34th Street Extravaganza

Paul Pazdan was in town again with his wife Alyce and we did an impromptu wine dinner with Paul and Alyce as well as 5 more Austin wine geeks. Raif, the chef at 34th Street Cafe put on an 8-course menu for us that was almost too much good stuff for our own good. The food courses were:

- Cheese with cracker and balsamic reduction
- Shaved beets
- Mussels in garlic wine broth
- Seared Foie Gras with toasted brioche and cherry compote
- Opa duo (seared and butter poached) with mint lentils and beet puree
- Guinea Hen on potato mashers
- Select truffles and cheeses

On to the wines:

• NV Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut

  France, Champagne

  Good stuff. I think it drinks very nicely and easily, complemented the food, and was really enjoyable. I didn't think it was profound, but my palate is not as sharp with Champagne as it is with still wines.

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• 2001 Domaine Caillot Meursault Les Tessons

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  Nice villages white burg. Went great with the mussels/cockles. Nice zingy acidity on this wine but also good minerality and some very clear lemon oil.

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• 2001 Château Guiraud

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  This half-bottle of Guiraud was just awesome, and much better than the last bottle I remember. I don't know how to expain it very well, but everything is just in the right proportions. Balanced, sweet, racy acid...a superb accompaniment to the seared foie gras with toasted brioche and cherry compote.

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• 2001 Walter Hansel Winery Pinot Noir The Three Rows

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  As good as ever. Drinking really well right now and I don't think it'll be getting that much better. Still pretty tannic right out of the bottle, but it softened up quite a bit and became very, very good, especially with the food.

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• 2003 Littorai Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  I liked this quite a bit. Dark, dark fruit profile, and quite remarkable how the wine darkened after having it open for some time. Very savory flavor profile with dark plum and cherry. I rather liked this a lot.

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• 2005 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Occidental Ridge Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Dark fruit again, but this color betrays the nose and palate. A remarkably well balanced wine that shows no sign of the Syrah-Pinot style and it really delivers. I can see this getting much better over the next few years. Some folks will find this lean, but for lovers of dry style Pinot, this is a home-run.

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• 1987 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This was a great bottle of this wine. What an awesome, restrained style of California Cab. Very dry with some hints of almost Chinon-like Cabernet Franc-ness. Superb texture and nose and deep, dark color. Must have been stored nearly perfectly. Quite possibly my favorite bottle of the evening.

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• 1998 Château Péby Faugères

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  This was another great bottle after the Caymus. Amazing richness while also displaying great elegance and propensity to age gracefully. Love the black currant, mocha, tar, and tobacco leaf flavors and aromas. Head-to-head with the Caymus for me.

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• 1999 Château Péby Faugères

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Also a very good bottle, but not as good as the 1998. It was a tighter wine with more tannins and less elegance. Still great fruit, but less balance. Finished well and drank great with the guinea hen.

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• 2005 Linne Calodo Sticks and Stones

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a big fan of this style of wine. It shows too much sweetness for me on the palate and the viscosity is too high as well. Probably not something I would buy or drink often, but I can see some good food pairings for this (BBQ Ribs).

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• NV Merryvale Muscat Antigua

  USA, California

  A good wine from Merryvale. What's up with that? I really liked this. Nice poached pear, peach, butter, and caramel. This definitely got the job done with the truffles and cheeses for dessert.

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There was also a bottle of Kongsgaard Syrah in the lineup as well as a bottle of Kirkland (Costco) Washington Syrah that I did not take formal notes on, but I remember really liking the Costco Syrah and thinking that the Kongsgaard was too tannic and way overpriced.

Thanks to all for attending and being so generous with their wine. Also thanks to 34th Street Cafe who put on a superb dinner as usual.