Double V: Vilmart and Veenwouden

Before heading to the gym tonight, I stopped by my friend Jim's wine store, a few blocks north of my house. He had sent me a facebook invitation to his Valentines Day Champagne tasting featuring Theise champagnes. I saw another friend, Lee, who I met at a wine trip to Eupovin's Spain. Lee is a beautiful and passionate woman with a shared fiery passion for food and wine. Lee will be featured in Food and Wine this month and next month in Elle. Wow! She also mentioned that she was in the Post in November 2007. I laughed and mentioned that I was the Post in October 2007 as well. "Your picture is bigger than mine," she teased. "I've never seen it, as I was in France," I replied. Jim, who quickly smiled, told me that he had the article posted in his office in the back. Laughing, we walked over as I had never seen the article that brought me much unwanted attention. Regarding this, I have a very good story that I will share with you in the near future.

I only had time to try one wine so I tried my favorite grower champagne, Vilmart. I like to think of Vilmart as my favorite secret grower champagne but amongst my wine geek friends, the word is out.

1993 Vilmart Couer de Cuvée in magnum
Rilly la Montange, Champagne
70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir from 50 year plus vines, disgorgement ??

Clear, light gold color. Brioche, hazelnuts, leesy on the nose. It is trying to seduce me. Makes me think of Krug, also barrel fermented. The nuttiness make me think of the new era Jura, like a topped up Domaine Labet wine. I get a hint of pineapple on the palate but the wine is austere and tight. Still too young. Not showing its fifteen years of age but it is in magnum, which slows the aging process. Only had a few of the flavors dance around the top of my tongue. Some salt there. The 750s are showing much better. With age, these can be one of the most sublime expressions of champagne..

I went to South Africa on a romantic trip six years ago and brought home five cases of top notch wines. Wine is not simply a beverage to me but a part of ME. WHO I WAS, WHO I AM, and WHO I WILL BE. My ex and I had purchased wines while there to drink at future anniversaries. As needed, three years ago we ended things. I have mixed emotions when I drink these wines; I am transported back in time and am reminded of happy memories. Funny how time sometimes distorts things. This Veenwouden is one of the wines that I picked up on the trip, so let me share that with you, now.

1998 Veenwouden Classic
Paarl, South Africa
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Malbec
Clear, deep garnet with black undertones fading to the thin, watery rim. Leather, smoke, earth, black pepper. A small hint of vanilla. Warm climate wine. Wine is showing its 10 years of age. Sexy. Subtle and round tannins, herbs, red meat, black and blue berries, in an integrated and balanced palate. Long finish that lingers smoke and tobacco. Drinking well now but can go for another 5-7 years easily.

Good night! Going to a fashion week party.

Love,
Elisa

surreal Dönnhoff riesling and Indian food

Lately, I have been craving Indian food. Maybe I have been practicing too much yoga and all the vinyasa, kula, and anusara are getting to me!

I had planned to meet a friend of a friend, who knew quite a bit about Australia and New Zealand, being a recent ex-pat at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. In two weeks, I'll be working in the Southern Hemisphere making wine. My friend suggested that I speak to Alex before my trip. When I suggested an assortment of cuisines, Alex, my friend of a friend, responded enthustically to eating Indian food. Salaam Bombay is minutes from my house and has very good Indian food. Having determined a venue, we were set to meet. I previously looked at their wine list and it has mainly commercial-quality wines. They offered a reasonable $10 corkage, so I decided to bring my own wine. Since I did not know my company, I brought two wines: a 2002 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spatlese from Germany and a 1998 Vineyard 29 Cabernet from California. Alex preferred white, so we started with the Dönnhoff!

In the summer of 2003, I was fortunate enough to join Terry Theise, the importer, and a team of Michael Skurnik Wines collegues to visit Helmut Dönnhoff in the village of Oberhäus in the Nahe region of Germany. We were a fun and rambunctious crowd and almost impossible to calm. However, when this specific tasting started, our group grew silent, in religious awe of the magical wines set before us. Dönnhoff wines are the most sublime expression of riesling for this woman's palate! They have a signature elegance, serenity, and polish that are unique to him. In retrospect, tasting his lineup of wines that afternoon has been one of my most special tastings.

Hermannshöhle means "Hermann's cave" and there an old mine in the vineyard showing its mineral-laden history. The soil is grey slate, porphyry and weathered volcanic on signature slopes.

2002 Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spatlese Dönnhoff: Pale gold color, showing some age. A little thick in the glass, maybe because of the higher residual sugar. Lychee, stones, tarragon, white pepper, and pears on the nose. A whiff of petrol. Intense and opulent on the palate yet light and ethereal. Tropical fruits like banana and pineapple on the palate with a subtle underpinning of minerals. Razor-sharp acidity. Beautifully balanced. So classy! A bit young but gorgeous.

Alex did a fantastic job of ordering the food but I'm still a neophyte to Indian food. I can only identify that we had shrimp, chicken, cauliflower with potatoes, naan, and rice. The food, wine, and company were good. Very good... The fried cheese dessert with syrup was tasty but the rose and mango ice cream were commercial quality with a processed smell and taste.

Salaam Bombay
319 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10013
nr. Reade St.
212-226-9400