WTN: JC comes to NYC

Thursday I shocked Betsy by cooking main course in microwave. A whole tilapia done in style of classic Cantonese steamed fish, accompanied by rice with oyster mushrooms, bok choy, and snow peas. Wine was the 2011 Weinbach “Cuvee Ste. Catherine” Riesling. There’s just a little RS, white peach fruits, honeysuckle, quite full bodied. Good match with the food, even if my personal Alsace ideal is more Trimbachian. B

Friday Betsy and I hopped a train to the city and took a drizzly walk up to Peking Duck House. Jane was visiting from NC, and Jay and Diane joined us for dinner. A nice group, and I have to say I was very pleased with PDH. A nice table by window with plenty of room, the shrimp and pork dumplings were fine, while the duck, fried seaweed with dried scallops, and green beans were truly excellent. It’s always a treat to watch the guy carve the duck. Corkage was per person not per bottle, making it even more reasonable. Fun group, and a nice assortment of wines

2011 Rhys “Bearwallow Vineyard” Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley)
Very fun to try this, thanks Jay. Coffee and a tiny hint of cola over ripe red fruit, drinking quite nicely thank you, nice length. There’s nice structure, ripe supple tannin, fun wine. B+

2009 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett
Surprisingly vibrant acids for 2009, but this seemed closed compared to a couple of years ago, though it works well with the seaweed and dried scallop. I think I’ll let mine rest a bit more. ?

2005 Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spatlese
This was the one I expected might be closed, but it’s open and drinking well. Big, full, balanced, quite long. B+/A-

2010 Drouhin Clos des Mouches Beaune 1er (rouge)
My WOTN, thanks Jay. Classy and classic, perfect interplay between bright black cherry fruit, ripe tannins, and uplifting acids. I am happy that I have a few of these. A-

1999 Guy Castagnier Clos de la Roche
I had quickly double-decanted this before getting on train, but missed the TCA at that point. Sad.

2010 JM Vincent “Beaurepaire” Santenay 1er
Earthy and a bit too funky at first, I liked better on revisit. Snappy acids, lots of herbal notes, smoke. B/B+

2007 Alysian “Floodgate” Pinot Noir
Dark, dense, blackberry and cola, I think this is very well made but not a style of PN that I’m really used to. Probably better with a steak,. B-

1983 Ch. L’Evangile
Good showing, full and elegant, black plum with cigarbox and leather notes. A-/B+

1990 Ch. La Louviere
I was delighted to see this old favorite. Very muted at first (Jay said it shut down after the double-decant), but once it gets its sealegs back it goes very well indeed. Cassis fruit with plenty of Graves tobacco, lovely midweight mature claret. B++

1994 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese
Open and easy to drink, moderate acids, but seems heavy and a bit dull. I love 2001 and younger S-O, but my limited experience is they hadn’t hit their stride in the 90s. B-

Fun night, especially nice to have my wife with me on train back.

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 for punctuation

[David M. Bueker]

Nice line up for some good people.

2009s are generally closed down now. I have been actively avoiding them. 2005 is just entering what used to be the time when wines would open back up. Recent vintages have often taken longer, but it's not too surprising the '05 showed well.

Appreciate the preview of the Bearwallow Pinot. Mine are on their way.

I generally find 1994 to be quite variable. It does strike me as odd that any '94 could seem heavy given the vintage acids, but the wine always has the last word. As for Selbach, I have had great luck with the '90s. A '95 Auslese was stunning last weekend.

'Got to meet Jane recently in Greensboro; glad you did, too.
You guys drink well.
Best, Jim

I was waiting for Dale to post because I didn't take notes. The Drouhin Clos des Mouches was my wine of the night also. The nose alone was enchanting. It was a treat to try an older German Riesling and a couple older Bordeaux that go beyond what I have in my collection of wines. I didn't bring my 1994 Lafite because we were having duck, not beef, and Dale reminded me that '94 was a somewhat tannic vintage. CellarTracker notes say "tired" to "needs five more years" so maybe I will give it five more years. The Alysian Floodgate West Block Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley) seemed to open up a bit more with aerating (I didn't have a chance to decant it beforehand) and I still have about a third of bottle to finish in my hotel room. I will see how it develops but it wasn't as aromatic as I remembered from a bottle opened in 2010 at a Pinehurst restaurant. On that evening it went well with a soup with andouille sausage and even better with Jack Daniels cedar-plank salmon. I thougbt the dinner was excellent. Thanks to Dale for arranging the get-together and to Betsy, Jay and Diane for coming out on a chilly, drizzly evening. I see why Peking Duck House has a following and mentioned it to the couple next to me at dinner tonight (they were coming in from Long Island to celebrate the wife's birthday next week and then going to see "Kinky Boots.") We found we had in common that all three of us majored or minored in English, that they spent some years in Santa Cruz, CA (I lived in Monterey) and that the wife has a friend from Alliance, Nebraska (I grew up in Lincoln, NE.)

Thursday I shocked Betsy by cooking main course in microwave. A whole tilapia done in style of classic Cantonese steamed fish...

Dale, how did you steam this? I usually steam in a wok with a plate (because of saving the juices), but I've broken plates doing so before and thought there has to be a better way.

Sounds like a great night, btw. You City folks have all the fun!

Thanks David, my pre-2001 SO experience is pretty limited.
Jane, hope you enjoyed your shows, and safe travels home
Mark, got recipe from Modernist Cuisine at Home website.
http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/microwaved-tilapia/
I generally actively avoid tilapia (which I associate with no taste) but when I looked at whole fish for this recipe (which called for 1.5 pound tilapia) the market had some that looked good (clear eyes and red gills) and I decided to try, glad I did. $4.30 was a good investment. I'll do again (though you can do recipe with variety of whole fish or filets)

It was a fun evening, and, Dale, thank you for making the arrangements. I thought all of the wines were really good, and agree that the Drouhin was excellent, but I still lean to Bordeaux when I have to choose, and the 1983 L'Evangile was in top form and hit all the right notes for me.

I'll check on the remaining JM Vincent Beuarepaire with my leftover duck tonight. I thought it would have been more open than it showed the other night.

Nice line up for some good people.

2009s are generally closed down now. I have been actively avoiding them. 2005 is just entering what used to be the time when wines would open back up. Recent vintages have often taken longer, but it's not too surprising the '05 showed well.

Appreciate the preview of the Bearwallow Pinot. Mine are on their way.

I generally find 1994 to be quite variable. It does strike me as odd that any '94 could seem heavy given the vintage acids, but the wine always has the last word. As for Selbach, I have had great luck with the '90s. A '95 Auslese was stunning last weekend.

David, I brought the 2005 Donnhoff because I thought it was either you or Salil who said the 2005s were becoming approachable, and, damn,that Bearwallow was good. I only tasted the first vintage of it and it was everything I disliked about California Pinot, so I never bought. I skipped Rhys this year, because my allocation was mostly this and Family Farm, which I have struggled with. Lucky you to have some on the way.

Thank you Dale for organizing a delightful dinner.

2009 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett
Nice nose but showing a bit heavy and sweet on the palate.

2005 Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spatlese
Much less sweet than the Kabinett, light, delicate, lovely, crystalline. Lovely rainwater and nectarine sorbet notes. I could drink this all night.

1994 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenurh Riesling Auslese
Again, quite heavy, not especially interesting.

2011 Rhys Bearwallow Pinot Noir
Rich and spicy nose. Spicy, slightly lush fruit, though not unbalanced. Seems even lower than the listed 13.5%. Very nice wine.

2010 Drouhin Clos des Mouches Rouge
Intoxicating nose. Powerful, intense. Really good young Burgundy. Give it 20 years or drink it now.

2010 JM Vincent Beaurepaire Santenay 1er
Nice wine.

2007 Alysian Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Not bad for a RRV Pinot. Rich, a bit riper than I like, worked well with the Peking Duck but not one I’ll seek out.

1990 La Louviere
When I double decanted at Chelsea the nose was gorgeous. By the time I got to the restaurant it had shut down hard and was very disappointing for the first 2 hours showing mostly tannins. After that it opened up wonderfully and showed gorgeous red fruit and earth. Delicious.

1983 L’Evangile
Early on this was everything the Louviere was not, lovely Bordeaux. By the end of the evening they were running neck and neck. Though certainly different they were both excellent examples of what I look for in Bordeaux.