Nomadic Wines

Mom's birthday

My parents visited us in San Francisco and we went to Michael Mina the night they arrived, for my mom's birthday. Unfortunately baggage was late, traffic was heavy, and we had an early reservation. They held our table, but we felt rushed... not ideal for a special restaurant experience.

Overall, the food was very good and the presentations were excellent. I like the concept - for each course they have a theme (like scallops) and then prepare them in three different ways. As a result, some of the dishes are truly excellent while others seem like they are busy and trying too hard... but still tasty.

We brought the two older wines from my parents' cellar.

• 2002 Domaine Louis Michel Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (12/26/2006)
  (Bought a glass off the list at Michael Mina.) This wine showed a touch of VA initially, but it blew off pretty soon after. The nose was ordinary - not showing much this time. The mouth had some acidity, lemon, and minerality. I found a little sour note on the tongue, but the finish still lingers for about 15-20 seconds.


• 1962 Château Calon-Ségur - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/26/2006)
  Brought this wine (with a '62 Suduiraut) to Michael Mina. The sommelier opened this wine about 15 minutes before serving it and decanted it. The cork disintegrated upon opening, but that didn't surprise me because the capsule wasn't close to spinning.
  My dad and I talked about our expectations. Clearly we didn't expect a great wine because it was an off-vintage and the cork had fallen apart.
  When it came out into the glass, I was immediately surprised by the color and I knew this wine would be better than expected. There was a faint ring around the edge of the glass, but overall the wine was dark ruby red in color... youthful I daresay. The nose was funky, but my concern was minimal. After about 15 minutes, the funk was blowing away and I was left with a wonderful, mature wine from St. Estephe.
  There were red fruits (like cherry) on the palate with some blackberries on the nose. The wine had that typical St. Estephe spice, especially once I could taste it. The finish was a little short, but overall I was very impressed with this wine. If this wine had more fruit early on in the attack, I think it would have been been a great wine.


• 1962 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (12/26/2006)
  We enjoyed this wine with dessert. It wasn't the best combination of food and wine, but fortunately one of the dessert selections was a good match... a pineapple dish that got it right. The wine was a very dark, deep tan color. And again, the cork disintegrated as the sommelier tried to remove it. The wine had lots of caramel and nuttiness, though I also smelled a whiff of citrus extract. My palate definitely tasted a lot of orange jelly. Again, the finish is short and boring compared to an otherwise lively, tasty Sauternes.

They charged us full corkage even though we generously shared with the sommelier/waiter. Not surprising considering the tariffs on wine, but thought that would be useful information for others.

Labels: Bordeaux, family, restaurants

posted by nomadfromcincy @ 1:55 PM