MD Cru June Offline: Rieslings, Malbecs, Chorizo, Shrimp, Scallops and Flank Steaks- “Life is good.”

“Life is good.” That statement, which was made about halfway through dinner Saturday night by history guru “GF”, would be sufficient to sum up the evening. This was, of course, the monthly meet-up of the MD Cru- a group of food and wine enthusiasts who organize through the Wine Spectator forums to share great food and stories. And of course we open a few bottles of wine as well.

This month we were in D.C., at the beautiful historic home of one of the groups long-time members (there is no official group, or membership, for that matter, but it’s an easy way to refer to what has become a gathering of friends). The wine theme was two fold: German Rieslings and Argentine Malbecs. Other wines made it into the rotation, of course; a couple whites to start, a Champange, dessert wines, and a “pair” of ringers from Chile.

The night began with an hour or so of talking, eating cheese and bread, and opening a few starter wines. The cheese plate featured a manchego, Virginia sheeps milk manchego, triple cream brie, as well as a few other miscellaneous cheeses. The first wines of the night included a 2006 Chateauneuf Blanc that was a bit muted and never really came around, a Torrontes, and a bottle of 1996 Drappier Brut Champagne that had me saying ripe pink grapefruit and and Worther’s Originals (butterscotch) over and over. The wines were a nice start and it was great catching up with everyone.

While we all enjoyed cheese and Champagne, PH was working tirelessly over the heat that remained in the grill before the propane ran out. His scallops came out cooked perfectly to just before medium, and were served on a bed of peach/ginger/jalepeno salsa that was a great balance of spicy and sweet. Each plate featured two large, fresh scallops…so I had to eat 3 plates to get my fix. They were that good.

Kim and the others gathered around the gorgeous dining room table while a summer salad made by Mrs. CS was plated. Fresh greens, sliced strawberries and candied pecans covered with a sweet olive oil dressing was a perfect match for the first round of German Rieslings. This “flight” was poured without much order, but in it were two ‘01 Rieslings by J.J. Prum and an ‘01 Koehler-Ruprecht Spatlese. Both Prum’s were youthful but showing quite nicely. The acidity was a touch high on the Koehler, but big green apple fruits balanced it out nicely. Kevin snuck out during this flight to make the flank steaks on his neighbor’s grill while I grilled shrimp/chorizo/pineapple skewers, eggplant and marinated portabello mushrooms on the cooktop.

As the meats came off their respective “grills”, the first flight of Malbecs were poured. The theme of this first flight were Malbec’s from the outstanding 2002 vintage in Argentina. We enjoyed an ‘02 Catena Alta, ‘02 Catena Zapata, and an ‘02 Alta Vista Alto. All three wines were showing nicely, with the Zapata and Alta Vista Alto being a cut above the Catena Alta. If I had a few of each in the cellar I’d open one every two years starting next year to see how they evolve.

The second flight featured a 2003 Concha y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon and a “Mystery” wine brought by GF. The ‘03 Melchor was decanted for an hour or so, while the mystery wine was poured from the bottle. Immediately Mrs. CS and Kim proclaimed that these were the same wine, the only difference being the amount of time each bottle was opened. I was trying my hardest to find a difference, but I couldn’t- which is a good thing since they were in fact the same bottle of wine. GF recalled our recent Chateauneuf tasting in which two bottles of 1989 Vieux Telegraphe (which Kim and I brought) were very different. The differences here were very subtle, if even detectable. Both wines were magnificent.

Shrimp skewers were passed around and nibbled on while the perfectly medium rare flank steak and chimicuri was plated. Grilled veggies and roasted baby carrots in a honey/dill sauce were out and it was chow time. When the food was served and the third flight of wines were poured, GF made the comment to sum it all up: “Life is good.” I think somewhere in between bites and sips of wine, we all agreed…then kept eating and drinking!

The final flight of reds included a 2004 Tikal Malbec Altos de Mendoza Amorio and a 2006 Ben Marco Malbec and a 2005 Bramare Malbec. At this point my formal note-taking was long gone, but from memory I recall all three wines being completely different from the earlier Malbecs, each having bigger fruits, more stucture and big tannins. I did note that the Tikal was “damn good.” This was the right flight to end on.

And then it was time: GF unveiled his famous cheesecake. Oh the GF cheesecake. It is the most rich, mouthwatering cheesecake you’ll ever eat…and it’s as light as air. The texture is perfect- it’s not weighted down or ‘wet’, just fluffy cheesecake on top of the perfect crust, covered with fresh berries of your choosing. Kim hates cheesecake…she won’t eat it anywhere. She finished her piece before I was halfway done with mine (well, my first piece)!

My hats off to the chefs- everything was delicious and a very special thanks to our host Kevin for opening up his beautiful home and cellar. Below are my tasting notes on the wines - I only gave ratings for those I took formal notes on. The food, wine, and company were so great, it was too hard to focus on evaluating wines and writing, so there will be no pick of “wine of the night”- they were all a lot of fun. When you are lucky enough to have good friends to share wine, food, and stories with for 5 hours on a beautiful Saturday night in the nations capital, I guess life really is good.

I very highly recommend that everyone finds a group of good friends (new and old!) and has their own “offline” meetups. Feel free to use our forums to organize, and for those of you in Baltimore- we have a once a month meetup through this website as well. Find out more here or in the forums here.

Previous MD Cru Meet-ups that Kim and I attended:

October 2007- “Oh what a night!”
January 2008 - “10.5 Liters of Chateauneuf…”
February 2008- “Big Cali Wines”
March 2008- “Spanish Wines”
May 2008- “Night of Northern Rhones”

The wines (Only a few numerical ratings on the wines I spent a bit of time on):

1996 Drappier Brut Champagne: Grapefruit, butterscotch. Think of a Worther’s Original- that’s this wine. Very nice overall- may get better with age but drinking nicely now. My rating: 91 pts

2007 Los Alamos Torrontes: Decent everyday drinking wine- I love Torrontes, but I’ve had better even in this price range (Susana Balboa comes to mind). Still, not a bad wine for the money.

2006 Châteauneuf-du-Pape White Cuvée Réservée: A bit tight and never really opened up. These need a few years perhaps, or an off bottle.

2002 Catena Alta Malbec: Consistently a great bottle of wine, though I thought it was a bit off balance right now. I’d hold off on opening for another year or two.

2002 Alta Vista Alto: Another fine example of the wines in 2002. Similar in structure to the other two wines, perhaps a bigger, more fruit forward wine than either of the Catena’s with sweeter tannins. This wine begs for steak.

2002 Nicolas Catena Zapata Malbec: Lush mouthfeel, gorgeous wine with ample blackberry, cassis and blueberry. Touch of cocoa and the slightest hint of spice. My rating: 93 pts

We had two bottles of this. This is a collective tasting note:
2003 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor: If I HAD to chose, this was the red wine of the night- I spent a lot of time going back to this over 3 hours as it developed. The layers of dark fruit and spice, with smoked meat, tobacco and anise. Creamy texture, outstanding balance, concentration and depth. Complex and inspiring- seek a bottle of this out if you can afford it! My rating: 94 pts

2001 JOH. JOS. PRÜM Riesling Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese: Aromatic, less floral than the Himmelreich and more apple/citrusy with minerals and medium acidity. My rating: 90 pts

2001 JOH. JOS. PRÜM Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese: Aromatic nose, floral, big green apple component, peach, subtle burnt rubber with very light acidity. My rating: 91 pts

2001 Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Spätlese: Mouth-puckering acidity, clean flavors, good structure. My rating: 90 pts

2004 Tikal Malbec Altos de Mendoza Amorio: No formal notes taken. Really big and expressive with loads of dark fruit, tobacco, cassis. Very nice wine.

2006 Ben Marco Malbec: No notes taken- very nice wine overall, dark dark fruits and long finish.

2005 Vina Cobos Malbec Luján de Cuyo Bramare: No notes taken- big, expressive wine, drank very nicely.

1976 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Burgberg Riesling Auslese: Dark yellow color with a nose that is very explosive with tropical fruits, fig, melon, etc. A bit past its prime on the palate, but still quite enjoyable. I kept revisiting this wine and liked it a bit more each time…even if it’s over the hill.

1989 ??? Riesling: I missed the name in my notes on this one, just have “1989 Riesling.” Light color and young, notes of pear, citrus, minerals and only slight acidity- would have guessed this to be 2000 vintage or so by the look of it.

2005 Chateau Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling(Michigan): My mystery wine. Most everyone agreed it was drinkable! I think it’s seen better days and was a wine to drink in its youth. Still a nice effort from my home state!

2005 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume: Absolutely stunning wine- so many clean, lively fruit flavors, great mouthfeel, perfect balance. Wow. Just, wow.