Our good friend, Marissa, and lovely daughter Angeli were visiting over the weekend from Toronto, and Marina and I met up with them for dinner at Tribeca Grill. During the few times that we've dined at this restaurant, it had never appeared tired nor worn-out over the duration of its long existence and which, imho, qualifies it as a local dining institution. I enjoyed my appetizer octopus carpaccio (and which every one did so, too, as I passed my plate for everybody to partake with a taste). Even as we were having red Bordeaux for our second wine, for my main dish, I still opted for the Roasted Red Snapper with fresh Mushroom Risotto … another winner of a dish. Everybody else had dessert but will mention that the robust cheese course, which I went for instead, was worth skipping dessert for.
The wines:
1989 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Vendange Tardive, Alsace
More mature on the nose than the fairly recent vintages of Trimbach CFEs that I had been mostly drinking, as this showed more evolved hints of sulfur and flowers. There were citrus flavors of lemon and tangerine with just enough sweetness that’s closer to brown sugar than anything else. An easy crowd-pleaser, as it was smooth, long and lingering. This bottle was part of a case that was won in an auction (thanks Dale!) and which I was fortunate to be asked to divvy-up with. I think this wine will have more years of positive bottle development, and which I am glad that I will be able to revisit at some latter point. B+
1986 Ch. Le Bon Pasteur, Pomerol
Before anybody can say “Oh no! Another young, tannic, backward 1986 Bordeaux!”, this wine did show tannin and some level of that ‘86 backwardness, with high acidity, but this one was not shy about showing ripe, blue fruit, which, again made it another crowd-pleaser. From a good bottle, the smell of a good Pomerol was quite evident with fruit, earth, and wet leaves. The medium-bodied wine was quite complementary of my roasted snapper dish. Another compelling reason as to why we age Bordeaux. B+
