WTN: Dinner at Il Corso

Matt Latuchie was back in town, and Zachary Ross joined us at Il Corso for a casual BYO dinner. Very, very good food as always, and a spectacular lineup of wine where almost every bottle was firing on all cylinders (was it a flower day?).

2008 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett #6
Amazing Kabinett; packed with layers of bright Riesling fruit, florality, slate and a green herbal tinge, there's plenty of ripeness and density here yet this conveys flavours with a remarkable finesse and lightness of touch, finishing very long and barely off dry.

2009 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl
Wild stuff. Starts out with an explosion of bright pineapple, peach and snap peas with a cereal-like savouriness; with time it builds and unravels more layers as floral, stony and spicy nuances develop. There's incredible power, richness and complexity here, bright acids though it feels slightly warm on the finish. That aside, it's a pretty spectacular wine and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to my other bottles with more time.

2008 Domaine David Clark Vosne-Romanée
Very nice; a little closed at first though it opens up with some air to show pure Pinot fruit with a gentle floral and spicy seasoning. That said I didn't focus on this much as it was completely overwhelmed by three other outstanding reds.

2008 Cecile Tremblay Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Rouges du Dessus
Pretty much everything I could want in a young Vosne; incredibly pure, rich sappy red fruited flavours seasoned with a vivid five-spice scent on a medium bodied frame that's incredibly finessed and impeccably balanced. With more time in the glass the fruit deepens while other floral and savoury brothy elements emerge. Outstanding wine and a producer I definitely need to pay more attention to.

2006 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes
An even better showing than the bottle I had last month. Spectacular aromatics; an amazing scent combining vivid raw and cured meat aromas, freshly ground black pepper, anise, rich dark Syrah fruit and savoury earthy elements into a fragrance that's hard to move away from. It's still very primary in the mouth, tannic at first but with a couple of hours of air it becomes much more accessible while unravelling layer after layer as you sit with it. Phenomenal.

1994 Noël Verset Cornas
Hard to put this one into words. This is incredible, a perfectly mature Verset where the tannin has melted away and it's drinking unbelievably well now. Starts out with an amazing fragrance combining all sorts of vivid cured and smoked meaty elements, red fruits, forestal underbrush and so much more, and the palate reflects the aromatics with the whole kaleidoscope of flavours coming together seamlessly and bright acids keeping it very fresh and lively. There's a sense of calm and incredible elegance here, tremendous balance and persistence and a finish that persists long after the last sip is gone. One of my great wine experiences (and both this and the Gonon went superbly with my beef short ribs).

Great notes Salil - really fun night, for sure!

DINNER AT IL CORSO - Il Corso - NY, NY (7/19/2011)

Met up for dinner with Zach and Salil. One of the best dinners I've ever attended that featured wines with incredible polish and complexity. An absolute assault on my tastebuds.
Opening Whites
Popped a duo of exciting, complex whites. Had this alongside a nicely made arugala salad with roasted pears.

• 2008 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett #6 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
  Nose had exotic and dense tropical fruits with lanolin, petrichor and white flowers. What blows me away with this wine is its density but absolute airyness on the palate. Tasted blind I would have pegged this as a Spatlese without quesiton. Müller continues to impress. (93 pts.)
• 2009 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl - Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
  Another wild 2009 from Austria. As a little kid I used to eat Honey-Nut Cherrios every morning and the nose of this wine reminded me exactly of that. On top of the sweet grains was the ever-present pineapple, and mango. The palate was a kaleidoscope of flavors ranging from airy lanolin notes, to mid-weight white florals and dense pineapple. At times I thought it was a bit brutish, but that has more to do with its age than its composition. Really knocked my socks off this evening - but no question to me that this will uncoil over time. (93 pts.)

Main Course
What a collection of reds! Two burgundies and two rhones paired wonderfully well with braised beef short ribs over mashed potatoes. Great pairing.

• 2008 Cecile Tremblay Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Rouges du Dessus - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
  From 40-year old vines that are merely a stones throw away from Grands Échezeaux it's easy to tell from the beginning that this is a serious wine in the making. Nose had just incredible depth featuring classic Vosne spice, some underbrush, lilac and elegant red berries. The palate was incredibly airy on the palate, yet packed incredibly density of flavor. Easy to tell that Tremblay is dealing with incredible fruit and that her techniques are top notch. Tasted blind, there's no question this would be pegged for a Grand Cru. Lovely wine! (94 pts.)
• 2008 Domaine David Clark Vosne-Romanée - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée
  I have to agree with Salil here. Sadly, this was brought to a dinner that featured a collection of staggering wines and this was lost in the mix. As Salil mentioned this was a bit unforgiving at first with tightly wound red floral, spice and red fruit tones. Should be an interesting wine in a 7-10 years.
• 2006 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
  Big thanks to Zach for bringing this beauty along to dinner! What a wild nose - incredibly exotic meat tones, with leather, dense anise and lush dark fruit. The palate developed over the course of dinner to feature lithe lilac, subtle coffee grinds, and meat, meat, meat. I drank this alongisde braised short ribs which I must admit is about as close to a perfect pairing as I can imagine. While this is absolutely firing on all cylinders already, this will reward those with patience. (96 pts.)
• 1994 Noël Verset Cornas - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
  When I think about the key reason why I love Cornas', one word comes to mind; rusticity. This Verset, to me, had all the key aspects of rustic Northern Rhone syrah - and was the finest example of syrah I've ever had from this region. The aroma educed me with gamey notes, olive tapanade, underbrush and lithe red fruit. The flavors were very deep and pure - seamlessly integrated. The palate made me smile - incredibly lengthy with beef broth undertones, beautiful spice, dried leaves, and red fruit. Seemed to be drinking at its prime. This is why I drink wine. Thanks for bringing the bottle along Salil. (97 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

Well now we know why Matt wants to buy Verset!

That's a great set of wines. I keep itching to get into my small stash of the Gonon VV (do we know if there will be subsequent vintages of this cuvee?), but will hold back for a while longer yet.

Well now we know why Matt wants to buy Verset!

That's a great set of wines. I keep itching to get into my small stash of the Gonon VV (do we know if there will be subsequent vintages of this cuvee?), but will hold back for a while longer yet.

yeah, Verset rocks!

regarding future cuvees of Gonon VV - i've got 4 of the 2007s already! planning on bringing that, some Truchot and an '83 Egon Muller Auslese Auction up to Connecticut later this fall.

[David M. Bueker]

Hmm - how in the world did I not get a secret e-mail/handshake from Salil on the '07 Gonon VV?

Hope to see you in the fall!

This was truly an incredible night of wines; thanks much to you two for the great, great stuff. I was delighted to pop the Gonon and glad we got to revel in it along with two other equally awesome wines. Good conversation too beyond just the usual winegeekerie, but the wines were so compelling that there was a fair amount of that, too; and by the end of the evening Salil couldn't stop interjecting with hosannas for the Verset.

Also, Wayne Brady is an asshole.

Oh, and yeah, the notes: I agree with pretty much everything noted above, although I found the Honivogl a bit too big and burly at the moment. My note reads: "Honeybird? This is the B-52 Flying Fortress of Gruners: it delivers a walloping payload of honey-drenched pineapple and a captivating toasted grain-like element. The wine is undeniably balanced but is equally undeniably massive - too big for me right now but one trusts that it will settle down with age."

Also, I don't think it is too hard to envision the Gonon ending up like rather like the Verset, with sufficient age. I've got to get some 07 VV, stat.

Thanks for the notes, guys. A dinner at Il Corso and Kane wasn't present? Hard to imagine! Regarding the Honivogl: as time goes on, I find myself gravitating less to Smaragd levels of ripeness in favor of Federspiel. They just seem to be better matches to the foods that we eat. Regardless, what a nice collection of wines and I'm going to have to look for that '07 Gonon VV, having earlier missed out on the '06 despite Salil's kind heads up.

Mark Lipton

Also, Wayne Brady is an asshole.

undeniably.

[David M. Bueker]

Regarding the Honivogl: as time goes on, I find myself gravitating less to Smaragd levels of ripeness in favor of Federspiel.

Of course now most Federspiels are at the top limit of ripeness, and thus darned close to what Smaragd used to be.

Nice lineup.
Haven't been to Il Corso in ages.
Why didn't I buy more Verset when it ws available/affordable?
Who is Wayne Brady, and why is he an ##$hole?

Who is Wayne Brady, and why is he an ##$hole?

He is a "celebrity" who apparently once only liked white wines, but some sommelier Matt knows in Vegas turned him onto Truchot and he had an epiphany. Now he only likes white wines and Truchot. Motherf***er is out there ferreting out every last bottle of Truchot he can, ruining it for us geeks.

Nice lineup.
Haven't been to Il Corso in ages.
Why didn't I buy more Verset when it ws available/affordable?
Who is Wayne Brady, and why is he an ##$hole?

He's an actor/comedian. I was out in Las Vegas a couple months ago, ordered a nice bottle of Truchot off the list at Cut and the Sommelier stopped by to prepare the bottle. She went on to tell me that Wayne Brady had been in there a couple months prior claiming he couldn't drink red wines...and the Somm boasted that she served him a 2004 Truchot Clos Sorbes (which is what I had ordered) hoping to change his mind. Now, according to the Somm, he's a big Truchot fan, doing what he can to source bottles.

Salil was furious after I shared the story!

By the way, if you're eager to drink Truchot for a decent price, Cut (in the Palazzo) is the place to go. Very deep list of Truchots from 2000 - 2005.

[David M. Bueker]

I winder how much I can get Wayne Brady to pay for my bottles of Truchot...

there are plenty of other buyers for Truchot, witness the crazy prices at auction year or two ago (I think I actually slightly know one of the bidders). I regret not buying when LEs Sorbes was $35-50, but if someone wants to chase at Truchot 1ers at $200 doesn't affect me.

there are plenty of other buyers for Truchot, witness the crazy prices at auction year or two ago (I think I actually slightly know one of the bidders). I regret not buying when LEs Sorbes was $35-50, but if someone wants to chase at Truchot 1ers at $200 doesn't affect me.

That's what was funny about Salil's rage: who really cares? Having intensely strong opinions about trifling matters is always funny.

[David M. Bueker]

there are plenty of other buyers for Truchot, witness the crazy prices at auction year or two ago (I think I actually slightly know one of the bidders). I regret not buying when LEs Sorbes was $35-50, but if someone wants to chase at Truchot 1ers at $200 doesn't affect me.

That's what was funny about Salil's rage: who really cares? Having intensely strong opinions about trifling matters is always funny.

But it's Truchot! It's not a trifling matter!

(How's that for an on-line Salil impression)

there are plenty of other buyers for Truchot, witness the crazy prices at auction year or two ago (I think I actually slightly know one of the bidders). I regret not buying when LEs Sorbes was $35-50, but if someone wants to chase at Truchot 1ers at $200 doesn't affect me.

That's what was funny about Salil's rage: who really cares? Having intensely strong opinions about trifling matters is always funny.

Try talking cricket with Salil to fully explore that side of him.

Mark Lipton