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Wine (alt.food.wine) Devoted to the discussion of wine and wine-related topics. A place to read and comment about wines, wine and food matching, storage systems, wine paraphernalia, etc. In general, any topic related to wine is valid fodder for the group. |
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Ah, Thanksgiving. This was truly a time to give "thanks," though the normal,
celebratory meal was far different than most. Mother-in-law has recently been confined to a wheelchair at her near-by assisted-living facility, and good friend's son-in-law has become very ill and was air-lifted to a hospital in the city. While he's doing better, he's still in CCU. MIL's wheelchair will not fit into my wife's car, unless you have a burly longshoreman handy. MIL cannot step up into my Landcruiser, so we showed up with two autos. Brought MIL and a friend to the house early. Our friends, with their daughter were to arrive a bit later. Got MIL and her wheelchair down all of our steps (no way into the house without them), and set the wheelchair up in the breakfast area. Wife finished with the meal - much of which was catered from a local restaurant owned by a James Beard Award-winning chef. Friends arrived with daughter and the meal began. Appetizers were Brie wrapped in phyllo and mission figs in phyllo. Had planned on doing a GV (Weingut Türk, Kremser Weinberge Grüner Veltliner ‘03 US$17) for the appetizers, but backed off, due to the figs. Went with the Gainey, Limited Selection Santa Ynez Valley Dry Riesling ‘05 US$18 and it went well with both the Brie and the figs. Soup course was a double-header of Butternut Squash and a Wild Mushroom. Most had a bit of both. Wines were the Acacia Napa Valley-Carneros Pinot Noir ‘05 (which I planned on keeping around the table throughout the meal) and a Dr. F. Weins-Prüm, Ürziger Würzgarten, Feinherb, Kabinett Riesling ‘05 US$22. The PN handled both soups, but the Riesling was a standout with the squash. Then came the turkey (Young's Farm breast oven baked with apple cider), garlic mashed potatoes (with Chef Vincent's turkey gravy with beef-jus), sweet-potatoes with candied pecans, blanched green beans with shaved almonds, French Country Cornbread Stuffing with chestnuts, Chef Vincent's wonderful Dauphinois Potatoes and wife's Cranberry-Pecan relish. Wines were the Acacia PN, the Dr. F. Weins-Prüm Riesling and I added a Wolfgerger, Vin D'Alsace Equisheim Gewürztraminer ‘03 US$24 and Edmeades, Mendocino County Zinfandel ‘05 US$32. Rating the wines: The Gainy Rielsing was very nice and light, with citrus all around. Almost clear, with a light greenish tint, it was lighter than a Kabinett, but had the acid and fruit to stand up to the Brie and the fig. On DaleW's scale (which I really, really like), I'd give this domestic Riesling a B, and I'm usually not a fan of domestic Rieslings. The Dr. F. Weins-Prüm Kabbinett Riesling was more to my personal profile of what an early-harvest Riesling should be (though the Gainy scored some good points), with a pale yellow and greenish tint. It too was light, but had some white peach and lighter citrus notes, plus a tiny hint of Riesling "petrol." Again, a B. It handled the soups nicely, and still stood up to the turkey and various potatoes quite well - though the sweet-potatoes did overwhelm it some. Maybe a Spätlese would have worked better with this one dish. The Acacia PN (always a favorite of mine, for fruit-forward, but not overly- concentrated PN) stayed on the table throughout the entire meal - glad that I had several bottles of this one. It was a deeper purple, than I am used to from this wine, with just a hint of rust at the rim. (While I like this PN young, I also appreciate it with some age. This one was very young, but showed that browning at the meniscus, that I associate visually with aging). It had strong hints of cherry, both red and black, a very faint bit of earth and truffle and was silky smooth, glass after glass. Definitely a B+. Year after year, I choose this one as my "house PN." The Wolfgerger Gewürztraminer was the one that I had planned on showcasing, but a bit let down by its performance with the food. It was "tight," and never really did open up. Though it had a wonderful silky/oily mouthfeel, it seemed as though it just wasn't ready to let go of its potential. The nose was that of an empty spice-drawer - filled with wonderful aromas, but maybe too mingled to pick up anything distinct. I followed this wine all night and never quite got the hang of it. There was also an edge on the taste - not unpleasant, but noticeable, and just a bit off-putting. It was a medium yellow with a green tinge at the edge - more dense in color, than any of the other whites. I'd speculate that with some more years, it would develop into something better, though when I came back to it, after having sat ¼ full on the side-board, it had still not evolved. A bit of a disappointment and a C. Speaking of "disappointments." The Edmeades Mendocino County ‘05 Zin was one of the oddest Zins that I've ever had. I normally love the big, fruit-forward, highly-concentrated Zins from Edmeades. Their Alden Ranch is the biggest fruit-bomb Zin, that I have ever encountered but still a wine to enjoy It's right up to the top, but not "over" it. I've also had the Mendocino County on many occasions, along with a myriad of other bottlings from Edmeades. All have been exactly as I had expected them to be - nothing subtle, but still finding balance in their "bigness." First the "interesting" nose. I did a double-take here. Checked my yet-to-be-filled glasses for some form of contamination. Hm- m, what was I getting here? Work at it, you know what your smelling, but put a name on it - damned it! OK, got it. It had the aroma of a wet Bourbon barrel. Yes, a wet Bourbon barrel. Odd. The color was concentrated, almost opaque purple with only a tiny bit of clearing at the edge. Corked? No, but odd. Let's taste it. Similar tastes to the nose, but on the retro-nasal, the barrel changed. It was still a distilled spirits barrel, but now it was definitely Scotch, not Bourbon! Friend is a big Single-Malt (and a Zin) fan, and he really got into this. At 15.4% ABV, I expected some spirits someplace, but this was much more, than I had bargained for and much more than I had expected from this wine - glad that I didn't pick up the case, that I had contemplated. The spirity harshness marred its drinking with any of the food. It never did evolve either, as I was hoping that some VA would blow off. Maybe a few hours of decanting would have helped. I'll try another bottle this weekend, but am not holding out much hope - too big, too strange, just "too" everything! C-/D on this one. At this point, everyone broke to get MIL and friend, plus that danged wheelchair back to the home, and others to take daughter back to the hospital to be with her husband. We re-convened for dessert of a Cheesecake Soufflé and Chef Vincent's Southern Pecan Pie plus some Taylor 10 Tawny. By now, I was quite full, so my dessert WAS the Taylor 10 and a contraband Montecristo #2 Torpedo Cuban, which went well with the Tawny. I would normally have pulled out the Porto Barros 20 Tawny, but they are in the back of my cellar, which is filled to the brim - partly for storage of my friend's wine, as he builds his new home and cellar. The Taylor was nice and warming, as the evening had grown cool. Their 20 is probably my favorite, followed closely by the Barros 20, especially with wife's pecan pie. Finally got around to Chef Vincent's version. It was good, but not up to my wife's standard, which sets the bar, for all others - B+. Went back to both the Zin and the Gewürz, but nothing new to report on either front. This year was more about giving thanks, than food and wine - thanks that health issues are being handled and that the patients are progressing - thanks that the wheelchair should soon be gathering dust and cobwebs. Here is hope that Thanksgiving ‘07 will be a more traditional celebration and that the trials of ‘06 will be behind all of us. Hunt |
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Hunt, thanks for the notes. Sounds like you have your priorities
straight! |
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