DINNER AT CRU - New York, NY (8/8/2005)

I'm on a very brief trip through New York City to do a little CellarTracker PR, and Wilfred is being so kind as to give me a place to stay.
While doing a little surfing and catching up on email, we ran across a thread on the 2003 Clos des Papes (subscriber only) on the Tanzer BB. It just so happened that I had some with me, so it seemed like a good time to pop a 375ml and see for ourselves! To follow that up, Wilfred opened a stunning and intense Alban Lorraine.

• 2003 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  When we first popped the 375ml there was indeed some heat on the nose, but within 5 minutes this was integrated. The nose is dusky, almost forbidding with some hints of leather but not giving away much right now. The palate was initially sweeter than I recall with intense, almost jammy raspberry. However, after 10 minutes the spicey, dried herbs and white pepper are exploding in the mouth. This is very tannic, but the fruit and extract already make it surpisingly approachable. Wow, this is lovely albeit much more monolithic than the 375ml the other evening (which I sipped at slowly from a decanter for 3+ hours). I let the glass sit for an hour and if anything the wine shut down a fair bit but did show lovely elegance and balance. This stuff is the real deal. I need to hide more of my bottles away and soon! (95 pts.)
  
• 2002 Alban Vineyards Syrah Lorraine - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley
  Oh my, what a nose on this wine! Smokey blackberry, coffee, tar, roasted meat, overrripe plums (nearly rotting), ripe and rich, wow this pushed the envelope. The palate is a little heavy at first, but wow this is stunningly plush and rich, an extremely opulent wine! And amazingly, despite the waves of silky fruit, there was very nice freshness beneath this with a faint undercurrent of mandarin orange, lightly juicy and citric. Wow, this is a big, heavy, packed wine. I simply love the nose, although the palate is just a little too much for me. Wow, look at that, I used the word "WOW" three (well, technically now four) times describing this; I guess it made an impression! (93 pts.)
  

Dinner was at Cru, a lovely meal! After arriving we settled into the unreal wine list and made our selections as we waited for our table.

The food was simply fantastic. I started with a stunning troika of Crudo (sashimi); (1) Live Sea Scallop Buffalo Mozzarella, Caviar and Peach; (2) Langoustine Green Papaya-Truffle Salad and Gin Sauce, and (3) Aji Ginger-Scallion Salad, Maldon Salt and Chili Oil. From here we all ordered the same things, a knockout course of ravioli filled with braised beef cheek! Then we finished up with a very nice bit of lamb with artichokes in a somewhat Southern French preparation.

Alas, hindsight is 20-20 and looking back at the Chablis (which Wilfred had tasted in Paris just a month earlier), the bottle was prematurely advanced. It still went well with the Crudo, but it apparently wasn't what it should have been. The Haut Brion on the other hand was haunting, everything I could ask for in an exotic 1990 Graves and cheaper on the list than many current retail prices!

• 2000 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
  Was this an off bottle? Upon first tasting this was like liquefied stones, just so salty and mineral laden. The initially acidic impression gave way to rich, oily, ripe flavors, a surpring development for a wine I assumed would be more steely and pure. However, with more time in the glass this gave off more mature notes and seemed to show unnatural advancement. For me it was a pleasurable bottle. However, Wilfred had tasted a pristine example last month in France, and this bottle was a pale shadow to his memory. (And reading other notes on the wine it clearly seems we had a dud.) Rating reserved base on this, although for me this was still about 89 points.
  
• 1990 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  Wowza! When first tasted this showed horse, horse and more horse (Mr. Ed country here) along with with leather, white flowers, tobacco, earth, and roasted coffee; oyyy what a nose! The palate put that to shame however, ripe, unbelievably rich and full in the mouth, so sweet and forward and slutty in comparison to prior tastes of the more serious and dimensional 89 HB, this wine was definitely flaunting its considerable endowment tonight. What a pleasure! It is hard to put words to just how wonderful this was, a poster-child both for the vintage (ripe, sultry and forward) as well as the appellation (roasted, earthy, leathery, and indescribably complex). Wow!!! (98 pts.)
  

Upon arriving, we had run into John Kapon at the bar. As always, he had an impressive looking lineup of wines in front of him, so after a brief greeting we let him get back to his evening. We didn't end up seeing him leave, but as we neared the end of our meal some glasses appeared and the waitress explained that John wanted us to have a taste of some Quantarelli. OK, that works for me, thank you John!!! And of course this was a lovely match with a plate of cheeses.

• 1995 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone della Valpolicella - Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella
  This was a gift from John Kapon who we had run into in the bar before we sat down. Raisined, loaded with chalk and chocolate, notes of VA, very ripe and rich on the palate, a tough transition from the stunning Haut Brion yet a wonderful young wine in its own right and lovely with cheese. (91 pts.)
  

All in all, it was a lovely evening of food and wine. Cru is the real deal, a lovely restaurant.
Posted from CellarTracker