We had a dinner at our house in McLean, Virginia. We were 12 people. Annette Schiller, Ombiasy Wine Tours, did the cooking.
See more here on Annette's upcoming trips to Germany and Bordeaux:
Ombiasy Wine Tours: Wine and Culture Tour to Germany Coming up in August 2013
Ombiasy Wine Tours: Bordeaux Trip Coming up in September 2013
Bordeaux Trip September 2012, France
In terms of the wines, which were to a large part provided by our guests, the highlight was the 2003 Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estephe, followed by a side by side tasting of a 1996 Château d’Yquem and a 1994 Deidesheimer Paradiesgarten, Trockenbeerenauslese, Weingut Dr. Deinhard/ von Winningen, Pfalz, Germany.
Menu
Oysters
We started with 36 oysters on the half-shell. We ordered them from Rappahannock River Oysters at the Cheasapeake Bay. They came overnight in an iced container. Bob likes to chuck oysters and he volunteered to open them. We had three different oysters, each a dozen.
Rappahannocks
Origin: Topping, Virginia
Salt Range: 13-18 ppt.
Taste Description: Deep cupped and mineral rich, with an understated saltiness that lets the oyster's natural flavor come though, our Rappahannocks offer up a sweet, buttery, full-bodied taste with a refreshingly clean, crisp finish. It's the very same oyster we started growing in 1899.
Stingray Oysters
Origin: Ware Neck, Virginia
Salt Range: 16-20 ppt.
Taste Description: Drawn from the Bay's median salt range, Stingrays are the quintessential Chesapeake Bay oyster: sweet and mildly briny with a clean, crisp finish. Named after the Bay oyster's chief predator, these Stingrays bite back!
Olde Salt Oysters
Origin: Chincoteague, Virginia
Salt Range: 28-33 ppt.
Taste Description: The truest taste of the ocean, our Olde Salt oyster brings together a bold sea-side brininess with a smooth, clean follow-through. Grown off the coast of Chincoteague (think Misty), our Olde Salt oyster is more than a classic, it’s a legend.
For the oysters, see:
Tasting Virginia Chesapeake Bay Oysters with Oyster Producer Travis Craxton at the Rappahannock River, USA
Small Bites to Start
Warm Escargots in Creamy Herb Butter on Croutons
Spicy Meatballs in Tzatziki
Hering with Dill Cream on a Cucumber Bed
NV Billecart-Salmon, Brut Rose
(Barbara and Nick Lardy)
90 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The NV Brut Rose emerges from the glass with the essence of freshly cut flowers, berries and minerals in a mid-weight, gracious style. It shows gorgeous inner perfume, along with persistent notes of chalkiness that frame the long, sublime finish. Year in, year out, this estate’s NV Brut Rose is one of the most consistently outstanding wines in the region.
Foie Gras Poêlé
To eat foie gras warm, with a sweet sauce, is less common than to eat it cold. If you eat it warm, the foie gras has to be kept raw in the fridge, until it is roasted, sauteed, pan-seared or grilled for a couple of minutes. As foie gras has a high fat content, contact with heat needs to be brief and at high temperature.
We ordered the foie gras from Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York State. Hudson Valley Foie Gras is situated on 200 acres in Ferndale, New York, a two hour drive from Manhattan. It came overnight in iced box.
See more:
Foie Gras Around the World
1996 Château d’Yquem, Fance (1/2 bottle)
(Stephen Kent)
Tasting notes: Golden yellow in the glass, rich notes of honey, peach, apricot on the nose, a highly seductive and decandent wine, a liquid heaven on the palate, its finish goes on for minutes.
1994 Deidesheimer Paradiesgarten, Trockenbeerenauslese, Weingut Dr. Deinhard/ von Winningen, Pfalz, Germany (1/2 bottle)
(Annette and Christian Schiller)
Deidesheim's heydays came at the beginning of the 19th century when estate owner Andreas Jordan was the first to produce high quality wines according to strict selection rules, and the first to introduce the Spätlese in Palatinate. Jordan is also the first to use the vintage, the grape variety and the vineyard site to characterize his wines, thereby setting the trend which will make Deidesheim world famous. When Jordan died in 1848, his enormous estate was split into three, a procedure which has become famous under the name "the Jordan Division." By it, the estates of Geheimer Rat Dr. von Bassermann-Jordan, Reichsrat von Buhl and Dr. Deinhard were formed, all of which became famous on their own.
In 1848, the winery bore the owner's name, Dr. Deinhard. When the owner died, the winery was taken over by his daughter and her husband, Captain Leopold von Winning, with the resulting change in name. The early 20th century was a golden age for von Winning, which also became one of the founders of VDP (Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates. Later, with the owners changing once more, the winery became known as Dr. Deinhard again. Since 2007, the winery belongs to the group of Achim Niederberger and since 2009 carries again the name von Winning. Weingut von Winningen is a 40 hectar producer, with 80% accounted for by Riesling.
Achim Niederberger owns not only von Winningen, but also Bassermann-Jordan and Reichsrat von Buhl. The 3 estates, which had been divided for many years after the “Jordan Division” are united again. In the villages of Deidesheim, Ruppertsberg and Forst Achim Niederberger now owns about 150 hectares of the best sites.
Tasting notes:dark brown in the glass, attack of dried peaches, guava, melon and creme brulee on the nose, bath of lusciousness, honeyed texture and elegance on the palate, thick and creamy, never ending finish, a richer, more concentrated wine than the 1996 Château d’Yquem, but also a more mature wine that does not have the youngness that the Yquem still shows.
The dark brown color apparently suggests that the wine was oxidized. If this was the case, we did not smell or taste it, although one guest referred to Sherry when we discussed the wines.
Salmon Tartar on Seaweed and Cucumber Salad
2009 Probstey Silvaner, Fruehsammers Fass, Winzerhof Thoerle, Saulheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
(Gunther Hellmann)
Winzerhof Thoerle is an up and coming winery in the center of Rheinhessen, an area that used to be known for winemakers often focusing on quantity and not quality. Rheinhessen is the largest viticultural region in Germany. Every fourth bottle of German wine comes from Rheinhessen. The high-yielder Mueller-Thurgau accounts for about 1/5 of the vineyards. Unlike in other German wine regions, where monoculture of the vine is the norm, here the many rolling hills are host to a wide variety of crops grown alongside the grape.
Rheinhessen also has the rather dubious honor of being considered the birthplace of Liebfraumilch. At the same time, Rheinhessen is among Germany’s most interesting wine regions. A lot is happening there. This is not because of the terroir, but because of the people. There is an increasing group of mostly young and ambitious winemakers who want to produce and indeed do produce outstanding wine and not wines in large quantities. Johannes Thoerle of Winzerhof Thoerle is one of them.
An excellent Sylvaner. Stuart Pigott apparently compared it with the "legendary white wines from the Domaine Coche-Dury".
2011 Von Unserem, Weingut Balthasar Ress, Rheingau, Germany
(Annette and Christian Schilller)
A wonderful entry level wine of Weingut Balthasar Ress. The grapes for "Von Unserm" are sourced from selected vineyards in the Balthasar Ress holdings throughout the Rheingau.
See more:
Hanging out with Rheingau Winemakers: Dirk Wuertz, Desiree Eser, Alexander Jakob Jung, Hansi Bausch and Christian Ress in Hattenheim, Rheingau, Germany
The Wines of Up and Coming Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen
Surprising the World with their Pinot Noir: Johannes and Christoph Thoerle, Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen, Germany
Porc Medaillon on Sellerie and Carrot Mousse
2005 Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru, Henri de Villamont, Bourgogne, France
(Bob and Lynette Harris)
Maison Henri de Villamont is based in Savigny-lès-Beaune. Its Swiss parent company (Schenk Holdings) is an important supplier of European supermarkets and has a hand in about 400 million bottles of wine per year. With extensive buying contracts, de Villamont themselves accounted for something like 25 million bottles in 2004, but around that time, Maison Henri de Villamont chose to concentrate on their domaine vines (10 hectares) plus a more focused range of merchanted Burgundy wines.
The ‘base’ in Savigny-lès-Beaune was bought by the Schenk Holdings in 1964 and they gave it the name “Henri de Villamont” – apparently from a crusading knight who had retired to Savigny. At a cost of almost two million Euros, the cuverie was updated in time for the 2005 harvest. Production today is in the range of 250-300 thousand bottles – a 100th of what they made in 2004.
Of the domaine’s 10 hectares of vines, close to 6.5 hectares are centered on Savigny-lès-Beaune. The rest include an impressive five 1er Crus from Chambolle-Musigny, and the jewel in their crown – 0.5 hectares of Grands-Echézeaux, which we had.
Tasting notes: Medium garnet in the glass, notes of exotic spices, cranberry and mulberry on the nose, very powerful in the mouth, with cherry and wet earth notes on the palate, lots of intensity and a little tannic grab before slowly fading.
2010 Migration, Pinot Noir, Duckhorn Winery, Anderson Valley, USA
(Bob and Lynette Harris)
See more:
The Wines of Duckhorn Vineyards, Napa Valley, US
Rack of Lamb on Onion, Cumin, Tomato Jus
2003 Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, France
(Gisela and Raymond Leon)
98 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The prodigious, fantastic 2003 Cos d’Estournel is a candidate for 'wine of the vintage.' A blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon (unusually high for this chateau), 30% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc, 17,500 cases were produced from low yields.
An inky/blue/purple color is accompanied by a compelling perfume of black fruits, subtle smoke, pain grille, incense, and flowers. With extraordinary richness, full body, and remarkable freshness, elegance, and persistence, this is one of the finest wines ever made by this estate. The good news is that it will be drinkable at a young age yet evolve for three decades or more. Kudos to winemaker Jean-Guillaume Prats and owner Michel Reybier.
Artisanal Cheese Plate from France and the US
Monocacy Ash Chevre, Maryland, USA
Jacquin Pyramid Chevre, Loire, France
Saint Nectaire, Auvergne, France
Fromage de Meaux, France
Gres des Vosges, Alsace, France
Bloomsday Cow, Vermont, USA
Fourme d’Ambert, Cow, Auvergne, France
When you talk in Paris with a Frenchman about cheese made in the US and tell him that there are now excellent such cheeses made by very devoted and knowledgeable cheese makers, he will not believe you. But there is a rapidly expanding production of great artisanal cheeses in the US, though starting from a very low level. Cheese will probably never play the role in an American household it plays in a French household. The typical French grew up in a household where in the evening his or her mother would serve a four courses meal---crudites as starter, main plate, cheese and dessert, with a glass of wine of course, or two. The French have it in the Jeans. He or she knows so much about good food, including cheese. In the US, it is very different. Cheese is eaten as topping for Pizza or for the cheeseburger or similar food. But America is changing. Some Americans have started to show serious interest for high-quality cheese and artisanal cheese makers are springing up across the country.
2008 Metricup Road, Cabernet Sauvignon, Evans and Tate, Margaret River, Australia
(Laila and Ridley Nelson)
Dessert
Creme Caramel, Mousse au Chocolat, Cassis Cake (Patisserie Poupon in Georgetown, Washington), Berry Fruits, Madagascar Vanilla served on a Tile
2007 Cuvee Marie, Gewuerztraminer, Lucien Albrecht, Alsace, France
(Stephen Kent)
Cuvée Marie is named for Marie Albrecht, one of the two daughters of Jean Albrecht. Maison Albrecht is a family owned and managed winery founded in 1425 now its eighteenth generation. The estate includes some of the most prestigious terroirs in Alsace including vineyards and monnopoles in the Grand Crus Pfingstberg and several Clos, Clos Schild, Clos Himmelreich, Clos des Récollets.
A seductive wine with aromas of quince, honey and exotic spices. Luscious and broad with finesse and a long finish.
See more:
The Wines of Domaine Lucien Albrecht and the Food of La Chaumiere in Washington DC, USA/France
Digestive: Asbach Uralt, Germany
In Europe, for generations, Asbach Uralt Brandy has been savored and appreciated by connoisseurs of fine brandies. But it is in no way any way near the great Cognacs or Armagnacs from France. A German day to day Brandy.
The Guests
Barbara and Nick Lardy
Gisela and Raymond Leon
Bob and Lynette Harris
Laila and Ridley Nelson
Stephen Kent
Gunther Hellmann
Chef: Annette Schiller
Sommelier: Christian Schiller
Service: Benjamin Schiller
Sunday, March 10, 2013
schiller-wine: Related Postings
Tasting Virginia Chesapeake Bay Oysters with Oyster Producer Travis Craxton at the Rappahannock River, USA
Foie Gras Around the World
Hanging out with Rheingau Winemakers: Dirk Wuertz, Desiree Eser, Alexander Jakob Jung, Hansi Bausch and Christian Ress in Hattenheim, Rheingau, Germany
The Wines of Up and Coming Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen
Surprising the World with their Pinot Noir: Johannes and Christoph Thoerle, Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen, Germany
The Wines of Duckhorn Vineyards, Napa Valley, US
The Wines of Domaine Lucien Albrecht and the Food of La Chaumiere in Washington DC, USA/France
Ombiasy Wine Tours: Wine and Culture Tour to Germany Coming up in August 2013
Ombiasy Wine Tours: Bordeaux Trip Coming up in September 2013
Bordeaux Trip September 2012, France