Annual truffle dinner at Ben-and-Wendy’s.

My regular local mostly-Bordeaux wine-dinner group end of year dinner-celebration with the perennial all-fresh-truffled food and awesome hosting, since the last 3 years for me, of Ben and Wendy at their wonderful West Village home. Great dishes, terrific truffles, a lot of fun wines and a most-enjoyable bunch.

Whites:

2009 Larmandier-Bernier Les Chemins d’Avize, Champagne
High intensity with elegance. Bread, with good lemon and apple notes. B+

2011 Pierre Peters Les Chetillions, Champagne
Stern-mannered, but that’s what I like in this wine. Fine mousse, good acidity. B+

1993 Trimbach Riesling Clos St. Hune, Alsace
Gold tint. Gasoline on the bouquet. Citrus acidity, hard candy, cool white fruit and refreshing flavors. B+/A-


Reds and Sweet wine:

1947 Borgogno Barolo Riserva
Finesse, fruit cake, some mint, some salinity. Medium-body. Layers for tertiary flavors. Very long finish. A-

1964 Borgogno Barolo Riserva
Very appealing bouquet of confection spices and ripe fruit. Plenty of ripe red fruit. Happily went on forever in the mouth. A-/A

1962 Capellano Barbaresco
A finely-balanced taste sensation of good hard candy, brown suar, blue and red berries, leather. Finesse. A-

1962 Sobrero Barolo
Perfumed expressive nose. Very light, veering into light rose color category. Cool mint. B+

1998 Pertinace Barbaresco Castellizano
Earth, ripe blue fruit. Dialed down intensity. As good as it’ll get. B

1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco
Elegant, red-fruit, and hint of mint. Acidity still overwhelming fruit and rest of structure. B

1998 Bruno Giacosa Santo Stefano Barbaresco Riserva
This is silky smooth. In spite of being young, relative to the other Giacosa flight-mates, completeness is more obvious. B+/A-

1999 Bruno Giacosa Falleto Barolo
Tight. High acidity with plenty of ripeness. B

1996 Aldo Conterno Granbussia Barolo Riserva
A big wine that still very young. Very intense. Glimpses of layers of flavors and good structure. B+

2001 Massolino Vigna Rionda Barolo
Quite light mouth feel. Still very young and tannic. Good acidic backbone. Has components for improving with age. B

2001 Scavino Bric Fiasc Barolo
Another tight and tannic wine. Oak prominent. Some mocha notes. B-

1993 Monsanto La Chimera Vin Santo, Tuscany
Dark gold in color. Big sweet wine, with noticeable alcohol darting in. B

Thanks Ramon
My notes below

Ben and Wendy hosted our Bordeaux group for our almost annual white truffle dinner, with a Piedmont wine theme. A great night in their lovely apartment in Greenwich Village.

2011 Pierre Peters Les Chetillions
Yeasty, brisk,pears, needs a little time for me, but good B+

2009 Larmandier-Bernier Les Chemins d’Avize
Rounder, quite full, but with good crispness. Nice contrast to the Peters. B+

1993 Trimbach Clos St. Hune
In a lovely place, petrol and lemon, quite long, good 3 hours in. A-

Poached egg with shaved truffle
1947 Borgogno Barolo Riserva (red cap)
Soft, fragrant, pliant. Gentle older red but still good red fruit, some rose petal to indicate it’s Piedmontiness. B+/A-

1964 Borgogno Barolo Riserva (red cap)
Tar and leather over red fruit, equally enjoyable to me, but more classically Barolo. B+/A-

Tajarin (36 yolks to 1.3 kilos flour) with truffle
1962 Filippo Sobrero Barolo
Pretty tired, but some nice smoke and leather notes. B-

1962 Cappellano Barbaresco
Don’t think I’ve ever seen a Cappellano Barbaresco before. Fragrant, some sweet brown sugar notes showing the age, but acid structure and solid raspberry fruit, great showing for an unheralded vintage. B+

1998 Pertinace Castellizzano Barbaresco,
Young, herby, red cherry with some tar. B

Ben’s braised short ribs with wine sauce over polenta
1996 Giacosa Barbaresco
Structured, red cherry and cedar, good, B

1998 Giacosa Santo Stefano Barbaresco Riserva
Young but stunning. Brilliant red fruit, some light notes of herbs/anise and tar, excellent length. A-

1999 Giacosa Falletto Barolo
Red and black cherries, orange zest, floral. Lots of tannic structure. B+.

1996 A. Conterno Granbussia Barolo Riserva
Tar, mushrooms and vanilla, robust and tannic, hopefully oak will integrate, B/B+ for now


2001 Scavino Bric del Fiasc Barolo
Concentrated kirschy fruit, oak, not really my style. B-/C+
2001 Massolino Vigna Rionda Barolo Riserva
Well balanced, young, structured. B+

Homemade vanilla ice cream with truffles
1993 Monsanto Vin Santo La Chimera
I thought this thick and advanced, others liked more B-/C+

Great night with great people. Ben and Wendy did outstanding job on the food, and Suzanne was a great truffle rustler who overcame a supplier fail. Thanks all

Grade disclaimer: I’m a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn’t drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

awesome stuff…
For some reasons i thought it said Burger King & Wendy’s…

I may have to knock one of you guys off just to get a seat at this dinner.

It’s not in the West Village, it’s on the eastern edge of Greenwich village, just above Cousin Brucie’s home!

Many, many years of living in the east side of Manhattan and doing (almost) daily up-and-down runs from Midtown East to Chinatown still get me confused on where the neighborhood boundaries lie.

I liked it less than you. F

If I’m not mistake Piedmont is not in Bordeaux

No matter, Ben’s cooking would make any wine taste good.

You might not be mistake, but you English is.

I think it’s really that their taste has gotten more sophisticated, so they’ve finally moved up to Nebbiolo.

Good to hear about the '98 Santa Stefano Riserva,

I’ve got a couple of those, after Ken twigged me to how well Giacosa did that year!