TN: Tokyo payback Jim J. comes to Dobbs Ferry

When we were in Tokyo Jim Jones set up a fantastic offline for myself, Betsy, and Joe Bongiorno. Jim was in NYC this week, and we wanted to repay the favor. Betsy wanted to cook, and Jim graciously agreed to take the train out last night. Unfortunately, Joe ended up with a work conflict and couldn't come. We had a nice group for dinner, all of whom like wine - but only Jim & I were "geeky."

Luckily the weather had broken and we could spend the pre-dinner hour on the patio. Appetizers were my job, and I had buttembled some canapes of green apple, smoked trout and (on some) horseradish sauce. I also grilled some rolls of pancetta, radiccio, and goat cheese (good, though I know how to do better next time). Unfortunately, I was shocked to discover I had no Sauvignon Blanc- none, zip, nada- in cellar to match with the goat cheese, but we made do with an buttortment of ros=E9s, both still and sparkling:

NV Renardat-F=E2che Cerdon Bugey Ah yes, the most annotated wine on the internet. Jim sums it up with the succinct "exploding strawberries", I think "fun" is the other important descriptor. Low-alcohol is a bonus for a summer sipper (and for first wine of a long night of wines). B++

2004 La Rosee de Monbousquet (Bordeaux) What's with the huge number of 2004 ros=E9s from prestigious Bdx estates all the sudden? In addition to this one, I've seen ones from Pavie, Calon-Segur, and Domaine de Chevalier. This has a sweet nose, but the strawberry-raspberry fruit is dry on the palate. More round than crisp. Is this really an oaky ros=E9 or is my overactive imagination extrapolating-projecting from Monbousquet on the label? In any case, there are way better ros=E9s out there. I'd give this a C+

2004 Domaine Tempier Bandol Ros=E9 (from 375) This is one of the "way better" ros=E9s. Some recent Tempier pinks didn't really do it for me, but this is nice.Rather serious and structured for a pink, there's a mineral (chalk?) undercurrent below a peaches and berries fruit nose. Good finish, a bigger ros=E9 that could actually probably use a couple years cellaring. B+

There was also one white, the 2000 Henri Boillot Meursault. I liked the 2001 of this, but this is a bit boring. Some butter and hazelnut, not especially concentrated and on the fat side. B-B-

I finished a couple things on the grill,. then we moved inside. First sitting course was spinach-tofu-miso napoleans, from a recipe by Ming Tsai. Ming suggested a match with a sparkling Chenin, and we serve:

1998 Huet Petillant Brut Vouvray Apple pie and earth, good acidity, good length. A touch of citrus and a little yeast. A bit stony on finish. Kudos to Ming for suggestion, it does go well. Nice wine. B+-A-

The main course was duck breast with a red wine-demiglace sauce (Betsy had cooked on stovetop, I finished the breasts on the grill, and unfortunately I overdid- not as rare as I'd like). There were also grilled veggies (sweet potato, red pepper and onion in a oil-thyme-vinegar dressing, and fennel). Reds were served in flights of two by type:

2000 Domaine Lignier-Michelot Les Chenevery Morey-St.-Denis 1er Cru I'm working my way through 2000s as they seem to be ready now. I guess I had liked this enough to buy it, but last night came across as a bit of a monochromatic modern international Pinot. Not especially oaky though there's some toast there, but there's a blackberry jam note to the fruit that doesn't appeal (nor seem very Pinot-like). B--C+

2003 St. Innocent Villages Pinot Noir Hey, Ron brought a Pinot that tastes like Pinot. Clean easy cherry Pinot fruit, a little bit of a damp earth undertone, nice finish (not especially long, but clean). I should get some of this. B-B+

1990 Ferrando "black label" Carema A little funky on opening, but spent an hour or so in decanter (then another hour or two back in bottle) and the funk blew off. Some mature Nebbiolo fruit and lots of perfume on the nose. Fragrant and floral, great nose, but a little thin on palate at first. Actually put on weight as evening progressed. Nice wine, B+

1990 Dante Rivetti Bricco de Neueis Barbaresco Riserva Jim brought this, a new producer to me. A little stirred up at first, my first impression wasn't very positive, but this was at it's best after 3 hours in decanter. An almost Sangiovese nose of dried cherry and leather, on the palate one got some herb and raspberry. It was on the finish that the tar showed up, that along with some violets that appeared only with time made it a more typical Piemonte Nebbiolo. B+

1990 Haut-Corbin (St. Emilion) I thought I got a bit of TCA when I double-decanted this at 5. By 6:45 it was reeking, an advertisement for screwcaps. Too bad, as this is a wine I've consistently liked as a midweight mature St. Em. I ran downstairs and brought up a replacement:

1983 Leoville-Barton (St. Julien) Hurriedly decanted, after a hour or two in decanter a pleasant mature wine. Not a fruit plant, but some good cbuttis fruit and some interesting leather-spicebox-cedar notes. Pleasantly acidic and still a bit tannic, this is better with duck or cheese than alone. B+-B

1997 Lafleur (Pomerol) Decanted at 10 AM. Brutally tannic at that point. I try not to join in the internet winegeek sport of Spec bashing, but I recall the mailer for the offering of this wine said "A solid wine. Good dried cherry and berry aromas follow through to a medium-bodied palate, with light tannins and a fruity finish. (89) - The Wine Spectator. " WTF? If these are light tannins I'm Tommy Tune. After 7 hours in decanter and 3 back in bottle, this is still a rather burly Right Banker (I think I would have guessed St. Em rather than Pomerol if blind). Rather deep dark fruits, with notes of coffee and cigarbox. Like the Barton, there's enough tannin to make it better with meat or cheese. Best glbutt is the last one, as I'm doing dishes. The rare 1997 I think could use more cellar time. This doesn't have the opulence or lushness of a better vintage, but a very credible effort for '97. A--B+

We continued with the reds into the cheese course (and the dessert of lovely berries and whipped cream that Nancy brought). A Keen's cheddar, a Wisconsin "melange", and a Cypress Grove Midnight Madness all were fine with the reds, and even the deliciously pungent La Fournols did ok (I should have opened a dissolutionc Chenin for that, but didn't). The Berkshire Blue seemed to need a Port. I thought I had an '83 Dow's half sitting upright ready for decanting, but the only Port I found upright was:

1987 Martinez Vintage Port There's nice black plum fruit and some chocolate there, but a bit spoiled by the high level of VA. Ok port, good match with the blue, but not exciting. I've had better bottles of this. B-B-

Really nice night, with really nice people. Thanks to Jim for taking time to come up to Westchester. No wine really blew me away, though there were lots of nice ones.

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