Tasting Notes 3/22/2008

I have never been one to believe in Zodiac signs and how people born under certain signs get along better with people of certain other signs; but when the birthdays of all your dearest friends seem to cluster together, it does appear to lend credence to that theory, doesn’t it? I find that everyone I know seems to have been born in March, May or October (I myself was born in October). Morgan came down this past weekend to visit and I took the opportunity to throw a dinner party in celebration of his birthday as well as Brian’s and Jenna’s, which are also upcoming.

Beer-braised Mussels with Chicken Sausage:
Morgan and I picked up a 2 lb bag of mussels from Whole Foods and were thoroughly outraged as we picked through them. More than half of them were bad and we wound up with so few to work with that we had to add sausage to the recipe to make a substantial dish. The ones that we did wind up cooking tasted a little flat and had none of the natural sweetness of fresh mussels. The one saving grace was that they were rather large and fleshy but in our minds it was the sort of travesty that class action suits were made of.

Venica & Venica Sauvignon, Ronco delle mele, 2006:
Cool, crisp and not overly sugary, with strong grapefruit and melon accents. Sometimes you have a good wine and it is such an intense experience that you really cannot drink too much of it too quickly, as if every sip took something out of you. The absolute opposite is true of this wine – I just want to gulp it down. It is that enjoyable. My first experience with this wine came last year at Babbo in New York. I remember being secretly delighted that Elisabeth, who was also at the table, did not drink – for that meant more for the rest of us. I am an evil person, I know.

Gaja, Ca’Marcanda Promis, 2005:
My boss told me a story one time of how he was in a dusty town somewhere in Italy, found himself in a winebar in the early afternoon, and asked if the proprietor had any Gaja. The proprietor told him to wait right there and left him and his wife alone in the store, to run the several blocks home to his own cellars. He returned not only with a bottle of Gaja, but with two friends, for the only reason that opening a good bottle of wine is worth it, is if you have good people to drink it with. Apparently they had been waiting for just the occasion to open the bottle together, and my boss’ random question had somehow convinced the proprietor that that was the day it was going to happen. The story then goes, that when asked for his opinion on the wine, my boss had, in a characteristic fit of pomp and circumstance, declared, “E come latte di mamma (It’s like mother’s milk).” The proprietor, taken aback at the verity and eloquence of this statement, finally managed a smile and closed the discussion with equal gravitas – “Signore, cosa dici è molto forte, ma vero (Sir, what you say is very strong – but true).”

Now, Gaja wines are very expensive, especially the ones from the original Gaja estate in Piedmont, and I have no business even thinking about buying them, but fortunately in 1996 Angelo Gaja bought a second vineyard in Tuscany where he now makes three wines – Promis, Magari and the one that carries the estate’s name, Ca’Marcanda – in that order of price and quality. I have not had the Magari, but I remember the Ca’Marcanda to be spicy, complex and very playful. The other day I saw the Promis selling in my neighbourhood liquor store – the probability of which I had previously thought akin to me making out with Nicole Kidman, which is to say on the seventh of never. I decided, on a whim, to purchase several bottles. We opened a bottle of it between dinner courses, and it was perhaps a little too young, but with definite character. I tasted both fruits and nuts – specifically cherries, a hint of pistachios – but it was not as full bodied as I like my red wines. I suppose it is wrong to expect anybody or any thing to be something that they aren’t or it isn’t, so I tried my hardest to appreciate it for what it was.

Duck Leg Confit and Pan-Seared Duck Breast in a Juniper Berry and Honey Sauce, with Roasted Beets and Caramelised Onions:
I love duck. I’d tried a taste of an absolutely phenomenal duck dish at Eleven Madison Park in New York recently, spiced with herbs en Provence and lavender honey, and wanted to recreate it. Unfortunately Whole Foods (those bastards really ruined my meal) did not carry any lavender so we bought some dried juniper berries instead. I’d cured the duck legs in salt, thyme and bay leaves for two days before the meal, and roasted them in rendered duck fat and many, many cloves of garlic. They turned out really, really salty (I might cure them for less time the next time) but crispy and delicious all the same. Morgan timed the duck breasts to perfection and they were remarkably tender. He also did the beets, which were excellent, so that was two for two on his part. Well done Morgan.

Ciacci Piccolomini, Brunello di Montalcino, 2002
2002 was widely acknowledged to be a disastrous year for Brunellos, so I was able to pick up several bottles of my favourite Brunello for under 30 dollars a bottle. I figured that even if it were crap, it was still a Brunello, which should count for something. Now I have had the ‘97s, ‘98s, ‘99s and ‘01s (and have been remarkably lucky in that regard) and there is no doubt that this is by far the worst of the lot, but it is still pretty good. Like the other vintages, this had dark fruit and spice, but nowhere near the levels of body and depth of the others. It was kind of like taking a piece of paper, photocopying it, running the copy through the copier again, and then repeating that step twenty times. The 2002 was a pale shadow of the best Ciacci Brunellos, muted and not as complex, but still entirely enjoyable, especially if you are three bottles into the night.