Cherish looking back on so many wonderful food and wine events from 2014. Certainly exciting that there is now so much young delicious fermented grape juice from all regions of the world out there in the marketplace for our earlier enjoyment. However, I still have a soft spot for the extra complexity and joy I get from experiencing a clean authentic more mature bottle of fine wine. Thought I might briefly highlight ten of these treasures that had at least 20 years of bottle age:

1991 CHABLIS LES CLOS FRANCOIS RAVENEAU displayed pure terroir from probably the greatest Grand Cru site in Chablis. Vibrant yet maturely rich. Their 1er cru 2005 Montee de Tonnerre also is excellent and more forwardly but these whites really can age forever.

1974 MAYACAMAS CABERNET SAUVIGNON is a masterpiece of intense old style mountain fruit especially in magnum. Still fresh and young. Other 1974 cabs at 30 years I respected included minty Heitz Martha’s Vineyard, classy Mondavi Reserve , solid Caymus, and concentrated Mount Eden Santa Cruz Mountains.

1961 LE CORTON BOUCHARD PERE was a surprise. A better collector vintage in Bordeaux but this really sang mineral bouquet & smooth entry finishing with long pinot noir silk. Great shape at over 50 years for this under rated region for aging the only Grand Cru red in the Cote de Beaune.

1986 CHATEAU GRUAUD LAROSE ST. JULIEN is always outstanding and is still a value. I promoted in the past 1986 Mouton Pauillac but this too shows depth and big cedar fruit still developing.

1986 OKFENER BOCKSTEIN RIESLING AUSLESE BLUE LABEL ST. URBANS-HOF shows this high acid year in the steep Saar slate vineyards (like 2002) but now so fresh, refined smoke with mineral balance at only 8.5 alcohol. Proprietor vintner Nik Weis told me he just had the 1952 which also is still fresh. Their 2002 Eiswein at 6.5 alcohol is also amazing!

1978 HERMITAGE LA CHAPELLE JABOULET is their best vintage together with 1961 and 1990 and shows it on a beautiful plateau of ripe mature blackberry syrah.

1989 BOLLINGER VIEILLES VIGNES FRANCAISES from their pre phylloxera layered low yielding pinot noir vines in Ay is a rare and brilliant Champagne. So delicious even though from a usually softer more forwardly warmer vintage.

1985 CLOS DE TART GRAND CRU is a special plot monopole of Mommessin in Morey St. Denis now showing mature elegant flowers with earthy vibrancy. Like drinking Burgundy from that vintage presently as the Bonnes Mares Louis Jadot also shows outstanding and was the first inclusion of the fruit from the Clair Dau estate they purchased.

1982 CHATEAU LA MISSION HAUT BRION but could have been so many other 1982 Bordeaux all showing so great now when they have been well stored. Cheval Blanc, Mouton, Latour, Lafite, Margaux, Petrus and others like Grand Puy Lacoste are all excellent.

1914 CHATEAU COUTET BARSAC was such a treat to try this Sauternes at 100 years. High fill and supplied directly from the chateau property for an auction to celebrate the millennium showing ethereal bouquet still alive yet with sweet quince prunes and caramel crème brulee. So complex and stays on the palate a really long time. Also enjoyed 1967 & 1928 Chateau d’Yquem among others but a century is truly memorable!

You might also like:

 Loading ...

By Mwatt510 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

By Joseph Temple

On a 2010 episode of AMC’s Mad Men, the cash-strapped agency of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is looking to scale down their annual Christmas party.  But with Lucky Strike’s head honcho in New York City for the holidays, a decision whether to spare no expense for his arrival is fiercely debated by two of the agency’s partners.

“Take him to the Four Seasons,” says Lane Pryce as an alternative to a costly office party.  “He can have three entrées.”

Not a bad choice at all!  That’s because if you were visiting the Big Apple in 1964, there was no better place to dine at than the Four Seasons.  Located at 99 East 52^nd Street inside the Seagram Building, this restaurant became a must-visit destination for anyone staying in Manhattan.  Opening its doors for the first time in October of 1959, authors John Mariani and Alex von Bidder wrote: “it was a restaurant that signaled the increasing appreciation on the part of New Yorkers –and Americans in general—of the pleasures and importance of dining out.”

Walking through the lobby into the Four Seasons, there were two choices for you to experience.  You could turn right and dine underneath a fashionable art installation of hundreds of bronze tubes while admiring the art of Picasso in the famous Grill Room.  Also known as the Bar Room, it was here where the term “power lunch” was popularized as the Don Drapers and Roger Sterlings of that era sipped Martinis and ate stone crabs flown in from Miami.

But if you decided to turn left, a white Carrara marble pool surrounded by four grandiose trees proved to be the ultimate centerpiece for those dining in what became known as the Pool Room.  With a menu and décor that changed with each season, opulent dishes such as Iceland herring, New England lobster tartlet, and smoked goose were just some of the choices you had at this fine-dining establishment.

And with all the celebrities and power brokers who ate there in the 1960s, the most prominent guest was President John F. Kennedy.  On May 19^th, 1962, JFK would enjoy quintessential continental style cuisine: crabmeat baked in seashells followed by medallions of beef glazed in Madeira.  Incidentally, after leaving the Four Seasons that night, the commander-in-chief would be serenaded by Marilyn Monroe at Madison Square Garden with her infamous rendition of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.”

During a time when men always wore jackets and ties whenever they dined out, the Four Seasons became a culinary institution with its numerous groundbreaking innovations.   Reflecting years later, New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni writes,

“When I was in college and he [Bruni’s father] wanted me to experience a truly grown-up restaurant, steeped not just in fancy food but in a sweeping sense of the big money to be made and spent in this city, the Four Seasons was where we went, our ties properly cinched, our shoes freshly polished. He shook hands and traded compliments with important-looking men in expensive-looking suits. I took my first bite of roasted duck and woke up to a world of indulgence just waiting to be devoured.”

Sources:

The Four Seasons: a history of America’s premier restaurant by John Mariani and Alex von Bidder
Classic Dining: discovering America’s finest mid-century restaurants by Peter Moruzzi

You might also like:

 Loading ...

Started this weekly Wednesday best question feature mid-May this year with these getting the most Google hits for your Top Ten so enjoy them again:
blank

1. Arborio or Carnaroli Rice Best for Risotto?

2. The best way to cool wine quickly?

3. When is it too late to open that bottle of wine?

4. Best glass for sparkling wine?

5. Pairing wine with duck?

6. What wines go best with BBQ?

7. What’s the best time to visit a winery?

8. Wine closure preference?

9. What is a long finish?

10. What’s the best way to cleanse your palate?

 Loading ...

I have been posting this weekly wine & food blog faithfully every Monday for 2 full years since January 2013. Thought it might be fun to look back over the last year of 2014 to recall those that received the most hits according to Google to make your Top Ten:
blank

1. Ideas for a Paris Visit

2. 1989 Bordeaux at 25

3. Vega-Sicilia

4. Wine Labels

5. Louis Jadot Burgundy

6. Vineyard Maps

7. Foraging Stinging Nettles & Mushrooms

8. Which cruise line offers the best food?

9. Oregon Pinot Noir including Sokol Blosser Winery

10. Restaurant David Toutain in Paris

 Loading ...

By Joseph Temple

As a guest blogger for nearly a year, it has been a great privilege to write about a wide array of food and wine topics.  And looking back at 2014, it was very revealing to see which of my postings received the most hits according to Google Analytics.  So for my last entry of 2014, allow me to present the top 10 posts for this year — decided by you!
blank

1. 7 famous L.A. restaurants from the studio era

2. 10 facts about the Napa Valley you might not know

3. 5 Mafia dons and their favorite foods

4. A look at 5 iconic Florida restaurants

5. Staying wet in a dry town: a look at President Woodrow Wilson’s wine cellar

6. The Sideways effect 10 years later

7. Ronald Reagan: Oenophile-in-chief

8. 10 interesting facts about Finger Lakes wines

9. 10 historical facts about Ontario wine

10. Don’t mess with Texas wine

 Loading ...