Wimps Thankgsiving Lunch - Connor Table

La Trompette
Tasted Thursday, November 25, 2021 - Friday, November 26, 2021 by lozatron with 197 views

Flight 1 - Sage & Onion Pringles (1 Note)

  • 2003 Dom Pérignon Champagne P2

    France, Champagne

    (11/25/2021)

    What a lovely start the lunch. Initially a very expressive nose i felt, although I think some of my fellow diners disagreed. On the palate - vinous, open (more than I expected a DP at this age to be) and a hint of, maybe preserved lemon. Once the food arrived this seemed to fill out, gain substance. Really nice champagne and a very welcome start to the lunch.

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Flight 2 - Poor Man's Lobster (3 Notes)

Was interested to discover that this means monkfish. An initially very pleasing dish, which went on to reveal greater depths of flavour. Some discussion on the table as to whether it was great or merely good, but I was definitely in the very impressed camp.

  • 2016 Sandhi Wines Chardonnay Bentrock

    USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

    (11/26/2021)

    Pale straw colour. Grassy nose. On the palate - balanced, clearly new world but not too big, with just a hint of restraining acidity in the background.

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  • 2003 Kistler Chardonnay McCrea Vineyard Flawed

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain

    (11/26/2021)

    Was pretty excited to taste this, however it was not as excited to be drunk. A bit over - poxed perhaps - weirdly diffuse.

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  • 2005 Ridge Chardonnay Monte Bello

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    (11/26/2021)

    Brought out as a reserve. Plush, pine-appley. A big cali chard and no mistake. Compared to the 2012 of the same wine I tasted on Monday, this felt a bit flabby. Still decent but not up there with the other wines of the lunch.

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Flight 3 - Bubba Gump's Shrimps and Grits (2 Notes)

  • 2012 Ridge Monte Bello

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    (11/26/2021)

    Super primary. All the pieces are there - depth, concentration, balance - but all so tightly coiled. I have a sense that this will be a superb Monte Bello. A privilege to be able to taste something like this now - but I would be putting away any bottles for five years at least.

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  • 2008 Ridge Monte Bello

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    (11/26/2021)

    Well...not *quite* the infanticide I was fearing. Just starting to show some secondary characteristics. This is super wine. A real treat to be able to drink this now - although it clearly has at least two more decades of improvement ahead of it.

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Flight 4 - Turkey and Game Tourtiere (3 Notes)

If pies can be majestic, this was definitely a majestic pie. An opportunity for the Staffordshire contingent at the table to reminisce about the wonderful pies of their homeland.

  • 1998 Ridge Monte Bello

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    (11/26/2021)

    Oh yeah. Served from magnum. Super balanced, clearly ready to go. All the ingredients are there - pencil lead, that super concentrated core of fruit, the length on the palata. Yum. Of the flight - just pipped I think by the 96, but I could imagine on a different day, or if we'd have left them in the glass for an hour longer, it could have been different.

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  • 1997 Ridge Monte Bello

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    (11/26/2021)

    Second taste of this in a week. Truly living my best life. Tasted alongside 96 and 98 - bit muted by comparison, and I wonder whether this is more muted than the bottle we tasted earlier in the week. Either way - stunning stuff, but many years ahead of it.

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  • 1996 Ridge Monte Bello

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    (11/26/2021)

    Woof. For me - wine of the flight, wine of the lunch. Everything in place - super balanced, fully ready to drink but still a way ahead of it. I have a sense this might have been a weaker vintage in principle, and in a decade this would fall behind the 98 (and maybe even 97), but just perfect now. If you never drank better than this, you would have drunk very well indeed. What a treat.

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Flight 5 - Pecan & Bourbon Praline Cake, Pumpkin Ice Cream. (3 Notes)

For a "non dessert person", this was a triumph. Really good.

  • 2011 Araujo Estate Altagracia

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    (11/26/2021)

    Clearly a more than decent wine. Well put together US Cab, clearly on the restrained side, which I love. Suffered from being served with the dessert, and crucially, after a trio of the most wonderful US Cabs i've tasted. I don't think I was able to give this the consideration it deserved, and would seek out again.

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  • 2014 Sean Thackrey Petite Sirah Sirius Eaglepoint Ranch

    USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County

    (11/26/2021)

    Again a lovely wine, which suffered I think from being served with dessert, at the end of a thoroughly glorious lunch. Not a producer I'm familiar with but seems in the lovely, restrained "modern California" style. Savoury, not quite crunchy red fruit, and decent acidic balance. Would love to taste again, and I think this will age well.

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  • NV Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Premier Cru Rosé de Saignée Extra Brut

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    (11/26/2021)

    An extra treat kindly bought off the list by I and N. There is a lot to be said for finishing lunch with Champagne - and this was lovely. By this stage I'm sure I was very susceptible to autosuggestion but there was a lovely vinous complexity to this - which I imagine is somewhat contributed to by it being made in the saignée style (which I understand is the way that *most* non-champagne rosés are made - while in Champagne they're often made by bending in red wine to white wine).

    Anyway - really lovely - will look out for this in future.

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