A super evening with Maria Jose López de Heredia. The wine lineup was certainly not the highlight, being mostly new releases, for a wine that takes decades, even generations to shine. The food was good, very good sometimes, but not amazing. However, the company more than made up for it, with my friend B. having flown in from Phoenix just for the dinner, Maria Jose being extremely convivial and charming, and Monica, the importer, rounding things out nicely. The important takeaways? Maria Jose has a slight distaste for engineers, likes sake, and the winemaker first mentioned as amongst her favorites? Why, Chateau Musar of course!
First Course:
- Boquerones en Escabeche - house cured anchovy, marinated peppers, pine nuts - these were maybe the most delicious anchovies I've eaten, ever. Really creamy and delicious.
- Sobrasada - house made soft chorizo
- ...and a mystery cheese... I don't remember, it was a late change.
2000 Viña Gravonia Blanco - smells like an overblown California butterball chardonnay, and tastes like anything but. Pretty and tasty, and a certain "in-your-head" quality, largely, I think, due to the difference between the nose and the palate.
2000 Viña Tondonia Rosado - honestly, my favorite wine of the evening, that full on savoury experience. M.J. was very impressed that we've been drinking the '93s in Kyoto, saying she doesn't have any left herself, and if she could find some, she'd buy it back. Of course, she then told us about how much she'd recently enjoyed a '64 rosado. So, not exactly time to drink up then!
Second Course:
- Ravioli de Hongo - duck consommé, alba white truffle, shaved foie gras - this was very nice too!
- Trucha con Jamón - trout, serrano ham, white asparagus, glacier lettuce, black olive
- Menestra en Pintxo - a menestra is supposed to be a sort of vegetable casserole, so I guess this was a "deconstructed" version: artichoke, potato, asparagus, and parsley
2004 Cubillo - Really didn't make an impression, at all.
Third Course
- Chuleta - prime dry aged rib eye, with veal jus
- Patatas a la Riojana - piquillo peppers, smoked hot paprika, and chorizo
- Alcachofas - artichokes, béchamel, idiazabal, black truffle escabèche
1987 Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva - the first Musarian comparison was made by Monica, the U.S. importer. Not so much that she agreed, but noting that it was not an uncommon comparison. The aromatics are certainly familiar, not convinced that the similarities continue - this seems to be a bit rounder and herbal.
1999 Viña Bosconia Reserva - Lovely balance, but predictably not offering very much at the moment.
Postre
- Crema de Pera - vanilla pear custard, almond cookie, orange gastrique
- petit four - marzipans
Solera 1948 Gran Reserva Fondillon - a 100% Monastrell from Alicante - familiar style but a very dry version. Not from Heredia, but neat!
Soup?
Yet another trip that incorporated both exercise and the gaining of weight. First stop after deplaning, Ostradamus on Florianopolis.
Although, yes, we ate the famous oysters, this local dish, berbigão, was definitely the highlight - literally hundreds, maybe thousands of cockles, stewed with potatoes and served with rice, farofa (powdered manioc), and also what I can best describe as a manioc-based poi. How DO they open all those cockles though? Hard work. Delicious!
Big avocado! Must be the humidity/gravity/timezone.
Biker's repast of fried polenta, palm hearts salad, and caipirinha.
Rice fields near Ilhota. I don't know what the breed of rice is in this area, but it was very tasty.
Bananas near Luiz Alves. Acres, and acres of banana plantations.
I'd always imagined chicken coops to be smellier.
Oddly, I enjoyed the Peruvian food better at the restaurant literally around the corner from my friend's place than I did in Peru... well, I exaggerate a little, but... and yes, this is what you think it is.
Porto Belo may not be up to much, but it does host some fantastic baked goods.
How did it take a week to actually eat some proper beef? Our celebratory post-cyclethon dinner.
Washed down with some surprisingly decent Brasilian wine. Not particularly interesting, but not bad, not "fake", not aspiring to any international stylings, which was nice.
Moqueca, Brasilian fish stew. The coconut milk and corander had me a bit confused, with the right level of heat this could have passed for Thai (but brought back to center with some local chili concoctions.)
And finally, last meal, a family barbecue, churrasca, in the built-in fire pit... must get me one of these.
For the last of this round's Protocols, finally got to meet M.-san, J's wine-shop wunderkind (and who provided the Donati and the Munjebel, and was trying Musar for the first time
N.V. Donati Malvasia Frizzante - this was unusual! Is it lambic-ish? Maybe... a little... it's... it's... unusual! Not as severe, not as acidic, not as funky, but possibly just as elemental.
1995 Chateau Musar Blanc - so, last year, Serge Hochar said the '89 is the youngest wine that's ready to drink. I don't completely agree, but I can sort of understand - I think I really like it on release, it's got a bit of wildness, as it does when it gets older. This didn't seem to have that, a sort of dormancy. Well, dormant is relative for Musar, no? But then again, as J. suggested, pop and pour might not be the way to enlightenment here.
2007 Rietsch Passage - I'm going to say that the VJ descriptor J.'s been using doesn't do this justice - it is very much its own, lovely thing. Whereas VJ seems to be an almost overly demanding wine at times, this is very much for drinking.
To sum up, we finished off the Kracher from the other night, and popped all three Nøgne Ø sakes, the Yamahai Muroka Junmai, the Yamahai Nigori Nama Junmai, and the Yamahai Genshu Muroka Shiboritate Nama Junmai. And then... the singing began...
Our numbers were a bit low this evening, as G. couldn't find his back legs, and S. decided to go for yoga instead. Really, what is the world coming to these days? To start things off, a local brew, Tsuki no Katsura Junmai. Has that soft feminine Kyoto style thing going, but also just a bit more umami and edge
NV Jo Landron Atmospheres Methode Traditionelle (Nantes) - an 80/20 blend of Folle blanche/Pinot noir. Loamy, nutty, bracing acidity, a touch foamy and green, very refreshing. Fatigue-antidote.
2008 Lapierre Morgon (Sans Soufre) - purchased by J in Kyoto, to toast the passing of Marcel Lapierre. Have to say, I much prefer the sulphured versions. Not sure of the chemical reasons, but there's definitely a ripeness that is lacking in this. My understanding is ML only produced this at the request of one U.S. importer, who only sells it through their own store. And then a small amount gets to Japan and possibly elsewhere.
2007 Raul Perez El Castro de Valtuille Mencia Joven (Bierzo) - a very cab-franquish unoaked mencia, with just a touch more fruit. Tasty.
2000 Kracher Welschriesling TBA #8 - my man J's notes are far more impressive than mine, so I quote: "This is sordid stuff. Rubensian women dripping apricot jam off their breasts down into your mouth as you float down a river of butter...this is decadence without prejudice (in the Apocalypse Now sense).
Back in Japan for more general mischief, and a number of protocols. This was the first
Most epic roast-beef sandwich ever... wagyu roast beef
1995 Clouet - full and spiced nose, tight for most of the night, less savoury/funk than last time, less champagne-like until later on, filled out, bread and lemons. Increasingly tasty.
A non-neba-neba preparation of yama-imo!
More of Kawakita-san's magic.
2006 Mâcle Côtes du Jura – nose of yogurt rice, light walnut, smooth, not in your face intensity like ’05 and ’04, more approachable for sure.
Amuse-bouche of baby octopus. Followed by GV flight:
Steckrüben Suppe (rutabaga, beech mushroom, fried bone marrow...)
...in urfa pepper broth.
Pochiertes Ei (soft-poached egg, lobster, maitake foam and toasted pumpernickel)
Kalbsbries (veal sweetbreads, brussel sprouts and celery root)
Zander (walleye pike, horseradish, egg yolk and dill puree)
Wiener Schnitzel (veal over potato and cucumber salad, served with lingonberry jam, yes, lingonberry!) Ah, a fine match too... those Austrian Rieslings and Grüners, when sharp, are just suited to fried meat!
Bayerische Kreme (Bavarian cream, strawberries, and elderflower sorbet)
Posts
