On 10/21/11 11:59 AM, DaleW wrote:
> I thought I had a perfect night picked to host SOBER (because with
> City Opera in limbo Betsy was free to cook), but after it was
> scheduled (a) she agreed to cook 3 dutch ovens worth of coq au vin
> for a friend's 60th tongiht, (b) she got an ACO gig that she's
> enjoying, except she's had rehearsals in city all week, and (c) I had
> to reschedule a talk leaving me with a tight daytime schedule. So as
> 7 PM approached things got a bit hectic in our kitchen, But we
> (mostly she) managed to get dinner on table pretty much on schedule

Wow, you guys are real troopers, Dale.
>
> We had cheeses, boar salami, pate, and white anchovies on table. The
> greeting bubblies weren't blind.

Yum.

> 2000 Rene/Vincent Dauvissat "La Forest" Chablis 1er John nailed
> "Dauvissat" and "Forest" right off bat, but took him a couple of
> guesses to get vintage. Lovely, drinking beautifully, green apple and
> citrus zest with just a faint hint of vanilla. A-

Good on ya! It's good to hear about a 2000 that hasn't been POx'd. The
wine sounds lovely.


>
> 1998 d'Angerville "Caillerets" Volnay 1er I was a bit
> surprised/disappointed with this, which showed stiff and surprisingly
> a bit oaky. Dan did nail d'Angerville quickly. I will put away others
> and hope for a better showing. B-/C+

Major bummer, Dale. This is from the lot we shared, I presume, and I've
yet to open any of mine. Did you give it much air before tasting?


> Red Flight #4 1978 Marques de Murrieta "Ygay" Rioja Gran Reserva
> Stone cold dead. D

Wow, another major bummer. I recently heard someone opine that they'd
never had an OTH Rioja from a traditional producer. Cork failure a
possibility?


> 1936 Massandra "Madeira" (Crimea) OK, so I wanted to do something
> different (other than serve SOBER tofu), figured we'd never had a
> Soviet wine. Plain label on cellophane, incredibly short cork under
> wax. Opened well in advance, a little musty at first, but then sweet
> raisiny notes. So I bring upstairs- folks thought from color I was
> blinding them on whiskey. Toffee, fig, not really that sweet,
> smoke, earth, spce. The 17+% abv shows on finish. Dan says Madeira,
> I respond it's not from Portugal Fun and different wine. B+

Very cool choice, Dale. John seems to have carried the evening with his
astute guesses, no mean feat in that esteemed company. I hope that I'll
read about his impressions of some of these wines in an upcoming VFTC.

Thanks!
Mark Lipton

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