Ramon organized a group for a Northern Rhone dinner at La Silhouette
last night. My first time in the restaurant, but it won't be my last.
Welcoming and efficient service, delicious food, and a room where we
could hear each other.

Before we got down to the Rhones, a pink bubbly starter flight. Jay
had mentioned he was bringing the Beaufort, I thought that I'd also
bring an Ambonnay rose.

NV Beaufort Grand Cru Brut Champagne Rose (Lot 07, disgorged 2011)
Red fruits and mineral, very pure. A-

NV Bremont Grand Cru Brut Champagne Rose
Chalky,yeasty, rich, good length. B+

An amuse, a little croquette of truffled potato and parnigiano, went
well with the Champagne, then with the first reds we had a very good
pate de campagne with a layer of foie gras and a celeriac remoulade.

Cornas that's not Allemand flight
1989 Robert Michel "Coteaux" Cornas
Slightly lifted at first, the VA seemed to blow off. Medium bodied,
some earth and leather, good fruit. Might have liked a bit better on
its own rather than in comparison with the Clape. B

1983 Clape Cornas
I had double-decanted before heading to city. Plenty of freshness,
kind of exotic nose of meat and sandalwood, nice texture, good
flavors. A-/B+

Excellent sweetbreads with mascarpone polenta and mushrooms

Allemand Flight
1993 Allemand "Chaillot" Cornas
Good acids, nice length, very nice. B+

1996 Allemand "Reynard" Cornas
Balanced, full, excellent (someone says "a complete wine") A-/B+


1990 Gonon 'Saint Oliviers' Saint-Joseph
I was looking forward to this, but it was unfortunately corked (no
matter how many times it was resniffed).

Next up, a nice mushroom risotto with truffle oil

Hermitage Flight
1985 Chave Hermitage
Perfumed, elegant, yet plenty of power and freshness left. My WOTN on
a very good night. A-/A

1989 Chapoutier "Sizerrane" Hermitage
Dark berry fruit, a little ashtray, suffers in comparison to
flightmates. B/B-

1998 Marc Sorrel "Le Greal" Hermitage
Not a producer I see much, this makes me want to see more. Full but
elegant, ripe rich fruit, meat and leather undertones. A-/B+

A lamb rib chop plus a hunk of braised shank, with sweet potatoes,
sausage, and broccoli rabe

Jamet Flight
1991 Jamet Cote-Rotie
Lovely, long, grilled meat and dark fruits. Someone says something
weird on nose, but not to my nose. A-

1995 Jamet Cote Rotie
Lots were raving over this, and I really thought there seemed to be
good material underneath, but really quite tight. B+?

Cote Rotie that's not Jamet Flight
2000 Texier Cote-Rotie
Young, fresh, fun - obviously needs time, but I'm impressed. B+

1996 Rostaing Cote-Rotie "La Landonne"
The words goopy and gloppy (if they are words) come to mind. Timber! I
think not. C

Cheese plate (and desserts for those that do)

1993 Jamet Cote Rotie
This was supposed to be a backup, but Michael pulled out at end. No,
we have too many wines already we all declared as Jay handed him
corkscrew and we somehow managed to not stop the cork removal.
Red fruits, olives,smoked meats. B+

2001 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese
Some discussion of this being too sulfury, but I'm pretty tolerant (or
deficient in sulphur detection) and found it quite enjoyable. Solid
2001 acids give this plenty of zip, pure white fruits, flintsmoke and
mineral. Very long. A-

Fun night, with a new restaurant "find" (thanks Ramon) and a nice
lineup of wines, other than the Rostaing and corked St Jo I'd happily
drink any of them.

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:

> 1996 Rostaing Cote-Rotie "La Landonne"
> The words goopy and gloppy (if they are words) come to mind. Timber! I
> think not. C

What a great night of wines, Dale, with many of my favorite N Rhone
producers! All the more shame about the above wine is that he inherited
all the vines of the late, lamented Marius Gentaz

On the Allemand Cornas: I've only had a few of his wines, but they have
seemed in comparison to my other Cornas expeierences a bit... glossy?
Perhaps polished is a better word as it doesn't connote new oak. I'm
told that Allemand does partial carbonic maceration, so that could
account for my impressions. Did you get any sense of this?

Mark Lipton

I didn't find these glossy, but of course glossy for Cornas is rather relative.
Not sure I could pick out semi-carbonic (actually, sure that I couldn't!).