Howard Johnson's Home - January 17, 2008 After a short break for the holidays, we gathered at Howard's home in Vancouver for the first tasting of the new year. Only Paul and Loren were unable to attend. We arrived to find a wonderful display of Sushi to go with two white wines, a 2005 Saint Cosme Condrieu and a 2006 Alban Viognier Estate - these were tasted blind, but would eventually lead the group in the direction of the evening's theme. The Sushi maki rolls included a selection of maguru nigiri, tempura shrimp, softshell crab, braised salmon and a rainbow roll. To the surprise of of few, the raw and cooked Sushi went rather well with the two white Rhone-styled white wine. We then made our way to the dining room for the first of two blind flights. Howard decided to taste the first four, offer comments, share the theme, and then move on to the second flight. As for the accompanying food, Howard put together a nice spread of cheese that included an Old Amsterdam Gouda, some Humboldt Fog, and a Moliterno with Black Truffle - the meats included Salame and Finochiona from producer Salumi, along with a Proscutto Parma. To most, there was no commonality of the first four wines. The "guesses" went from Old World to Argentina to Australia to California. As it turned out, the theme was a wonderful selection of Northern Rhones from France. The first four wines included a 1990 Chapoutier Hermitage "Sizeranne," a 1999 Delas Frerer Hermitage "Tourette." a 1999 Guigal Cote-Rotie "Chateau d'Ampuis," and a 1999 Rene Rostaing Cote-Rotie. Sadly, the Guigal appeared to be corked. Most thought the Chapoutier was the only one of the four that had Old World characteristics. And there was not great consensus about the remaining three other than that they were enjoyed by all. The second flight, also poured blind, included a 2004 Thierry Allemand Cornas "Chaillot," a 2005 JL Chave Crozes-Hermitage "Silene," a 2005 Pax Syrah Kobler Family Vineyard from California (the ringer of the tasting), and a 2005 Saint Cosme Cote-Rotie. The California Syrah went rather well with the Old World wines from Nothern Rhone - the only difference noted was the ink-staining quality of the Pax not found in the other wines. The Chave was by far the best value wine of the evening at about $25/btl. Howard then poured a 1993 Royal Tokaki Azsu 6 Puttonyos Szt Tamas to go alongside a Pecan Cake with Orange filling and whipped cream topping. Special thanks again to Howard for introducing, and in some cases, re-introducing the group to these wonderful gems. |