Red Is Life

Copain

Bar Americain seems to be drawing us back - repeatedly - wondrous menu - Flay does know what he's doing - plus - great brown spirits collection - even served if you're not standing at the bar - i.e - sitting at a table for supper - 16 year old Black Maple Hill Bourbon - great starter -

Everyone ordered fish - polling our group - "white ?? - red ??" - one voted to stay with her Martinis - one voted neutral - one quietly said "red" - repeating it when I underlined that everyone was having fish - I loved her sense of biased democracy -

Great list - as an aside - yet another restaurant with Screaming Eagle - this time - $2,400 - Maitre'd   with the "wine knowledge" conveyed dilemma of putting a price on such a special bottle - like us all - he looked it up on the web -

Back to the task at hand - spotted - Copain “Cerise” 2004 Anderson Valley - on the Pinot page - ironic timing - a friend has just raved about a Copain - although it turned out to be second label - L'Automne -  one of my fav's -

Cerise was cherries - the richness of the Russian River - winemaker's notes mention "wet stone" - a taste I cannot get a handle on as I live in a city paved in asphalt - well constructed - priced with a reasonable markup - worth every drop - a second note suggested laying it down for a few years - not too usual with a Pinot - can only imagine the final product as it improves -

Lundy's RIP

First visited Lundy's in the 70's - a massive barn like structure - 2500 diners - eating all at once - no host - hostess - maitre'd - if you was someone finishing their meal - you staked a position behind them - so that when they paid and got to to leave - you could claim their seat at the table - great seafood - but it was the "circus" I will always remember -

Fast forward to 2000 something - Lundy's reopened - a mere 875 seats - still in Sheepshead Bay - but this time - with a maitre'd - we had several wonderful meals - each a journey from cosmo Manhattan - one in particular - sitting in the bar area - featuring an amazing cast of bar/Brooklyn characters -

Announced yesterday in The New York Times - Lundy’s The giant Sheepshead Bay seafood restaurant, which opened in 1934, has closed - RIP

Extraction

Debate raged as we drank Chasseur Russian River Pinot Noir 2004 - was the intensity of its flavor natural or the result of extraction - i.e. - an evil manipulation solely to enhance marketability -

TOR

Neighborhood favorite for Saturday night - one should know the wine list blind by this time - still - gave it a closer look - TOR !! - Wow !!!

$68,740.80

A 3 litre bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild - 1870 - being offered online by Garagiste - $68.740.80 -

Go for it -

Double Blind Yields Gold

For years - repeatedly invited Chef/friend to come to one of our tastings - reiterating the magic of the double blind  - i.e - you bring your wine in a brown paper bag - decant it into a generic carafe - pass it around the table - everyone getting half a glass (quarter for a 375) - guessing (educated?) - country of origin? - varietal? - age? - vineyard? - best of all - you never know what anyone is going to bring -

So when he finally walked in - for me - pleased that he had actually accepted my invite (taken up the gauntlet) - for him - the idea of not knowing what anyone was going to bring - would pay off like winning the lottery (see last wine of the night) -

Thank You Donald

Celebritory dinner at The Modern's Bar Room - creative menu set up - extremely parsed wine list - until you read the fine print and request the full list - they call it award winning - and it is -

What to select -