For an explanation of this post's (uncharacteristic) brevity, please see the first installment.
8 September 2003 – Pacific Grove & San Francisco, California
A Taste of Monterey – Theoretically, this is a nice place to taste a pretty full range of local wines, many of which aren’t much seen in wider national markets. I say "theoretically," because on my visit, there’s no one to staff the tasting bar; just one harried woman staffing the cash register and taking endless phone calls. I look forlornly at the assembled wines…then shrug, pick out a few bottles, and head for the Aquarium.
Renaissance Parc 55 – Not as nice as the Nikko, where we stayed last year (mostly due to a general sterility), but we're given a spacious room designed for guests with disabilities (I guess they have more than they need)…which gives us a little extra room, but unusually low fixtures. I would love to no longer have to stay right between Union Square and Market St. – noise, grime, the hectic pace of ultra-urbanity coupled with teeming tourism – on these yearly trips, but when the lodging's free I can't really complain, now can I?
Jelly jam
Bay Wolf – Lacking specific directions, we leave plenty of time to drive through the wilds of Oakland, but we don’t get quite as lost as we fear, and eventually triangulate our way to the restaurant.
Cornelia St. John meets us at the appointed time, as we sit on the patio sipping water. I've met her twice, Theresa once, but I've never sat near enough to her (and free of a plurality of wine geeks who will dominate and steer all conversations to matters vinous) for conversation. Tonight, we have a lovely one. Her husband – Steve Edmunds, you may have heard of him – is late, thanks to incoming grapes; harvest is a yearly hassle for us on these trips, but Theresa's conference happens when it happens, and so there's nothing to be done about it. After some wine and much interesting chat with Cornelia, Steve finally arrives, and we settle down for an excellent dinner on the patio. There's a tomato, bean and squash soup, followed by a succulent and intense tagine loaded with piquant merguez sausage. And for dessert? Concord grape sorbet.
Service is efficient and friendly, with all the proper attentions and pauses (though I suspect Steve's near-regular status doesn't hurt in this regard), and despite this restaurant's reputation, prices are quite reasonable. The wine list is a marvelous little short story in itself, and we work through a few of its offerings before Steve delves into his own product.
Bunan "Moulin des Costes" 2001 Bandol Blanc (Provence) – You don't see these very often, even in France. A sea breeze full of wet, salty and green algae and loam with sugar-snap pea drifts from the glass (even from a few feet away), followed by a palate of smooth raw peanut, raw almond, leafy honeydew rind devoid of fruit-sweetness, and a light oxidation that carries through to a long, dusty finish. Very, very interesting wine.
Antoniolo 2001 Coste della Sesia Bricco Lorella Rosato (Piedmont) – Steve's "Pinc Froid" is a rosé of nebbiolo, and I want him to try this excellent rosé made (at least in part) from that very same grape. Alas, it’s not to be. The wine is corked. *$%^
Rougier "Chateau Simone" 1998 Palette Blanc (Provence) – One of the many excellent wines we just don't see in Boston because they're imported by Robert Chadderdon. Spiced red granite and a steely minerality form the core of a wine that's otherwise surprisingly lithe, showing a silky texture interspersed with the lacy tactility of a spider web. Amazing stuff.
A horse of a different color
Edmunds St. John 2002 "Bone-Jolly" Gamay Noir (El Dorado County) – From the Crystal Springs Vineyard at 3400', grown in volcanic/clay/loam soil (this verbiage is uncannily similar to that on Steve's Web site, but it was honestly taken from my notes), and a revelation in New World gamay. Not that there's a lot of competition. Fruity raspberry and violets with light but firm (and slightly chunky) tannin and soil that emerge with air; there's both quality and potential in this unquestionably New World but varietally-true wine. Versus expectations, this is spectacular. Its singular flaw is that the tannins, while balanced, are a bit coarse; finer-grained tannin would lighten the wine's palate impression and make it even more varietally precise.
Merlin 2001 Moulin-à-Vent (Beaujolais) – Sweetly floral banana and cranberry cream, soft and lush with notes of lavender and feather-light tannin. Sweet and somewhat synthetic, but quite drinkable, though it appears to lack heft. And that banana makes me twitch.
Bonus appendix – The quotes of the evening, verbatim and entertainingly context-free.
"I'm covered in spiders." – Steve Edmunds
(and, later)
"I wouldn't want to be an anchovy." – Theresa R. Iverson
"I wouldn't mind being an anchovy at all." – Steve Edmunds
"I'd like to be a jellyfish." – Cornelia St. John
![[jellyfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium]](http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/user_images/tci_903ca_jellyfish.jpg)
![[sea horse at Monterey Bay Aquarium]](http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/user_images/tci_903ca_sea_horse.jpg)