Wines
I have had several very good wines in the last 2 weeks.
Domaine Du Cayron, Gigondas 2006 Really enjoyed this wine. I was a gift. Probably around $20. Gigondas is a Rhone wine from France. This wine is a blend. Good fruit but not overly grapey. The bottle disappeared quickly.
Melville Pinot Noir 2008 Estate Verna's $25 I ususally like Melville wines. We once visited the winery which is outside of Sant Barbara, CA. Lately I have been down on their Pinot Noirs because of very high alcohol levels and that hot taste that goes with high alcohol sometimes. This wine was superb. Terroir, complexity, nice fruit but none of the ordinary Pinot Noir cherry soda flavor. 14.1% alcohol was just fine. Savored this wine.
Allegrini 2005 Palazzo Della Torre Veronese; $15 Italian from the Venice area. A favorite. These wines are ususally grapey but good. This wine was probably over the hill; it lacked sparkle. We had with pizza at our local pizza place. It was OK but I would still try other more recent vintages.
Codorniu Cava, Spain $8, Classic cava. Love it. Good fruit but not sweet. Nice bubbles and low alcohol. The critics only write about small cava makers. Codorniu is one of the largest so it is not a critic darling. Trust me, it is very good, well priced and goes well with lots of food or drink with cheese and other snacks.
Just bought the following wines at the Wine Library;
Spice Route Chakalaka $16 South Africa-- Rhone blend that I have had before and love it.
Au Bon Climat 2010 Pinot Noir, CA $17 ; This wine has received some favorable press. The wine maker is controversial. The Wall Street Journal had an article about the winery. Supposedly a Burgundian style of California Pinot Noir.
Borsao 2011 Spain Still $6.39 The fav.
Chateau Dallau, 2009 Bordeaux $12; Second bottle, let's see if if it still good.
Segura Viudas Brut Reserva cava Spain $6.98 ; A usually decent cava. The store did not have Codorniu which is my fav.
Bibi Graetz Casamatta $8.98 Sangiovese, Italy 2011. The Wine Spectator gave this a 90 so I decided to give it a try.
BelleVue 2003 Bordeaux $11 The Wine Library had a great deal on this wine. It is an older Bordeaux that had a good Parker rating when it came out. Review on Cellartracker are not that kind. I was intrigued. Will let you know.
NYC
Recently went to NYC ate in Chinatown at Nom Wah Tea Parlour. Second time to this place. Did not like this time. The dumplings tasted tired and frozen. Some other pork dish we had was not to our taste. Place is very reasonable and the meal cost $20 with tip.
After Chinatown I changed tradition and skipped Little Italy and we went to Payard Patisserie on West Houston Street. Love this place. We bought a chocolate tarte with salt, caramel and almonds, pistachios and walnuts?, a chocolate terrine pastry and and apple pear pastry with lots of fruit. Also bought ice cream sandwiches which were 2 for the price of 1(2 for $5) The chocolate sandwich is awesome. Also had chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream.payard.com
I was in a chocolate mood so we then went to Jacques Torres Chocolate and bought some chocolates. Great stuff.mrchocolate.com Store is on Hudson St near Houston. Best bargain dark chocolate disks for $14 for 2 pounds, Shh.
See how my mind works. Bad Chinese food equals overkill for dessert.
Enjoy the fall. Go Yankees.
