Back on the Wagon

I've been really delinquent with posting my tasting notes lately. I still have to try to turn my chicken scratch from the NZ Wine Expo into something intelligible. This weekend I promise I'll get to that. I need to get into the habit of churning out acutal intar-web content before the Super Secret Club goes live.

That having been said, Tuesday night Tania, Eric and I hit our usual haunt, Grapeseed, over in Bethesda. Eric's moving in to the Pallisades, two doors down, next week. Well, there goes the neighborhood!

We had a flight of 4 Sauvignon Blancs - 2 from California, 2 from Loire. The first wine was the best of the lot, I thought, exemplifying what I like out of a new world style Sauvignon Blanc. The other Cali (Joel Gott '04) was a bit of a Napa oak bomb (I like this.. Kangaroo Punch:Australia as Oak Bomb:Napa), limey, grassy with some acidity but an overall vapid mouthfeel and a light finish.

From France we had the '04 Domaine des Corbillieres Touraine which had a nose of topsoil, grass and peas. Yes, I said peas. That's one of those things that I find crop up in SBs that I find rather repellent, though it wasn't overly off-putting in this guy. The other, another 04 from Loire, Alphone Mellot "Les Moussierre" Sancerre, offered the same soft lemon that I loved in the Quivira, along with nice minerality, fig and a little bit of grass with a refreshing finish. Still didn't top the Quivira which was far more complex.

While sitting at the bar we made friends with Paul, a bicoastal professional foodie with a formidable resume, some pretty amazing friends and a silver tongue. I saw him get into the Conundrum, a Sauternes (to go with the fois gras.. such a sweet, sweet pairing..), and at my reccommendation Worthy Sophia's Cuvee, a good old fall-back of mine. Not sure if it stood up to his filet mignon, but worth the taste for future reference. An excellent dinner was had, at least on our part.

Without further ado, my favourite SB of the night and long overdue (from Eric's earlier-chronicled birthday dinner) notes on our new best friend, Walter Clore.


Quivira, Fig Valley Vineyard 2004

Meyer lemon and mineral dominate the nose on this lovely Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Nice round palate of sweet lemon with hints of lime, creamy fig, spice and a touch of vanilla, melding into a bright and elegant, mineral finish.


Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve - Columbia Valley 2002

A Cabernet-heavy Merlot blend, this Bordeaux style wine is firm and graceful with earth, blackberry and cocoa on the nose. Blackberries macerated with currants and blueberries dominate the mid palatte and persist all the way through the long, chocolatey finish.

Cross Posted For Your Pleasure

As you can tell, over time, I have been slowly but steadily increasing in popularity, while Courtney's popularity has been on a dramatic decline. Turk's been wavering in recent years, but as Court put it, "she's peaked". So sayeth the US Census.

TN: D'Arenberg 'The Footbolt' Shiraz, McLaren Vale '03

Got home from training last night in a foul mood. Finished off this Argetinian Malbec-Syrah (nice GPR) and said 'Fuck it, i'm opening the Footbolt without Eric. It was under $25 and I know where to get it.' Fortunately my total lack of skill in the dojo last night didn't transfer over to my palate.

Distinctive McLaren nose; smoky and earthy. Deep garnet, almost purple in the glass. Great nose with mint, licorice, and what I can only describe as mulberries. Velvety mouthfeel, well-structured, spicy, with a solid finish. Blackberries, dark plum and cedar up front, followed by a burst of dark chocolate and cassis on the back end.

It's still on the wine rack right now, so we'll see how it changes over the next two days. If Court gets home before I finish it I may even let her try...

[As a side note, it turns out that the guy who I wrote the TNs for is a buyer for a wine store in Buenos Aires, Argentina. How scary is it to think that my palate may be responsible for other people drinking a specific wine? Awesome.]

You down with OCD? Yeah, you know me.

Things I really need to do today: Stop compulsively checking the Mark Squires Wine BBS.

It's addictive. Terribly, terribly addictive. I've stopped lurking and started posting.

Oh wine.. you are a harsh mistress.

Linky Goodness

Got a suitably mediocre bottle of Chard last night because I was in a grumpy mood and they didn't have precisely what I wanted (and I mean the year I wanted.. yes I was being whiny because I was sugar-crashing, having just left the gym ). To add insult to injury the bottle was corked. !!!!!!! The Salmon that Peter made was excellent but I was still grumpy for a while afterwards. (All I had left on the rack was red.. stupid winter drinking habits..)

I'm posting a bunch of links here because I got my Juice for the week.. day.. whatever..

For Derek and Eric to consider, 20-something Wine & Speed Dating .. that's an idea.. I don't really like it but I bet it's successful. Mildly considering checking it out for reserach purposes:
"Hi, I'm Abi. I'm not really in the market for a boyfriend but could you tell me your thoughts on this event and would you be interested in other types of singles and wine events?"
http://www.localwineevents.com/Washington-DC-Wine/event-81177.html

Again for the boys.. Lavandou and The Caucus Room, no corkage nights... http://www.localwineevents.com/Washington-DC-Wine/BYOB-restaurants.html

Also.. http://www.winespecialist.com/index.html wine store in DC I just found. They're doign a Napa tasting next Tuesday, might be worth hitting. They've got an extensive "cult wine" section that I'd be interested in checking out, but I'm not sure how exciting it is..

Finn & Porter is doing a Sequioa Grove wine pairing dinner next Tuesday as well... looks pretty darn awesome, and you know how I love my SG. http://www.localwineevents.com/Washington-DC-Wine/event-81368.html

Found out on DC Foodies that the last Monday of the month is 1/2 off bottles of wine at Chef Geoffs! http://www.chefgeoff.com/main/downtown_menu.asp?WineList Uh but then I read the wine list. Nevermind. I'll borrow Eric's word from Thursday, "uninspired."

And the DCFoodies Event list.. E you may find this interesting from a blog standpoint... http://www.dcfoodies.com/events/index.html

Bassins & Jaleo

Eric and I trekked out to MacArthur last night with Derek in tow. D met Andy, the new WineBoyfriend, and I told him about the Shiraz tasting and the '97 Henscke disappointment. He said if we ever got a corked bottle from him again to return it (and that we shouldn't returned it this time.. wouldn't have done that without the invitation; I find that too gauche). Picked up a few more bottles of wine for the Boston trip this weekend. (Are we really going into the city to find the Porn Star wine, Eric??)

Afterwards we shared a bottle of Finca Luzon's "Altos de Luzon" '02 Jumilla last night along with some well-paired tapas at Jaleo. Big juicy plum right up front on the nose, blackberries, a hint of red raspberry, sensual cassis with the right ammount of spice. It's a blend of Monastrell (50), Cab Sauv (25) and Temp (25), you could pick up the varietal characterstics if you knew how to extract them but it was very well integrated. Has the right structure that aging would improve. Our bartender friend at Jaleo who has yet to fail us reccommended it over the Toro we were looking at, saying it was a steal for the price (it was!), rated in the low 90s by Parker.

The spicy Mourvedre played exceedingly well off the Tempranillo.. would be interested in trying a M-T wine without the Cab. Suggestions, anyone?

We also shared an entire 500ml bottle of Olivares Dulce Monastrell. It was great, like sucking blueberry, vanilla, berry syrup.. But it was just too much. A glass each would've sufficed. My taste buds were FRIED by the end of the night; the Monastrell ended up tasting like syrupy zinc. uggh. lesson learned.

Shiraz Tasting

Saturday evening was the Shiraz Tasting.

We tasted in four phases; a sparking to start, two wines to test the waters for people who werne't familiar with the varietal, a 5 bottle blind (listed below in rough preferred order), two nice older wines and an Austrailian (but not shiraz) port.

Phase One: MAJELLA Sparkling Shiraz Coonawarra 2003

Phase Two: JACOB'S CREEK Shiraz South Australia Reserve 2002, STEP RD. Shiraz Langhorne Creek 2003

Phase Three:MARQUIS PHILIPS Shiraz South Eastern Australia 2004, HENTLEY FARM Shiraz Barossa Valley 2004, THORN-CLARKE Shiraz Barossa Shotfire Ridge 2004, TORBRECK Shiraz Barossa Valley Woodcutter's 2004, THORN-CLARKE Shiraz Barossa Terra Barossa 2004

Phase Four: HARDYS Shiraz McLaren Vale Eileen Hardy 1997, HENSCHKE Shiraz Eden Valley Mount Edelstone Vineyard 1995 (so sad.)

Phase Five: JONESY Old Tawny Port NV

Mission: Successful. Tasting Achieved.

Editorial notes:

Eric and I went to MacArthur earlier in the day and procured the last of the wines we needed, making last minute substitutions, then to Whole Foods for some more pairing cheeses (including a great lavendar and anise chevre specifically to pair with the Eileen Hardy's). Eric came up with a system as above. I'd found a sparkling shiraz there (we'd been looking for one to no avail but I stumbled over it just by chance.. good stuff) so we started people out with that like you might do to start any party, tasted one mass produced relatively low-ender and a more unique one to warm up the palatte, followed by a 5 bottle blind of '04s (all but one were Barossa), the two older wines, and an Aussie Port.

The belles of the ball were the '03 Step Road Langhorn Creek ($20, though it was on sale, that was the unique one in the second phase), the surprising $13 Marquis Philps from the Southeast (the odd man out in the Barossa blind), and the lovely Eileen Hardy 1997 Barossa. Sadly, the '95 Henschke, the oldest and priciest of the lot, which was supposed to be phenomenal turned out to be corked. :(

The only thing I can say on this account is that at least we didnt' get the E&E Black Pepper and had that be corked. I might actually have cried. Also there was a brief mention of the Penfold's Grange and I'm likewise glad I didn't get that. See, given Murphy's law, no matter what high ender we got it would've ended up being the corked bottle. I was crushed enough that the nice 1995 Henschke turned out to be corked... not sure I couldn't survived that if it had been the Grange. The cork crumbled coming out and we ended up straining it into the decanter. As soon as I started pouring and got a whiff, I knew :(

Also, the food was phenomenal. What Epicurean friends I have! May end up posting something resembling actual tasting notes later if I can decipher my scrawls.

Eric's Birthday in Atlantic City

2/13 - Retrospective: On a new, exciting episode of "The AC.."

Headed up to Atlantic City for the weekend with The Usual Suspects for Eric's birthday.
Car ride up was uneventful, included fresh mango and featured an exciting and effectual short-cut using the Turnpike.

The Borgata was beautiful; far nicer than any other big hotel/casino I'd seen in the AC on my previous trip there with Anne something like five years ago (Caesars, Trump, Ballys, Tropicana..?).

I looked for a picture of the gorgeous multi-coloured blown-glass candeliers and sconces but no luck... best I could do was part of the room, which was great.

And I'll just link you to Suilan http://www.theborgata.com/main.cfm?Section=dine01&TabType=A&SideNav=finedining&Content=dine01c , the wonderful restaurant where we had dinner. We had a few bottles of very nice wine (I highly reccommend Rocket Science's Proprietary Red.. there's a fun story in here about how I made the Somelier blush - ok it's really short, he hung out at our table talking shop for a while until I asked him if he was single), I had some phenomenal Diver Scallops with black truffle oil, and Eric and I shared the Chocolate Lovers plate which came with obligatory birthday candle and a little cup of flaming liquid.

The full story, Eric, is that while you were getting your shoes shined, Derek and I snuck off, found the restaurant and requested they make something flammable with alcohol for you to blow out. I'd suggested something floating in a martini, but whatever they could do would be great. When we hooked back up with you and wandered the casino we totally feigned not knowing where the place was and let you find it. Derek shot me a look as we were walking toward it and I asked if you knew where it was, anyhow, as we hadn't seen it, and I had to jab him in the kidney. Ahh, we love you, "Stu. "

Retired to the room for a bit to work through our food comas, then back to the floor for more gambling. I won 60$ on a few spins at Roulette and then the table cooled and I decided to cut and run before I started to loose. Consequently I return in victory, instead of defeat. Helen, sadly, is in the red, as is Eric, but Derek is up (by less than me) and the big winner of the weekend was David who managed to beat my profit by 100$ on a sweet run at blackjack.

I got to watch Eric masterfully play blackjack and craps, and he even put down money on me (I still maintain he profited off of me) this morning when the well-meaning dealer asked if I was shooting and pushed me the dice. I managed to throw the poor little guys off the table three times in one turn. You'd think I didn't normally handle dice!

(While we didn't play poker, I imagine Eric and I would've looked something like this..)

INXS was playing Sat night and after it let out there was a party at the Gypsy Bar where David, Helen and I visited for a Pomegranete Margarita (eh. better than any of the swill on their wine list.. ugh.. wishing tree... *shudder*) and listened briefly to a pretty cool cover band.


Where I found this, but was unable to take it home. (What do you mean, you don't have any girly Mediums???)


Woke up, leisurely showered in the ginormous bathroom, packed our stuff back into the cars. We partook of the experience that is the Borgata Buffet (I think I can count on one hand the number of buffets I've been to, and this one was by far the best. Eric has dragged me far worse places than this.. there were various stations for making omelets, waffles, etc.. they even had lox and gelato! All said and done this place was not disturbing at all. Unlike Country Buffet (*shudder*). Some more putzing about at the craps table, then, before cashing out and heading home.

Snow added a little time onto our return trip, and the AC Expressway was one-lane and a little crappy even at 3 in the afternoon, but we made it back to my place in something like 3 1/2 hours? We even rocked out to American Idiot on the way back, a great call by Eric.

Nice evening vegging with Court and Peter, including Thai takeaway a passable Shiraz (that was twice as better than the shit I got at the B Bar.. feh.), and some totally gratuitous viewing of the Shakespearean trainwreck that is Ten Things I Hate About You (what can I say? I'm a sucker for Heath Ledger and Taming of the Shrew).

Excellent Weekend = Mission Accomplished!

Retrospective: Eric's Birthday

2/13/06 - Retrospective

For Eric's birthday proper on Monday we hit Grapeseed where Derek and I tasted our way through a well-balanced and light Pinot from Mt. Carmel, and Eric's unwitting repeat of the Edge Cab we'd had a few months back and he's forgotten till I showed up and reminded him (massive Eucalytus, big nasty slut of a Napa Cab.. needs. food.), erm... Derek got a Sonoma Cab I'd had doubts about and I turned out to have had foresight on that.. I had the David Bruce Petite Syrah which was full of nice dark fruit and moderate structure but too subtle for what I'd wanted.. I should've just hit up a Pinot if I'd wanted something that light (Derek unfairly swayed me when I walked in the door) or just gone for the Shiraz but I pussed out.

I made up for it with an Alexander Valley Cab that Derek and I both agreed was pretty sexy (nice traditional red raspberries, a firm structure with the AlexVal characteristic terroir that was the sell on this one for me). The real winner of the night was Eric's choice of the Columbia Crest Walter Clore, Columbia Valley CA 02 Bordeaux blend (mostly Cab with some Merlot). We shared a bottle of that between the three of us, Eric and I split some incredible fois gras that struck a great note with the wine, bringing out the earthier notes. The raspberries vied with a darker, juicier black cherry fruit and the french oak pulled it all together and infused it with a mocha-y husk (reminding me ever so slightly of the Rocket Science we'd had a few days ago.. only that one was more chocolate than coffee, and about twice as big and brawny). Just looked it up and it's apparently ranked #33 on WS top 100 of the year. It took maybe twenty minutes for them to find in their cellar but it was well worth the wait. Good call, Eric!

P.S. As part of my V-D pity party I picked up a bottle of Sequoia Grove '02 Cab . Love me that Rutherford dust. [2/28: Last week at the Fine Wine Napa Cab/Meritage tasting I NAILED a Rutherford Cab at first sniff. I was beside myself with joy, almost squirming in my chair. That may be my first blind ID of a sub-AVA!!]