Michael White's Ai Fiori; Does Italian food need to be this rich?

To celebrate my daughter's 17th birthday, we went yesterday to Ai Fiori, Michael White's new restaurant in NYC. The place is huge and is very nicely appointed. The service was very good, although the sommelier seemed confused by my request for Ligurian wine and tried to explain Arneis to me. We finally figured it out and ended up with a delicious bottle of Pigato, a white floral, full of mineral, wine from the Italian Riviera.

On to the food itself, the portions were quite small, but that really is not a problem because the food is so fucking rich! I know restaurants are there to cater to my taste buds with total disregard to my cardiologist's advice, but this is ridiculous.

I will not go into a description of the dishes, they were all very tasty, but in all honesty, I would be happier with a simpler trattoria menu, this was just overkill for me.

Mascarello Monprivato

I have tried the 1997 and the 1993 Giuseppe Mascarello Monprivato Barolo the last week, off the excellent wine list at the Kittle House. We really are lucky to live so close to this excellent restaurant with one of the best wine lists anywhere.

The 1997 is obviously the better wine, better fruit, structure and finish but it's more of an intellectual effort. The wine is very far from being ready, the tannins are harsh and mask the fruit almost completely, and it needs a lot of swirling to coax anything out the glass at this point.

The 1993, on the other hand, is a bit diluted and watery with a sour acidity and yet, paired with food it transforms itself into a delicious friendly wine. This for me is how Barolo should be - yes, tar and violets on the nose, that's obvious, but more specifically, after the 10-30 years time to shed the harsh tannins, a food friendly wine should emerge. Complex and interesting as opposed to fruit forward like the new wave wines.

To sum up, the 1996, I will absolutely love in ten or fifteen years, and the 1993 I love now with food, but I will drink Mascarello Monprivato Barolos from any year anytime.

Tuscan wines at the Kittle House

We have upped the ante at the Chappaqua Wine Club yesterday with a fantastic tasting of Tuscan wines and a wonderful tasting menu.

To start the proceedings, David very generously brought a 1996 Pierre Moncuit. A lemony, yeasty sparkler with refined bubbles and a great structure. This one could stand up to any dish, but was also a perfect aperitif.

On to the Tuscans:

The 21st Century Brunello
2003 Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino; nice and juicy, a bit diluted in the mid palate, finish is long and sweet.
2003 Ciacci Piccolomini Pianrosso Brunello di Montalcino; better. With gobs of great fruits and a nice structure. good acidity. Not bad for a 2003
2001 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino; earthy and barnyardy, my wine of the flight. Better structure than the previous two wines, my guess is that by the end of the evening all three wines would have improved a lot but we needed to move on to the next flight.

The Super Tuscans:
2001 Masseto; Holy Cow! This is amazing! Structured and powerful with layers and layers of in your face flavors. No subtlety but a very balanced package. Awesome! Group's WOTN, my second
1999 Ornellaia; Here, the texture and the nose are much more elegant, a silky, refined, delicious well-structured wine. My WOTN for the refinement alone, group's second.
2006 Ornellaia; Young and unbalanced at this point, but the underlying fundamentals are all there. It's fascinating to see what the 1999 was at a young age and what the 2006 will be in five years.

A 1990s Medley:
1999 Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino; Oaky and yummy, but has very little in common with Brunellos. I actually love this wine and the style and voted this my third WOTN, but the 2001 Poggio Antico and the 2004 Fuligni were for me a better expression of Brunello di Montalcino. Still, call me a names, but I like the wine a lot.
1997 Antinori Tignanello; Flawed, I don't know if it was corked or just dead, but this was undrinkable.
1997 Felsina Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva; Earthy, fruity, very very nice. What CCR is supposed to taste like at 12 years. Both food friendly and juicy.

A 2004 Medley:
2004 Saffredi Maremma; Very impressive, an excellent Super Tuscan that is drinking very well for its young age. I can't see how it will improve much but it is so good now. The nose is of spices and black forest cake, the texture is lush and the flavor doesn't disappoint. Really really good.
2004 Fuligni Riserva Brunello di Montalcino; Excellent Brunello, a little young but the structure is there, the earthiness is still in the background but this has a lot of time ahead of it.
2004 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva; A very good CCR, very food friendly and will age beautifully for years.

That was an epic tasting, some of the better wines really did perform very well but surprising almost everyone, were the two Chianti Classico Riservas which for a fraction of the price of the Super Tuscans were both delicious and food friendly.

Our next tasting is on Monday March 14. The theme is Napa and the idea is to start with 3 Chardonnays and have Cabs or Cab blends as the remaining flights.