by Julian Schultz
julian@oxfordwineroom.com
Never before have I rated all seven wines in a wine dinner in the A
category, only one an A-minus.
Could it have been the casual ambience of tasting wine with familiar friends, or enjoying classic Castle restaurant food, or exulting over maitre d’/sommelier Jim Nicas’ wine and food pairings?
Could it have been the lazy, relaxed function room setting? Could it have been the centuries old medieval artifacts in the room and on the walls?
Or could it have been the two lovely ladies, Friendly Discount Liquors’ Patty Giannopoulos and Jean Paquette, seated to my right, who added sparkle to the conversation and verve to the wines? Yes, the ladies contributed to my expansive feeling of well-being, which might well have influenced my rating. But, realistically, the wines themselves were superb.
We were celebrating our annual Worcester Wine Tasters’ breakaway wine
dinner at the Castle; and, as usual, our mentor Dr. Bob Ouellette brought the
wines from his enviable cellar. Paraphrasing the old advertising aphorism: If it
comes from Bob’s cellar…it has got to be good!
Bob has been scouting, collecting and drinking wine, and teaching about
wine, for some 30 years. He has earned a reputation for selecting wines made in
the classic tradition but suited to contemporary tastes. He buys wine, often of
limited supply, before connoisseurs are savvy enough to snap them up. His rule:
Any wines he buys that he later finds wanting to his discriminating palate –
no way will he uncork them to his guests!
Sort of like me: If I don’t like a wine, I don’t write about it. I
have an aversion to occupying the scorner’s seat and hurling the cynic’s
ban, as too many wine writers are wont to do. I think that sometimes they like
to inflate their egos, feeling superior when they write authoritatively and
pompously in the negative.
Likewise, Bob proved again that you needn’t pay a lot to get a lot of
pleasure from a wine: The first three A-rated wines poured at the dinner are
priced from nine to $13. And Jim Nicas demonstrated that plebian wines can marry
blissfully with royal cuisine. So by applying their expertise, Bob and Jim
illuminated our evening with brightness and pleasure; thus we hailed “The
Happiness Boys".
The dinner. Hors d’oeuvres were something else! Mussels Bombay in the
shell and Nantucket scallops encrusted in sweet potato/coconut essence were
paired with a Sauvignon Blanc “La Colonie” 2001, under $10, from France’s
Pays d’ Oc.
The Colonie: clean, crisp, firm, lean, balanced and assertive with rich
fruit – melon, pears, citrus, hints of lemon and figs -- the wine perfectly
complemented the reception canapés. All 25 of us were sipping refills and were
reaching non-stop to the continuously paraded food platters. And the dinner
hadn’t even started!
Who could resist? The steamed chopped mussels, as Grand Master Chef
Stanley Nicas described them, were a remarkable complexity of corn meal, leeks,
shallots, bay leaves, peppercorn, saffron, curry powder, dill, olive oil and dry
white wine reduction. An unbelievable sight, my observing otherwise genteel prim
and proper ladies avidly sucking, slurping, sucking, slurping the mussels from
their shells – not that the males were reticent to greedily and more noisily
partake of this gastronomic exercise.
Stanley explained that the sweet potato/coconut essence-d scallops were
more difficult to prepare than the mussels. By enthusiastically, relentlessly,
consuming both reception foods we testified to the success of Stanley’s
culinary artistry…expectedly, unfailingly, vintage Stanley!
Wow! Mouthfilling savors of pomegranate and cherries graced our palates
– I heard “spices,” “zippy fruit,” “raspberry,” “cedar” -- as
The Fifteen “Grenache” 2000, $12-$13, at Whitinsville’s Friendly Discount
Liquors, accompanied an Atlantic salmon “boat” filled with a mixture of
field greens, marinated white beans, roasted corn and fresh lime juice.
Bob reminded us, saying this successful matchup of red wine with fish
proved his contention that oily, assertively flavored, and/or weighty fish are
great partners with firmly flavored and/or tannic red wines. Some WWT members
put Patty Giannopoulos to work when they placed orders for the Fifteen
“Grenache.” Always the businesswoman, Patty wasn’t complaining as she
scribbled names and numbers for the wine.
The entrée was an I-died-and-thought-I-went-to-heaven masterpiece of
kitchen magic: roasted “dry aged” filet of prime beef, stuffed with Tobias
blue cheese, and onions cooked in balsamic vinegar, was ringed with honey-sweet
carrots, sauteed green beans and herb-stuffed potato and served with a light
mushroom reduction.
The tender, juicy, delicious, medium-rare-prepared filet evoked
exclamations of delight – delirium from our more vocal and already wine
infused members.
Proudly and
confidently standing shoulder to shoulder with the filet was an unfamiliar wine
from the unpretentious Cotes de Languedoc wine-growing region:
Chateau de Gourgazaud Reserve 2000,
$12-$13, at Friendly Discount Liquors.
Wha?! Who?! Where?! Gourgazaud?!!!!
I whispered to Bob, seated to my left, that it took big ba – err,
fortitude to pair an obscure wine from an unheralded wine region with a premium
aged filet entrée – like consorting a beggar urchin with a wealthy king. Bob
smilingly wagged his finger and intoned: “How many times have you heard me
say, ‘price or reputation do not a winner ensure’?”
He was correct again. Rarely do I win in wine discussions with him. I
ruefully admitted that if he had blind bagged the Gourgazaud we would not have
disputed that it was a prestigious Graves or Bordeaux.
I discerned aromas and flavors of berries, cherries, cinnamon, mint,
black pepper and a hint of tobacco. Again, eager and excited WWT members were
leaning over Patty’s seductive shoulders placing orders.
Yep! You needn’t spend a lot to get a lot!
Bob, a past Grand Senechal and Delegué General of the Chevaliers du
Tastevin, adhered to a Chevalier tradition: serving the best wines with the
cheese course.
Cheeses: white/beige Manchego made from milk of Spanish sheep, dry,
nutty; and Hamlet Farmers chevre; delectable Parmesan cheese flavored bread
sticks.
The wines, each in magnum size bottle: B.V. Georges de Latour Private Reserve 1980, Beringer Merlot “Bancroft Ranch” 1992, and St. Francis Merlot 1996.
We were advised to concentrate seriously on the wines first by themselves
– age vs. youth, i.e., ’80 vs. ‘96 – then on their compatibility with
the cheese. We would be asked to indicate our preferences by a show of hands.
Bob reminded us that wines aged in magnums (twice the size of the conventional
750-ml. bottle) take much longer to reach their plateau of optimum drinkability
than the standard size 750-ml., that the 1980 vintage was not necessarily in its
dotage and that the 1996 might well be an awkward youth.
One wag member at an adjoining table said aloud that he could smell wood
burning from the skulls of the deeply concentrating tasters. Ha! Ha! Bill
Messier.
The room reverberated with crosscurrents of friendly debate as spirited
pronouncements and disagreements about the merits of the wines pervaded the
room.
I found the 1980 to be very much alive, thank you; in no way approaching
senility but, yes, showing very ripe maturity; the 1996 offered rich fruit, some
smokiness, meaty flavors, soft tannin, exquisite balance and lingering
aftertaste; the 1992 showed complexity with noticeable tannin and acidity –
needed time. All three, however, added dimension to the cheese course.
Show of hands indicated a wide preference for the St. Francis Merlot
1996, eliciting a frowning, grumbling, surprise from Beringer devotees. Not to
me. I voted for the St. Francis.
Surprise! Not on the menu: Sauternes Chateau LaMothe 1998 Cru Classé,
perfection as the dessert wine or with the cheese. What a treat!
Lingering over the Sauternes, my wine influenced mood became mellow as I
reflected on the pleasure of the evening and the camararderie among our members.
To think that something so simple as wine and food could bind us in friendship
this way. The strife – the suspicions and hatreds -- throughout the world
seemed so far away this evening.
As usual, I began to pontificate – this time to lovely Jean – hoping
I was not being a wine bore. I decried those wine tasters – not among us here!
– who quick- sight, quick-sniff, quick-sip and quick-swallow. I said, they
should hold the sip on the palate for a bit, taste and think about it, slosh it
around the mouth before swallowing, ascertain the smoothness of the swallow and
the length of the aftertaste.
Lovely Jean nodded tolerantly in agreement, although her eyes were
glazed. Bob murmured, “If our members don’t know that by now, they’ll
never know it.”
Ah, yes, it was a grand evening. Bob said he was already working on the
wines for the September meeting of the Worcester Wine Tasters and for the
ensuing monthly tasting sessions through next May.
We are fortunate to have in our epicurean pursuits wine and food mavens
like Dr. Bob and sommelier Jim Nicas to light the way. Thanks, guys!
Wine pick: Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc 2002, under $10. For warm weather
summertime food fare, be it fish, pasta or fowl, the bright aromas and flavors
of melon, pineapple, kiwi and tropical fruits, balanced with crispness and
citrus fruits acidity, guarantee dining delight. Price is right!
Wine Pick: Robert Mondavi Chardonnay (Carneros District) 2001, under $25.
Again, Mondavi ensures its reputation as “best” with a vibrant chardonnay,
embracing aromas and flavors of tropical fruit, citrus, floral nuances and hints
of anise; balanced crispness and fruit acids; smooth creamy vanilla notes
underlie the lingering flavors after the swallow.
Wine Pick: Victor Hugo Zinfandel 2000, around $18. Sniff intense
blackberry aromas followed by assertive, lively berry flavors complemented by
spicy oak; long lingering aftertaste, following a smooth swallow. Gold Medal and
Best of Class awarded at San Diego Wine Competition in 2002. Enjoy gold medal
drinking with ANY Victor Hugo Paso Robles wine!
Email Comments to Julian at:
julian@oxfordwineroom.com