Worcester Wine Tasters Warned
by Julian Schultz
julian@oxfordwineroom.com
"There are 20 us this evening, and I have brought 20 bottles of wine for our annual breakaway dinner. Does that mean that I expect each of you to consume a full bottle? Like blank I do! I don't swear, as you know; but the four-letter word begins with H and ends in double L with an E in the middle.
"You will have a potpourri of excellent- to exceptional wines to sample - hear me: I said, 'to sample' -- not to finish each of them. Some are 'younguns' and some are oldies to match the dinner menu that Chris Liazos (Webster House impressario), my wife Lu and I planned."
I heard Dr. Bob well, and thankfully he only warned us about over-consuming the wines, said that he would countenance no reckless imbibing - no sir!
I was pleased he only warned us, didn't ticket us with one of his soaring sorrowful lectures; like the kind I get when I over-consume everything put before me - too often with refills of the wine and doubles of the food. When Dr. Bob is particularly annoyed with me because he fears I am jeopardizing my well being from over-excess, I get doubles of his lectures. Brrr!
As usual, the Webster House the dinner was superb, with Sir John Hammerstrom leading his kitchen knights of the stove, dishes, pots and pans. Lynn Beardsley, princess of the waitstaff, elicited our applause for her swift ballet dancer grace as she served the six food courses.
As we moved into the back end of the Webster House's Worcester Room, I observed a short, rotund, roly-poly man in the ante room inspecting the white wines in the iced tub and the red wines standing sentinel on the table:
"Hey, man, this is dinkum stuff - fair dinkum stuff, indeed. How do I --"?
I interrupted him: "What's with this 'dinkum stuff'? I never heard that description of a wine? Where the hell (I swear) did you learn that?"
"I'm from Australia, where the word 'dinkum' or 'fair dinkum' is commonly applied to things that range from favorable, to better, to best. I would classify these wines at the high end of the range. By the way, my name is Hiram Hochabee, and Hochabee I'll be - I'll be. I am working on my doctorate in Geography at Clark University here. I'd like to participate - I am able to provide the providential purse for the price -- in what I see is a wine dinner.
I said that I would ask Dr. Bob - no, I said, he is not a PhD; he's a retired physician. When I said that my late wife, my son and I were Clarkies, he congratulated me and asked how I enjoyed studying and exploring Geography at Clark. I told him the only geography that I had been interested in exploring when I was there were the hills and valleys of the slinky curvaceous graduate student girl. But no luck: She was all flirtation and no participation. He winced and said that was not good dinkum.
After consultation with Chris, Dr. Bob consented; but Hiram would need to remain inconspicuous and silent throughout, lest more of his obscure language confound our easily confounded Worcester Wine Tasters members.
I was privileged to sit beside sultry, bewitching Magda, bountiful of charm, blessed of palate, elegant of moon shine; opposite me were good friend personal physician, Dr. Ron Dorris, and his wife, Carole, my dear friend. I knew then this dinner was destined to be of Olympian splendor.
Reception course: Meat pitas with ground mixture of lamb, beef and chicken in filo triangles were sensational with Loire white wine Sancerre "Bonnes Bouches" 2002, Henri Bouchard.
The huge platter, filled with the pitas, was quickly depleted...and again immediately refilled. Most of us were bulging of mouth and occupied of hands, as we ate away, stuffed ourselves and sipped imprudently (the latter, when Dr. Bob wasn't looking).
My notes on the Sancerre: "big nose, mixed citrus fruits, crisp, clean, lively; nicely balanced with fruit, fruit acids and texture; smooth swallow, long aftertaste."
Appetizer: Delicate tender scallop cake, prepared with large sea scallops, lime juice, fresh ginger and green onion, piqued with cilantro-lime juice, had us humming and murmuring our pleasure. Perfection!
If the scallop cake possibly could merit improvement, the Burgundy St. Aubin "En Remilly" 2002, from Olivier LeFlaive, would be the wine.
My notes: "mineral nose, green apples, lemon-lime, nuance of vanilla; crisp, dry, fruit acids; good balance, sustained aftertaste; improves with the flavors of the scallop cake; gets better and better."
At the far end of the room, I heard and saw a perplexed Virginia Ursin ask Hiram, "What's fair dinkum?" That meant that Hiram chose not to stay inconspicuous and silent.
Dr. Bob exclaimed with pursed-lipped, brow-wrinkled consternation, "Did I hear 'fair dinkum'?!"
Fearing that Hiram would be given the bum's rush out, I called over to Dr. Bob, "No! No! You heard 'where's a twinkum?' You know, the gooey pastry."
"Like double H and two Ls at the end and E in the middle, I did!"
Dr. Bob began to make his move to Hiram, but wife Lu told him to relax.
First main course: chicken breast with light egg and cheese batter, sautéed and prepared with fresh asparagus spears and topped with orange Hollandaise sauce. Tender and moist, delicate and gourmet, innovative and complex, seasoned and restrained, the chicken evoked rounded thumb-and-forefinger enthusiasm.
Hiram bolted to the center of the room, his eyes glowing rapturously over his delight with the flavor the chicken: "I hereby award the chef the non-existent Australian Culinary Medal of Honor on behalf of the Australian Outback, halfback, quarterback and starving Aborigines."
That did it for Dr. Bob: "I'm on my way to invite him out and I will return his money with five cents interest."
When he saw me convulsed with laughter, almost falling from my chair, he tried to restrain his laughter and with a frustrated dismissive wave of his hand, he returned to his table. I thought he would blame me for Hiram's being among us. I anticipated a lecture when he made his friendship's daily phone call to check on me the next morning. (He didn't lecture.)
I walked to Hiram's table and told him that if he didn't quiet down, he would be kicked out from the dinner. He said, indignantly, "I thought this country is a democracy with free speech. I paid my money in all good faith and I plan to stay the course to the last course of recorded menu. If I am rudely forced to leave, believe me, I will go kicking and screaming; I may report this to the Australian Consulate --" I cut him off, not wanting his protest to reach Dr. Bob's now sensitive ears.
I returned to my paired wine with the chicken, the red Burgundy Pernand-Vergelesses "Clos de la Croix de Pierre" 1989, Louis Jadot shipper. How would this almost 16-year-oldster influence the chicken or, for that matter, how would it hold up for itself in quality? Answer: Both food and wine did justice to each other and to our Worcester Wine Tasters members.
My notes: "superb wine, showing smooth voluptuousness and maturity; flavors complex with red and black fruits, predominately plums and currants; soft tannins, excellent balance, moderately long aftertaste; improves in the glass with emerging cooked meat and fermented fruit tastes."
I walked to Dr. Bob's table to congratulate him on the dinner so far: "Bob, my friend, this is a fair dinkum dinner. You, Lu and Chris outdid yourselves with this fair dinkum dinner."
I saw smoke emerging from Dr. Bob's ears and lazar glares from his eyes: "Et tu, Julian? Have you come to praise Bob or to bury Bob with that fair dinkum nonsense? I am thinking of exiling you to that back-of-the-room table where nefarious treasons, stratagems and spoils are hatched."
The piece de resistance: overly generous portion of filet mignon, pan sautéed with shiitake mushrooms, sweet brown sugar and cream, salty oven roasted red bliss potato and tender asparagus spears.
There was much discussion about it and about, about the balance of the sweetness and saltiness with the filet, and how this unusual combination would play out with the dry, tannic, matching wine: Beringer "Knight's Valley" Cabernet Sauvignon 1995.
Some of us were enthusiastic; others were accepting; a few voiced disappointment. The uniqueness among the intermingled flavors of sweet, salt, tannin, fruit, wine dryness in the course pleased me immensely. My positive emphasis is on the unique, the unusual, the innovative, the explorative discovery away from the commonplace dining.
Notes on the Beringer: "intense nose of pomegranate and plums, soft tannins, exquisitely balanced with fruit and fruit acids of currants, cherries, and blackberries; augmented with black pepper, some cedar, tobacco and mint."
Hiram with a sheepish contrite expression approached Dr. Bob: "I did not intend to disrupt the decorum of your wine dinner with my unintentional outbursts of ebullience. In Australia it is de rigueur to express our enthusiasm vocally, exuberantly and unrestrained." Mrs. Ursin suggested your customary deportment is considerably lower keyed. So please accept my abject apology. I must needs leave now to bone up for exams."
Hiram added that he was indebted for his being here to Dr. David Stevens, Clark University professor, with whom he shared a luncheon a few days earlier: "Dr. Stevens had mentioned the dinner, adding that would be attending also. He suggested that perhaps I might try to 'crash' the dinner." He extended his hand, which Dr. Bob good-naturedly accepted and suggested that he not leave until after the exciting wine and cheese course to follow.
Exultantly and with thespian élan Hiram flapped his arms like wings and skipped back to the Ursin table to await the wine and cheese. He said he hoped to gather material for his book on wine geography in Australia from his discussion with his able mates; he pontificated with out pause about the Australian wine culture to glazed-eyed Mike and Virginia Ursin.
Cheese course: slabs of Brie, Fontina and Havarti cheese were on large platters at each table for family-style serving. They were paired with the "Wines of the Night": Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the Rhone Valley, 1981, a blend of Grenache and Syrah grapes; and Balifico Volpaia, a Super Tuscan red, 1997, predominantly Sangiovese Grosso grapes.
Ah, yes! This combination of wines and cheeses would be to gourmandizing like winning the Triple Crown in horse racing or the Grand Slam in tennis. Nor were we disappointed.
The grandpapa Chateauneuf, almost 25 years old, offered very mature flavors of fruit varieties blended in complexity; soft and seductive with an arresting touch of caramel, the wine lingered long on the palate: smooth, tantalizing, splendiferous sipping even when tasted even without the cheese.
With the cheese, however - halleluiah! For many of us, as exceptionally delightful as were the food courses and wines were that we already had enjoyed, the pairing here was of Olympian magnificence, surpassing everything that had been served earlier in the dinner.
When the Volpaia was poured, we immediately discerned deep cherries in the aroma; mineral, tar, strawberries and black pepper expanded the flavors of the still vibrant fruit.
Exploring the variety of flavors by tasting each of the three cheeses with each of the two wines left me near breathless with open-mouth adoration - almost a deification of gourmet dining.
Chris and Helena Liazos had planned to extend the evening with a surprise pastry dessert: gigantic red ripe strawberry dripping with luscious sweetness and ringed with smaller strawberries in a strawberry puree, topped with whipped cream over a delicious pastry cookie.
Hiram, standing, called over to Dr. Bob: "My waist line and upcoming exams protest 'no, no,' but if I may use American street parlance, 'I ain't agoin' no place until I finish this yere dessert!' "
Hiram bowed with facetious exaggerated cavalier sweep, acknowledging our laughter and applause.
The Webster House kitchen and service staff, led by chef John Hammerstrom and hostess/manager JoAnn Woupio, received our standing congratulations for a superb dinner, as did a protesting modest Dr. Bob who announced he would again conduct the Worcester Wine Tasters monthly meetings.
Wine pick: Dry Creek Chardonnay "Russian River Valley 2003, $17-$17. A complex wine with depth of aromas and flavors; a mixture of mineral, fig, anise, citrus, and smoke pulsate on the palate; balanced with soft oak and fruit acids; holds the palate nicely and leads to a smooth swallow and long aftertaste. There isn't a better Chardonnay at this price - nowhere!
Wine pick: Montivina Zinfandel "Sierra Hills" 2002, $10-$11. Raspberry aromas and strawberry flavors with nuance of cloves; balanced with black pepper, light toasty oak, soft acids; smooth texture, clean swallow, moderately extended aftertaste. A delicious wine for little money. A best buy.
Email Comments to Julian at:
julian@oxfordwineroom.com