Wellfleet Dinner
The Fish Guy Market - Chicago, IL
Tasted November 30, 2006 by Nanda with 829 views
Introduction
Matt and Mel organized a dinner of e-Bobbers at Wellfleet, a northwest side, fish market that features occasional dining on Thursday nights. As ususal the wine and company was great. I'm glad to see that nobody takes Ken's warnings against wine over-generosity/indulgence too seriously --- as we clocked in at nearly two wines per person!
While much of the food was quite good --- the overall dining experience was just OK and I'm not sure I'll be hurrying back for dinner. Though I will start to buy more of my seafood from the Bill, the Fish Monger.
Flight 1 - Starter Bubbly (1 note)
Flight 2 - Chablis (2 notes)
With oysters in the style of Asia. Neither of these did it for me. I think I prefer Chablis in its youth.
Flight 3 - Daguenuea (2 notes)
These were both awesome --- I think I prefer the hedonistic Pur Sang to the subtler Busson Renard.
White
2004 Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
Staw in color with a huge nose of grapefruit, grassy and steely notes. Complex and layered on the medium bodied palate. Focused fruits, floral notes and minerals are interwined. Seamless and long.
White
2004 Didier Dagueneau Pur Sang
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
Staw color with an effusive nose featuring citrus fruits and grassy notes. Extracted and pure fruit on the palate. Grapefruits, grapefruits and more grapefruits. Long with a terrific mouthfeel. Just slighltly less complex than the Buisson Renard, but more hedonistic.
Flight 4 - More non-chards (2 notes)
Interlude prior to the Chardonnay.
White
2003 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Straw in color with a smoky, meaty, and not-for-the-faint-of-heart nose with significant oak looming over white fruits. The palate is chewy and dense. White fruits and more smoky notes. Low acid. I liked this a lot.
Flight 5 - Clos Pepe Vineyard Chards (2 notes)
With freshly harvested Illinois Sturgeon Caviar a la Joel Robichon.
Mike P escaped from Pinot Prison in time to join our dinner. He brought this pair and shared that these two were harvested from the same vineyard and block...and even picked the same day. A fun side-by-side comparison.
Flight 6 - Big Chards (3 notes)
With poached Maine lobster, Peruvian crocquetta and tangerine butter. The Dumol was my hands down white WOTN.
White
2004 DuMOL Chardonnay Isobel
USA, California, Sonoma County, Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Buttery white fruits, spice, tropcial notes and minerals all interplay in this complex wine. The palate was ever-evolving and flashing different features over time. A very pure, elegant, long and sexy wine.
White
1999 Kistler Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
A reticent nose. Waxy white fruits over minerals on the palate. This seems tired and falling out of sorts. Some heat on the finish. I prefer my Kistler chards within the first 4-5 years.
White
2004 Lewis Cellars Chardonnay Reserve
USA, California, Napa Valley
Hugely aromatic with meaty, smoky white fruits jumping from the glass. Powerful yet restrained apple and peach fruits on the palate. Fruit is buttressed with judicious oak as evidenced by the buttery, smoky and meaty notes cutting across this wine. Yum.
Flight 7 - Pinot (5 notes)
House-smoked Magret with Arugula salad. A great flight. All rockin' wines. The Rochioli nudged out the KB and Roar as my red WOTN.
Red
2003 Adrian Fog Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Ruby red with a nose of baking spices, cherry fruits and herbs. Medium bodied with an impressive attack featuring textured cherry fruit. Plenty of layers and depth. Long finish. Nicely done but not worthy of the tarriff.
Red
2004 Roar Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Dark ruby with a giving nose of dark fruits, baking spice, chocolates and meaty notes. Big and voluptous palate has layers upon layers of textured dark fruit. Delicious and hedonistic, if a bit simple in its style.
Red
2004 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir River Block
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Ruby red with a seductive nose of dark fruits, vanilla and chocolate-covered-cherries. Silky palate has red fruits, spice and subtle cola notes. Impeccably balanced with acids lifting the fruit seamlessly through a long finish. Elegant and feminine in style.
Red
2002 Peay Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Ruby red with a brooding tar and dark fruit nose. Chewy and syrah-like featuring dark fruits and grippy tannins. Nice but this is Pinot?
Red
2003 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Koplen Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Medium ruby in color. The nose pops with bright red fruits, cola and spices. The palate is high toned and complex. Cherry fruits, herbs and minerals intermingle. Silky tannins provide dimension and grip to the pure fruits. Well balanced and long. This is terrific.
Flight 8 - Dessert (2 notes)
Thanks to Brian for the mini-Rieussec vertical. The 90 was awesome. There was also an 03 Christoffel Auslese which I somehow lost in the mix.
Closing
Thanks to all for a great night!
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