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

On 02/21/2011 07:14 AM, Mark Lipton wrote:
> (snakebite #2).

There were enough bites, I picked one at random to quote. That's an
amazing run of bad wines. Sounds like the resto did a really great job
managing both the issues and the diners.

I only had one similar experience, years ago at a Paris restaurant: we
had to send back 3 bottles. By the 3rd I felt positively embarrassed,
though I don't think I should have been. The place in question, a now
departed 1 star called Fontaine d'Autueil, dealt reasonably well
although they were miffed (but in agreement) about the 3rd bottle.

Sorry to hear about the hand. Hope the use of cutlery wasn't impeded...

Are you guys still coming to Paris this summer?

-E

On Feb 21, 1:14*am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> 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 Ros 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 Cuv e 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 Cuv e 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 C te-R tie 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 C te-R tie 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 C te-R tie 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

Back in the late 70's we I worked in Chicago and we dined on the 95th
floor of the John Hancock building many times...quite a view. The
restaurant was then called "The 95th" but locals just called it "The
Top of the 'Cock". High end, expensive but very very good then.
Great memories.

On 2/21/11 1:14 AM, Mark Lipton wrote:

> 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.

I have been informed by email that the producer is Klipfel, which AFAIK
isn't imported to the US apart from its use in Chef Joho's restaurants.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Feb 21, 1:14*am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> 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 Ros 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 Cuv e 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 Cuv e 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 C te-R tie 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 C te-R tie 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 C te-R tie 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

Ouch! Tough night.
We were once at Culinary Institute and had to point out a corked
bottle. It was such a production I just drank water when next course's
wine ws corked. Seldom happens, but these runs are brutal
Glad restaurant stepped up

"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

Emery Davis wrote:

> Are you guys still coming to Paris this summer?

We're still in discussion about it, Emery. In part it depends on what
Andrew will be doing this summer. I'll let you know by email when I
know myself.

Mark Lipton