TN: Birthday in Tribeca CalonSegur, Guigal, and DRC well, it's a cake

Last night Betsy and I were invited to a 50th birthday party of a friend. Party was held in a common space in his Tribeca Building. Nice terrace with view of the city, a game room with pool-pingpong-foosball, and a main room for the food and drink (and a big screen showing Nureyev's "Don Quixote").

As an apertif, I had the 2004 Cairnbrae "Stones" Sauvignon Blanc. I'd had this recently, and it showed much the same- rather intense gooseberry-tropical fruit with a floral edge. I didn't get any jalapeno this time, but there is that bracing acidity. Juicy fruit but plenty of zip, aaahhhh. B+

Oswaldo is Brazilian, and had laid on quite a Brazilian feast. My Brazilian food experiences had been limited to a second-rate churrascaria place and a Portugese-Brazilian seafood restaurant. I have to say my first experience with feijoada (which is the "Brazilian national dish") was an eyeopener. Absolutely delicious, kind of cbuttoulet meets soul food. Tender pork, sausage, beans. Served with a shredded collards, orange, a tasty pepper sauce,and manioc flour baked with butter. Everything was great. He also had pitchers of caipirinhas, but I stuck to the wine:

1998 Guigal Brune & Blonde C=F4te-R=F4tie This is the second time I've been surprised how open and ready this wine is. I'm unsure how long this had been in decanter, but it was open and smooth. There's a peppery note that matches very well with the pepper sauce on the feijaoda, and for that matter the bacon-fat and smoke of the wine complement the dish's meat. Nice blackberry Syrah fruit, somr mocha and a little rosepetal. A-

1995 Calon-Segur Oswaldo had opened 3 bottles of this, put two in a magnum decanter, kept the other in a separate decanter, as he felt it smelled a bit off. The two bottles in the big decanter were clearly in good shape- big cbuttis and blackberry fruit, aromas of coffee, licorice, and cedar. Tannins were still sticking out a bit, a brawny wine that still needs time. B+-A- The other bottle of '95 Calon-Segur was clearly off. The fruit was muted compared to the other, and had a bit of a porty-roasted edge. A bit pruney on the nose. I would have confidently declared cooked, but it came from same case as the good bottles. C+

The birthday cake was in the form of a bottle of 1955 DRC Romanee-Conti, a bit more affordable than the wine version. Really fun night, with a nice space, great food, fine wines, and nice people. The best part of the evening was however the chance to spend a special day with someone of grace, urbanity, charm, and warmth. Another good friend that wine led me to.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.