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Fred
Wine Thief
Posts:2673
 | | 08/22/2004 3:44 PM |
| Well kids have at it.
Who's Awake? Who's Full, Who's Hungover? | |
"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:1105
| | 08/22/2004 4:10 PM |
| 9:00AM came waaaaay too early today. Mrs. T-Rep was in just a little pain this morning (read, hungover, but I'm being kind). The food was unbelievable. I didn't take notes but my food of the night was the oyster chowder....or was it the pan seared grouper made especially for me by Corkage...or was it the lobster dish?????? Too much good food. As for the wines, I think that TJ was the archivist for the evening, so he'll probably chime in with his notes. I really liked the wine Jaimetown brought for the oyster chowder, a Veltliner (?) I believe and the Kistler Vine Hill Chardonnay with the lobster was just out of this world. All in all, great food, great wine, great cameraderie and a great time. Kudos to Corkage and Nicole for hosting us all once again.
T-Rep | | | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 08/22/2004 5:52 PM |
| Head hurt. Talk later.
ooog
 | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Marty
Burleson, TX
Grape Sorter
Posts:361
| | 08/23/2004 1:23 PM |
| | Where are the photos?? | |
"We are the Hokies!" | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 08/23/2004 1:49 PM |
| I have photos. This time I actually have photos of not just the food, but the people too. Sadly, I forgot to get a Vinocellar Poster shot.
Will post a link tonight.  | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Corkage
Grape Puncher
Posts:975
| | 08/23/2004 1:51 PM |
| What a great night! Thanks to everyone for making it a memorable evening, and a special thanks for bringing the great cheeses and wines. Big-up to Jaimetown for covering wine duties, I heard many compliments on your behalf. Huge thanks to JohnnyB for picking up sous duties, to Chris, & Ray for kitchen help and service. And of course to Swill for his kitchen cleaning prowess. Being a dishwasher in the Marines really paid off! Special thanks to honorary DC Cru member Brian for prep and fisrt course plating (one of the best looking dishes of the night thankts ot him).
We were also treated to Mrs. TJs ginger cookies which ROCK (I hid the rest for my personal stash).
Jeez, I don't have wine list so I'll have to wait for TJ. JohnnyB brought a SQN Pinot for the kitchen and he popped a bottle of Melville Carries (plus left one for me).
First Course of Tuna, Grouper and Scallop Tartare was nice. The guy at whole foods had just cut the filets that morning. The Smoked trout was good too.
Second course of oyster soup was apparently well received. That's good because up until that point it was conceptual, something JohnnyB and I dreamed up over lunch one day. The oyster was breaded in an indian spice recipe of ginger, jalpenos, tumeric and lemon and I think it was a neat surprise. Anyone frying oysters or shrimp should try this recipe.
Third course of lobster and 2 color papardelle worried me. I asked Johnny in the kitchen "how does it taste, seems a little weird" He said "tastes fine...how's it supposed ot taste?" And then we hit it with more lobster stock, took a swig of wine and declared it ready. Actually we "jus-ed it", as one of the quotes of the evening. Oh and DJ Hombre, we roasted and creamed some white corn and laid it as the base, great counterpoint for the thai chili, tamarind and palm sugar + lobster jus sauce.
Fourth course of beef tenderloin. I'm actually pretty tired of beef, having eaten a lot of it lately. I'm the only one, though, who didn't finish my tenderloin. I usually make red wine reductions with demi-glace but had a pint of homemade veal glace in the freezer. The veal glace (8x reduced veal stock) is a much better base for sauces. its worth the 2 days and $20 of veal bones and meat to make it.
The cheese course was the best yet. We had a great selection of at least 10-12 cheeses and a few misc bottles of wine floating around.
Dessert was a chocolate ganash cake and raspberry torte cake form the french bakery around the corner. Mrs C wanted to make 18 creme brulee, but I nixed that. Pregnant (and emotionally sensitive) ladies should not subject themselves to that process.
Cigars on the deck and Raybanz and Fred sharing stories of slapping ass, "drafting" and road-cycing rules topped the evening.
My father in law took pictures, Swill's hottie took pictures and TJ took pictures so we'll get some posted here shortly.
Thanks yall for celebrating with me and Mrs. C! | | | |
| Rothko
Palm Beach
Wine Thief
Posts:2875
| | 08/23/2004 1:59 PM |
| | Wow, sounds like a great time was had by all! | | | |
| jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts:3503
| | 08/23/2004 3:19 PM |
| It was a fantastic dinner - thanks to the Corkages for hosting us. We were all better prepared for this dinner having helped out the last time the Cru met at Chez Corkage, and save for a belly-flopping cheese plate, all went extremely well.
The food was absolutely wonderful, with the sublime Oyster Chowder edging out the Lobster Parapadelle for the course-of-the-night.
Hard to write proper tasting notes, but all these wines were quite food-friendly, and in some instances (esp. the Lobster course), the match was absolutely fantastic.
pre-dinner, in the kiitchen:
Sine Qua Non 2000(?) No. 6 Pinot Noir: A very nice Oregon Pinot. My first Sine Qua Non. Didn't blow me away, but a very good wine.
Dom. Maillard 2001 Chorey-les-Beaune (Rouge): didn't get to taste.
Dom. J.M. Boillot 2000 Montagny: ditto.
Sandrone 2000 Nebbiolo d'Alba Valmaggiore (the blind wine): I'm always up for subjecting folks to an excruciating round of drinking a blind wine. Many folks thought this might have been a Pinot. Soft ruby with slight bricking color on the edges, this was showing more Nebbiolo character than I last had it. Elegant and balanced on the palate, it was a bit demure aromatically, but it showed as well as it could with no air time.
Melville 2001 Carrie's Block Pinot Noir: didn't get to taste.
With the 1st Course:
Veuve Cliquot 1996 Brut Reserve: a nice bubbly. Fresh apple with a little dough.
Pol Roger 1995 (Blanc de Blanc?): didn't get to taste.
Bollinger 1996 Grand Annee Rose: Wonderfully elegant. A slightly dark pink color with fresh strawberry and apple flavors. Delicious, medium-bodied bubbly.
Mrs. Corkage was hoarding a non-alcoholic cider that I regretfully didn't get to taste.
With the 2nd Course:
Josef Hogl 2002 Gruner Veltliner Ried Schon Viessling: The most difficult to prounounce wine of the evening. Rich and round on the palate, but still fresh and vibrant. Was a nice compliment to the Course-of-the-Night (for me). Served a little warm, and could have used a little more focus (served colder) according to Mr. Plonk, and I agreed.
With the 3rd Course:
Kistler 2001 Vine Hill Chardonnay: Round and sexy, yet classy - like a Beyonce music video, if you know what I mean. Yum. Great match with the food.
Badia a Coltibuono 1998 Sangioveto IGT: wonderful notes of leather, earth, a hint of tea and bright cherries. Great match for the Lobster Parapadelle.
With the 4th Course and 5th Cheese course:
Ch. Beaucastel 2001 Coudulet de Beaucastel Cote du Rhone: talk about a tale of two bottles. One bottle had a fantastic nose of strawberries and raspberries, the other had aromas of pure funky mouvredre. Both were double-decanted for about 1 hour and the funk blew off in the second bottle, but it still had a little bit of that horsey smell going on. Very nice wine, in two different flavors.
Behrens & Hitchcock 2001 Ode to Picasso (magnum): the over-the-top wine of the night. Intense, ripe and rich - some loved it, some could only manage a glass of it.
Ch. Langoa Barton 1995 St. Julien: decanted for 2 hours, it was drinking beautifully tonight. Elegant with black fruits intertwined with slight tobacco. Wonderful St. Julien.
Radio Coteau 2002 Pinot Noir Hellenthal Vyd: very nice.
August West 2002 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vyd: very nice indeed!
With Dessert:
Ch. De Cosse 1998 Sauternes: a Lafite Rothschild property, this Sauternes showed waxy, candied fruit flavors.
Quinta do Noval 1997 Vintage Port Silval: decanted for 2 hours. Still very primary, but drinking pretty well on this night. | | | |
| Fred
Wine Thief
Posts:2673
| | 08/23/2004 8:36 PM |
| A first class evening all around. I've said it before and I'll say it again this is the best meal in town! Many thanks to the Corkage's for the unbelievable hospitality. It was a pleasure to see the man the myth the legend in action and even assist when neccesary. Here are some brief remarks on the food and vino.
Pre-Meal: Sine Qua Non Pinot; Thanks JohnnyB awesome wine, my first SQN red and it lived up to the hype.
Sandrone 2000 Nebbiolo d'Alba Valmaggiore: Many thanks for putting us all through the ringer on this one JT. Great wine, definetly a learning experience for me.
The Tuna/Grouper Tartare was fantastic, great texture and the augmentation of the scallop really rounded out the flavors. I could have eaten the Avacdo and smoked trout appetizer all night, and I had a slightly sore back from plating 18 of those bad boys.
All of the champage was fantastic. I'm a huge fan of the Bollinger Grande Annee Rose, just elegant. Thanks Raybanz for the Pol Roger, great wine!
The Oyster soup was insanely good. This got my vote for course of the evening just on the overwhelming flavors going on here. I think I can still taste the saffron. The fried oysters with this were some of the best I've had and that impromptu fried scallop weren't too bad either.
The Josef Hogl 2002 Gruner Veltliner Ried Schon Viessling was fantastic. I'll have to agree with JohnnyB and in his infinite wisdom this could have been colder but great none the less
If Corkage was concerned about the Lobster and Squid Ink Parpadelle he shouldn't have been this came out spot on. The corn was a really nice touch the lobster cooked perfect and the pasta perfectly Jus-ed. The Kistler Vine Hill hit a home run in pairing with this dish, best chard I've had to date.
I will go on record and say that I will never be "tired" of beef....ever. This was fantastic! Perfectly cooked even if JohnnyB and Corkage had some different opinions on when this was supposed to come out of the oven. The wines were a free for all at this point but I had some of the Ch. Langoa Barton 1995 St. Julien which one very good and earth & soil features went great with the beef. I also had the Ch. Beaucastel 2001 Coudulet de Beaucastel Cote du Rhone, seriously good so easy to drink for such a young wine. The Behrens & Hitchcock was really over the top. Intense is definetly the word to describe this wine. I'd love to taste it with about 10 years on it.
The Cheese plate was quite impressive, man did we have alot of good stinky cheeze to match our leftover red course. And then there were the cookies........OH MY GOD! Soo good, I would pay money TJ. Hear me? I would pay money for these!!!!!! I was a big fan of the 97 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port Silval, it was maybe a bit primary but had alot to give for a young VP. Thanks JT!
Awesome night folks, Thanks very much | |
"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:10796
| | 08/23/2004 9:29 PM |
| All I can say is "WOW!" I haven't stopped drooling since I read the menu.
Corkage - any chance you could post or PM the oyster soup recipe? It sounds like it has all of my favorite ingredients in it. | | | |
| Corkage
Grape Puncher
Posts:975
| | 08/23/2004 9:53 PM |
| | Winetex, no problem. Give me a day or so to type it up. | | | |
| travelrep
Northern Virginia
Barrel Filler
Posts:1105
| | 08/23/2004 10:13 PM |
| Corkster...
If it's possible, can you send a copy of the oyster soup recipe to me and Saundra as well?
T-Rep | | | |
| travelrep
Northern Virginia
Barrel Filler
Posts:1105
| | 08/23/2004 10:16 PM |
| Winetex...
All I can say is that the descriptions don't do the menu justice...you have to see the pictures to totally appreciate the creativity and innovation that Corkage has....maybe TJ will post them later today.
T-Rep | | | |
| ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 08/23/2004 10:43 PM |
| | Sounds like a truly wonderful evening. Corkage, rather than PMing the recipe, please post it here for all of us. | | | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 08/24/2004 2:18 AM |
| I am uploading photos right now and I will post a link to ofoto (no registration necessary, but you might want to if you want to order copies of any of the photos) shortly.
You know, it is amazing any of these photos came out at all given the amount of wine consumed.
Sadly, I did not get a shot of nearly everyone it seems. Ditto for all of the wine. But, I **think** I got all of the food (except TravelRep's fish dish, of which I took two pictures and they both turned out blurry).
Stay tuned. Should be here shortly! | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 08/24/2004 2:40 AM |
| OK. I uploaded the pictures, but I have not arranged the photos at all, nor have I edited the captions. I'll hit that tomorrow sometime.
But, I figured you'd want to see these as soon as I could get them up there, so, enjoy!!
photo link (no registration needed to view photos, only if you want to buy prints) | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| ChangeMe
Barrel Filler
Posts:1475
| | 08/24/2004 2:59 AM |
| Many, many thanks to chef corkage and mrs. corkage for another fabulous evening.
As far as food, my course of the night was the smoked trout and avacado salad. Wonderfully rich, and the freshness of the lime and avacado were a wonderful foil for the smokiness of the fish (plus I ate it with the Bollinger). Also of note were the oyster soup (and its beautiful plating), the very successful pasta (a last minute 2-color improv by corkage because of a lack of sufficient squid ink at the market... I hate when that happens), and the tenderloin. The tenderloin might well have been my course of the night if I weren't so full already. The beef was stellar, the parmesan spinach was incredibly rich and packed a great cheesy punch. The sauce was truly amazing (I thought TJ was going to fall off his chair he was so excited about the sauce) but the smoky duck relish on top put the whole dish into a different stratosphere.
My wine of the night had to be the 1996 Bollinger Rose. Beautiful pink color, lively feel and texture, with lots of strawberry flavor, some cherry and mineral notes, and a long finish. Honorable mentions go to the 1998 Badia a Coltibuono Sangioveto, which had loads of red fruit, a pronounced earthiness, and a backbone of racy acidity, and the 2002 August West Rosella's Vineyard Pinot, which I trully, truly loved (I didn't taste it until after dessert, so, while I remember I loved it, I don't really remember what it tasted like  ).
The humboldt fog and (of course) the roaring 40's blue were incredible cheeses. The cheese tray was wonderfully accented with a (someone correct me if I am wrong) fig-walnut tapenade brought by mrs. TJ. Speaking of mrs. TJ, the cookies really do live up to the hype. The ginger flavor comes in waves and has a finish that lasts for minutes. Mrs. Fields watch out!
It might have been my state of mind, or just plain euphoria from getting to talk to Fred about "slapping ass" (as Corkage so elegantly put our very level-headed road biking conversation), but the Cohiba I had on the deck was the best cigar I ever recall smoking.
Meals like this make most 5-star restaurants seem mediocre. It is truly a privilege to know as gifted a chef and as gracious a host as Corkage. | | | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 08/24/2004 12:51 PM |
| OK. I have updated the photo album picture captions and gotten them (mostly) in to order. Enjoy!!
BTW, the Badia a Coltibuono was a 1988, not 1998. Showed pretty well for a 16 year old Italian wine -- my first Italian wine that was that old.
I'll post my TNs hopefully tonight. I'll also add my two cents worth regarding the evening as a whole. But, suffice it to say for now, this was one amazing evening. | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10796
| | 08/24/2004 1:03 PM |
| | Again - WOW - that food looks awesome. More drool... | | | |
| Corkage
Grape Puncher
Posts:975
| | 08/24/2004 1:56 PM |
| The oyster soup recipe is postedhere
TJ great pictures, thanks! | | | |
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