Sunday was our anniversary (23rd). Gave Betsy a long list of restaurants to choose from, she chose Naro in Rock Center (Atomiox/Atoboy people).; I realized that Sunday is no corkage. So I packed a couple of '01s- Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling 375eme (anniversary bottling not size, it’s a 750) and Donnhoff Kirschheck Spatlese.
When we arrived at lovely restaurant (located down at skating rink level), looked at the tasting menu, and gave the somm the Trimbach to open. Waitress comes back, says "oh, that bottle you brought, the winemaker is here tonight" Jean Trimbacjh? Yes.
Somm brings bottle, I taste, think it's actually quite a bit more mature than 01 regular CFE I opened for choucroute night for my bday 2 weeks ago, but pretty tasty. Had the somm offer some to Jean and his wife. He came over and introduced himself (I told him we'd met briefly at Max's store 12-15 years ago) and sent over tastes of 2020 Denis Mortet Marsannay. He said the CFE was very mildly corked ("the wine is as it should be, but the cork has not done its job, we had some bad corks in that year"), but we discussed the vintage and had a nice chat about various Trimbach wines and various mutual acquaintances. Fun guy (his wife was nice, but we only spoke briefly).
So here's the thing. I know I'm not super-sensitve to TCA , but I’m in middle, even if I miss at first usually if someone points it out I can find. But Betsy's really a super sniffer type and she didn't find any either (and we each kept trying). And for first time ever being told a wine was corked, I kept drinking (it actually seemed a little fresher at end, though it was never really tired). So unsure if he's the TCA canary of all time, or if he is using corked in a different way (unlikely, his English is great). Perplexing.
So, with knowledge that not a pristine bottle (one way or the other)
2001 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling 375eme
Bronze a little nutty mild oxidation note, lemon and mineral. Not as young or as racy as the ‘01 regular bottle, but I thought it reminded me of some more forward mature wines like the ‘97 CFE. I enjoyed enough not to open the backup Riesling. B
2020 Denis Mortet Marsannay
Nice, big for Marsannay, a ltitle rustic, ripe but think that's vintage. Red and black cherry, long finish, new producer to me but I’ll look for. B+/B
The menu, all of which was excellent.
Sweetcorn dubak
Rice cracker with yellow tail, grilled corn, ricotta
Sundubu
Cold soup with shrimp, mussel, fermented peppers, straw-wrapped tofu, silken tofu
Potato Jeon
Wonderful pancake meets fritter (actually maybe more like a latke), tiny roasted carrots, pickled bird’s beak chile, preserved green tangerine (tasted a bit like a lime pickle), and a sauce made with parsnip and nuruk (apparently the fermentation starter in soju), with a red sorrel garnish
Black Bass
Bass wrapped around lardo, Beer Batter Fried Mu (basically a Korean radish take on a tater tot), confit leeks, seabeans
Songyi Mushroom
Pine mushrooms with sunchoke, potato cake, and a spicy mushroom broth
Dry-aged duck breast, with roasted baby Asian pears, confit chestnut, accompanied with rice with gingko nuts and gochujang.
The last 2 courses were sweet, a persimmon dish with pear sorbet, and a Songpyeon (rice poweder) Mille Feuille with sesame custard and rice milk ice cream
As I don't eat dessert I ordered a course off the bar menu, an excellent bowl of noodles in a nori broth with abalone, mushrooms, and some form of green kimchi
As they knew it was our anniversary (when telling Jean why we brought 2001), they also brought a candle in a little ball of apple cinnamon gelato.
Really fun night, really amazing coincidence, will be a good memory
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.