"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> This weekend, Jean and I took Andrew off to Chicago for a bit of R&R
> (which was to have extended into Monday until Andrew's school used
> Monday's holiday as a makeup snow day - snakebite #1). After a day of
> playing tourists, during which time we went "ice skating" on a
> polyethylene surface on the 94th floor of the John Hancock building, Jean
> and I went out for dinner at Everest, Jean Joho's haute cuisine palace
> atop the Chicago Stock Exchange building in the South Loop. Though we
> dressed for the occasion, my appearance was slightly marred by the
> swaddling of bandages that enveloped my left thumb, the result of catching
> an edge during the skating and taking a spill, after which Jean noted a
> profusion of blood on the "ice" -- oops! (snakebite #2).
>
> Everest is a classic white tablecloth French dining experience with a
> thick wine list especially strong in the wines of Alsace, Chef Joho's
> homeland. We started with a Cremant d'Alsace Brut Rosé from a producer
> I'd never heard of and who hailed from Chef Joho's home town. It was
> quite pleasant with an herbal edge to the strawberry fruit. Jean was
> going to start with a Presskopf of duck and pheasant followed by a roasted
> lobster starter whereas I was starting with a sea scallop starter on a
> mousseline of apple. All the starters were phenomenally tasty and the
> scallops were the finest I've had in ages. To go with these foods, we
> selected a half bottle of 1997 Trimbach Cuvée Frederick Emile.
>
> Before our starters arrived, though, the sommelier appeared to tell us
> that the CFE was badly oxidized and that he'd have to go down to the
> cellar for another bottle (snakebite #3). Fine, we said, so off he went
> and we were left with no wine. No sooner than that had happened, though,
> when our waiter appeared with more Cremant d'Alsace for us to while away
> the time with. Major kudos to the staff for such thoughtfulness.
> Eventually, the sommelier David returned with a second bottle of CFE which
> he opened and brought to our table. When he poured it, it came out dark
> golden in color and Jean, who is very sensitive to oxidation in white
> wines, no more than smelled it before declaring this bottle, too, as
> oxidized. (snakebite #4) Our sommelier agreed, averring that the first
> bottle had been worse. I then floated the suggestion that PremOx might
> not be restricted to White Burgundies and he responded by saying that Jean
> Trimbach had complained of bad corks in the '97-99 era and that the corks
> of both half bottles were noticeably loose. Paring our losses, I instead
> requested a half bottle of the '99 Weinbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée Laurence
> so we ended up with that: pungent nose of lychee and spice, an oily
> texture with just enough acidity to manage with our fishy starters.
> Because Jean had ordered an extra starter, the chef very graciously threw
> in a small sample of a second starter for me: sturgeon wrapped in
> sauerkraut and cured ham and baked, a truly remarkable combination of
> flavors and sensations. Again, kudos to the staff of Everest.
>
> Moving on to our main courses of venison in huckleberry sauce with red
> cabbage and chestnuts, we had ordered another half bottle, of 1989 Guigal
> Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde which the sommelier had decanted and brought to
> the table with our food. A sample was poured for me and I discovered that
> the wine was badly corked! (snakebite #5) The server brought the decanter
> back to the sommelier, who agreed, brought out a second bottle and
> decanted it. When that second decanter was poured for me, I found that it
> was corked worse than the first bottle!! (snakebite #6). By now, the
> situation had descended into near absurdity. We had, by this point,
> returned 4 half bottles of wine to the kitchen. With the stricken
> sommelier back at our table, we jointly agreed to try another N Rhone
> Syrah, but alas others were available in half bottle. At this point, the
> sommelier went above the call of duty and offered to open a bottle of 1990
> Rostaing Côte-Rôtie and let us have a glass each. Deal, I said, so off he
> went and come back with the Rostaing in decanter. Huzzah! This wine
> smells fine, a nice nose of bacon fat and meat with some dark fruit
> lurking underneath. The wine, alas, promised more in the nose than it
> delivered on the palate, disappearing a bit mid-palate, but it was still a
> fine accompaniment to the most excellent venison.
>
> We ended our meal with a lovely cheese course (5 Midwestern cheeses, each
> fantastic, the last of which tasted like a Neal's Yard Montgomery
> Cheddar). We had the last of the Côte-Rôtie with the cheeses and were
> feeling quite sated when the sommelier appeared with yet another gift from
> the kitchen: a small dessrt and two pours of the 2001 Les Cypres de
> Climens. The wine, as expected, was intensely botrytised, which for me is
> hard to get past, and smelled of the usual orange rind, apricot and
> bergamot. Very rich and long finish, but I'm just not that fond of
> botrytis to really enjoy it. Still, a most touching gift to round out the
> evening.
>
> As we left, I told the sommelier that we'd never had such a string of bad
> luck ever in a restaurant and he replied that he'd never had such a string
> of bad luck and hoped never to again! I told him to pour himself and our
> servers something nice at the end of the night and to relax. We felt
> overwhelmed with the generosity of the service there.
>
> Never in my life have I had such bad luck with wine, but the overall
> experience at Everest was overwhelmingly positive. The food was
> outstanding, the service tremendous and, although far from cheap, the
> value was excellent. The staff may run screaming if they ever see us
> again, though...
>
> Mark Lipton
Some years ago at a conference in Tulsa, a group of us went to a supposedly
good resto (all of us on expense a/cs). I ordered a Ca cab and it was
corked. The wine waiter (I would not call him a sommelier) told us that
that was the typical flavor of Ca cabs. The 2nd bottle was only just
passable (I didn't want to create a scene). Then a colleague ordered a 3rd,
tasted it and pronounced it OK - it was corked!! I suppose that was
punishment for having the temerity to drink wine in the Bible Belt!
Graham