On any given Wednesday....

[Botafogo]

Last night a gang of us (me and Dan Fredman from the Grateful Palate plus five "civilians" drawn from Neurology, Record Execs and a Director and an Actor) got together for a "swill fest" at our favorite Restaurant, 2117, in West LA.

We were delighted with a Col Vetoraz Prosecco Millesimato, a Chateau Simone Rose and an Austrian Riesling whose name escapes me with the Ahi and Wasabi Wontons, Shrimp and Gorganzola Pizza and Blue Crab Springrolls, each one showing a different path to Pacific Rim Nirvana. Then we got out the BIG GUNS for the duck, lamb and venison courses:

Chateau Mouton Rothschilds 1982, Pauilliac
Vega Sicilia Ribera Del Duero 1985, Espagna
Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano 1988, Piemonte

Without food, people were oohing and ahhing over the Mouton (especially the guy who brought it!) while I and a Record guy were commenting that it's Parker-esque low acidity made it a fine tipple but it was about to kneel in subservience to the Spanish and Italian wines when the food came. AND, yes, when the entrees arrove, the fabulous backbone of acidity in the Barbaresco and the depth of tannins in the Vega Sicila RULED on the table, especially with the Grilled Muskovy Duck Breast in Foie Gras and Truffle Sauce with Wild Mushroom Polenta (hey, we work hard, we need time to play!), and the mighty Mouton (parker's 1st 100 point wine?) was "nice" but not "special".

THEN, I pulled out a bottle of Azienda Bagni Faro 1998 (an almost prehistorically traditional Sicilian red made from several types of Mascarello) and poured it not only for us but another table consisting of the sales staff of the distributors of most of Santa Barbara and Oregon's great Pinot producers. This wine is the color of a grocery bag, smells like sour cherries, dirt, violets, cat pee, aged beef, dried plums, your first gilrfreind after a nooner and a bit more. Needless to say not "varietal" but "vinous". 75% of the folks declared it the "wine of the evening, amazing, can I buy some of this", 25% said rediculous stuff like "there's too much going on in here...I'm confused" and "I don't have any standard against which to judge this" and put it down.

If we can ever GET that wine here (the winery is tiny and doesn't want the hassle of export paperwork) it will sell for a whopping $16.99!!!!!

I love my job, Roberto

[This message has been edited by Botafogo (edited 11-15-2001).]