WTN: Many Bdx, with an accidental Ducru vertical, @ Apiary

Paul gathered a nice group of six for some blind Bordeaux at Apiary. Scott Bryan (formerly of Veritas) has put together a nice fairly casual place. I really enjoyed my food, an appetizer of lightly smoked salmon topped with a runny egg, roe, and a remoulade-ish sauce, and a main course of excellent duck breast over whipped celeriac and some lentils (nice portion sizes).

Starter wine was the 1985 Charles  Heidsieck "Champagne Charlie" Brut. A sniff of the bottle at first seemed a little funky/cheesy, but disappeared as it was poured. Medium to full bodied, lots of citrusy fruit, just a hint of Parker house rolls. Good length. Nice though not profound. B+

The reds were (mostly) blind and (mostly) in flights of 2. I took only rudimentary notes, made mostly poor guesses, but had a good time:

First Flight:
#1 - Medium bodied, some tannins, fairly high acidity. Group goes Medoc, I venture '79 based on acids. Nope. Both red and black fruits, earthy, cedary. Pretty good, might have been a bit better if paired with meat. B+ 1975 Ducru Beaucaillou

#2- no guesses from me (my wine). Cork broke, it was decanted but a bit cloudy. Nose is pretty nice, earthy forest floor notes with some tobacco. Cassis fruit, resolved tannins. Group got Medoc right away, and Taylor called St Julien early,. B+/A- 1970 Ducru Beaucaillou

Second Flight
#1 - a bit lighter, but fairly good fruit- red plums with lots of minty/herby notes. Group says Right Bank, I'm guessing Figeac, nope. I'm surprised and impressed with the 1976 Magdelaine. B/B+

#2- groups goes Right, but our guesses center on 70s and early 80s. Good fruit, still some tannins, there's some cigarbox aromas. Begins to fade after a while, but impressive for 48- the 1961 La Gaffeliere Naudes. B+/A-

Third Flight
#1 - balanced, elegant, classic Medoc with young black fruit combined with a complex mix of loamy earth, cocoa, herbs, cedar. Lovely, long. A very good showing. My WOTN. A/A- 1982 Ducru Beaucaillou

#2 - lighter, a bit older. Showing age, but still a nice wine. Some baking spices, forest floor, red fruits, a few remaining tannins. After someone guesses '71 and is told "no, but good guess" a couple of us go with '67.
B/B+ 1967 Mouton Rothschild

Fourth Flight
#1 Corked. Aaaggghh. 1989 Angelus

#2 isn't blind, the 1990 Angelus was mistakenly revealed in planning stages, so served non-blind. Rich deep cassis and kirsch fruit, lush and luscious. Fruit dominates, but there's lot happening here- cocoa, flowers, earth. Needs time. A-

Richard pulls out a bonus bottle, others tell him to blind it, as I've glimpsed I don't guess. Paul quickly declares Right. Nice ripe black plum fruit with an overlay of leather and herbs, I'm pretty impressed with the 1981 La Conseillante. B+/A-

I haven't been spitting, and really don't need any more wine, but somehow I have a couple pours of the 1986 Climens with my cheese course. Sweet with just a touch of heat, honey and orange peel, good length, nice. B+

Another table sent over a pour of the 1990 Georges Lignier Clos de la Roche, I just smelled, but a great nose of cinnamon, black cherries, smoke, and mushrooms.

Fun evening, excellent restaurant, nice crew. Except for the sadly corked Angelus, I'd happily drink any of those wines any night.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
 
Edited to correct Lignier (its Georges)

Really nice lineup Dale (although my sympathies re. the Angelus - ouch). That '82 Ducru really is a beauty!

Sounds like another excellent dinner - Apiary really impressed me last week (I remember everyone else at the table being blown away by the salmon app), definitely a place I plan on heading back to.

Great night of wines, Dale. Do you feel that Scott Bryan is making an attempt to fashion food-friendly wines the way that he did at Veritas? And was this a no-corkage situation? I agree about the bummer re the '89 Angelus: I've had both it and the '90, been very impressed with both, and would love to have heard your impressions of them head-to-head. Great mini-vertical, too! I'm not surprised that our lovely little '70 was outshone by the '82, but I'm glad to hear that it held its own regardless.

Mark Lipton

Great notes! Sorry to have missed it. And a rare Taylor sighting to boot!

I'm guessing Richard brought the 67?

So there was no plan to have all the Ducru? Wow.

Mark, Free corkage on Mondays, I think most of the food was pretty wine friendly, though the salmon appetizer special would be a challenge for any wine.
Matt, yes, Richard's '67. It showed better than he expected, he said he thought he's bring it to tease Baldi (who eventually was sick and couldn't come). Richard was commenting on how we missed your organizational skills since the Asa era.
Total coincidence on the Ducrus. And the Angelus, Ben said he was already planning on bringing '89 before Taylor let slip re the '90.

Dale,

Thanks for the notes on those terrific wines. I’m sorry that I missed it. I’m also sorry about the corked ‘89 Angelus. I’m happy to know about the ’82 Ducru, though. Given that I only have a bottle left, would keeping it for a few more years be OK?

Thanks for the notes on the food, as well. Now I’m really psyched about my dinner at Apiary with the wife next week.

We have plans to eat at Apiary tomorrow night. Any comments on other dishes?

Nice notes, Dale.

Ramon,
it's drinking well now, but can't imagine it doesn't have another 10 in it.

Diane,
Let's see. Next time I go I plan on the sweetbreads appetizer, it got good grades. I had a bit of the mushroom risotto (a main, but couple people split for an appetizer), very good. Four of us got the duck, all very happy. Paul J was happy with the hanger steak, and Izzy said the chicken was pretty much as good as you could find in NYC. None of us ordered seafood mains (with all that Bordeaux on the table), but I've heard the fish is great. I think next time (I'm planning on taking Betsy) I'll go with sweetbreads and skate. Their list looks pretty good, with reasonable choices. Are you ordering off list or byoing? What's corkage on normal nights?

Dale - it is just Joel and myself for dinner, so we will order off the list. For Joel, tax season ends on April 14. He doesn't want to be around for anyone who waited for the last minute - his work is done, so this is a little celebratory dinner. From the sound of your meal, the dishes all seem like winners.

Thanks for the notes Dale, I will try Apiary soon.

BTW, I think I've had more bad luck with corked 1989 Angelus than with any other wine. Was there some problem there that I am not aware of?

Diane, enjoy and celebrate.

Jacques, never heard of a systemic problem with '89 Angelus, but my experience is limited, only had 3 times before. Besides the possibility of TCA in winery, a batch of corks could have high prevalence. But I just looked at CT, about 30 notes with no corkeds reported, so maybe just bad luck for you.