Thursday was our 10th anniversary, busy day for both of us kept us from wanting to stray far from home. So we went to the excellent The Cookery (http://www.thecookeryrestaurant.com/) for dinner. We went strictly with specials (and mostly with meat!), I started off with the salad of brisket and red onion confit on arugula topped with a poached egg, while Betsy had restaurant cured tasso ham with grilled bread. I had a pasta instead of a main- gemelli with spiced tripe sugo, chickpeas and tomato, Betsy had a ribeye with escarole and roasted potatoes (plus got "stickabutta pie" in pecan crust to take home).

The Cookery is corkage friendly, I had carried along a couple of 2001s to choose from, went with the 2001 Montevertine. Lovely bottle of (mostly) Sangiovese, a riot of cherry flavors (red, black, and dried), leather, earth, with hints of violets. Good acidity, smooth refined tannins, in a good place- my only worry was that it would show a tad backward, but this is drinking very well. A-. Wine was great, food was great, company even better.

Tonight she made dinner, a lovely spread with steelhead, fried rice, and broccoli in oyster sauce. I continued with the 2001 theme with a bottle of the 2001 Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. I'm liking this even better than a very good bottle a couple months ago. Floral, pretty, sweet black cherry fruit with accents of sandalwood, spice, and earth. Lovely balance, great texture, drinking very well. A-

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.

DaleW wrote:
> Thursday was our 10th anniversary, busy day for both of us kept us
> from wanting to stray far from home. So we went to the excellent The
> Cookery (http://www.thecookeryrestaurant.com/) for dinner. We went
> strictly with specials (and mostly with meat!), I started off with
> the salad of brisket and red onion confit on arugula topped with a
> poached egg, while Betsy had restaurant cured tasso ham with grilled
> bread. I had a pasta instead of a main- gemelli with spiced tripe
> sugo, chickpeas and tomato, Betsy had a ribeye with escarole and
> roasted potatoes (plus got "stickabutta pie" in pecan crust to take
> home).

First of all, a hearty congratulations to both you and Betsy (and,
incidentally, David) on your 10 years of marriage. May the next 10
years be as filled with good times, good food and good wine as the last
10 have been. (I hadn't realized, I don't think, that we met you and
Betsy so soon after your marriage. I would never have known that you
hadn't been married a decade back then in '03)

>
> The Cookery is corkage friendly, I had carried along a couple of
> 2001s to choose from, went with the 2001 Montevertine. Lovely bottle
> of (mostly) Sangiovese, a riot of cherry flavors (red, black, and
> dried), leather, earth, with hints of violets. Good acidity, smooth
> refined tannins, in a good place- my only worry was that it would
> show a tad backward, but this is drinking very well. A-. Wine was
> great, food was great, company even better.

My experience with the wines of Montevertine, which haven't been as
extensive as I'd like , suggest to me that of the three bottlings I've
sampled the Montevertine is my favorite, even beyond the Pergole Torte.
Since such a quercophobe as the good Jay Miller speaks well of aged
Pergole Torte, it's certainly possible that I just haven't had an old
enough one to fully appreciate its charms. Be that as it may, I'll
never look askance at a Montevertine bottling (or, for that matter, a
Pian del Ciampolo either). Your '01 sounds like my ideal of that it can be.

>
> Tonight she made dinner, a lovely spread with steelhead, fried rice,
> and broccoli in oyster sauce. I continued with the 2001 theme with a
> bottle of the 2001 Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. I'm liking this even
> better than a very good bottle a couple months ago. Floral, pretty,
> sweet black cherry fruit with accents of sandalwood, spice, and
> earth. Lovely balance, great texture, drinking very well. A-

Burgundy with steelhead? First of all, I'm jealous that you can find
steelhead at all: the only ones I've eaten I've caught myself. I'd have
thought that the Burgundy might have overwhelmed the fish
(notwithstanding my basic distrust of Pinot Noir with fish, as you might
recall). Was the preparation very red wine friendly? And Roumier! As
SFJoe once said to me on that topic: you're living large. It sounds
great and makes me look at CT for the drinking windows on my Roumier
Bussieres (a different beast, I realize).

Mark Lipton

I really love Pergole Torte, but it really is best with plenty of age. The Montevertine/Riserva (same wine) is generally more approachable, but does take a few years to hit peak imho. The PdC is of course accessible from the get-go. All nice wines.

I confess this steelhead was farmed. I was actually going for wild sockeye, but they were out. The farmed steelhead (rainbow) has a fairly robust flavor, I didn't find it a problem at all. As to Roumier, I regret I didn't buy more during the years between my personal discovery (1998 vintage) and prices going through roof (2003 vintage). I committed infanticide on the '99s, and now only have a bottle or two each of '00, 01 , 02 village wines (and a Bussieres or two). Only think I have since is a couple bottles of Bourgogne. I am seeing 09 village released at $150 ('99 and '00 were under $30, '01 and '02 about $35).

On Oct 17, 8:52*am, DaleW > wrote:
> I really love Pergole Torte, but it really is best with plenty of age. The Montevertine/Riserva (same wine) is generally more approachable, but does take a few years to hit peak imho. The PdC is of course accessible from the get-go. All nice wines.
>
> I confess this steelhead was farmed. I was actually going for wild sockeye, but they were out. The farmed steelhead (rainbow) has a fairly robust flavor, I didn't find it a problem at all. As to Roumier, I regret I didn't buy more during the years between my personal discovery (1998 vintage) and prices going through roof (2003 vintage). I committed infanticide on the '99s, and now only have a bottle or two each of '00, 01 , 02 village wines (and a Bussieres or two). Only think I have since is a couple bottles of Bourgogne. I am seeing 09 village released at $150 ('99 and '00 were under $30, '01 and '02 about $35).

The farmed steelhead I've had was more like salmon than trout right
down to the color. The wild steelhead that I've caught was more trout-
like.

Montevertine...love the regular bottling not a huge fan of the
Riserva...too much oak.

Roumier...WOW!!

actually the Montevertine and Montevertine Riserva are same wine, EU just made them stop calling it Riserva. So bottles from 80s and early 90s say Riserva, after some point in late 90s it doesn't. You're probably thinking of Pergole Torte, only one that sees new oak barrels (25-30%).