Essex County Wine Society

THE WINE PRESS

                        ESSEX COUNTY WINE SOCIETY

April 6, 2007

Dear Fellow Wine Society Members and Fellow Wine Lovers:

Our Spring Dinner will take place on Sunday May 6, 2007 at Vine in Basking Ridge.

Vine is the reincarnated Tre Vigne restaurant, a restaurant at this location from 2000 until October 2006. Some of you will remember when Girafe, a 1980’s and 1990’s leading fine dining restaurant was located in this venue.

Vine was written up by Cody Kendall of the Star Ledger as the only restaurant he visited in 2006 to receive four stars. He suggests that the blend of excellent atmosphere, food and service put Vine at the top of his list. The chef, Eric Gomez, was the sous chef before moving up to the top job in the kitchen and based on a tasting menu that several of us experienced, he has created some superior dishes that will go well with our wines for the evening.

Our five course dinner will be highlighted by a specialty of the house, the braised beef short ribs. In addition we will have a potato-crusted tilapia dish which Cody Kendall made specific reference to in his very favorable write up of the food at the restaurant.                       

We have chosen wines from our cellar that should show well and as previously stated should match the food perfectly.

We will start with champagne to accompany the Hors d’oeuvres. The sparkler we have selected is the Duval-Leroy Non-Vintage Brut which was picked as a result of a blind tasting by the executive committee.  The Wine Spectator gave this wine a rating of 93 – the highest of all non-vintage champagnes in 2006 and placed it 41^st in the list of the best 100 wines of 2006.  They describe it as “big. . . featuring graphite, toast, lemon and nut aromas and flavors”

Our white wine will be the Montagny premier cru by J.M. Boillot from the highly touted vintage year of 2005. As most of you know, the reports on the 2005 vintage in Burgundy have been exceptional.

Our second course, risotto, will be matched with a Burgundy from our cellar, the 1996 Armand Rousseau Clos-de-la-Roche, grand cru purchased at auction from Sotheby’s a few years ago. Rousseau, now under the command of Eric Rousseau, Armand’s son, is probably one of the best wine producers in Morey Saint-Denis and his Clos de la Roche should be superb.  This wine is described by Allen Meadows, The Burghound, as “pretty . . . [with] lovely aromas of earth, red fruits and a hint of game . . . delicious and sweet” (tasted Jan. 17, 2004).  “Rousseau’ wines are rich in colour (sic), pure in texture, never over-oaked, always concentrated, balanced, vigorous, and very classy”  (Clive Coates in Cote d’Or, University of California Press 1997)

We thought a “big” wine should accompany the short ribs and from the ECWS cellar we picked the 1989 Pichon-Longueville Baron.  The wine was rated 95 by Robert Parker.  He described the wine as “brilliantly made with huge, smoky chocolaty, cassis aromas . . . sweet inner core of fruit. . . awesomely endowed . . . unquestionably . . . great” (Wine Advocate #109 Feb. 1997).  Clive Coates calls it “very concentrated and very ripe.  A lot of power of taste and flavour (sic) here.  Fullish, rich . . . very good grip and intensity.  First growth quality.  Rating 18.5/20” (Grand Vins Univ. Cal. Press 1995)

Our dessert or finishing wine will be a single vineyard port also from our cellar, the 1990 Graham Quinta dos Malvedos, a component of their vintage port for over a century.  Richard Mayson in Port and the Douro (Mitchell Beazley 2004) describes it as “big but balanced, lasting wines” The 1990 vintage was not generally declared but there were some rich, ripe single quintas. . . [including] Graham’s Malvedos” (Mayson)  Parker rated the 1990 Graham Malvedos Centenary at 96 noted an “extraordinary richness and a fabulous finish”.

If you wish to sit with particular members at the dinner, please indicate the names on the attached response form and we will do our best to accommodate you. Please respond by Friday April 27, 2007.

If you need directions to the restaurant please call the restaurant or check their website at Vinerestaurant.net. Parking is available on site.

We look forward to seeing all of you on May 6. 

Details of the Spring Dinner are as follows:                                         

                                              Date:                     Sunday, May 6, 2007

                                              Reception:             5:00 p.m. 

                                              Dinner:                  6:00 p.m.

                                              Attire:                    Smart casual

                                              Location:               Vine

                                              Address:                95 Morristown Road(Route 202)

                                                                             Basking Ridge NJ 07920 

                                              Telephone:              1-908-221 0017

                                              Cost:                       $95 members

                                                                             $110.00 non-members &  guests   

 In vino veritas and a votre sante,

 Bob & Howard

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