WineBerserkers OL w/Loren Sonkin - Burgs and Pinots
Millennium Restaurant, San Francisco, California
Tasted Tuesday, July 28, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 759 views
Introduction
Loren, Tony and Samantha
Loren, who was in the Bay Area from Cleveland on business this week, proposed an offline on WineBerserkers that quickly filled up. Since Loren is a vegetarian, I proposed doing it at San Francisco's highest rated vegetarian restaurant (and one of Zagat's highest rated SF restaurants of all kinds): Millennium. I was favorably disposed to the place even before I arrived, as all the staff I had dealt with were very helpful and took their time to give good advice. The Chef, Eric Tucker, also arranged for our corkage fees to be halved.
In offering up our wines for this OL, we somehow ended up with a mix of red Burgundy and interesting Cali Pinots. The result was a charmed evening, not just in the lovely and interesting group that came together, but also in the state of our wines (none of which were corked or showing major faults) and in the superb food. I'm not a vegetarian, but would definitely return to try more of those tasty and healthful dishes. It was great meeting Loren, Samantha, Paul, Gene and Delia, and seeing Tony, Al and George, as usual.
The standout wines for the evening, for me, were our '96 Krug, the '02 Z-H Brand Riesling, the '90 Clos de Tart and the '97 Calera Mills (impressive for me as the best Calera Pinot I've ever tasted).
Flight 1 - Champagne Starter (1 Note)
A lovely start to our meal, this Krug got better and better as it sat in the glass.
Flight 2 - White Flight (2 Notes)
The '02 Z-H Brand has really grown since I last had it a couple years ago, showing wonderful complexity and balance. It was a great match with my Raw Zucchini Napoleon, with corn & macademia nut "cheese," gypsy pepper, onion and black olive peperonata, smoked pimenton-almond-tomato romesco sauce and herb and arugula salad:
Flight 3 - First Pinot Flight - starting with the oldies (2 Notes)
The '90 Clos de Tart was a great kick off for our Pinots. I'm usually a fan of Clos de Tart, and this was the best showing for me of the '90 in the few times I've had it. The '80 BV had some charm initially, but I thought it went downhill quickly, and was showing a maderized, stewed fruit note that increased as it sat.
Flight 4 - Second Pinot Flight (2 Notes)
This was an impressive flight of Cali Pinot, and the best Calera Pinot I've ever tried (and I've had this particular bottling at least once before).
Flight 5 - Clos Vougeot Flight (2 Notes)
We continued going back and forth from Cali Pinot to Burgundy with this flight of tight and youthful Clos Vougeots.
Cumin Scented Fresh Corn Tamale, with seared velvet proppini & king trumpet mushrooms, posole verde, saute of pinquito beans, roasted carrot, greens, marinated radish, jicama, avocado and cashew sour cream
Flight 6 - Chambertin Flight (3 Notes)
A nice flight of Chambertin neighbors, with the Chezeaux Griottes showing the best of the three for me.
Flight 7 - Final Cali Pinot Flight (2 Notes)
I was surprised at how big and port-like the DuMOL was in this flight. Had it been served blind, I would probably have guessed the DuMOL was the K-B.
Flight 8 - A touch of Napa (1 Note)
George persuaded Delia to pass around this lovely Cab blend that had been opened early in the day.
Flight 9 - Sweet Finish (1 Note)
Amaretto cake
1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 95 Points
France, Champagne
Light yellow color; nice yeasty, tart peach nose; tasty, focused, tart peach, apricot and lemon palate with zingy acidity; long finish (opened up a lot after 30 minutes in the glass)
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