Tomato Pie Night - 9/24

Since the original Delorenzo's is now closed on Wednesday, I had to get the pies from the new location on route 33. While the pies are very similar, I feel that the ones made on Hudson Street are a little better. Louis Latour was once again the feartured producer and tonight we tried our first red from this large negociant. We started with a Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru, Morgeot, 2006, which was really nice. The oak was moderate and and in the backgournd. The wine was rich, but very well balanced. Next up was a Bourgogne from a new producer in Morey-Saint-Denis. The Alain Jeanniard, Bourgogne, rouge, 2006 had a brightness and elegance that one expects in a wine sourced from Morey. Jeanniard, a star in the making, established his domaine in 2004 and still makes wine for the Hospices des Beaune. Lastly, we opened a Louis Latour, Beaune, 1er Cru, Perrieres, 2005. The color was deep and it showed ripe fruit on the palate. While enjoyable, the wine was pretty straight forward and not as exciting as the whites we have tasted from this producer.

Champange Sunday - 9/21

Our 9th wedding anniversary was this weekend, so we opened a couple special bottles. First up, a Diebolt-Vallois, Champagne, Brut, a Cramant, 2002 that was very elgegant and pure. With time in the glass, the wine revealed a delicious touch of honey. This estate makes wonderful Champagnes and this bottle was terrific.

Next, a Domaine Georges Mugneret, Nuits-Saint-Georges, 1er Cru, Aux Chaignots, 2004 showed a light brick color. The wine was surprisingly expressive in the nose, but a slight green quality was present. Typical of the wines from this great domaine, this bottle was smooth and silky on the palate. On the negative side, the underripe fruit/green aspect that was revealed in the nose was also present in the mouth. I have had many 2004 red Burgundies that suffer this same problem, but I was hoping that this bottle might be the exception. Retailers are heavily discounting their 2004 red Burgundies and this makes them very tempting. Many of the wines, however, are flawed by green/underripe fruit. I have read reports from some Burgundy lovers that the green quality in the 2004's appears to be fading as the wines age in the bottle. In the name of science, I left one quarter of the bottle in the fridge overnight. I retasted the wine the next evening and it showed much better. The wine had gained weight and the ripe fruit flavors were more pronounced. The green quality had virtually disappeared. While some of the extremely green tasting wines will always be flawed, I have a feeling that best 2004's will be beautiful wines in 10 years.

A intimate dinner with the Burghound, well....sort of

When planning my trip to Beaune last July, I had visions of living out my own 'Sideways' experience. Instead of wandering down to the Hitching Post each evening (as Miles and Jack do), my wife and I would repeatedly settle in at the most well known wine bar in Beaune, Ma Cuisine. On any given night, the bistro run by Pierre Escoffier and wife Fabienne is full of wine professionals, winemakers and wine loving consumers. I imagined myself hobnobbing with famous winewriters, in particular, Allen Meadows, a.k.a the 'Burghound.' Why Meadows and not one of the other dozen well known critics who cover Burgundy? Well, probably because I knew what Mr. Meadows looked like and could picture the senario playing out in my mind. I had spoken with him face to face a couple years ago in Manhattan after he had led a tasting at the Burgundy Wine Company. Unlike your typical wine intellectual, the self appointed Burghound had a crew cut and appeared to have just gotten out of basic training. Before this encounter, I had thought all Burgundy experts spoke with a British accent and wore reading glasses.

The sun was setting when my wife and I were greeted by Monsieur Escoffier at the bistro's front door. He escorted us to the raised seating area at the back of the restaurant. The only other table in this area was filled by two men and a woman. The carte de vin was presented to me and the stressful challenge of selecting the perfect wine began. Actually, it was not that hard. I knew that I wanted to drink something from Coche-Dury and we started with the 2004 Bourgogne blanc. The nose revealed a subtle dose of spicy oak, but I have been told that disappears after some years in the bottle. In the mouth, the Coche was very elegant and pure. A beautiful wine.

As our first course was served, I heard a familiar voice directly behind me. My spine froze and a tingling sensation shot across my scalp. "Meadows is behind me," I whispered to my wife.

"How do you know," she replied, glancing over my shoulder.

"I recognize his voice."

A trip to the toilette was in order. I rose from my seat and shot a quick glance to my right. Never before had I seen the gentleman on the right, but across the table was a man who bore some resemblance to Meadows. As I washed my hands, I analyzed the person in question. Allen Meadows had that very distinctive crew cut when we met in New York. I had assumed that he had worn his hair that way since high school, but the man at the table had a full, typical male cut. Maybe my desire for a 'Sideways' moment was causing me to hallucinate. I opened the door and headed towards the rear of the packed restaurant. Half drunk bottles of Burgundy with familiar labels sat atop each table and Mr. Escoffier was busy pulling the corks out of several more. The three small steps that led to the raised seating area suddenly seemed insurmountable. I felt like Rocky as he looked up at the stairs leading to the Philadelphia Art Museum . The gentleman turned towards me as I reached the top and our eyes locked. Time froze. A look of puzzlement washed over his face.

"Mr. Meadows, I met you last summer at......"

The gentleman acknowledged that I looked familiar and we began a slow dance of small talk. Indeed, this man was the 'Burghound'. I spent the next hour and a half trying not to embarrass myself, which became more difficult as we consumed our second bottle (a terrific 2000 Henri Gouges, Nuits-St.-Georges, 1er Cru, Les St-Georges). The hardest part about meeting someone you admire is acting like the encounter is no big deal. Combine that task with alcohol consumption and you had better have an Oscar under your belt. After washing down the last of the Gouges, my wife and I said goodbye and wandered back to the hotel. The 'Burghound' and I may never again meet face to face, but at least we will always have Beaune.

The six rules

The wine business sounds very glamorous, but it is riddled with pitfalls. Industry tastings can be exhausting, but there is a sense of order that keeps them from getting really out of control. The same goes for winemaker dinners. Company parties on the other hand, can be life threatening. Typically at these events, several great bottles of wine are thrown down on the table and everyone scrambles to get a taste. No drinking related issues would prbably arrise if the number of bottles were limited to, say, one per person. In reality, however, the ratio is closer to 2 bottles per. I always feel bad for the new hire who is confronted with all this great wine for the first time. Inevitably, these rookies dive right in and often they have to be pulled out just before drowning. Here are six rules that can help one survive a wine industry party.

1- Arrive late and leave early
It is a good idea to reduce the window of time that you are obligated to drink.

2- Drink only one half glass of Champagne

I love Champagne, but it goes down the hatch way too fast. In addition, the bubbles in Champagne speed up the transfer of alcohol into your blood stream. If, God forbid, you are talked into a second glass, immediately arrange for an ambulance to pick you up later.

3- Stick to German Riesling and red Burgundy
The lower the alcohol, the better.

4- Consume a ton of water
I always feel like I should have a drink in my hand at these functions and rotating in several glasses of water is a smart move.

5- Never go out for the post party drink

One last drink always turns into three. If you do decide to go out, make sure that you have an extra bagel in the house. Mr. Hangover will be paying a visit the next morning.

6- Find someone to ride the train with you on the way home

If you are not able to find a train buddy, you run the risk of falling asleep and ending up in a run down city with a high murder rate.

The David Bowler Wine 5th anniversity party is beging held this evening in New York City and I am going to glue these rules to my forehead.

Tomato Pie Night

The most recent installment of Tomato Pie Night was once again at Domaine Bobo and Burgundy was the main attraction. Our journey through the 2006 whites of Louis Latour continued with an excellent bottle of Batard-Montrachet. The wine was very rich and sexy. It was missing the minerals I find in the best examples from this vineyard, but was pretty tasty. Next up was Volnay, 1er Cru, Fremiets from Domaine Joseph Voillot. Jean Pierre-Charlot (winemaker at Voillot) crafts beautiful wines that are often fragrant and bright. Fremiets is usually the prettiest Volnay produced at this domaine and often shows well when young. The 2006 is a classic example of this wine was pretty yummy with the red pie. The disappointing part of the evening was the Rutgers football game that we had on in the background. Rutgers stadium is only a 30 minute drive north from our domaine, so we felt a profound sadness as North Carolina marched up and down the field. Rutgers may have lost in a blowout, but we washed away our disappointment with some terrific wines.

Champagne Sunday - 8/31

Labor Day eve was the last Champagne Sunday for the summer and I felt compelled to devour a pile of ribs. We started the festivities with a very rich and powerful 1996 Moet & Chandon, Champagne. The Champagne was not especially elegant, but its concentration was impressive. Two reds from Bordeaux from the 2000 vintage were served with the ribs. The Larrivet-Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan possessed good weight in the mouth, but was a little coarse on the finish. I liked the wine, but it certainly did not have the refinement that you look for in a Bordeaux. My father has been a long time fan of the wines made by the Margaux estate Chateau Giscours and the 2000 was a classic example. This bottle was fragrant and very silky on the palate. Over the years, my family has consumed many older bottles of Giscours ('66, '70, '71), and I have always liked the elegance that they often show. Both wines were very good, but the more memorable Giscours illustrated why the Margaux appellation is held in such high esteem.