M&PD: Summer Grilling

Another stellar M&PD (Missing & Presumed Drunk) gathering with the Goldbergs putting on a culinary tour de force.

We started with freshly shucked oysters and an array of delicious small bites as we worked through this lineup.

A starter pasta of capellini, citrus and crab was the perfect first course.

It was followed by a wonderful SLAB of Halibut, roasted in the pizza oven with fennel, olive and yellow cherry tomatoes. Insanely delicious!

• 2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne

  France, Champagne

  This bottle was a little mature with a deeply compact and compressed cork. Just delicious, it went down far too easily. A very approachable and delicious Dom!

  Post a Comment / 6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2014 Planeta Chardonnay Menfi Didacus

  Italy, Sicily, Menfi DOC

  When this opened up it was a bit smoky, and it was hard to tell if it was the wine or the influence of the hardwood pizza oven...
  
  Once the oven settled down, this did indeed have some smoky, oaky notes. Quite lovely with a nice mineral note, rich, quite glyceryl, some lime zest. You can feel the Sicilian/Mediterranean warmth, but this is a lovely Chard expression.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  Whole lotta color on this. It opens with a bit of butterscotch and a very marine note. Terrific citrus on the finish. It's not especially complex or generous but IS a lovely and mature Meursault.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2018 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  OMFG!
  
  Deep and intense, wow, sweet, salty, sour and mineral. A nice and long finish, powerful, with a bitter note that is a feature and not a bug. The concentration and minerality are shocking.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2017 Jean-Claude Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  This has that Ramonet wintergreen thing right at the front. Salty, salty, salty. Wow, such a piercing lime finish!

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2004 Pierre Morey Bâtard-Montrachet Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Sadly this was deeply gold and obviously oxidized.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

We moved to an insane roasted leg of lamb with a delicious jus made from the roasting liquid along with citrus, roasted artichoke and roasted Romanesco. What a series of Italian reds!

• 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  High pitched with TREBLE on overdrive. Wow, wow, wow, menthol and mint, so lifted, just soars out of the glass. This is a Barbaresco from Barolo. So precise and delicate. This is really as good as Nebbiolo gets.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 1999 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  BASS. Wow, what a deep and rustic, old-school, traditional wine. Strawberry, balsamic. Powerful and primary.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2001 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Deep and primary, just pure laser cherry. I was underwhelmed at first. This wine is intense, red-fruited, pure. This is not what I tend to think of for Brunello which I usually associated with tobacco, cedar and iced tea. This was so hyper-cherry and focused.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2000 Paolo Scavino Barolo Riserva Rocche dell'Annunziata

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  From magnum. Endless debate. Very modern. Immediately polarizing, splitting the group right down the middle. I enjoyed it, but the earlier pair of Barolo from Rinaldi and Giacosa set a silly high bar.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Sloane made a silly delicious cherry cake which was gorgeously decorated to celebrate JVNK at 60. The Port was a perfect accompaniment. Usually a dessert wine is lost in these affairs, but the Taylor was perfectly mature, ethereal and precise!

• 1963 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  Wow, mature port is special. No longer big and chunky but rather pale, powerful and focused. Deep cherry, transparent, gorgeous concentration. So pretty!

  Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Thanks so much!