We had our friend Oswaldo up for dinner Sunday. We were thrilled he put aside an afternoon/evening to visit us while he was in NY from Brazil, and thought about who to invite. Then we got invites for the same day, and just invited the inviters. Not the group I would have first thought to put together, but that part worked out fine. Now the rain screwed things up....
The food:
Spinach/chipotle dip
Black bean dip
Mushroom & cheese Quesadillas (some Cashel Blue, others a Roman sheep cheese)
2 Asian salads, a slaw with jicama and a soba salad.
Yakitori
Beef Burgers
This was intended to be a gradual progression of dishes, but the coming rain made us rush to cook everything. Most things were ok; the disaster were the burgers, all my fault: I grabbed the wrong kind of steak at Fairway Sat (Betsy tried to add fat with bacon as she was grinding, but still dry), the hard rolls were too hard, and I overcooked the burgers. Ack!
The wines:
2005 Paul Pernot Bourgogne Blanc
Pretty pear fruit overlain with hazelnut notes, nice mid-bodied Puligny substitute. B+
2004 Coche-Drury Bourgogne Rouge
My first C-D red. We opened but didn't decant a couple hours before serving. Very exotic nose - I'm thinking 5-spice powder when Oswaldo says "asian spices." Palate is more straightforward, deep pure Pinot fruit. Ripe but with good acids. Some sandalwood on the nose as the spices fade. Very impressive Bourgogne (but probably priced impressively too!). A-
1998 Clos Rene(Pomerol)
Medium -bodied, black plums and black cherries. A pleasant Pomerol masquerading as a St Emilion, helped with the overdone beef. B
1993 Daniel Rion "Les Grandes Vignes" Nuits St. Georges
I really like the nose of this at first, some violet and game notes over bright red fruit. Palate is a little sharp, not going to mistake this one for a '90 or '97. Tart cherry fruit, some earth. Seems to go dormant in the middle of dinner, with only acids showing. But a half-glass of the dregs while loading the last load in the dishwasher springs back to life. Overall, B/B+ (with a C+ period in middle)
2000 Domaine de la Solitude (Pessac-Leognan)
Is this a second? Label mentions Domaine de Chevalier. Funny (but not unpleasant) spearmint thing on the nose, palate is more straightforward. Lighter styled Bordeaux, with red fruits eventually showing a darker side, with a little cassis. Not a lot of length. Not a lot of complexity here, but a decent little Graves. B/B-
2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese*
I think this even tops the Coche for my WOTN. Pears sprinkled with brown sugar, a little limey citrus, good acidity keeping it lively. Slatey notes on finish. Infanticide, but fun! A-
Wasn't really the meal we'd envisioned. As we had set up for eating outside, and moved dining table, we ended up balancing plates on our laps. But in general a very good time, despite the rain, the whiney hound, and my burger mishaps. The worse part was when Oswaldo just missed his train, and had to get a cab (wet) to another station. Ack part 2!!!
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.