New England Madeira Offline: New York - Connecticut - Massachusetts

[Marco D.]

BYOF?

[Matt K]

Looks like I'm fishing tomorrow AND Friday so I expect I'll have plenty for all. :)

Don't forget glassware: the restaurant glassware leaves something to be desired.

[Mark L]

Can't wait to hear how everything went! Sorry, once again, that I missed it. Hope it was great!

[Matt K]

Sorry - I should have posted a write up sooner. :)

Attending:
Me, Chris ( my brother, NY wine offline/Berserkers regular), Marco D and his wife Penny, and Gary Banker.

Wines:
1954 Henriques Verdelho (Gary)
1958 D'Oliveira Bual (Marco)
1958 Blandy Bual (me)
1959 Blandy Bual (Chris)

I didn't take notes on the wines but the 1954V was the clear WOTN. Second, for me, was the 1958 Blandy's, then the '58 D'Oly then the '59 Blandy's which was outclassed by the '58's - not that it was bad but it was a league below. IIRC Gary and Marco scored the '58 D'Oly slightly higher than the '58 Blandy's but they were very, very close and visually almost identical. For me the richness of the '58 Blandy's outshone that of the D'Oly and, while I'm an acid freak, the D'Oly was searingly acidic. The '59 Blandy's was dark, nearly black, lacking subtlety & elegance; I think Chris called it 'clumsy' compared to the others. Hopefully Marco and Gary can add better tasting notes. :)

Food & Pairing notes:

We started with a small selection of dim sum: crystal dumpings, pork & peanut dumplings, steamed rice roll with beef. I brought a bottle of champagne (Diebolt-Vallois Brut B de B, Prestige NV) to have with these but we were all so busy yacking I completely forgot I'd brought it!

For the next courses we had the fish I'd caught the day before: Black Sea bass steamed with Ginger & Scallions and a Whole fried Fluke with sweet soy. Both were a bit delicate against a Madeira, or at least against the Verdelho which is theoretically the most food friendly but these are light, delicately flavored fish that couldn't compete. everything was delicious but neither complemented the other.

Next was the main attraction; Hong Kong style Roast Duck. Here we did a side by side with the 58's. Yum. Definitely an excellent pairing, I'm happy to say, as this was the primary driver for choosing the restaurant; I'd been inspired by a Wine Bersekers NYC offline @ Peking Duck House that my buddy Brad Kane had arranged.

We then followed with Salt & Pepper Pork Chops which we did with the '59 Blandy's Bual. I'd rate the pairing as a good. The wine, while not shot or disappointing, didn't show well after the '58's.

We finished the evening with Pineapple Buns. I think everyone was re-tasting at this point as we began the discussing wines in more detail.

All in all a successful event and I think a good time was had by all. My plan is to do this a few times a year (Spring & Fall?) and hopefully we can draw more NYC/BOS folks next time. In the mean time I'm reading a number of articles on Madeira & food pairings and thinking on venues/menus.

The owner of the restaurant, Ping, loved Marco's wife Penny instantly (mostly because she's from Hong Kong) also his hometown, and spent the evening, almost successfully, trying to get her to stay after dinner and sing karaoke. If they'd gotten it set up faster I think it would totally have happened. Next time Penny! :)


Marco - Penny - Gary (yes, I totally failed to take any more pics )

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[Marco D.]

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the recap. I didn't take formal notes, but will say that the 1958 D'Oliveira Boal was my favorite, followed by the 1958 Blandy's, both showing extraordinary richness and body; but it was really splitting hairs and a matter of how much acids you prefer. I did find a bit of VA in the 1958 D'oliveira, but not enough to distract. The Justinos was the most food friendly and versatile due to it's relative dryness; the fact that it was the most consumed bottle of the night testified to that.

The food was incredible and definitely worth the drive. And yes... Madeira and duck works!

[Matt K]

Marco, I was thinking more on what we talked about re: future events, other wines, etc...some ideas:

Madeira
-Verdelho night (of course we can do nights for each type but this one is dear to my heart right now )
-Madeira Pairing Potluck
-By the Decade/Producer/Grape
-Producer through the Ages by style


Non-Madeira
-Demi-Battle: Chenin young/aged vs Riesling young/aged (Round 1: Huet vs Prum!)
-Lao Tze Chuan Szechuan & Riesling
-Saray Turkish & Red Burg
-Weird Sh~t Night: 'Have you ever had a....from....?'
-Fried Clams & Champagne +/or white burg
-Infanticide Night: Young GC Burgundy
-Steak Wine
-Barolo 30+ years (or similar)

[Marco D.]

Hey Matt,

All really good, mouth-watering ideas. I especially like the Turkish food idea (mostly because I love Turkish food...).

[Matt K]

Saray is like <10 minutes from your house. :)

[Marco D.]

And yet I never went there. Do they allow BYOB?

[Matt K]

Yes, and it's great. If I lived as close as you do I'd be there 2 times a month..at least. There's a small Turkish neighborhood over on Campbell Ave.

I talked to Brad Kane today and we were talking Huet (Rare had an offering of ex-chateau 1961's, I bought 2 demi-secs) and I brought up the 1930's/1940's tasting (you'll recall, I have a '39, he has a '45 and you mentioned that you have the '47) anyway, he wants us to come to NYC so he can put together a group of 8-10 so we can really do it up. I really want to do this - a pre-war(ish) Huet tasting sounds incredibly fun.

Also, sometime in the next month we're hoping to do a pre-1971 Huet day up here and we're hoping you can join us - do you have the wine for it?

[Marco D.]

I had no idea... oh man, I am definitely checking out Saray!

I'm definitely in for Huets. I think I have a 1959 or 1964 for the pre-1971 tasting. Sounds like fun!