The Official Wine Thread

[Cary Grant]



i don't understand the thin comment

I'd wager 90% of the French wines I've had outside of Rhones, whether recommended to me for purchase, at restaurants, at friends etc lack substantial body or depth and especially lack acidity; they taste "watered down" or "thin" to me versus the wines of Northern Italy that I prefer (across the spectrum from Chianti and Barbera to Barolo/Barbaresco etc).

My sample size is understandably small in comparison to the Francofans here... and drinking stellar vintages of the best burg's and bordeaux are out of my reach. I've been trying a lot of French wine the past two years and have found little that does not strike me as closer to kool-aid than not.

The most memorable exceptions have been VT La Crau... this, some other Rhone reds, Domaine Roger Perrin CdP (don't love it but has body), and the few Madirans I've tried and enjoyed, especially Chateau d’Aydie and Chateau Montus,

 

[gomestar]

you need better friends

 

[Cary Grant]



you need better friends

Tell me about it.

I'm all ear for rec's... on the wine that is.

You and I seem to have similar tastes in Italian wine so you know where I am coming from perhaps.

 

[Axelman 17]



Short version of the Per Se:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The short version is that the wines worked out quite well. We ended up bringing three and purchasing four. I had been firmly in the camp that bringing such a high percentage of the wines, especially fairly unextraordinary bottles would not be appropriate. However, if the restaurant had any issues with our approach, they certainly didnt let on. The staff was completely amenable and gracious with our bottles from the start. I am going to put together a full write-up with pics but want to first track down the exact food/wine consumed. Only disappointment on the wine was an '82 bordeaux we brought that was totally lifeless.

As for the private room, I think it ended up being a good outcome. We are a pretty loud and gregarious group which I think could have caused issues in the sedate main room. We also didnt need to be shy about taking pictures, walking around, standing by the windows etc. The private room is all glass and faces into the main room as well as the park so you dont lose a sense of place within the restaurant by going that route.

The biggest disappointment was the food. I actually thought more courses were misses than hits (maybe 50/50). I am not as knowledgeable about food as many on this board but even to a novice like myself, there were clearly dishes that were off technically or missed the mark taste-wise. Will go into it in more detail in my write-up.

Thanks again for the help with the wines guys, extremely good intel.

Here is the full write-up:

Food:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Oysters and Pearls - Sabayon of pearl tapioca with island creek oysters and sterling white sturgeon cavier



I know it is cliché and probably overplayed but this was my favorite dish of the night. I thought the textures worked beautifully and the contrasting richness of the sabayon and the saltiness of the cavier complimented each other nicely.

This was followed by the first service of breads/butter and their much maligned salt presentation. The bread throughout the meal was consistently excellent

White Asparagus “En Croute D’Amande” - Granny smith apples, green almonds, mache and red onion “Aigre-Doux”



This was by far the least effective dish of the night. I have never had anything like this before so maybe the concept of the dish was lost on me but it just didn’t taste good. The crust on the asparagus was extremely thick and dry, completely overpowered the asparagus. I was expecting a crust that was lighter and airier, like a tempura.

Columbia River Sturgeon - Green asparagus tempura, chanterelle mushrooms, fava beans and béarnaise reduction sauce



And here is the desired asparagus tempura. Excellent dish, not sure how sturgeon was prepared, may have been sous vide but it had a buttery richness that I don’t expect from sturgeon.

Butter Poached Nova Scotia Lobster - Kishu Mandarins, carmelized fennel and saffron-vanilla emulsion\



I thought this one missed the mark. Lobster was definitely a touch underdone. Emulsion was far too redolent of vanilla for my taste, I can understand wanting a hint of it but this was overpowering, did not seem balanced.

Four Story Hill Farm’s Poulard - New crop potatoes, ramp top subric, whole grain mustard puree and sauce gribiche



Chicken was sous vide and was a little underdone. Skin was served on the chicken and it was very floppy/floppy, not sure why they even bothered with the skin, I don’t see how you can get any real texture or substance to it when it is prepared this way. The ramp top subric was amazing, no idea how they prepared it but it was among the better things we ate

Elysian Fields Farm’s Carre D’Agneau - Petit Sale, garbanzo bean croquette, grilled celery hearts, meyer lemon supremes and lamb jus



Lamb was perfect, the whole dish was well executed though the garbanzo bean croquette (aka falafel) wasn’t really of interest to me. Don’t think I have ever had better lamb.

Marieke Gouda - Applewood smoked bacon, Persian cucumbers, jingle bell peppers and salsa verde



Cheese course. Very strange dish, a play on a BLT. I would have rather just had some spectacular cheeses but I guess that wouldn’t be sophisticated enough for Per Se. I could not make it through all the gouda. It was a big log of gouda.

Champagne Mango Sorbet - Young coconut cream, rambutan and coconut meringue (no pic)

Amazing dish, the perfect palette cleanser.

Toasted Popcorn - Salted caramel ganache, chocolate-almond crumble and toasted pain au lait ice cream



Nothing wrong with this, obligatory chocolate dessert. I don’t think the popcorn aspect of this dish really came through enough to merit inclusion in the title but a little additional crunch

Mignardises



Wave after wave of these. First was a selection of chocolates presented in a box that vaguely looked like a humidor. Probably 30 in total, all housemade, very impressive. Next was more truffles, macarons, etc. Lastly, we were given “Coffee and Doughnuts” which I think is a Keller signature dessert. Not sure quite why this became famous, didn’t seem to be anything special but was totally serviceable.

Wines:

Pol Roger Multi-Vintage (purchased) - I am a Pol Roger virgin and was pleasantly surprised, excellent recommendation by those on the forum. Was a “steal” at 3x street price. Consumed primarily with the pearls and oysters, worked well.

Gruner Veltliner - FX Pichler Smargard "Loibner Berg" 2011 (purchased) - Another good selection, had the right amount of residual sugar

Sancerre, Pascal Jolivet, "Le Chene Marchand" 2011 (purchased) - Not a standout but totally fine

Chassagne Montrachet, Louis Latour 1 Cru, “Les Caillerets” 2006 (brought) - I believe we had this with the sturgeon and really enjoyed it. Rich but still crisp, good fruit, felt like the right amount of oak.

Barberesco, Cigliuti Vigne Erte 2000 (brought) - Definitely the best wine of the evening. Spicy, bright, but very smooth. Had this with the chicken which I thought was a good foil.

Chateau Les-Hautes-Conseillants (Pomerol) 1982 (brought) - This one was totally dead, we moved houses a few years back and I think a lot of the older bottles didn’t hold up in the move.

 

[Slewfoot]

Thanks guys! Glad you got a kick out of the article...and enjoyed the suit! :^)

 

[aravenel]

Great writeup, thanks for posting!

Agree with you re: the oysters and pearls--was my favorite dish as well, cliche be damned.

 

[gomestar]

thanks for the write up

 

[Piobaire]

2011 Zestos Vinos de Madrid Old Vines. Really a nice bottle for $9. Wish I had bought a case instead of just six.

 

[Eustace]

Gruner Veltliner - FX Pichler Smargard "Loibner Berg" 2011 (purchased) - Another good selection, had the right amount of residual sugar

I have the '07 of this and I'll probably drink it shortly. Nice wines.

 

[Slewfoot]

Thanks for the notes on Per Se! Sounds like a fun time even if not every dish lived up to expectations.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

The 08 Monti Antico was awesome. And $11.

 

[Manton]

hah, sucka overpaid for the Monte.

I buy that **** by the case at like $8.50/bottle. I am currently down to two so it's time to re-up.

 

[gomestar]



The 08 Monti Antico was awesome. And $11.

"that's 50% more than what I pay"

/Manton




edit: god damn it, was on the phone with Manton as I was typing. Didn't think he'd get there first.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



hah, sucka overpaid for the Monte.

I buy that **** by the case at like $8.50/bottle. I am currently down to two so it's time to re-up.

When I bought this Gome said that to me me about you paying something crazy cheap. Bastard. I did recently pay $7.99 for two cases of Chateau Mouliniere some no-name etre de mer bord. Stuff is awesome. I felt like Warren Buffet.

 

[Manton]

you people in manhattan who have no space cannot stock up like we burbans can.