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October 29, 2005
A Tasting and a Dinner
Last night was the much anticipated (at least by those Lost in Inebriation like myself) barbaresco and barolo tasting at A Southern Season. There were 5 bottles on offer, 3 barbaresco's and 2 barolos (I wish it had been the other way around). In short:
1. Abbona Barbaresco Faset-My favorite of the barbarescos. I believe it was a 2001 (I forgot to get the vintages on the barbarescos). It has good structure, is pretty full and brings a nice velvety texture to the table. You really get a nice sense of the range that decent Nebbiolo in this neighborhood can offer. I picked up floral (eg violets) and vanilla hints. It also has a nice backdrop of spiciness.
2. Produttori del Barbaresco-This was, if memory serves, the 2000 vintage from winemaker Aldo Vacca. It has balance, but just didn't leap out at me.
3. DeForville Barbaresco-I believe that this was a 2000 as well, and I actually did not care for it at all. It seemed too acidic on the tongue and it had a kind of stinky floral quality on the nose that I find sometimes in, for instance, certain Rhone reds. Jay, the Southern Season wine guru, described it as earthy, with a farmhouse quality. Well...
4. Cordero di Montezemlo Monfalleto Barolo-This is a 2000. Certainly not a classic year, but a good, solid Barolo that is destined to accompany a hearty braise with risotto on a cold and rainy night, probably around January.
5. Abbona Barolo Terlo Ravera-This is a '99, which is one of the better barolo vintages (in my not-so-humble opinion) in that stretch. Very nice and balanced, good range on the nose and palate, and capable of a few years improvement. I bought two bottles to test that hypothesis.
On the way back the wife and I stopped off to see if Bin 54, Chapel Hill's new high-end steak house, is open. It is, and we decided to try it out. We had a 2002 Rudd Oakville Estate (a bordeaux type blend with Cabernet Sauvignon at the wheel). It is another of the excellent 2002 California Cab or Cab blends. It is superb, with beautiful fruit, a wonderful range and a dazzling liveliness. Unlike any of the wines I had at the tastng, this one exhibited great length. I already have 2 of Rudd's 2002 Oakville Estate Grown Cabernets resting in my wine collection, and now I want more and will no doubt be having a harder and harder time leaving alone the ones I already have.
Bin 54 is pricey, but the food was excellent. I had a New York Strip steak. It was my first experience with Kobe beef. This was domestic Kobe beef from Snake River Farms. I asked for it medium-rare (the perfect choice, as it turned out, for the Kobe beef) and Bin 54 delivered the perfect medium-rare steak.
And, as for that Kobe beef, my god: it is simply amazing. It's like butter. No, it's like buddddaaaah. Ooooooh mommy: the marbling is so pervasize, consistent and smooth that you find yourself hoping that you will die suddenly at the end of the steak, if only to make your final exit with that taste in your mouth. It melts in your mouth, has the most creamy quality, and is actually slightly sweet. As I noted, the Rudd had great length (that was obvious before the main course arrived), but the richness of the Kobe beef simply overwhelmed it. In fact, I don't think I could have much more than the 12 oz cut the restaurant served: it's just too hopelessly rich.
After all, I'm a man for whom restraint means something. Not much. But certainly something.
Nonetheless, the Rudd did very nicely alongside this glorious gift from Japan.
Bin 54 offers a lot of nice little touches, such as their extremely flavorful frenchfries which are deep fried in duck fat (among other things...or so I was told). I would describe them as slightly more addictive than heroin. As you can probably already guess, in taste and writing, subtle I am not.
The service was excellent and the sommelier was very helpful. I wish they had had a late harvest Riesling for after dinner, but by way of consolation I was introduced to a high-end '73 white port, which had a really nice nuttiness on the nose and was, unsurprisingly, very, very smooth.
Buy into the 2002 California Cabs (if you at all can) and try Bin 54 in Chapel Hill. And, for God's sake, before you die, have yourself a Kobe beef steak.
Posted by dag at October 29, 2005 2:01 PM
Comments
And now for my meal. I had the lobster tail, which was wonderful. It was not overcooked and rubbery but rather perfectly done with a hint of butter that did not detract or distract from the lobster flavor. I also had the mashed sweet potatoes, seasoned with cumin and cinnamon and I could have eaten it all night long. And for dessert, I had the banana pudding with bourbon pecan biscuits. Need I say more??
Posted by: The Wife at November 2, 2005 6:55 PM