We had our friend Oswaldo up for dinner Sunday. We were thrilled he put
aside an afternoon/evening to visit us while he was in NY from Brazil, and
thought about who to invite. Then we got invites for the same day, and just
invited the inviters. Not the group I would have first thought to put
together, but that part worked out fine. Now the rain screwed things up....

The food:
Spinach/chipotle dip
Black bean dip
Mushroom & cheese Quesadillas (some Cashel Blue, others a Roman sheep
cheese)
2 Asian salads, a slaw with jicama and a soba salad.
Yakitori
Beef Burgers
This was intended to be a gradual progression of dishes, but the coming rain
made us rush to cook everything. Most things were ok; the disaster were the
burgers, all my fault: I grabbed the wrong kind of steak at Fairway Sat
(Betsy tried to add fat with bacon as she was grinding, but still dry), the
hard rolls were too hard, and I overcooked the burgers. Ack!

The wines:
2005 Paul Pernot Bourgogne Blanc
Pretty pear fruit overlain with hazelnut notes, nice mid-bodied Puligny
substitute. B+

2004 Coche-Drury Bourgogne
My first C-D red. We opened but didn't decant a couple hours before serving.
Very exotic nose - I'm thinking 5-spice powder when Oswaldo says "asian
spices." Palate is more straightforward, deep pure Pinot fruit. Ripe but
with good acids. Some sandalwood on the nose as the spices fade. Very
impressive Bourgogne (but probably priced impressively too!). A-

1998 Clos Rene(Pomerol)
Medium -bodied, black plums and black cherries. A pleasant Pomerol
masquerading as a St Emilion, helped with the overdone beef. B

1993 Daniel Rion "Les Grandes Vignes" Nuits St. Georges
I really like the nose of this at first, some violet and game notes over
bright red fruit. Palate is a little sharp, not going to mistake this one
for a '90 or '97. Tart cherry fruit, some earth. Seems to go dormant in the
middle of dinner, with only acids showing. But a half-glass of the dregs
while loading the last load in the dishwasher springs back to life. Overall,
B/B+

2000 Domaine de la Solitude (Pessac-Leognan)
Is this a second? Label mentions Domaine de Chevalier. Funny (but not
unpleasant) spearmint thing on the nose, palate is more straightforward.
Lighter styled Bordeaux, with red fruits eventually showing a darker side,
with a little cassis. Not a lot of length. Not a lot of complexity here, but
a decent little Graves. B/B-

2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese*
I think this even tops the Coche for my WOTN. Pears sprinkled with brown
sugar, a little limey citrus, good acidity keeping it lively. Slatey notes
on finish. Infanticide, but fun! A-

Wasn't really the meal we'd envisioned. As we had set up for eating outside,
and moved dining table, we ended up balancing plates on our laps. But in
general a very good time, despite the rain, the whiney hound, and my burger
mishaps. The worse part was when Oswaldo just missed his train, and had to
get a cab (wet) to another station. Ack part 2!!!

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine,
B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a
party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of
objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.



--
Dale Williams
Executive Director
Midnight Run, Inc.
http://www.midnightrun.org
97 Main Street
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
(914)693-7817 Fax (914)693-9447
Midnight Run is a not-for-profit that has been bringing together volunteers
and the homeless poor since 1984.

On Jun 4, 11:32?am, "DALE WILLIAMS" >
wrote:
> We had our friend Oswaldo up for dinner Sunday. We were thrilled he put
> aside an afternoon/evening to visit us while he was in NY from Brazil, and
> thought about who to invite. Then we got invites for the same day, and just
> invited the inviters. Not the group I would have first thought to put
> together, but that part worked out fine. Now the rain screwed things up....
>
> The food:
> Spinach/chipotle dip
> Black bean dip
> Mushroom & cheese Quesadillas (some Cashel Blue, others a Roman sheep
> cheese)
> 2 Asian salads, a slaw with jicama and a soba salad.
> Yakitori
> Beef Burgers
> This was intended to be a gradual progression of dishes, but the coming rain
> made us rush to cook everything. Most things were ok; the disaster were the
> burgers, all my fault: I grabbed the wrong kind of steak at Fairway Sat
> (Betsy tried to add fat with bacon as she was grinding, but still dry), the
> hard rolls were too hard, and I overcooked the burgers. Ack!
>
> The wines:
> 2005 Paul Pernot Bourgogne Blanc
> Pretty pear fruit overlain with hazelnut notes, nice mid-bodied Puligny
> substitute. B+
>
> 2004 Coche-Drury Bourgogne
> My first C-D red. We opened but didn't decant a couple hours before serving.
> Very exotic nose - I'm thinking 5-spice powder when Oswaldo says "asian
> spices." Palate is more straightforward, deep pure Pinot fruit. Ripe but
> with good acids. Some sandalwood on the nose as the spices fade. Very
> impressive Bourgogne (but probably priced impressively too!). A-
>
> 1998 Clos Rene(Pomerol)
> Medium -bodied, black plums and black cherries. A pleasant Pomerol
> masquerading as a St Emilion, helped with the overdone beef. B
>
> 1993 Daniel Rion "Les Grandes Vignes" Nuits St. Georges
> I really like the nose of this at first, some violet and game notes over
> bright red fruit. Palate is a little sharp, not going to mistake this one
> for a '90 or '97. Tart cherry fruit, some earth. Seems to go dormant in the
> middle of dinner, with only acids showing. But a half-glass of the dregs
> while loading the last load in the dishwasher springs back to life. Overall,
> B/B+
>
> 2000 Domaine de la Solitude (Pessac-Leognan)
> Is this a second? Label mentions Domaine de Chevalier. Funny (but not
> unpleasant) spearmint thing on the nose, palate is more straightforward.
> Lighter styled Bordeaux, with red fruits eventually showing a darker side,
> with a little cassis. Not a lot of length. Not a lot of complexity here, but
> a decent little Graves. B/B-
>
> 2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese*
> I think this even tops the Coche for my WOTN. Pears sprinkled with brown
> sugar, a little limey citrus, good acidity keeping it lively. Slatey notes
> on finish. Infanticide, but fun! A-
>
> Wasn't really the meal we'd envisioned. As we had set up for eating outside,
> and moved dining table, we ended up balancing plates on our laps. But in
> general a very good time, despite the rain, the whiney hound, and my burger
> mishaps. The worse part was when Oswaldo just missed his train, and had to
> get a cab (wet) to another station. Ack part 2!!!
>
> Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine,
> B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a
> party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of
> objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
>
> --
> Dale Williams
> Executive Director
> Midnight Run, Inc.http://www.midnightrun.org
> 97 Main Street
> Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
> (914)693-7817 Fax (914)693-9447
> Midnight Run is a not-for-profit that has been bringing together volunteers
> and the homeless poor since 1984.

I'm informed that the Domaine de la Solitude is a separate estate,
owned by an order of nuns, and they have DDC do the vinification,

The '00 Pessac was alive and decent on night two, while the Pernot
blanc was still quite lovely for the level, and our dinner wine with a
chicken/napa cabbage/peanut dish.