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Subject: DC CRUE Invade Mendocino Grill: Recap

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Fred

Wine Thief
Posts:2673

03/28/2004 10:42 PM
First a big thanks to Mark and Gove for joining us all last night, and thanks for the stellar wine! I'll post more later but the gym beckons. Whoever is running next to me will more than likely smell Cabernet....Lucky Them!

"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson

whiner

Second star to the right, and straight on till morning

Wine Thief
Posts:2869

03/29/2004 8:55 AM
Well, I got quite a bit more tipsy than I had anticipated, my girlfriend had to kick me twice to reintroduce me to the world of the consious. Sorry!!! I promise to hold my liquor better the next time . I was thrilled to meet Fred, CapitolKat, Dinwiddie, Mrs. Jaimetown, Mark, and Gove, and TravelRep was at the next table. It was great to see Jaimetown again. I can't wait to do this again. As to the food... We ate at Mendocino Grille and Wine Bar on the east end of the M Street Georgetown strip -- between the Latham and Four Seasons Hotels but on the north side of the street. Mrs. Whiner/my GF/Demander-in-chief took care of our total bill while I was zoned out, but I'm told we were comped the entirety of corkage, and, with everyone ordering a 4 course meal, the bill was really quite reasonable. If I recall the menu correctly, appetizers were mostly in the 8-10 range, salads were 8, desserts were about 8 and main courses were 20-26. The food was very good, but not top notch. My goat cheese and onion pastry appetizer was quite good, if a bit simple. The salad was the same. While I didn't taste the ceasar salad, the presentation was amazing. My lamb was good, but I wish it hadn't been served in an olive juice/its own juice plating. I would have preferred it broiled and served with a fresh tapenade, were those the flavors they were going for. Still, it wasn't bad. The cheese selection was excellent and the desert was very good. All-in-all, food wise, I would say this is a step down from restaurants like New Heights or Butterfield 9 or Tosca, but it is also less expensive, so I would go there again, were the occastion right. The room was warm, however, and I'm not running back, despite a genuinely good time... On to the wines... I have very short notes, if any at all, for most of these wines.All of these ratings are +/- 1.5 points as I was way too tipsy at the end of the night ot fully remember the second half of the wines as accurately as I should have liked. -2001 Landmark Overlook Chard. Very good. A little more oak than I expected, but well integrated. 89.5 -2001 Walter Hansel Cahill Lane Chard. Very very good. Green mango (pyang was right). 91. -2001 Sebastiani Sonoma Coast PN. Good. Rich pinot but lighter in body. 87. -2001 Melville PN. Deep dark, cherry. Mossy. Significant improvement over the 2000. 91. -1999 Martinelli Reserve PN. Apparantly opened at noon and decanted for 3 hours. 6th time I've tasted the wine, but 1st time I tasted it with so much air. Blackberry/black cherry liquer. More suggestion of the high (15.5+%?) alcohol level on the nose bc of the extended decanting. Awesome wine. 93. -1998 Dalla Valle Sangiovese. 1st time tasting a D.V. Sangiovese. I love Mia Klien. 90.5 -2002 Martinelli Guiseppe and Louisa Zin. 93 -2001 Paul Hobbs Cab. 91 -1998 Neal Cab. 91 -2001 Neal Second Chance Vineyard Cab. Very young. 93. -???? Red Car Sugardaddy Syrah. 90++(scores, at this point of the night, were useless) -1994 Warres Port. GFW! 92+ What is scary is that I know I'm fogetting 2 wines! In any case, I had an awesome time and I apologize for my state at the end of the night. I will see you all next month! a

I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland. -- Woody Allen

dinwiddie

Barrel Sampler
Posts:2155

03/29/2004 1:27 PM
I too woke up the next morning with a big head, not haveing reached home until something like 2:00am and having to face a drive to Richmond to go to the ballet. Glad to hear that Whiner got home ok, good thing that he had a competent (and quite lovely) minder as he was definitely feeling no pain. It was nice to meet Mrs. Jamietown, Whiner, Mrs. Whiner, and to see Jamietown, capitalkat, and Fred again. It was a real treat to have Mark Neal and Grove Celio join us. Apparently this was Mark's first visit to the east coast and I was pleased to meet him as I have always enjoyed his wine. Both were engaging and informative. I especially enjoyed talking to Mark about his view on balanced vineyard management. His passon for growing the grape is very much evident in his wines. Dinner was quite nice, though the food was not quite up to the standard set by Gabriel and the Caucaus Room. They did comp us all of the corkage fees however. I had the blue point oyster stew as a starter, and it was awesome. Large plump oysters, spicy from the with a rich soup. The butter lettuce and blue cheese salad was good, but not memorable. I also had the lamb, and again, while tasty, was not exceptional. Service was quite good and the restaurant was very good about providing glasses, decanters and keeping the chards chilled. The wines: 2001 Landmark Chardonnay Overlook - Quite elegant with overtones of apple and pear. Not too buttery, with a nice finish. 90pts 2001 Walter Hansel Kayhill Lane Chardonnay - Quite nice. Nice flavors of pear and mango. Very crisp and clean. 90pts 2001 Sebastaiani Sonoma Coast PN - Lots of plum, berry and cherry flavors. Just the right amount of oak and a long finish. Quite good especially at the price it goes for. 88 pts 2001 Melville PN - Very good. I'm sorry to say I can't remember which version this was, though I think it was the Santa Rita Hills. Quite a floral nose (I like), not too hot, and firm tannins. Fairly complex. Lots of fruit. I think this could use a year or two in the cellar. 89 pts 1999 Martinelli RRV PN - Since I brought this, I won't comment other than to say I am glad I have a couple of bottles left. I did decant it for about 3 hours before resealing it in the bottle to bring. 1998 Della Valle Pierre Rosse Sangiovese - A nice representation of CA Sangiovese. Supple, complex and lots of fruit. Makes you wonder why this grape doesn't do better in CA. 88 pts 2002 Martinelli Guiseppe and Louisa Zinfandel - Very jammy, lots and lots of fruit. If you like this style it is wonderful (I do)Blueberry, rasberrys and more. Yum. 91pts 2001 Paul Hobbs CS - Well structured and complex though it could use another year in the cellar. Currents, coffee, and herbs. Liked it quite a bit. 90pts 1998 Neal CS Napa Valley - Boy oh boy. They made a great bottle of wine in a difficult year. 90pts 2001 Neal CS Second Chance Vineyard - Still very young, but what a great wine. Complex but well structured with firm tannins. Lots of fruit, yet quite integrated even now. Loved it. 93pts 2002 Red Car Syrah - Paired very well with my lamb. Nose of violets and berrys. Still young, but very nice. 90pts 1994 Wares Port - Bam!! Wonderful if still young. Cherry, chocolate, and smooth. Thank you so much Fred. Wish I had some in the cellar. 94pts. All in all, a wonderful evening. P.S. - Travelrep and his party was at the table next to us, and we kept holding up bottles of wine and teasing him that he didn't get to try them. I finally relented and traded the end of the Della Valle Sangiovese for the end of his Sea Smoke Botella. It was quite good with lots of fruit, a slight earthy tone and well integrated. Wish I had some. 90pts

Fred

Wine Thief
Posts:2673

03/29/2004 3:29 PM
Let me chime in here with a couple of thoughts. 1) Whiner, no worries there are always casualties and it was just your turn. You better practice though becuase we didn't have all of the big guns at the table and when that time comes.....Look out! 2) Food. My meal was good but I've had better at Mendocino. I agree on the lamb I was hoping for a different presentation and it was obvious it saw a bit of time under a heat lamp as they timed all the meals to come out together. The Oyster stew was a show stopper thought, soooooo good. Cheese plate was very tasty and with the Warres that much better. Wine: I'll only comment on a few. My pallette was shot at this point from the combination of McAurthurs and dinner....Yikes. 01 Landmark: I echo someones TN's that this white should be decanted. It's very big, tons of oak and needs some air time to start to reviel the tropical fruit, apple & pear that get muted by the oak. 01 Walter Hansel: fantastic white, burgundian and lighter than the Landmark. This paired well with the stew. 01 Sebastiani PN: Good Pinot, simplistic in style but had good fruit forward and well integrated. 01 Melville PN: Really liked this style, James commented that all of the wines were too warm even though they all came from the cellar shortly before dinner. I agree but this still showed fantastically. 99 Martinelli RRV: This tied my WOTN. The air did a tremendous amount of good. Awesome wine The Dalle Valle was very good, Incorporated a nice italian style into the mix. very refreshing to drink The Martinelli G&L was young, just over the top for me at this point in the meal The Hobbs was young but very good. Thanks James I know this was your standout from last years barrel tasting Both Neal Cabs were truely awesome, the 98 especailly. It was showing so well for a wine that saw so little airtime. The 2001 Second Chance Vineyard, which interestingly enough I learned from Gove had to be dynamited in order to plant vines! Was showing a ton of potential. I look forward to accumulating this wine. 2002 Red Car Sugardaddy. I won't say I'm dissapointed with this wine yet because of the age. I really wanted to open one and it didn't show the fruit I was looking for. lots of toffe on the nose and muted crushed red fruits. nice finish but definetly needs bottle age and lots of it. 1994 Warre VP: What a classy wine, delicate and integrated fruits with good chocolate and light oak. This is just going to get awesome over the next 15 + years. My WOTN's were the 98 Neal, the Martinelli and the Warre. Cheers

"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson

travelrep

Northern Virginia

Barrel Filler
Posts:1080

03/29/2004 3:45 PM
Glad to hear that you all had as good a time as it appeared from the sidelines....also glad to hear that even though we shared the room with you from a different table, it will still count towards my attending an offline. Also for those of you who read a previous post of mine regarding taking Family TravelRep to Mendocino, the boyfriend (my daughter's, for you smart asses...) didn't make it. All in all a very good time, although quite warm in the room where we were. Thanks to Dinwiddie for sharing the last vestiges of the Dalla Valle Sangiovese. First time I tried one of their sangiovese's and it was quite good. As for the Seasmoke Botella, sorry to have given you as little a tease as I did, but luckily, there's more where that came from. Maybe for the April offline. Thanks to Mark and Gove as well for sharing their juice. Quite nice to be able to talk to them. Now that Mrs. TravelRep has seen that the DC Cru actually exists in the flesh and that you're reasonably sane, she might tell me that she wants to join in future revelrie...what to do, what to do???? T-rep

Pool Boy

Laurl, MD (DC suburb)

Master of Wine
Posts:13660

03/29/2004 4:08 PM
A spouse inclusive DC Crü event is not something to fear at all. Our spouses are our better halves anyway, right?

www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com

jaimetown

DC area

Wine Bottler
Posts:3411

03/29/2004 4:17 PM
We had a good time at the Mendocino Grill on Saturday night. Thanks to everyone for bringing their wines, and special thanks to Gove and Mark for dropping by to hang out with us. The service at the restaurant was very good as they kept the stemware coming and the food arrived promptly without much fuss. I started out with batter-fried soft-shell clams which was fantastic, and had a nice little butternut squash soup and finished with Kobe tri-tip steaks, which was delicious. Having participated in the barrel tasting earlier in the day I think made it a little harder for me to enjoy these wines, but here are my impressions: 2001 Landmark Chardonnay Overlook - Kicked off the evening with this elegant Chardonnay. 2001 Walter Hansel Kayhill Lane Chardonnay - very nice. Richer than the Landmark, it probably would've improved over the course of the evening. 2001 Sebastaiani Sonoma Coast PN - very nice. A cute little Pinot - kinda like the little girl next door you had a crush on when you were 8 years old. 2001 Melville PN Carrie's - This was the Carrie's bottling I brought. I thought it was showing well, but the lights shining on our table really warmed up the wines and as a result, this felt a little hot. 1999 Martinelli RRV PN - I know I'm in the minority here, but this wine just felt a little out of balance. A lot of acetone, and nail polish aromas, that overwhelmed the fruit for me. I enjoyed the Moonshine Ranch we had back last October more than this Martinelli. 1998 Della Valle Pierre Rosse Sangiovese - cherries and vanilla followed by copper scents. Pennies from the 1998 vintage. 2002 Martinelli Guiseppe and Louisa Zinfandel - A little over the top for me. I can appreciate how it is good for those who like the style. 2001 Paul Hobbs CS Napa - Dark fruits along with olive, herbs and spices. Structured, but a nice mid-palate. Could use a little more bottle time. 1998 Neal CS Napa Valley - Very nice - the best red wine of the night so far. 2001 Neal CS Second Chance Vineyard - Not anymore, this is the best red wine of the night. A great, concentrated wine that will age nicely for many years. 2002 Red Car Syrah - floral, showing a lot of blue fruit aromas and flavors. Very nice. 1994 Warres Port - After tasting 30 wines in the barrel tasting earlier in the day, and going through 10+ wines this evening, the Warres proved to be the WOTN, not only because it was a great wine, but because for my palate it was the singularly unique (read: sweet) wine that I tried today. Delicious with the cheese palate, especially that creamy blue cheese. Props to the Mendocino Grill staff who waived the entire corkage fee.

dinwiddie

Barrel Sampler
Posts:2155

03/29/2004 7:33 PM
travelrep, Of course Ms. dinwiddie has more sense than to party with a bunch of winos.

travelrep

Northern Virginia

Barrel Filler
Posts:1080

03/29/2004 8:04 PM
Din... Maybe Mrs. D has more good sense than you or I have. I don't know about Mrs. T-Rep yet, she's never been to an offline....might be interesting to find out how they'd do to keep up with us all...or maybe they can drink us under the table.

dinwiddie

Barrel Sampler
Posts:2155

03/29/2004 8:27 PM
Ms. D and Jake came to the Equinox dinner last March. Of course, she does not keep drinking if she feels she has had enough. In fact, she has shown no interest in attending these dinners and looks at them as a guys night out. Whiner was well advised to have Mrs. Whiner (who is really a soon to be Mrs. Whiner) with him on Saturday as it ensured he made it home in one piece. But on the serious side, wives, SOs, GFs, or whatever are always welcome, especially if they bring a nice bottle of wine with them.

Fred

Wine Thief
Posts:2673

03/29/2004 8:33 PM
I'm not sure whether whiner should be proud or embarrased that his GF drank him under the table, and I mean literally "under" the table. Just bustin' stones whiner....couldn't resist.

"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson

Winetex

Austin, Texas

Master of Wine
Posts:10573

03/29/2004 9:52 PM
Photos, where are the photos? We want to see whiner under the table.

Fred

Wine Thief
Posts:2673

03/29/2004 10:08 PM
unfortunately all we have are mental pictures.

"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson

Mark J.

Grape Stomper
Posts:116

03/30/2004 12:37 AM
It was a pleasure to meet everyone and thanks for the invite. Both Gove and I enjoyed the great conversations, eating great food and the wines were all fantastic. What a great selection of wines, really thought out. Next time I will not book a 8:30 flight, I am still paying for it!! The port was excellent. I will be back!!!! Thanks again to all. mjneal

whiner

Second star to the right, and straight on till morning

Wine Thief
Posts:2869

03/30/2004 4:13 AM
Quote: I'm not sure whether whiner should be proud or embarrased that his GF drank him under the table, and I mean literally "under" the table. Well, I'm proud of her. She's 4'11" and kept up with all of you! I'm mostly apologetic to Dinwiddie and Mark who had to sit next to me Next time I'll come in with more recent practice under my belt! As to pictures, I'm happy to post digial photos of a recreation, though I don't think it would do the actual scene justice. a

I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland. -- Woody Allen

jaimetown

DC area

Wine Bottler
Posts:3411

03/30/2004 6:00 AM
All you have to do to visualize whiner is to think of a chicken dance - watch his head dart up and down real quickly (minus the clucking)

norm herring User is Offline

Grape Sorter
Posts:232

03/30/2004 4:36 PM
Whiner-- no worries, I made sure your GF had someone to talk to while you were meditating over the great mysteries of winemaking(That's what you were doing with your eyes closed wasn't it?). I think Fred and Dinwinddie got the wines right. I think the Hansel could have used some air as it was better later- even though my tongue was numb by then. I did enjoy the Neal 98 and would pick it as my WOTN, but the Martinelli was a pleasure to enjoy with my Halibut. The fish was firm, crusty and moist and the appetizer oyster stew was superb with a great spice kick to enliven the taste buds. Overall anyone who loves wines and food would have enjoyed our table Saturday night. The room was very warm, as I brought my wine at about 55 deg and by the time it was opened and poured it was about 75 degrees. I was really pleased to share our evening with Mark and Gove- true gentlemen- who shared their thoughts with us on winemaking ,family, the Napa valley and vineyard management on top of bringing some great wines to share. Come back soon and spend some time in DC as it's a great city with lots to share. I think we should personally thank the restaurant for the tremendous gift of comping the corkage. When you consider we had 12 bottles for our 9 members that's $240 off the top of the bill. I plan to call the mgr. this week and say thanks for a good evening. By the way-- anyone want to meet Davy Crockett?? Fess Parker will be at Pearson's on Wednesday evening pouring his wines and signing autographs. Wish I still had my coonskin hat.

Fred

Wine Thief
Posts:2673

03/30/2004 5:27 PM
FYI- I talked to Troy Bock the GM for Mendocino and passed on a stellar message regarding the level of service and attention we recieved Saturday night. I did NOT mention the comping of corkage in case it was something Jawad our Maitre'd may get in trouble for, because it was big money by the time we stopped opening bottles.

"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson

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