front of us. All the wine glasses had individual labels for each wine, etc.

I was extremely impressed with Dan’s dinner series (this was my first). Like Liz at Sage Society he got the very best out of Walter’s already great cooking, and he brought an interesting and intellectual set of Vosne’s. Very interesting flights, and he was quite knowledgable. We had 5 straight hours of wine discussion too! Very nice people as well. An overall great evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Dan Perrelli, La Tache, poularde, République, Taylor Parsons, The Wine Hotel, Vosne-Romanée, Walter Manzke, Wine

Farewell New Bay

Apr10

Restaurant: New Bay Seafood [1, 2, 3]

Location: 203 West Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA. (626) 872-6677

Date: April 8, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese / Chiu Chow Chinese

Rating: Some of the best Cantonese I’ve had!

New Bay Seafood has been one of our go to spots for several years for really high quality Cantonese and really excellent service. Unfortunately it seems that they are a little too pricey for the crazy cost competitive SGV restaurant scene and are closing their doors — which is a real shame. Still, we had to go back one last time really blow it out.

The front is classic SGV.

The interior is typical of Inland Empire Chinese restaurants.

We had a private room (there are several). Gotta love that wine bucket.

The owner shows off our giant Alaskan King Crab. He was alive here, about 7 minutes later he was in our stomachs!

Various sauces. The red one is vinegar chili. The orange one sweet “duck” sauce. There is sauce, soy and wasabi, and hoisin sauce at the bottom.

1993 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée LD. VM 92. Pale green-gold color. Knockout nose of orange blossom, minerals, apple and hazelnut. Thick, rich and uncompromisingly dry; already showing superb inner-mouth perfume of orange oil, apple, flowers and spices. Brisk but harmonious acids frame the deep flavors perfectly and contribute to the impression of strong structure. Finishes quite powerful and long. “This wine was still totally dumb six months ago,” notes winemaker Terry Leighton, who won’t release a wine until it ready for its close-up. Leighton’s LD bottling is from a north-facing slope, while the LV vines face south.

agavin: Our bottle was in great shape, with a good bit of vanilla still alive.

Steamed Alaskan King Crab. The meat was incredibly succulent and sweet, plus easy to get out.

From my cellar: 1998 Domaine des Chezeaux Griotte-Chambertin. Burghound 92. A touch of wood frames bright, earthy fruit and the initial hints of secondary development followed by supple, forward, intensely rich and mouth coating flavors that possess really beautiful balance. This finishes with both elegance and fine intensity. I very much like this.

agavin: a bit of funk at first, but blew off in 10 minutes.

Whole suckling pig. Another winner of a dish, with a soft porcine quality to the meat and a nice crunch to the skin. Just the right amount of fat.

From my cellar: 2005 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. Burghound 91. A discreet touch of pain grillé and reduction frames fresh and exotic aromas of peach, melon and mango that continue onto the round, rich and concentrated flavors that possess real texture due to the solid dry extract on the mouth coating and solidly long finish. This is notably better than it usually is.

agavin: This is the second bottle of 2000s Leflaive Clav I’ve opened recently (the other being a 2006) and both were advanced (on the way to premox). What is it with the premox curse?

Geoduck! Tastes like giant clam, looks like something else.

Geoduck clam sashimi. Incredibly fresh, with that bit of crunchy chew.

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Geoduck clam salt and pepper style. Like the Chinese version of those clam strips I used to love when we’d visit New England as a kid!

2008 Aubert Pinot Noir Reuling Vineyard. Burghound 76. A super ripe nose featuring notes of menthol, melted vinyl and blackberry jam leads to rich, suave and impressive constituted broad-shouldered flavors that culminate in an edgy, hot and short if mouth coating finish. This is almost painful due to the poor balance and finishing heat.

Parker 93. The 2008 Pinot Noir Reuling Vineyard is a bigger, richer, denser wine exhibiting a medium ruby color as well as notes of forest floor, fresh mushrooms, raspberries, black currants and spring flowers. With excellent depth and richness, it is best drunk over the next 5-6 years.

We also had a 2006, which I forgot to photo:

2006 Aubert Pinot Noir UV Vineyard. Burghound 82. An extremely ripe nose sports ample amounts of menthol and cough syrup character along with a mix of red and blue fruit aromas that have a mildly cooked quality to them that introduce exceptionally rich, round and concentrated big-bodied flavors that culminate in a bitter, clipped and short finish. It’s difficult to see much in the way of future development here.

Parker 92+. Extremely promising, the closed 2006 Pinot Noir UV Vineyard boasts earthy, raspberry, red and black currant notes intermixed with subtle background oak, smoke, and charcoal. The tannins seem to creep up in the finish, something I did not notice last year. The most structured of these Pinots, it requires another 1-2 years of bottle age, and should last for 4-5 years.

agavin: clearly, Burghound is not a fan of these, truth is, neither was I. Parker liked them better, but hey, he doesn’t even really like Pinot. And as a matter of fact, they didn’t taste like pinot noir at all. A bunch of folk liked them, those who like their pinot to taste like Syrah 🙂 I would have given them a higher score than 76 or 85, but not much.

Squab. Super tasty little gamey birds.

2000 Dirler-Cade Gewurztraminer Saering. VM 87-90. Slightly reduced aromas of cinnamon and char. Rather densely packed and tight, with slightly sweet fruit and notes of citrus skin and clove. Tricky to assess today.

Steamed Dungeness crab. Good stuff and perfect with a nice Gewurtz.

2003 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. VM 91. The bouquet blossoms in a floral way that seems typical for the 2003 vintage here, as is this wine’s imposingly creamy texture. Elegance, lift, clarity, refinement and florality characterize the flavors throughout. In another reflection of the vintage, the essential fruit here is quince rather than apple, tinged with bittersweet vanilla and flowers and a subtle hint of white raisin. Ethereal fruit, flowers and wet stone really cling in the finish.

Cheese lobster. There is actually a bit of cheese mixed in with all that fry. And, yeah, it’s pretty darned fried, but it was really tasty. The lobster itself was succulent and not over done and it was easy to access big chunks of it. We had a pretty obscene amount of this, two of these plates!

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard. Burghound 95. An exceptionally densely fruited nose that is intensely floral and nuanced with stone, spice and soft earth hints complements to perfection the impressively concentrated medium weight plus flavors that brim with dry extract such that the very firm tannins are rendered almost invisible at present though I suspect that they will become more visible as the baby fat recedes. This broad-scaled effort should age for up to a decade and last several more. Magnificent.

agavin: Meadows clearly does like this new world pinot. I found it better than the Auberts (which didn’t taste like pinot).

Garlic Santa Barbara Prawn. These almost lobster like shrimp were cooked so well the entire shell was edible. Mine had row too and it was scrumptious.

2012 Failla Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. VM 89. Medium red. Slightly high-toned aromas of cranberry, cherry and licorice. Spicy and intense, with good lift and sap to the red berry flavors. Good brisk, persistent, varietally expressive pinot. Jordan produced 2,000 cases of this blend.

Crab steamed egg. Bits of the giant crab meat, guts, and eggs steamed into an omelet.

You can see the layer of crab at the bottom. This had a really nice complex “crabby” flavor.

2000 DuMOL Syrah Eddie’s Patch. vm 92. Full, bright medium ruby. Musky, varietally expressive aromas of raspberry, licorice, pepper, spices, gunflint and exotic hints of apricot and mango. Sweet, silky and concentrated, with lovely inner-mouth aromatic quality. A satisfyingly mouthfilling, suave syrah that finishes with lovely ripeness and sweet tannins. Here’s a 2000 that shows thorough flavor development and terrific depth.

Roast goose. Wow, was this a tasty bird. It was so succulent, moist, and fatty. Just melted in your mouth.

2008 Neyen Espiritu de Apalta. 92 points. A very nice Chilean wine…nicely balanced. Carmenere/Cab…deep color, chewy, strong dark fruit – cassis, currants.

Ma Po Tofu. I love Ma Po in general, but this was one of those “southern” variants on the dish where it didn’t have any of the heat or numbing factor of the real Szechuan original. Tasty actually, but not the powerhouse I crave.

2006 Château Destieux. 88 points. From an assemblage of 66% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Cabernet Franc, the wine offers red and black fruit, stone, earth and coffee scents. Medium/full bodied, soft in texture, the wine ends with black raspberry and licorice notes.

Sweet and sour BBQ pork chops. Like the fancier more meat version of a Panda Express sweet and sour pork ball! But actually pretty darn tasty.

2010 Luca Malbec. VM 91. Good ruby-red. Crushed dark berries and chocolatey oak on the nose, lifted by a mineral element. Sweet, velvety and inviting, with harmonious acidity and underlying minerality enlivening the dark berry, coffee bean and chocolate flavors. Very rich and sweet without being too much. Still, I’d drink this very showy wine on the young side.

Cabbage with preserved shrimp. Cabbage and other vegetables with little dried shrimp. It had a distinct “shrimpy” taste.

2008 Charles Smith Syrah Royal City. 94 points. Wow, great concentration & ripeness, but wonderful balance, too.

Sautéed greens (Ong Choy). A top flight version of the Southern Chinese style greens. Lots of garlicky goodness. An excellent colon sweeper.

2005 Clos de l’Oratoire Chateauneuf du Pape les Choregies. Parker 91-4. The top cuvee, the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Choregies, a blend of 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and 15% Mourvedre, with the Grenache aged in tank and the other components aged in barrel, is superb with its dense purple color and a big, sweet nose of black raspberries, black currants, and a touch of pain grille as well as licorice and flowers. It is full-bodied, powerful, and multi-dimensional, a top-notch effort that should drink well young because of the silky tannins but age for 10-15+ years.

Special fried King Crab. Big chunks of succulent crab meat with a really tasty garlic fry.

2005 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 95. One of the most age-worthy cuvees in the appellation, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe’s 2005 Châteauneuf du Pape was gorgeous on this occasion, showing classic iodine, seaweed and peppery herbs intermixed with layers of sweet currant, plum and blackberry fruits. Full-bodied, powerful and ripe, with a still youthful profile, this beauty won’t hit full maturity for another 3-4 years, and should hold for a decade or more after that.

Roast BBQ chicken. I’m not that much of a chicken fan, but this was a darn tasty one. The meat was moist and perfectly cooked. Too bad we were so full.

2000 Chapoutier Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac. Parker 95. There are approximately 500 cases of this wine. It is a large-scaled Chateauneuf du Pape that represents the antithesis of La Bernardine. This wine has been spectacular, and I have been a frequent buyer and consumer of this wine since the first vintage Michel Chapoutier made, 1989.

Mixed fried rice.

1989 Thumbs up Our Way Riesling. 94 points. Not even listed in Cellar tracker, this was great stuff, to be confused with a 25 year old dessert riesling from Germany.

Overall, this was an amazing dinner. The food was just awesome. So many delectable Cantonese dishes. We had great wine and fabulous service. One of the amazing things about New Bay is how flexible their service is. They even partially consented to bringing out the seafood first (Chinese restaurants have their own “order” that does not comply with wine progression). Or mostly consented as the chef snuck out the suckling pig early (it’s supposed to be by Chinese thinking).

It was pricey, on the order of $200 all in, making it the most expensive (per person) Chinese meal I’ve ever eaten in the states, but we had all sorts of mega expensive ingredients (giant crab, geoduck, other crab, lobster, goose, suckling pig, etc). Such a shame New Bay is closing up shop. It will be missed.

Afterward, we walked next door to the awesome Sabu Dessert and get some light fluffy “snow.” If you haven’t tried Taiwanese style snow, you are really missing out. This one above was coconut snow, passionfruit sauce, with egg pudding, almond jelly, and blackberries. Yum!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, hedonists, New Bay Seafood, Wine

Hot Pot Hot Pot

Apr08

Restaurant: Hot Pot Hot Pot

Location: 120 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-1089

Date: June 20, 2015

Cuisine: Mongolian Hot Pot

Rating: Shabu Shabu’s evil good cousin!

Hot Pot is one of those Chinese comfort foods that American’s usually know nothing about.

These places are mobbed, and there are a lot of them. Basically, it’s throw lots of things in a pot of boiling broth and cook it table side. Similar to Shabu Shabu — and this is hardly a surprise as the Japanese got the idea from the Chinese during WWII (when they occupied big chunks of China).

The menu is enormous and full of pictures.

Each table has a hot pot burner.

Our half and half with house original broth and house spicy broth. All sorts of stuff is floating and in the broth, but everyone decided they liked the spicy a lot better.

While we wait for this to heat, we sample a few appetizers.

Seasoned jellyfish.

Scallion Crispy Pancake. Good stuff.

Lamb dumplings. Awesome, if a touch mushy and very (temperature) hot.

Pork dumplings. Oink!

Lamb fried rice. We loved this enough to order 3-4 orders.

Shrimp fried rice. Good too.

The hot pot ingredients come on these cute little trays. This is about half of what we ordered! As you can see from the menu there are a lot of choices. All of these items are eaten by cooking them to the desired amount in the boiling broth of your choice.

They have four sauces you can combine to make up your sauce. A sesame one, a darker more punchy one, a hot one, and a tangy plum type one. No one in our group was a skilled sauce maker, which is a kind of black art.

First up are the meats.

Pork belly. Pretty much bacon. You start with the meats to fatten up the broth.

Sliced beef.

USDA Prime Angus beef. A ricer cut.

Sliced lamb. The Mongolian classic.

Pork skin. Really sucked up the juices, but an odd texture.

Beef meatball. Great. The other table also had the lamb meatball which was even better.

Spam. Yeah, sounds kinda crazy but it was awesome.

Shrimp. Sort of a waste all boiled up.

Squid. A giant cuttlefish or squid.

Jumbo Scallop. These were good.

Fish dumpling. Good but a bit fishy.

Two kinds of fish ball.

Soft tofu. I love this stuff. Hard to get out of the pot though.

Fried tofu and a glimpse of the lamb meatball.

Melon?

Water chestnuts or bamboo.

Enoki mushrooms.

Oyster mushrooms.

Maitake Mushroom.

Squash.

Cabbage and corn.

Some kind of green.

Pea tips.

A-Choy.

Udon noodles.

Mongolian Noodle.

The pot in full action. Bear in mind that 8 or so people are sharing this — quite the chaotic endeavor.

Chicken fried noodle. In case the rice wasn’t enough carbs.

The aftermath.

The wine situation was so fluid that I made no attempt to pair it with anything in this report. It’s all just listed here.

2001 Château Monbousquet Blanc. VM 90. Aromas of grapefruit and spicy, vanillin oak. Chewy and bright, with peach, grapefruit, mint and floral flavors enlivened by fresh acidity. Finishes lively and long, with subtle notes of lime and honeysuckle and a tactile, saline quality. Shows no sign of the 13.7% alcohol. Much higher in acidity than the 2000 version, a year when acid levels were compromised by rain two days prior to the harvest. This was bottled in January of this year, eight months later than previous vintages owing to the stronger structure of the wine.

2006 Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay Sonoma County. 86 points. I get bananas and tropical fruit on the nose. Maybe pineapple. A bit of pear on the palate.

2011 Bedrock Wine Co. Chardonnay.

From my cellar: 1994 Ulrich Langguth Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese. 85 points. This bottle was very bretty and not the best I’ve opened.

2011 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Southing. 91 points. Nose is all candied red fruit. Ripe cherries and a little bit of cola, with zippy acidity and a bit of new oak across the finish. Good concentration, so will go strong for a while. I expect that this will be doing just fine in 5-6 years, but it’s a fantastic bottle worth drinking right now.

2009 Domaine Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin. BH 89-90. An earthy and very ripe nose of extract of black berry fruit aromas merges into very suave, rich and opulently textured medium-bodied flavors that brim with dry extract that easily buffers the relatively fine tannins, indeed this is much finer than most Gevrey villages wines.

2011 Sine Qua Non Syrah Dark Blossom. VM 96. The 2011 Syrah Dark Blossom is dark, mysterious and wonderfully inviting. Black fruit, savory herbs, leather and spice meld together in a deep, dense wine that is constantly changing in the glass. Savory overtones add intrigue. The firm, muscular 2011 tannins are going to need time to soften. Readers lucky enough to find the 2011 can look forward to years of thrilling drinking.

2002 Bond Matriarch. VM 92. Good full medium ruby. Dark plum, truffle and buttery oak on the nose. Suave and fine-grained, with enticing flavors of plum and black raspberry. A plump, sexy wine with a long, slow-building finish featuring very fine tannins. This shows a firmer structure than the very good 2001. In fact, this seems more refined, as well as more of a real wine rather than simply a blend made up of declassified fruit, than previous vintages of The Matriarch.

2012 Dark Hundred.

2010 Les Vins de Vienne (Cuilleron Gaillard Villard) Cornas Les Barcillants. VM 90. Inky ruby. Sexy aromas of dark fruit compote and vanilla, with complicating notes of smoked meat, olive and floral oil. Creamy, palate-staining black and blue fruit flavors show very good depth and pick up spiciness with air. Dusty tannins come on late and give grip to a spicy, focused finish that repeats the smoky note.

2012 Bedrock Wine Co. Zinfandel Old Vine. VM 90. Vivid ruby. Pungent, high-pitched aromas of cherry skin, raspberry, licorice and lavender, with a bright mineral topnote. Juicy and incisive, with sappy dark berry and bitter cherry flavors. Supple tannins add grip to the spicy, floral finish.

2012 Bodegas Los Toneles Cabernet Sauvignon Export Selection La Pradera.

2010 Tenuta Valdipiatta Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

2008 Sine Qua Non Roussanne Jinete Bajo Vin de Paille. VM 95. Deep gold. A highly aromatic, pungent bouquet of orange marmalade, apricot nectar and yellow plum, with exotic honey and spice notes. Lush and creamy in texture, with deeply concentrated, sweet pit and tropical fruit flavors and a strong note of candied citrus. There’s surprising energy and lift to the finish, which leaves juicy peach and orange notes behind. I’d serve this as a dessert, by itself. This clocks in at 11.8% alcohol, with 240 g/l of residual sugar.

From my cellar: 1989 Chateau Gilette Creme de Tete. Parker 93+. I actually prefer the aromas of the 1989 Chateau Gilette Creme de Tete to those of the 1990. The nose is initially taciturn but then it unfurls with engaging scents of aniseed, beeswax, smoke and lychee. The palate has a spicy entry, almost Alsace-like in style, with light honeyed notes, curry powder and cumin. The finish feels dry, although in fact there would be around 110 grams per liter of sugar. This has great potential, although personally I would suggest it needs at least another 5 to 6 years in bottle.