WHAT TO DRINK WHEN YOUR WIFE COMES HOME WITH CRABS - Home in Tokyo
(1/7/2006)

On a recent shopping venture Cathryn found soft shell crab, one of our
favorites but practically unknown in Japanese markets. What a great
surprise!! The ever game Richard, Naoko, and kids agreed to join us for
dinner.

1. Warming Up

With brie de meux and salame (one red pepper crusted and one black
pepper crusted)

*2002 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Privat - Austria, Niederösterreich,
Kremstal*

Light and bright but rich yellow. Great minerally nose straight out of
the bottle blossoms over a couple of hours to encompass gentle
asparagus, white pepper, grapefruit, and peach. Awesome complexity
combined with piercing density. On the palate, dense and bright at the
same time with grapefruit, white pepper, sweet green peas, some lemon,
and pear. Enough already --like a laundry list of complexity even
though this is a baby that is all primary. Stunning value in the
mid-high 30's, this would be a buy at $100. Oh yeah, nice finish too.
Best wine I've tasted this year, but I'm "waiting for the clampdown" ©
so try it fast or leave it alone for ten. (Seemed appropriate to give
props to one of the greatest rock albums ever made in a note for what
may the best-value wine I've ever tasted.)

2. At Dinner

With soft shell crab meunier and green salad with walnut oil dressing

*2003 Weingut Erich und Brigitte Polz Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Trocken
- Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau*

Slightly fuzzy but very light yellow with a bit of visible spritz. Nose
shows big dose of not too sweet canned fruit cocktail as well as some
mineral in the background. On the palate, the combination of spritz and
with mineral makes me think of bath salts. Other than some mushy
lentils, not much GrüVe typicality, but pleasing nonetheless. Ripe
side of vintage shows in sweetish tropical fruit and a lack of acid
that makes everything seem a little bit muted, but the mineral and
spritz keep it a little interesting. I know Ploz from Südsteiermark,
but not from Wachau, so I did a little research. This is about $9-$10
ex-domaine, which would be good value. By the time it's marked up in
Tokyo, not so good. I'd like to try the Federspiel, as it may be better
balanced in this vintage.

*1990 Henry Brochard Sancerre - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire,
Sancerre*

Bought this for a song from a shop that (1) knows I'm a necrophile and
(2) generally doesn't sell crap so it was worth a flier. Still looks
youthful and bright with a light straw color. No oxydation on nose, but
not a ton of fruit either. A little grass, a little gooseberry, and a
little simple very ripe white fruit. On the palate, enough acid still
to have life, but not enough to be the sustain pedal it needs. However,
while it never becomes bright and young, a little more time in glass
brings out a rich, leesy roundness and some more ripe apple. Even picks
up a touch of body and finish. I think I'll still opt to take my Loire
SB young and crisp, but another great example of what a little time and
air can do for a wine that seems tired. Had enough life left that it
made a good match for a was improved by the crab. As Mssr. Audonze
says, "the older wines are younger than we think." (Though this wasn't
that old.)

3. Dessert

With home-made sandwich cookies -- gaufrette wafers spread with
cassis-flavored overwhipped cream and topped with sliced strawberry and
balsamic glaze

*1995 Château La Tour Blanche - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais,
Sauternes*

Medium gold with good density, but not the kind of glass-hugging
viscosity one gets from a bigger year. Nose immediately shows a shot of
botrytis, along with ripe peach-flavored custard and some honey. Palate
is in balance and has the botrytis flavor, but not the zingy botrytis
acidity that the nose seemed to promise. Fairly light-textured but
flavorsome with cling peaches, honey, and lemon cream. Decent finish
brings out a little of the missing zing. Still young with unevolved
flavors. Will never be a blockbuster but may pick up complexity with
some more time in bottle. Light, bright, and versatile enough to pair
well with not too sweet dessert.

4. Someone needs to take the cellar key from me

With reckless abandon!

*1995 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Campolongo di Torbe -
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico*

Plummy red turning to brickish at edge. The kind of plummy red that
always leads me to expect somewhat roasted fruit. Nose doesn't show too
hot, despite the 16% alcohol, but it does show a bit of prune and
raisin along with the plum and cherry. On the palate, tastes very tired
and perhaps cooked. Having reason to believe it may indeed be heat
damaged, I dump my glass and put the bottle aside. Well, I never throw
anything away without one last taste. The next afternoon, it has picked
up a bit of leather and spice on the nose, along with the alcohol being
a little more pronounced. On the palate -- wow!! It still has fruit
that has some roasted (not just raisined) character, but also has some
cherry acid brightness and some more typical bitter almond/peach
kernel, a little smooth mocha, and some resin. A completely different
wine, it really needed tons of air! I've got another bottle that I'll
give a few years to see what happens. I'm still a little concerned by
the way the alcohol began to stick out, but with 18 hours of air, it
moved from presumed cooked to something I might not buy would be very
happy to drink.

*1996 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay Champans 1er Cru - France,
Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay*

What's that cheesy Eric Segal line that Matt Kramer quotes? "What can
you say about a girl who died?" Well, what can you say about a wine I
killed in the promise of its youth? Richard and I had been talking
about how Volnay has a higher percentage of good growers than any other
village and we just couldn't help checking in on this. It's that bright
cherry color that tells you the Burg you're about to drink has plenty
of healthy acidity. That color just makes my mouth water. The nose has
vibrant fruit of red berry and sour cherry, along with some mushroom
and minerally earth. On the palate, the acid is very bright and very
much visibly present, enough so that one only notices the tannins in
the front of the mouth after swallowing. While the acid is bright, the
fruit on the palate is darker -- wonderfully sapid deep berry and black
cherry. Nice body from entry to exit. Terrific balance and
concentration, as well as tremendous focus and purity. Of course, all
of this took vigorous swirling and air sucking and was still only a
series of brief flashes from a shut-down wine. Hands off and it'll
become a treasure!


Lots of wines way too young (and one a bit too old) but all in the name
of science. The Nigl and the Champans are gonna be great!

Posted from CellarTracker

Great post (and great title!).

I agree on the Nigl-my notes from last year:
2002 Nigl "Privat" Grüner Veltliner
Complex and delicious, white peaches and some lemon, with the
characteristic GV white pepper. Certainly technically dry, but the
fruit has a sweetness to it. A great versatile match to the variety of
dishes we had coming. I know this needs time, but it's damn tasty now.
A

You should try the Privat Riesling, too.

You're a braver man than I to buy '90 Sancerre!

Jim wrote:
WHAT TO DRINK WHEN YOUR WIFE COMES HOME WITH CRABS -

I really did a double take on reading that header!!!

A very large scotch was my first thought!

(;-)

pk

In message
"p.k." wrote:

Jim wrote:
WHAT TO DRINK WHEN YOUR WIFE COMES HOME WITH CRABS -

I really did a double take on reading that header!!!

A very large scotch was my first thought!

(;-)

pk





I am so glad I‘m not the only with that sort of mind. I nearly posted
in the same terms but wondered if this might be another case of ”two
countries divided by a common language”.


Tim Hartley

"Timothy Hartley" skrev i melding
...
In message
"p.k." wrote:

Jim wrote:
WHAT TO DRINK WHEN YOUR WIFE COMES HOME WITH CRABS -

I really did a double take on reading that header!!!

A very large scotch was my first thought!

LOL!
Anders

You were generous enough to share the '01 riesling Privat when you came
to Tokyo last year. I thought it was stellar, though very very young
and struggling to emerge from its hibernation hole.

Glad you enjoyed the title. Thanks.

The old Sancerre wasn't very expensive and it was an interesting
experiment. I'm not going back for more, but it showed better than it
had a right to show.

Take care,

Jim