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dinwiddie
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2178
 | | 12/07/2006 1:10 PM |
| | Does the restaurant need us to bring glasses? The last time we ate there they were stretched a little bit but managed. Of course if I remember correctly there were three other groups of wine parties there at the same time (including that very tipsy lady who came over to see what we were drinking from the party that was focusing on older Bordeaux and to offer us a taste of the '79 Margaux). I don't particularly want to lug glasses on the METRO but will if they are needed. | | | |
| jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts:3504
| | 12/08/2006 2:54 PM |
| | Let me double check on that - I'll let you know later today. | | | |
| AlexRed
Northern VA
Barrel Filler
Posts:1357
| | 12/08/2006 5:53 PM |
| | What will be the protocol for keeping the wines blind? will we get there and see the wine and then "bag them" and do it single blind or should we take precautions to keep the wines covered when we bring them with our names on the outside like Alex #1 and Alex #2 etc.? | | | |
| jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts:3504
| | 12/08/2006 6:41 PM |
| Alex you can just brown bag the wines when you bring them. I would take off the foil completely and bag them - in the spirit of wine geekdom, I can bring some tape to tape up the bag.
Regarding glasses, since there's going to be 12 people, if a few people want to bring a six pack of Bordeaux stems that would be great. I am planning to bring a few as well.
Whites/Bubblies (4)
Rhone-blends (5)
Bordeaux-blends (4)
dessert (1)
Dinwiddie (1)
T-Rep (2)
Dave (1)
Scottj (1)
AlexRed (2)
newsguy (2)
winoman (2)
jaimetown (1)
Attendees: 12 (we've got two tables of 6 and 6)
Lavandou Restaurant
3321 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 966-3003
Metro stop: Cleveland Park
Dinner starts at 6pm | | | |
| norm herring
Grape Sorter
Posts:238
| | 12/08/2006 7:38 PM |
| I was begining to worry that you guys were going to finish this up before you got up to 100 posts but I see that some of you are just catching your breath  | | | |
| Dave
Wine Thief
Posts:2899
| | 12/09/2006 12:28 AM |
| | Whoever gets there first should ask them to push the two tables together. We are usually able to get 12 in a single table. | | | |
| scottj
Houston, TX
Grape Fermenter
Posts:559
| | 12/09/2006 2:30 PM |
| Would someone please bring an extra bag for my bottle ? The only ones I can put my hands on now have the store name printed on them. I would bet I'd have the only wine in a Spec's bag ...
Thanks !
Scott | | | |
| jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts:3504
| | 12/09/2006 4:45 PM |
| | no problem Scott, I'll bring an extra bag for you. | | | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 12/09/2006 5:33 PM |
| | Partu on dudes, but remember to report back. | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 12/10/2006 4:14 PM |
| | I assume y'all are hung over still huh? | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| ChangeMe
Grape Picker
Posts:13
| | 12/10/2006 5:01 PM |
| since no one else has checked in here, just wanted to let the board know that we had a wonderful evening. my wife and i truly enjoyed the five-plus hours of great wine, food and company. i'll add some TNs later, but for now, i'm off to the office. yup, i get to go to work today. lucky me.  | | | |
| Winoman
Herndon VA
Grape Sorter
Posts:390
| | 12/10/2006 5:45 PM |
| | Actually I'm just about to head out to Glory Days to drink beer and watch some football (in that order)...I concur with Newsguy - food, wine & company all great (in no particular order). Newsguy and Angelique (did I get it right?) were great and fit right in with the CRU. I have a very nice ongoing conversation with Scott & David (about me being a wine cheapskate!) and just in general the event had a great vibe all around - but we really did miss you TJ (and significant other). A lot of this was do to the great restaurant. Not only great food and excellent service but very very nice people...now if they would only get themselves some real wine glasses...luckily for us we are able to help ourselves out in that regard (Thanks Dave and all who brought - much needed - wine glasses!). We arrived a bit late so missed the tasting for the whites - consiting of a Rioja from 1988? (did I get that right?) a Mersault and a Peavy (cali white Rhone blend sort of thing) - all were very nice - extremely pleasent wines that were fresh (even the elder statesmen Rioja) and really showed their particular fruits....but I only had a bit of each so I'll let others provide the details. The Rhone flight was just fabulous - 3 Pegaus - 98, 00 & 01, A 98 Bosquet de Papes (?) that for me was WOTN based on boquest alone and it drank so great - so perfectly CNdP - with great intensity and all the right peppery and red fruity notes - really a testement for what can be done with Grenache - if this wine is still avalible I will seak it out. Of course i was comp-letely fooled by all the Pegaus and other Rhones - what I thought was 03 turned out to be 98 (in both cases)...so I was totally stumped. All were enjoyable...as were the Bordeaux/Bordeaux blend red - but as I need to get moving to get to football and my frothy headed beer I need to cut short. BTW Dinnwiddie and I did not coordinate our wines - though I loved that we both brought Cote Rotie and forced everyone out of their Southern Rhone box a bit for the night. I thouhg t both of our wines were extremely pleasent - mine a 99 Gugal d'Ampius and his a 98 Brune et Blond - if we had coordinated I would have brought the 98 d'Ampius myself! Both wines stumped everyone - I was sure that the 98 was a Southern Rhone. Two other real stumpers were the older Mondavi (forgot the vintage - 87? it was drinking very fresh though looking at the wine and noticing its very smooth finish I should have guessed its age...the bit of menthol made me think it was Aussie Syrah BTW....and their was a 96 St Estephe that I had pegged as a Graves wine (and if I tasted it again I would never think St Estephe)...it had to be the absolute smoothest St Estephe I've ever come accross - tasty! Sorry if I've left out any (S. African!) or other wines - I'm sure others will coment...got to go...and GO REDSKINS! (hope your enjoying the game Scott). | | | |
| jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts:3504
| | 12/11/2006 3:34 PM |
| Thank you for everyone who attended, and thanks to scottj for coming out and giving us a reason to party. It was a fantastic dinner with awesome wines and jovial company. I'll post a write-up later this evening, but the wines were all very good!
Rioja 1988 (details at home)
Peay 2004 Rousanne/Marsanne
V. Girardin 2003 Meursault Les Narvaux
Bosquet des Papes 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape
Pegau 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape
Peagu 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape
Pegau 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape
Guigal 1999 Cote Rotie Ch. d'Ampuis
Guigal 1998 Cote Rotie Brun et Blonde
Les Pagodes de Cos 1996 St. Estephe
R. Mondavi 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon
Ch Clinet 1999 Pomerol
Vilafonte 2003 Series C South Africa
Ch. Rieussec 1998 | | | |
| AlexRed
Northern VA
Barrel Filler
Posts:1357
| | 12/11/2006 4:08 PM |
| Fun evening with great wines. Talk about an introduction to Pegau wines huh? The blind tasting idea was great and James you did a wonderful job of organizing it, i don't know if you massaged the attendees to arrange the nice 1 2 3 of pegau but it worked out perfectly.
the white Rioja was very interesting, had notes of balsa and sherry, and continued to open in the glass 10-20 minutes later...
i wonder if andy would be happy to know everyone thought the Peay was french. of course i thought the burg was california with the volume turned down, whoops.
the rhones were very tasty, i haven't had any experience up till now with pegau. absolutely incredible to taste the three of the back to back. thanks everyone.
i should have been able to guess Bob's wines since he brought the same 2 bottles to a rhone dinner a year and a half ago. eheh. they were great then too.
The Bordeaux flight was very tasty, i had to learn from the others comments on the typicity (or not ) of the St. Estephe, the Pomeral didn't scream merlot to me, so i didn't even guess there (although by that time of the night i was not writing much at all.)
the 78 Mondavi was a trip. I picked it up at K&L a few months ago and it tasted very young (hence winoman saying "87?"). still very alive and tasty. literally seeming to be the late 90's. Great fill, the cork was soaked halfway up and James had to dig for a little bit to get it out. Wish i had picked p more than one.
The vilafonte was a wake up call even that late in the evening i think everyone turned around and was interested in it. Very rich and full, great wine.
The Rieussec was great, not too sweet but very flavorful. perfect at the end of the meal.
I loved the blind aspect of the tasting even though it made me feel slow and inexperienced... I guess i have to drink more.
thanks for an enjoyable evening everyone.
oh yeah, the food was very tasty. and yeah, when people said that if you could bring glasses that might help i didn't realize the severity of the need. sorry next time we go there i will bring more than a handful. thanks James and Dave for bringing more than their fair share.
Tj, I forgot you weren't coming, so i brought your littorai and everyone has been nice enough not to mention that we cracked a few... they thought they would give me some time to replace them...
just kidding.   | | | |
| dinwiddie
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2178
| | 12/12/2006 2:18 AM |
| Well it was a great night. The company was great, the food very good, and the wines out of this world. To please TJ I will report that I started with the escargot, very garlicy and delish. The hanger steak was cooked just as I asked, medium rare but more to the rare side. Lots of good crusty bread and a very nice olive oil to dip it in. However, other than the company, the wines were the stars of the night. As to the company, it was nice to see some of the Cru again, T-Rep and Mrs, Alex and Julie, and to meet Scottj and Newsguy and Angelique (his lovely - and very new) wife. Winoman and wife, who I met at the Charlie Palmer dinner were also in attendance but at the other end of the table so I didn't get to talk much with them.
If there was any complaint it is that the restaurant just doesn't have decent glasses. But once again Dave and jamietowne came to the rescue. Next time I will have to remember to pack along a six pack of ISpags.
Now to the wines:
The Vina Tondonia White Rioja 1988 was first up and suprised everyone. It reminded me of a dry sherry, with a nice nose. I could tell it was old, but thought it was French. The V. Girardin 2003 Meursault Les Narvaux was a joy. James is going to get me in trouble if he keeps bringing these wines. I spend too much as it is to start in that class. The Peay 2004 Rousanne/Marsanne had me flumoxed. At first I thought it was a chard, but decided it was an oaky french white bordeaux. Then I decided it was from California wine, but couldn't place it. When it was finally revealed, everyone was suprised.
Next was the Les Pagodes de Cos 1996 St. Estephe. Everyone was fooled, mostly because it was a Right Bank wine. I would have sworn that it was a Pomeral.
The R. Mondavi 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon that followed was great. Still fresh and alive, it sang. Hard to believe it was so old, I would have sworn it was a 96 from tasting it. The Ch Clinet 1999 Pomerol is still young, lots of fruit and meat, but needs time.
I brought the Bosquet des Papes 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape. I wanted to see how it was progressing. Glad I have a couple left because it sang. A wonderful example of a 100% Grenache CNdP.
The next three wines, the 2000, 2001, and 2003 Chateauneuf du Papes from Peagu were great. I especially liked the 2001 and thought it was the biggest of the lot.
The next two wines, a Guigal 1999 Cote Rotie Ch. d'Ampuis and the Guigal 1998 Cote Rotie Brun et Blonde were interesting. The 99 was quite powerful, full bodied and still somewhat tannic. The 98 had mellowed some, and was more elegant. Both were excellent.
My wine of the night was the Vilafonte 2003 Series C South Africa. Nodody pegged this as being from South Africa. A classic cab heavy Bordeaux blend it was facinating. Lots of fruit, powerful and still tannic, it delighted all. What an amazing wine.
The evening ended with the Ch. Rieussec 1998. A classic Sauterne, thick, spicy, powerful and sweet. Perfect dessert, it went well with the chocolate mousse.
As we were walking to the metro I stopped in at Dino to introduce Newsguy and Angelique to Dean Gold, but unfortunately it was too late to have a glass of wine there.
All in all a great night. | | | |
| Dave
Wine Thief
Posts:2899
| | 12/12/2006 4:06 AM |
| That really was a fun night and a tribute to Scottj. We have had difficulty getting together of late, but everyone was happy to come and help Scott in his pre-game rituals. It was great to meet Winoman and Newsguy and their respective spouses. 4 woman at a DC Cru tasting is unprecedented. I would have guessed that our numbers would have had to swell well beyond 200 to ever achieve that many females at a single tasting. Brava!
I have no notes and only hazy recollections, but I can supply a few details.
The Rioja was a 1988 R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia Blanco. It is a blend of Viura and Malvasía. It is a surprisingly good wine that never sees any stainless steel (aged in oak for 7-8 years and then in the bottle for another 6 years). It is completely dry with crisp acidity. I bought some of the '88, '81 and '76 the last time I was in NY. It should age for another 50 years.
For me the highlight of the tasting was the chance to try the 2000, 2001 and 2003 Pegaus side by side. I preferred the 2001, but am happy to own all three. Most at the table preferred the '98 Bosquet des Papes for its laser-like fruit, but I wanted horsey/gamey and preferred all three Pegaus. Aside from Alban, Pax and L'Aventure (latter two are still being evaluated), my days of buying California Syrah are numbered. Old World wines win hands down here.
One surprise for me was how much I liked the '99 Guigal Cote Rotie Ch. d'Ampuis. It was my WOTN (followed by the '01 Pegau). Note to self, buy more Northern Rhones.
I enjoyed trying the '78 Mondavi very much. Alex, flush from his success from having passed the excellent Peay Roussanne/Marsanne off as a French wine, tried to sell the Mondavi as a Bordeaux. I was having none of that. It was clearly a California Cab, but I was a loss to identify it. It was too minty, which should have been a sign that it was an older cab, but I missed that completely. It was a well stored bottle though, which is rare. Kudos to K&L. One negative to California cabs (e.g., '86 Insignia) is that sometimes menthol, minty qualities start to predominate with extended bottle age.
I also liked the 2003 Vilafonte Series C. I misidentified it as a Spanish cab. It probably got a little lost in this tasting, but it is a serious wine that I think should be put down for 10 years or more.
My parting thought is that we had some great wines, but the one that I am going to search out and buy (not even my favorite Bordeaux of the night) is the '96 Les Pagodes de Cos. Now that is a great cellar defender. Thanks Newsguy.
Lavandou, glassware aside, was great as always. I left before the bill was delivered, so it was a bargain to boot. | | | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 12/13/2006 3:46 AM |
| Sounds like a wonderful night. 4 women at a Crü outing? Has that ever happened before (not counting corkage's and other Crüdite's hosted dinners)? A new record.
Hee-Haw to you Alex. You must be picking up tips from Dave to drive me crazy.
Sorry to have missed it, I hope to make the next few of these for sure. By the way, did anyone know the order of the wines being frunk beforehand (JT?) or was it blind for everyone? | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| AlexRed
Northern VA
Barrel Filler
Posts:1357
| | 12/13/2006 4:30 PM |
| People showed up with their bottles in bags and labeled them, so everyone knew their own bottle AND which one it was (i.e. Bob's Rhone #1, Alex's White, etc.) James knew what every bottle was before hand and since they were labeled knew each one.
Everyone would taste each wine, we usually had 2 blind at any one time overlapping, which was nice for comparison. so the first Pegau was revealed when people were still tasting and evaluating the 2nd and 3rd in their glass still blind.
The only exceptions being Dave's White Rioja which was a last minute addition (so i don't think James even knew about that) and the Rieussec was not bagged.
it was a lot of fun... | | | |
| ChangeMe
Grape Picker
Posts:13
| | 12/13/2006 6:44 PM |
| | You're welcome, Dave. For those wondering, Les Pagodes de Cos is, in fact, the second wine of Cos d'Estournel. The '96 is drinking wonderfully right now and may improve for a few more years and likely hold for 10 after that. It's a rarity: a mature Bordeaux at a bargain price. And I couldn't resist sneaking it in at a blind tasting. | | | |
| travelrep
Northern Virginia
Barrel Filler
Posts:1105
| | 12/13/2006 9:54 PM |
| There's a benefit to chiming in after everyone else has already given their impressions about the food and the wine....there's no heavy lifting left for me to do!
This was the second time that I've eaten at Lavandou with the Cru and quite a memorable time it was. The food was quite tasty and the wines even better. I brought the Meurseult and found it to be nice. Of the reds, I really liked the verticle of the Pegau CdP. I only have some of the '03 in the cellar but it was really nice to sample two earlier vintages. My WOTN was the Vilafonte from S. Africa. I also really enjoyed the Rieussec. I have a few 375's of the '02 vintage and it was a pleasure to get a taste of what they've done in the past.
As usual, it was good to see the Cru and to meet Winoman and Mrs. W. Hopefully, he/they'll attend future VC offlines.
T-Rep | | | |
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