A friend had his 50th last week, and as he had said “no party” they celebrated quietly. But Tracy was plotting. So last night they went to dinner with another couple at Mima’s, a nice restaurant in neighboring Irvington. Soon after another group of 4 arrived, were surprised to see their friends, were seated at another table in front room. And then another group…..By the 4th group Rob caught on, and the rest of us arrived (she had reserved entire front room). They brought out a nice assortment of antipasti and salumi, and once people started sitting down started bringing our family style portions of fritto misto (calamari, shrimp, & chickpeas with fennel salt), eggplant rollatini, meatballs, gnocchi with favas and asparagus, etc. I sampled all 3 of the wines on offer:
2012 Colle Massari Montecucco Rosso
Ripe, a bit coarse, red fruit (I think Montetucco is Sangiovese?), leather. A little short. B-
2012 San Pietro Pinot Nero
Light, floral, crisp red berry fruit, more Schiava than PN but pretty tasty B/B+
2013 Oggi Pinot Grigio (Veneto)
Light, but good crispness, went well with the fritto misto. B/B-
Last night we went retro, Betsy made a recipe for chop suey from Mark Bittman in the NYT. With fresh pac choi is was actually delicious, and Betsy’s side of fried rice with pancetta and fresh peas was even better. Wine was the 2011 Schafer-Frohlich Bockenaur Riesling Kabinett. Moderate sweetness, moderate acids, but really not showing much right now, quite tight. For current consumption B-
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.