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WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

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Dale Williams

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WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by Dale Williams » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:01 am

Sunday afternoon we went to a high school graduation party, where I nibbled on sushi and had a small glass of the 2008 Nora Peitan Albarino. Clean, easy, ripe, with good acidity, not complex, but not bad for inexpensive Albarino. B-

Then we headed to city to meet JC (visiting from NC), Ramon, and Marina. I was a bit worried re parking due to the Puerto Rican Day parade, but it rained a bit in afternoon, so on our way down we saw huge traffic jams heading out of town, but we were able to zoom in and park within a block of our destination.

Ramon had come up with the Bar Room at the Modern for our dinner, and I quite enjoyed. Food is delicious, service was quite good. I tried to minimize our needs by saying we could get by with reusing glassware, but they still furnished new stems for every wine. Betsy and I shared a tarte flambe, then I had "egg in a jar" (poached egg with lobster, asparagus, and uni froth) while she had wild mushroom soup with fried chorizo ravioli, then I had 5-spice squab with braised lettuce, she had pork belly with a pea/mint puree. Everything was tasty, and other dishes (sausage, sweetbreads) looked good too. I had some nice cheeses (a buffalo cheese from Lombardy and a NY cheese called Kumik) and other dessert (I know Marina and Ramon split beignets, actually didn't note what Jane and Betsy had).

A very nice assortment of wines, I was happy with all of them. Brief notes, from scribbling in car after dinner (I love when Betsy drives!):

1990 Laurent-Perrier Brut
Mature but with good life, leesy/yeasty notes over apple fruit. The fruit has a slightly baked edge, but more in an apple pie sense than aging. I quite enjoyed, thanks Ramon! B+/A-

1983 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling
I was a bit worried about this one, good color but some ullage. But shows well, if anything a little tight at first- my favorite sip was a revisit with the cheese! Ripe apples, plenty of petrol, a bit minerally. Full on palate, with a bit of an oily edge. Good acidity (though not really as high as most CFEs). Long, complete at the end of meal. Of course, I'm always a sucker for CFE! A-

1999 Prager "Steinriegl" Smaragd Riesling (Wachau)
Peach, apple, big, hint of heat but nice acidity. This was good with nice length, but I thought it paled a bit next to the CFE. B

1990 Maison Leroy Chassagne Montrachet rouge
Ripe, round, and ready. No roasted notes, just ripe cherries and red berries, smoke. Ramon had said he was uncertain re storage on this one, but I think this is lovely for 20 years old. B+

2000 Chevillon "Les Roncieres" Nuits St George 1er
Like many 2000s, showing well now. Raspberry, cherry, some earth. Fairly low acid, light tannins, but pretty fruit. Don't think I would have pegged this for NSG blind, but a tasty bottle. B+

2007 Lioco Pinot Noir (pretty sure Sonoma, though I neglected to note details)
Bigger than the Burgs, black cherry and kirsch with some light cola/vanilla notes. Some tannins, I think this would have done well with a steak. B

(with some regret I told Ramon it would be wasteful to open the 98 Chave and 01 Dauvissat he had brought)

1994 Trimbach Pinot Gris Selection de Grains Nobles (375 ml)
Honey, sweet pears, apricot. Sweet, but good acidity. Some botrytis notes, but in background. B+

Fun night, great to spend time with Ramon, Marina,and Jane.

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.
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David M. Bueker

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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by David M. Bueker » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:42 pm

Sounds like a fantastic evening & what a line up!

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to work the timing for any of Jane's travels. We had a fun meal in Raleigh one time when I was there on business, and it would be good to share a glass again.
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Salil

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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by Salil » Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:09 pm

Sounds like a fun time, sorry I couldn't join you guys.
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Dale Williams

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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by Dale Williams » Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:11 pm

I hope you got a lot of work done on the thesis!
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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by Salil » Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:17 pm

I did. Very, very productive weekend after I got some really good, constructive feedback from my committee. Paper is pretty much complete now, life is good.

(And on an aside, I must add I'm really impressed with the restraint of anyone who can turn down a Chave!)
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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by R Cabrera » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:14 pm

Good notes Dale. Thanks for posting. I didn't take notes but my impressions are pretty much in line with yours. I also really liked the '83 Trimbach CFE. What a nice mature wine that showed how graceful and nicely-complex CFE's can be when they age. I thought that the the '94 Trimbach Pinot Gris SGN and the '99 Prager Smaragd were not too far behind in the enjoyment factor. Glad that both '90s, the champagne and the Leroy, held up.

I thought that we had a very nice lineup of wines.

It was nice to meet up with Jane, and good to catch up with you and Betsy.

Cheers.
Ramon Cabrera
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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by JC (NC) » Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:12 am

Thanks for arranging the offline, Ramon and thanks Ramon and Dale for sharing such special wines. I really enjoyed the Trimbach CFE which was a rare treat for me--maybe my second tasting of this renowned wine. It was also my first tasting of a Leroy wine (even from the Maison Leroy.) I thought the Chevillon NSG Roncieres was quite mellow, drinking very well, and makes me eager to try the few Chevillons I own. (I think one is from the infamous 2004 so may go ahead and give it a try soon. Hope it doesn't exhibit the mean greenies.) I agree with Dale's notes on the Champagne and the CFE.

The Lioco Pinot Noir was from the Michaud Vineyard in Chalone AVA of Monterey County. "Pinot File" says of the vineyard: "Sourced from a remote hilltop site at 1,600 feet in the Pinnacles National Monument. An extreme microclimate with daily temperature swings of 40 to 60 degrees. Granite and limestone soils." (I saw on the label that the site is at the base of an extinct volcano.) The review in "Pinot File" agreed with Dale that it is a masculine Pinot Noir that will stand up to hearty foods. Matt LiIcklider and Kevin O"Connor (LI from Licklider and OCO from O'Connor forming Lioco) source grapes from different vineyards around California to make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Some of their sources are in Carneros or Anderson Valley. Kevin O'Conner has served as sommelier at Spago, Beverly Hills, and Matt Licklider imported wines for North Berkeley. I especially like their Chardonnay from Charles Heintz vineyard as well as the Michaud Pinot. They have also made a late harvest Chardonnay from Charles Heintz and I have a 375 ml of that to try sometime.

I thought the food at Modern was wonderful. I had the flambee tarte Alsace, a small plate of grilled shrimp with gruyere cabbage salad and duck confit with fingerling potatoes. Although I was feeling full by the time the duck arrived (and I didn't attempt to eat all of the large plate of flambee tarte) I made room for some strawberry sorbet.

Great evening. Enjoyed hearing about some mishaps in Nice and elsewhere in Europe (the adventures that you would rather not have at the time but that are funny to share in the aftermath.)
Last edited by JC (NC) on Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by Mark S » Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:15 am

Dale Williams wrote:...a NY cheese called Kumik...


Dale, nice to see an Upstate cheese in the bowels of Gotham. This is pretty nice, eh?
Just wish it was cheaper (aroudn $28/lb up here).
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Dale Williams

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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by Dale Williams » Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:17 am

Jane, hope your trip back was easy, uneventful, and provided no stories! Thanks for correction on source of the PN.

Mark, at $4 per cheese, Modern was pretty good deal, they gave 2 nice slices.
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Re: WTN: Offline at Modern with JC, Ramon, and Marina

by JC (NC) » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:22 am

Trip back went smoothly although my Super Shuttle pickup was 30 minutes late, making me fearful of missing my flight. Fortunately the Delta terminal at LaGuardia had a number of security lines open and I got through with time to spare--limited seating near the gate, however, partly due to a late arrival for another flight headed to Detroit. Next time I will book a Super Shuttle pickup 30-45 minutes earlier than I think I need it!

Would probably stay at the Warwick Hotel again at senior rate. It was a great location and I was on the top floor so didn't hear street noises at all--only about four suites on that floor. My suite was very spacious for NYC and had a refrigerator, stove burners, safe, his and her closets, two flat screen tvs (sitting area and sleeping area.) When I stayed at the Wellington Hotel, the small elevators sometimes wouldn't stop at my floor or were full when they got there but I didn't have that problem at the Warwick. Two of the three elevator cars went up to the top two floors.

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