So now that I'm back in Berkeley, I figured it was time to round up a few locals and see what entertainment we could provide ourselves with.
Tonight was Bodega Bistro, a delightfully delicious Vietnamese restaurant in SF that required walking through a particularly raunchy stretch of the Tenderloin where the controlled substances on offer were far beyond the fermented grapes in my box.
I arrive a few minutes late, but Larry Stein, Claude Kolm, and Bryan Loofbourrow have already started guzzling the 1979 Baumard Savennieres Clos du Papillon, which had a lovely waxy comfortable texture, but not much complexity. Claude claims this is a general issue with the pitfalls of winemaking at the time. Bryan finds more weight and substance as it airs, although I don't, but there are many other items competing for our attention.
One of the first competitors is the Sekthaus Raumland Chardonnay Prestige Brut which has apparently been highly touted by some Internet Wine People. This bottle in fact is so high that the cork flies into the ceiling, causing general merriment for the crowds and only minor structural damage to the building. Back down at the table the wine seems correct, frothy, and leaning in the mineral direction. But again, it doesn't hold my attention, especially as at this point Shira begins protracted negotiations with the WaitStaff to compose dishes that suit her exact needs.
The rest of us however are happily grazing on the various regular menu items that are quite delicious, and popping the 2001 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhof Auslese Trocken "S" which is surprisingly friendly from the corkpull (at least for my expectations of 2001 sweet wines) and showing a nice package of mellow, slightly offdry, spunky spicy fruit.
Taking things back a bit, Bryan opens the 1971 Schloss Reinhartshausener Hattenheimer Hassel Spatlese and there is talk of paint thinner, inferior vineyard, falling off of the finish, etc, etc. But, despite those "flaws", I enjoy coming back to this throughout the evening, for its mature mellow comfortableness. Yumm..
A brilliant juxtaposition is the 2001 Hirtzberger Honivogl Gruner Veltliner Smaragd which is a full-throttle beast upon opening. Claude finds it enjoyable for the acid-heads, I find it improving a great deal with air as the minerality emerges to balance the fullbore fruit. Bryan and Larry are a touch more critical, finding the alcohol too apparent, and suggesting that it should go back to sleep for another decade. (In that sense, lucky Claude, because randomly he also brought a bottle of this wine that we didn't need to open)..
Shifting to red wine for the poached beef (or whatever it was that those carnivores were eating) the 1995 Clape Cornas was a gem of a treat. Larry had picked up the bottle from a random shop with the label torn off, so we were prepared to guess the vintage using only our palates until Claude correctly identified the code etched into the bottle. But regardless of that intrigue, the wine was in a lovely place, gushing Cornas fruit in a comfortable tame-ish way. Lovely.
Still, we had to plod through pours of the 1998 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Spatlese which everyone agreed was way too young and needed another decade in the cellar. Perhaps some slight debate over potential upside, with a brief discussion of when and where Grunhaus went downhill. But, it was also time to focus on the curious frozen strawberries filled with wild sauvage funky cream.
Or something like that.
Good times.
