Wine List Suggestions

I am going to Morimoto to celebrate my birthday on Saturday. I noticed that the restaurant has a pretty extensive wine list (by Pennsylvania standards, anyways). Here is a copy of their wine list: http://www.morimotorestaurant.com/drinks.pdf

Anything in particular catch your eye? I should mention that I'll probably be eating sushi only (mmm...sushi...)

Thanks in advance!

Happy Birthday! Aquarians rule!

I'd go with the Gruner Veltliner (and hope they might have a vintage more recent than the '04). Since, however, you are celebrating a birthday, a bottle of bubbly (like the '98 vintage Veuve Clicquot) would put a little "sparkle" into the evening; the bubbles & acidity will balance the fattiness of the sushi on the tongue.

marco

P.S. Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday! I've never had sushi, so I'm clueless wrt a match, but I'm a sucker for Bubblies, Vouvray and Muscadet.

[Robin Garr]

Anything in particular catch your eye? I should mention that I'll probably be eating sushi only (mmm...sushi...)

Happy birthday, Lizbeth!

I agree with the Grüner Veltliner call, and would not worry at all about its age - GV develops beautifully in the bottle. Bubbly's not a bad choice for a festive match with sushi either, and I notice a nice Prosecco on their by-the-glass list on the Website.

I do have to say, though, not meaning to rain on your parade, that the markups on that list look appalling to me. If Morimoto has a range of quality sake, you might consider going that route as a worthy alternative to wine with your sushi celebration. (Can't find any sake on the Website, which seems odd. You don't want the cheap stuff served warm in little cups at a high-end place like Morimoto, but I would be surprised if they don't have some high-end versions served chilled in wine glasses. It's made to go with sushi ... )

I am going to Morimoto to celebrate my birthday on Saturday. I noticed that the restaurant has a pretty extensive wine list (by Pennsylvania standards, anyways). Here is a copy of their wine list: http://www.morimotorestaurant.com/drinks.pdf

Anything in particular catch your eye? I should mention that I'll probably be eating sushi only (mmm...sushi...)

Thanks in advance!

Liz, it strikes me that the markup on this wine list is around 300% over retail, at least retail here. I really hate to reward greed, and in cases like this I don't. Eating sushi? I vote for beer.

Sorry for not wishing you a happy B-Day in the first go around Liz. Maybe it is just that I am jealous of anyone with that much living ahead of them.

That winelist sure needs some work! The Kim Crawford is the `04, they have missed 2 great vintages since then. Looks out-of-date to me.
I did notice some Albarinho on the list, that might work too eh forumites.
BobH, did you see the Marsanne (nod wink)???

[Jenise]

Liz, what Robin said! And happy birthday. Lucky you--everything I've heard nothing but superlatives about Morimoto.

Lizbeth,

Just as a point of reference, the 2003 Freemark Abbey Viognier is on the wine list at $73. I paid $23 for it at the local wine shop in 2005. The mark-ups are insane. Do they offer a corkage service?

Anything in particular catch your eye? I should mention that I'll probably be eating sushi only (mmm...sushi...)

Yeah, markups are high, but it is your birthday so maybe you should just ignore them. Vocoret makes good traditional Chablis and many 2002 white Burgs are drinking well now, so the Vocoret 2002 Montee de Tonnerre is a good choice. Bubbly is always nice with sushi and with birthdays, and Argyle is probably the best value on the list. Marquis de Goulaine Muscadet is OK and reasonably priced. The Freemark Abbye Viognier is not reasonably priced, but it is quite good, aromatic and ripe but not as alcoholic and flabby as many others. Have a great day!

I was optimistic before I looked at the list. But I got smacked hard when I saw Jordan Cab for $225. What Morimoto lacks in imagination they make up for in chutzpah. The prices are inane. Ordinarily I would recommend Rose Champagne, but I don't fathom either the prices or selection. $77 for a half bottle of Fiddlehead Pinot? Ouch!

Frankly, I would go with a high end Sake and tell the manager that I am disappointed in their wine program and pricing. But that's just me. I would go elsewhere on my birthday.

Happy Birthday.
While I am happy to see some Santa Barbara county wines on the list, the prices are insane. The DiBruno Sangiovese is a $15 wine.
I guess if I were in your shoes, I'd swallow hard, roll the dice, and order the Muscadet, though I do not know that producer. I'd look at it as a $30 bet - one I wouldn't feel too badly losing.

The prices on everything at Morimoto are a little (OK, a lot) insane, but I have a $150 gift certificate to spend!

What type of sake would you all recommend? During law school, I worked at a Pan-Asian restaurant, where we used to have tasting classes. At one class we had a bunch of sakes, and I remember liking some types, but others had this weird raw sewage smell that I just couldn't get past. Unfortunately, I cannot recall any of the names.

As a side note, I'm calling today to find out about their corkage policy. If it's allowed, I think I'm going to pick up a nice bottle at Moore Bros Saturday afternoon and do the BYO thing.

[Jenise]

Lizbeth, it's worth a try to ask. But don't plan on good news: in my experience restaurants with this kind of mark-up always have a rapacious corkage policy, too. Don't be surprised to hear $50, or something like that.

The prices on everything at Morimoto are a little (OK, a lot) insane, but I have a $150 gift certificate to spend!

What type of sake would you all recommend? During law school, I worked at a Pan-Asian restaurant, where we used to have tasting classes. At one class we had a bunch of sakes, and I remember liking some types, but others had this weird raw sewage smell that I just couldn't get past. Unfortunately, I cannot recall any of the names.

As a side note, I'm calling today to find out about their corkage policy. If it's allowed, I think I'm going to pick up a nice bottle at Moore Bros Saturday afternoon and do the BYO thing.

Liz,
I've had two terrific meals at Morimoto in the past. They do have an extensive selection of sakes, and I am no expert on the subject. You might get a staff recommendation for one of their better sakes for service cold. If you're not ordering wine off their list, your $150 will go a long way there (unless you go for the omakase). I've ordered a la carte in my two visits and been very, very pleased. Two particularly memorable dishes: the scallop sashimi and the matsutake salad served in an endive leaf. Enjoy!

Mark Lipton

Those markups are tough, but hey it's not real money!

I'd also go for the GV, though the Anselmi is a nice wine (meritage?!?!?!!) that might work if you wanted to combine sushi and some earthier flavors like the mushroom salad.

Grüner Veltliner

I have a very different slant on this. i do NOT believe that this is their wine list. the wines are way too old in many cases. i believe someone has not updated the website. if this is even close to the actual list you are handed i will be shocked. AND the wines are overprices as mentioned.

Just as an update: the corkage fee is $25 and the bottle cannot be a wine on their list. You also have to bring a receipt to prove it was purchased in PA (according to the host, this is state law).

The host is also faxing me the most recent copy of the wine list. So David, you are probably correct in saying that the one online is not completely up-to-date.

You also have to bring a receipt to prove it was purchased in PA (according to the host, this is state law).

Jesus T-F'ing Christ, these people are Nazis.

I was going to suggest that you drive over to Wine Library and get some real wine there:

http://winelibrary.com

At this point, though, I think I'd go ahead a forge a Pennsylvania LCB receipt.

Our forefathers revolted for far less than this.

I don't know what the individual LCB stores have in stock, but these are the wines which caught my eye on the LCB website:

2005 Spreitzer Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Spätlese, $36.99
2006 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Spätlese, $36.99
2006 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Spätlese, $49.49
2002 JJ Prüm Wehlener Sonnnenuhr Goldkap Auslese, $78.99

If you could find it in a local LCB store, then the 2006 Oberhäuser Brücke Spätlese, at $49.49 + $25 corkage = $74.49 total would be okay for a restaurant beverage.

Now if you decide to order off the Morimoto menu, then [trust me on this!] you are going to have to watch your waiter and/or sommelier like a hawk.

For instance, they've got generic listings, like the following, which are just utterly meaningless:

"riesling, st urban-hof [sic], germany, '04, $55"
"pinot noir, domaine henri gouges, premiere [sic] cru, nuits-st.-george, france '01, $230"

The St Urbans-Hof could be anything from an "estate" riesling [worth maybe $9.99] to an Ockfener Bockstein Goldkapsel Auslese [worth maybe $100], although I'd guess that it's probably a Kabinett from Ockfener Bockstein or Piesporter Goldtröpfchen.

And Henri Gouges makes two pages worth of "Premier Cru" reds [and another page of whites]:

http://www.gouges.com/production_rouge1_uk.html
http://www.gouges.com/production_rouge2_uk.html
http://www.gouges.com/production_blanc_uk.html

So goodness only knows which "premiere [sic] cru" they're talking about, for $230.

Anyway, bottom line is that, with an outfit like Morimoto, there's no telling what they'll actually bring to the table.

But here's where I want to go with this: They're showing the 1996 Dom Perignon, for $241, and current market value for the 1996 is up around $260:

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Dom+Perignon/1996/-/USD/A/-/0

If you were to order that wine, then I can just about guarantee you that they won't bring you the 1996 - instead, they'll bring you the 1998 [or maybe the 2000], and they'll try to slough that off on you as a replacement.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU PURCHASE THE 1998 OR THE 2000 for $241!!!

However, in the 1-in-a-million chance that they actually bring you the 1996, and if you've got the $150 gift certificate, then you could look at it as

$241 - $150 = $91

and there is no way in Hades that you will ever get another chance [in our lifetimes] to try the 1996 Dom Perignon for $91.

Which, if all other options have been exhausted, is probably where I'd go with this.

Just as an update: the corkage fee is $25 and the bottle cannot be a wine on their list. You also have to bring a receipt to prove it was purchased in PA (according to the host, this is state law).

Lizbeth,

That's not too bad in my opinion. I usually tip $25 per bottle at the rare restaurant that doesn't charge a corkage fee. You will have a much wider selection at your local wine shop and still save money.

Enjoy!

Since you can bring in a wine for reasonable corkage, go buy a vintage Rose Champagne. It will be worth it.

Since you can bring in a wine for reasonable corkage, go buy a vintage Rose Champagne. It will be worth it.

Read further down the thread - in general, she would need to forge an LCB receipt.

This is the sum total of "vintage Rose Champagne" at the LCB:

Sparkling Wines > French Champagne

2000 Roederer Cristal, $549.99
2002 Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne, $134.99
2005 Perrier Jouet Blason Brut, $69.99