Life after Chardonnay, Cabernet & Merlot - that was the title of the event for a group of 21 people. The offering I had put together was a wine tasting for 12, but because the winner was in the midst of a job transfer/imminent move it ballooned to a larger event where I provided lots of wines & the winner had catered food. I initially tasted only enough of each of the wines to verify that they were sound, then had a few sips later as the crowd got a little more lubricated. All bets were off when at about 12:30 AM the group was belting out Sweet Home Alabama in 20 different keys.
The Michel Freres Crémant de Bourgogne NV Rosé was the welcome wine, and was a huge hit with the group. Very straightforward strawberry and chalk, simple but pleasant. The two bottles were gone before I could say Cremant de Bourgogne a second time (don't ask), so I moved on to a bottle of Roederer Estate Brut NV Rosé to satisfy the enthusiastic crowd. Sadly I never actually got to taste that one.
Some shrimp cocktail (sans cocktail sauce - some other dipping sauce was out there) was making its way around as I poured the 2007 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Clos des Briords, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes. Yet another big hit, this is less opulent (is it legal to use the word opulent in a sentence about Muscadet?) than the 2005 version, but is still packed with crisp tree fruit and minerals. Bracing and refreshing! The two bottles again disappeared, this time before I could say Melon de Bourgone twice (really...don't ask).
Seared scallops, served on metal spoons with an accompanying garnish of pea shoots (yay!) were a fortuitous match for the 2005 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Kammerner Renner, with the pepper and pea elements of the wine playing off the scallop dish. It was a little awkward telling everyone to "eat the pea shoots then drink the wine", but most got the point. I'm pretty sure a few people thought I was asking everyone to do something illegal.
About this point I lost control of the catering crew (we had talked through what to do earlier, but...), so some seared beef on crostini with spinach & gogonzola was ill-matched with the 2006 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken, but the wine was still delicious on its own, with apple and stone flavors around a richer than normal body for this wine. Yum. Not shockingly, the Riesling was rather polarizing, with the white wine fans loving it, and the red wine folks asking me when I was going to serve some wine.
There were still some beef crostini going around as I poured the 2005 Michel Tete Julienas du Clos du Fief and gave my spiel about Beaujolais being more than just the third Thursday of November and Georges Duboeuf. The wine gained 20 converts (I am already a true believer), and the two bottles were polished off in a wave of red cherry, limestone and licorice fury.
Where did the vegetarian spring rolls come from? These were supposed to be with the Riesling. Ah well, the 2007 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel L'Enfant Terrible may not have been a match for the spring rolls, but it worked with the barbecue dipping sauce (what the...???). I had tried this wine previously and not liked it, and apparently I'm just not hip enough for the internet wine cognoscenti. Off-kilter, acidic, candied red cherry juice spiked with watered-down vodka. Not my thing.
What do you think of for food when serving Nebbiolo? Why steamed Chinese dumplings of course! Another mix-up from the kitchen, this actually worked, as the pork filling did ok with the 2005 Mauro Molino Langhe Nebbiolo. Dark fruit, quite tannic, and really in need of another year or two of cellaring, it was the perfect match when in a flash of pre-planning that finally worked some baby lamb chop/pops came out for the group. The tannins were tamed by the lamb.
At this point the house became the scene of a KC and the Sunshine Band revival, so my ability to control the flow of food and wine rapidly approached zero. the last bottle I was able to introduce to the group was the 2005 Pali Wine Co. Inman-Olivet Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. Two years on this is settling down and actually quite lovely, with dark red fruit, good balance and a little spice from the oak. 18 of the 20 participants asked me if I had seen Sideways by the end of the evening.
Various and sundry pasta items, meant to absorb the alcohol were presented for the group, and I decided to just set out the remaining 5 red wines & let folks have at it on their own terms. I floated around the rooms answering questions & commenting on the fate of KC and the Sunshine Band.
The 2005 Domaine de l'Ameillaud Cotes du Rhone Villages Cairanne was its typically fruity, herbal self, and it worked very well with the penne and sausage. The 2005 Trapiche Malbec Broquel once again demonstrated that a year or two in the cellar really helps this cuvee, as the aggressive, somewhat goopy fruit had calmed, and my reserve lamb chop tamed the tannins.
Somewhere from the other room came the cry of "don't you have any other music in this house!?!" Thank heavens for those less restrained than I. Of course the next thing that greeted my ears was She's a brick...house..., but beggars can't be choosers. On the other hand the music pretty much summed up the 2006 Pride Mountain Vineyards Sangiovese, except that the bricks were made from mud without straw, and thus rather unstructured for the first 30 minutes. I actually re-tasted this a bit later, and it had tightened up, but I cannot see again spending $60 on a 500ml bottle of Chianti Essencia.
Moving on to the 2002 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri proved a little difficult, as one of the bottles was being bogarted, while the other was completely empty. All I remember from opening the two bottles is that they were not corked, and did not cause my face to scrunch up in horror.
The 2006 Bodegas Vizcarra Ribera del Duero JC Vizcarra was the orphan of the night, probably because someone had started pouring tequilla shots in the other room, but I enjoyed its black fruit and dusty herbal charms.
Prior to making their hasty exit the catering staff had plated some chocolate petit-fours and mini chcoclate cheescakes, so the 2000 Fonseca Late Bottled Vintage Port was not wasted. In fact this may have been the most fun wine for me, as I was able to sit and enjoy it rather than be up and around. a few years of bottle age has done good things, and its well integrated, fruity and a lovely partner for chocolate (and the blue cheese that was still out).
Is that Freebird I hear coming out of the speakers?
