Which Wines Should I Take to a Restaurant

[Mahmoud Ali]

Okay, here's the brief. A birthday dinner in Leichardt, Italian restaurant, 20-25 people, a set menu with 3 to 4 choices for starters and mains followed by cakes, tea and coffee. It's BYO, everyone brings their own though naturally there will be some sharing.

I'm in charge of taking wines for 4 people, one drinks only whites, another only reds, my partner and I will drink both red and whites. Now, I'm not sure about the starters but among the mains will be lamb, veal, and either chicken or fish.

I reckon I need about 6 wines (for backup and some sharing) and my choices include:

Reds:
1998 St Hallet's 'Blackwell' Shiraz, Barossa
1997 Penfold's St. Henri
2000 Penfold's Bin 389
2000 Tyrrell's 'Museum Release' Shiraz/Cabernet, Hunter/Coonawarra
2001 Bremerton Cabernet Sauvignon, Langhorne Creek
2002 Westend '3 Bridges' Winemakers Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
2003 Jacob's Creek 'Centenary Hill' Shiraz, Barossa
2003 Babich 'Quartet', Gimblett Gravels, Hawke's Bay
2004 Pizzini Sangiovese, King Valley

Whites:
2001 Mount Pleasant 'Elizabeth' Semillon, Hunter
2004 Suavia 'Monte Carbonare' Soave Classico, Italy
2004 Tahbilk Marsanne

All these wines (some are mine) have been stored in a back room of a one-storey Sydney house. There is no airconditioning so I would consider the storage conditions to be less than ideal to say the least. If these wines were stored at home in Canada I wouldn't consider any of them to be ready.

My question is which of these wine should I take to the restaurant? Although most of the guests are not the kind of wine drinkers we forum members are many will want a taste of what they will consider a good wine. I would rather they like what I open. As it is an Italian restaurant I was thinking that the Pizzini Sangiovese and the Soave are a must.

Any thoughts?

Mahmoud.

[TiggerK]

Hi Mahmoud, I'd be taking all three whites, Elizabeth may be corked (as many are). Either way 3 whites 3 reds. The whites always go down faster at the start of the night, you can then see how the timing goes for the reds.
I'd be taking the pizzini (italian grape), the tyrells (decent age and shz/cab a safe matching choice), and the st hallett (v. crowd pleasing and good recent reviews). All should be drinking well now. If you were feeling generous, take the 389 or st Henri as a 'thankfully I bought one more' option. Hope the other 20 people don't look too expectant when they spot your wines! Look forward to hearing how it goes, what restaurant is it?

[Mahmoud Ali]

Thanks for the feedback Tigger.

The restaurant is called Frattini Restorante in Leichardt. It was picked by my partner's sister who works in the area. I'll go with your advice on the three whites. I'm now thinking that I might take along an '03 Chain of Ponds 'Purple Patch' Riesling as I'm not sure how good an old Soave might be.

I'm going to follow your advice about the reds and about taking along a Penfold's wine. I'm thinking about double decanting the red wines and taking them to the restaurant in the original bottles. It means I'll have to decide on whether to open two or three initially and hope that if any need to be opened at the restaurant that an open/decant/pour will be suffient time for the wine to show.

It's a 70th Birthday party for twins, their husbands and adult children (no kids) so I probaby wont be taking notes. I'll try to do my best in reporting back.

Cheers.....................Mahmoud.

[Cloth Ears]

How did the wines go, Mahmoud? We've had a couple of the Elizabeths in the last year ('00 and '02), although they may have been reserve releases. Both very tasty and not in the least long in the tooth. And the last 04 Tabilk Marsanne was still possibly a bit on the young side - although being stored in less than ideal conditions may have spoiled it.

And more to the point, how was the night?

[Mahmoud Ali]

Sorry for the delay in writing about the evening, I had started one but lost everything when the electrical plug got dislodged and the computer shut down. I hate starting again because I find it frustrating knowing that I'm not able to rewrite it exactly. Going back to it later it's not quite as evident.

Anyway, at Frattini's we had two long tables crowded with people. I had thought that we were each going to chose our starters and mains but instead everyone was served all the items that had been selected. So it was, in the following order, beef and then salmon carpaccio, fried zucchini flowers, buffalo mozzarella on tomato, three types of pasta (one cream and two tomato-based, one spicy), grilled octopus, veal with mushroom sauce, and lamb cutlets. Not easy to match but what the heck, just open and enjoy what you have. I made sure I had two glasses so that I could move between white and red as needed.

It was a festive family occasion and because we served ourselves from platters we could move about and change seats in order to mingle and talk. I really wasn't able to devote too much time on the wines let alone take notes.

My partner was given a glass of Moet almost immediately after we arrived and I had a sip of that. Nice, I haven't had a taste of real Champagne since late 2011. Anyway, the first bottle I opened was the '03 Chain of Ponds 'Purple Patch' Riesling, Adelaide Hills. The yellow gold colour immediatey showed it's age, the nose screamed riesling, lime blossom and petrol notes, the palate clean and fresh. Very nice and in no hurry of faling over, especially if well cellared.

The first red opened was an old favorite of the birthday girl (she had kept the last two bottles of a case) an '06 Fire Gully Shiraz, Margaret River 14%. She drank it all night to the exclusion of all else. I should have paid more attention to it but I was drinking white at the time. It was definitely different from what I remembered a few years ago but had aged well, soft and easy going.

Just before we were seated I opened the '01 Mount Pleasant 'Elizabeth' Semillon, Hunter, 11%. I thought the colour was too dark for an 11 year-old and it showed. It had some of the elements of an aged semillon but it had an oxidized note throughout indicating that it had probably suffered from a bit of summer heat. Coincidentally, the person next to me had brought an '03 Elizabet. The difference in colour was very noticable, the the '03 was still youthful and had the acidity and crispness of a young Hunter semillon and only a hint of age.

Before going to the restaurant I had double decanted two bottles of red back into the original bottle. The '04 Pizzini Sangiovese, King Valley was of couse less fruited than the bottle I had a few years ago but I don't think it was in a better place. I had thought it had the structure to age so I'd guess that it needs more time. In was cherry scented, somewhat savoury, with a little tannin and an astringent finish. The other bottle decanted was the '98 St Hallet's 'Blackwell' Shiraz, Barossa. This was, just as Tigger said, in a fine place. It smelled lovely, sweet, perfumed, notes of kirsch cherry and spice, the palate thick with fruit and a smooth ripe finish, the tannins soft and ripe. It was a hit among the few that had an interest in wine and was the wine of the night for most of us, one person picking the next wine I opened.

Early in the evening I mentioned that I had also brought a '00 Tyrrell's Museum Release Shiraz/Cabernet and a '97 Penfold's 'St Henri' Shiraz. Eyes widened and let's just say I would have been mugged outside the restaurant if I didn't open the St Henri so I double decanted the St Henri back into the bottle. Maybe it was the vintage, maybe it was too young, maybe it needed more airing, but the wine was not generous in the way the Blackwell was. Since it was gift to the household some years ago it could also be storage issues. Strangely enough th nose was closed and didn't show much, dark leathery fruit, some spice and oak. The palate was restrained, "elegant and smooth" said my partner and I'd have to agree though we both thought the Blackwell was better on the night.

I also opened two small bottles (250ml) of '03 Tempus Two Botrytis Semillon at the tail end of the evening just before someone served some Polish honey liquor and ended up taking the better part of the second bottle home. The notes for this are in another post, and better for it as I was much more sober tasting it the next day.

I must say the service at the restaurant was excellent (they also had plenty of ice buckets and very decent glasses) and the food was good. My favourites would have to be both carpaccios, the pastas, the grilled octopus and the veal.

Cheers..........................Mahmoud

[thomashouseman]

I've always preferred Blackwell over almost all Penfolds wines. I’m not a very big fan of Penfolds.

[rooman]

Mahmoud, re the 97 St Henri, put it down to the vintage. I worked my way through a six pack of the 97 over the past decade. After the third bottle I realised I had to stop decanting them. Decanting them seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. If you have any 97 left, pull the cork 2-3 hours before but dont decant.On the other hand I opened a 99 two weeks ago with a business partner that just swept the floor and all before it. The fruit has dropped away and has been replaced by a wonderful complexity that is just starting to come on - mushrooms and forest floors with a hint of spice and great length.