We had dinner at Montrachet (BYO) with the KillerBs, Hunter, TBird, mwagners, and Alweisses.

I didn't take any notes, but here are my recollections, faulty as they may be:

1996 Bollinger- elegant, ready, about a 90

2002 Beringer Sbragia- big, ready 93

2003 Rivers Marie- nose of Scotch tape, light, a drop sharp due to youthful acidity, 90

2002 Beaux Freres- lightly corked, opened a little with time, disappointing

1998 Guigal CdP- smelled like someone was mucking out a stable, disappointing, probably partially due to its youth. Needs time

2000 Elderton Command- complex, tasted like there might have been some Cabernet in it. 92

2002 Marquis Philips Shiraz 9- I didn't get the butter that mwagner did, sensing more baked apple. A huge Shiraz. 94

1995 Turley Black-Sears- Early madeirization on the nose. Too old

2002 Martinelli Jackass- One of my all-time favorite Zins. Huge in every regard. My WOTN 96

2002 Ridge Lytton Springs- Not up to previous bottles. Cinnamon and beries. 90

1990 Chateau Guiraud- Color much too deep for a 1990 Sauternes. possibly beginning to dry out. 87

One of these days I'm going to get my sticky little fingers on a bottle of Marquis Philips Shiraz.

Get your sticky little fingers up to NYC.

Board O:

We opened a 2002 Beaux Freres a week ago that was not corked. It was a disappointment.

Pete

I'd like to try one 5 years from now.

Board_O,

Montrachet is a restaurant I've considered going to several times in NYC but never wound up at. How is it? And, if you don't mind saying, what is the general price range?

a

The degustation menu is $79 and has been well worth the money in the past. This past Monday, the portions were unusually small, so smalll that people were complaining and they the restaurant must have realized this since they added an extra course, and it was the largest course of the dinner. In this regard, the place is a lot like Triomphe, where the portions are far too skimpy for a wine dinner. When people are drinking a significant amount of wine, they need some food in their stomach. This past Monday at Montrachet, the food itself was excellent in quality. There is another tasting menu for somewhere around $95, but I've never had that one.

The sommelier was an arrogant jerk (aren't they all?) and that's not just my opinion. Our wines were poured whenever we wanted them, but by the waitstaff. When the sommelier/pest opened Hunter's 2002 Beaux Freres, he poured himself a glass without asking.

I don't know the reason for the skimpiness of the dinner. It may have had something to do with BYO night. I emailed the restaurant with a link to the threads on the WS site and they didn't have the courtesy to respond. I probably will never go back there. There should have been someone in charge with whom we could have spoken, but no such person was in the restaurant on Monday. I know a great restaurant in the city where we should do something like this next time. The rooms are large and very comfortable and the food is excellent.

corkage was $0 on Monday nights

well i guess he figured with no corkage he could try the wines as well

I'm annoyed with myself for not speaking up. Not that I begrudge the guy a taste of our wine, but that he took it behind our backs without asking, then disappeared with it into the kitchen.

yeah, its not like you wouldn't offer the guy any.

Beaux Freres is supposed to be "corky". That is how 95% of all Oregon Pinots taste.


Lilac, Why would you want a Marquis Phillips wine of any sort? You should know that people either love 'em or hate 'em. Personally I think they taste like Kool Aid with out enough water mixed in.

Board_O, your notes are amazing. Look! Your highest rated wines are BABIES!

I am also curious what "dry out" means on the Sauternes. Do you mean bitter instead of sweet, dry instead of sweet, earthy instead of bright fruit. I need help.

And the "scotch tape" in the River's-Marie? Was it the tape itself or was it the glue? Do you mean the generic see-through stuff or on of the other million products make?

Someone please tell me why I make a post like this.
A gluttin for punishment?

You all sure had a nice variety of wines though. Sounds like you had fun!

it was alot of fun, and very cool to finally meet the KB's, the MW's, the AL's, hunter and mrs board-o. i had a great time. me and KB could sit and chat about music all night!

anyways, i don't think the beaux freres was corked, but it had it's natural funk that has never been my style.
the rivers marie confirms one list i believe i will drop(i don't think it was due to it's "youthfulness"). this definately isn't my style either.
the beringer was good, espicially at the price i heard. definately not recommended for the "chardonnay is too oaky these days" crowd..
elderton was finally getting me excited, and the MP 9 drove it home. yum.
turley was ok. martinelli rocked!
ridge was bought off the list, and was ok too.

thanks for setting that up board-o and i look forward to many many more!

There are four different River's-Marie. The "old vines" are pretty good. The "not" old vines is pretty weak. He released two vintages at the same time also. Do you know which one you had?

yes, i've had two "not" old vines(2002) and this one was the first "not" old vines(2003). i am saving(hoping) the old vines will do more for me, but am prepared for the worse. cellartracker said to drink the "not" old vines "by" 2007(2002) and 2008(2003), and that is why i do not think they were drunk to young...???

The lightly corked nose on the Beaux Freres was unlike any other OR PN I've had. This was atypical for OR PN.

The highest rated wines were certainly young. Bringing an aged wine to a dinner after a 25 mile drive isn't a great idea unless it was decanted, so these dinners frequently feature young wines. That shouldn't be a problem on this site though, since virtually wines written up are here are young, most far too young. It's actually a source of great amusement to me. I brought the Martinelli and the Shiraz 9 because I believe the Martinelli isn't going to get any better and the Shiraz 9 may improve only minimally.

When Sauternes ages and takes on a deeper color, their sweet richness begins to diminish, especially if the wine isn't very sweet or concentrated to begin with. Besides color, a sign of aging Sauternes is a drier austerity that often appears as the amber color begins to creep in.

The Scotch tape smell (my descriptor) simply reflects that the nose of the wine had a similarity to the smell of a roll of Scotch tape. There was probably a better descriptor to use, but this one worked for me.

Just ribbin' you board_O

I think you should get together a list of all the wines you have had the past couple of years and send it to tj. He can then figure the mean age and average age of all of those.

You gotta know... you are my hero and you practice what I only wish I would do.

I am curious about your Sauternes note. My experience has been that the older deeper-color Sauternes are more sweet than they were when they were younger and anything but auster. I get carmalized fruits in the older bottles and they are imo much more complex. Maybe some of ith is in my head and I think it is caramalized because of the color. I have challenged myself but it is hard to test. I ask other people "what" they get and no one ever uses the word "caramel". Except once I mention it everyone agrees; you know how that goes.

Btw, I love the "scotch tape" discriptor. I'm going to use it.

Well, I certainly must defer to your much greater experience with Sauternes, but the few I've tried both young and much older (1958, 1959, 1975, 1976, 1977 d'Yquem) all seemed to be less sweet as the color deepened.