What We Drank (March 15, 2010)
Just a bit of what we're drinking this week…
Lenn Thompson: Coors Light (Colorado)
Yes, Coors Light. There are very few occasions during which I drink this (barely) beer-flavored water but the Annual Rocky Point St. Patrick's Day parade is one of them.
This year's was actually the 60th annual, making it one of the oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day parades on Long Island.
After brunch with friends who live in RP, we loaded up the wagons with the kids, battled the rain and cutting cold winds and had a great time anyway.
How did the Coors Light taste?
You all know how it tasted — like almost nothing (especially after the Guinness I had with my eggs and corned beef), but who cares? There is a beverage for every occasion and my admitted snobbery aside, an ice-cold Coors Light with good friends that we don't get to see nearly often enough (now that we all have kids and crazy schedules) hit the spot.
Of course, I drank some great Finger Lakes wines later in the day, but more on those this week.
Evan Dawson: Anthony Road Wine Company 2005 MRS Cabernet Franc (Finger Lakes)
Assistant winemaker Peter Becraft told me via Twitter that this was possibly the final bottle in existence, and it is now sadly extinguished. I hope this is false. I hope someone has a bottle or two resting in the cellar.
But I would not advise they hold on to the bottle much longer.
That's a departure for me. I'm often urging friends to lay bottles down and forget about them for a while. But this '05 MRS Cab Franc is drinking at such an impressive peak that I would not hesitate to enjoy it.
Fair warning, if you do uncover one… It has a clear-as-day aromatic greeting of fresh green beans. But that note is like the icing on a layer cake of awesome victory. A dazzling aromatic arsenal then fires off in rapid succession. I won't bore you with more specifics. The palate sees no trace of green, just a rich and long classic Finger Lakes cab franc.
This is among a handful of reds I would classify as the most enjoyable red wines I've ever had from the Finger Lakes. There is no regional apology with this wine.
It's a wonderful red from the vintage that ranks as my favorite from the Finger Lakes.
Bryan Calandrelli: Painted Wolf 2007 Pinotage (Western Cape, South Africa)
Looking to bridge the gap between the bulk pinotage destined for American shelves from the stuff that South Africans would probably drink, I found this highly rated pinotage with a painting of a critter on the label on sale for $10 but originally priced at $16.
I'm a sucker for decent IWC scores and if it weren't for that I would've been able to separate this from all the other pinotage on the shelf.
My expectations included some funkiness, a medium to thin body and it possibly being a good candidate for show and tell "brett edition."
Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised with its decadent aroma that made me think of a raspberry dark chocolate truffle dipped in the blood of a rare cooked steak. The palate was full and almost sweet thanks to its ripe fruit and high alcohol level. A touch of smoke on the finish added to its complexity.
This was easily the best pinotage I've had and knowing that this isn't even what the locals would tolerate for quaffable pinotage, I can assume there are better versions out there. I recommend this bottle for your next byob blind tasting. It'll stump even the most trained palates.
Jason Feulner: Nyakas 2007 Budai Sauvignon Blanc (Hungary)
I received this Hungarian sauvignon blanc as a gift, and not knowing
anything about Hungarian wine, except for Tokay (which I've read about
but not consumed), I jumped right in with absolutely no expectations.The result was a sauvignon blanc that exhibited varietal character, and
while it wasn't amazing it certainly was enjoyable and satisfying.The
nose was a bit grassy, with the fruit showing — some melon flavors that
were neither too ripe nor too subtle. In my mind, this wine did an
admirable job of dancing between the modes of sauvignon blanc that
always seem difficult to reconcile: that of the hammer or the whisp.Do they make a lot of sauvignon blanc in Hungary? What else is made there? I simply do not know but I did like this wine.
I reviewed the Painted Wolf back in August 2009, and I enjoyed it, as well. I paid $15, so you definitely received a better deal, but, even at $15, it’s a wine that I would drink again.
Lenn,
However, you are excused for drinking this transgression against beer, as I can see that you were drinking it from a green cup!
I’m not sure that Coors Light even qualifies as a beer.
Next year, I suggest that you pack a nice flask of whiskey and a thermos of coffee - Irish Coffee all day long! Or, perhaps Tom will share the top secret recipe for the O’Higgins - always a hit on St. Patrick’s Day…
Susan, not only did I drink it from a green cup, but I had a green jacket on and if I had a better picture above, you could more easily see the Irish flags I was looking at.
There was a flask involved in the planning. My friend even filled it…before forgetting it as his house.
The O’Higgins…I like the sounds of this.
Evan,
I drank my MRS 2005 cab franc a few months ago, although I imagine someone has an extra bottle lying around somewhere!
Wow, Coors Light on WWD? It’s usually my job to slum it with cheap beer!
We have *two* bottles of the ’05 Martini-Reinhardt Cab Franc in our cellar. Looks like we’ll be drinking them soon!
Tom, I can’t let the grad student be the only one drinking cheap beer around here. Okay, maybe I can going forward.
And Paul…its sounds like the staff of the NYCR is coming over for a taste. How’s tomorrow night?
Paul - Wonderful! As long as you don’t mind that entry note of green, I think you’ll find a complex wine that is truly peaking and showing what NY can do with Cabernet Franc.
Would love to have y’all over tomorrow, but it’s my wife’s birthday (seriously) and we’re going out. Maybe I should lock up the wine cellar…?
Well, we cracked open one of our bottles of the ’05 Martini-Reinhardt Cab Franc.
Wow.
We had it with a seared pan-roasted Hudson Valley duck breast and Finger Lakes freekeh, and it was truly marvelous. Seriously long finish on this wine.
We’re saving the other bottle for a couple of months.
Paul -
That sounds like a fabulous pairing, and I’m thrilled to hear you dug the wine as much as I did. Long finish - like a slowly unfurling cashmere carpet, eh? Great stuff.
Now that you’ve enjoyed it, what do you think about the drink window? I’m almost always fine with laying down and discovering what it will say in the future, but this bottle convinced me it’s in peak. We can’t know for sure, of course, and I doubt it’s going to fade terribly fast. What do you think?
No idea. We’ll probably open the last bottle in a few months, but don’t forget that this is only a 5-year-old wine, so it probably has some more time. (I’m sorry we didn’t buy a half-case instead of only the 2 bottles.)
Anthony Road Cab franc…final bottle in existence, except for the Nebuchadnezzar I just sold to the Smithsonian on eBay. It’s going to go in there right beside Julia Child’s kitchen, and I’m not making this up.
Peter, you mean I have a bottle that’s in the Smithsonian? Damn…should I *ever* drink it?
Peter - You just love saying “Nebuchadnezzar” as much as I love saying “Balthazar.”