Thor & Theresa Iverson came over for dinner last night. As usual much merriment ensued, plans were made to attend Rush concert(s) not far from the dunes on the Cape, and wines were consumed in combination with fine food.
While we waited for the Champagne to chill we chatted over a blind wine that had me rather mystified. Somewhat fat, round and lacking much in the way of distinct varietal character, it had me stumped. It was revealed to be the 1997 Nigl Gruner Veltliner Alte Reben which surprised me quite a bit. Not the showing I would have expected.
Hearty winter fare was the loose theme of the evening's food, so we started off with individual ramekins of macaroni & cheese made with mozzarella, cheddar and smoked gouda. I was looking for more of the smoky flavor, but only ended up with the barest nuance. Anyway we enjoyed two very good wines with the mac & cheese:
Larmandier-Bernier Blanc de Blancs Champagne NV (non-dosage): very well focused with apple, chalk and zippy lemon cream flavors. Bracing, but not slight or austere, this had enough palate weight to accompany the food. I'm into Champagne (and so is my lady...), so this was a real treat.
2001 Albert Seltz Sylvaner Vieilles Vignes 'La Colline aux Poiriers': slightly fat in the same vein as the Gruner, but with more flavor interest - smoky, pear, sweet corn. This is the most interesting Sylvaner I've had, & planned to pair with the smoked cheese in the macaroni. Not quite enough smokiness in the food to show off the food though.
Main course was a braised beef in zinfandel (from the fantastic cookbook All About Braising) with sauteed mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed snow peas. We paired the beef with two Zins from Ridge.
1996 Ridge Geyserville (75% zin): This was the wine used for the braise, and while I had read elsewhere of its imminent demise, those reports were proven completely false. This has integrated nicely, and is drinking very well, with dark berry fruit, briary, dusty earth and only subtle evidence of the American oak that was once so prominent. It's a great time to drink this wine, but there is no rush to finish off well stored bottles. Predictably this was stunning with the beef.
1999 Ridge Zinfandel Dusi Ranch Paso Robles (95% zin): Much mroe primary than the Geyserville, and touched with a bit of VA, this was typically Ridge Paso in its overt and slightly overripe fruit, and still showing much of its oak. More time could very well improve it, but the VA is a touch worrisome. Also good with the beef, if not quite the match of the more restrained Geyserville.
On to the salad course with baby spinach, walnuts, dried cherries & blue cheese with a subtle vinagrette. Delicious (Laura had three helpings of salad)!
First we tried a 1994 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Auslese, but it seemed well beyond its years, and was either the victim of cork failure or heat. I think heat was the more likely culprit with cork problems being only secondary. Anyway it was bronzed and and like a worn out recording of a favorite song.
So we moved on to a wine I have enjoyed multiple times since its release, but not for several years:
1998 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese: Still a youthful pale yellow, yet developing a lovely creaminess of texture to go along with bracing acidity. Tropical fruit and coconut were the dominant flavor elements to go along with that fantastic creaminess. I had half a brain to place the wine in the Pfalz rather than the Mosel.
A great cheese course followed the salad, and with more wine the conversations flowed more easily. We learned that Theresa is into yoga, and Laura knows the names of all the members of Cream (that's Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker & Eric Clapton).
We finished off the zins with the cheese, and I opened a blind wine and waited with high hopes to see if I could horrify Thor.
2005 Veritas Petit Verdot (Monticello - Virginia): Vegetal fruit with burned coffee, oak and pepper. 'Nuff said. Anyway there's something about Virginia wines at this point in their evolution - they can show decently around other Vinginia wines, but placed alongside good wines from more established regions they show how much work is still left before they can escape the tag of "emerging region."
Mission accomplished on the horrifying front.
A few hours earlier I had decanted the 1985 Fonseca to give it some air. It likely needed to be served tomorrow noon (or be given 15 more years), but it was still a delicious Port, with significant palate sweetness, dark berry and cherry fruit, and tannins that only abused the palate to the point of pain but not permanent damage. It was a deliciously stunning match with a mountain Gorgonzola (Port says to blue cheese: oh, it's you), if not so kind a partner to chocolate with bacon.
If you like beef fat and bacon
And tannins that cause you pain
If amphorae don't scare you
And you have a whole brain
If you like cheeses as your main course
And Zin's a food group you crave
I'm the wine geek you've looked for
Drink with me and escape