Damien Pinon 'Tuffo' Vouvray at Amandas Hoboken
For a midweek team business dinner, we met in Hoboken at Amanda's Restaurant, one of our
favorite eateries in town that we discovered and enjoyed when son Alec lived a few blocks away a few years back. Colleague Tom O'R, a 'local' knew Amanda's well and called it a well known long time dining institution in the area.
Tonight, Amanda's was quiet, although I was reminded it was Yom Kippur which may have been a factor.
For our dinner entrees, I chose the daily special, Oven Roasted Maine Lobster with cognac citrus butter and puree'
potatoes, while colleague Tom O' had the Tagliatelle with mussels, clams, shrimp and scallops in
arrabbiatta sauce. Colleague Vivek is a vegetarian so it was nice to be able to accommodate him with Amanda's special menu offering, Vegan Cauliflower Korma with rice pilaf, raisins, red onions, curry cauliflower sauce.
To accompany our dinner, we ordered from the winelist this Loire Valley Vouvray Chenin Blanc.
Notably, as oenophiles (wine lovers) know, it is customary that French wines (and 'old world' wines in general) are named for the region and sub-region or appellation from where the wine is produced.
On the other hand, in American (and the 'new world' in general), we name our wines for the grape varietal predominant in the bottle.
Hence, parsing the wine label, this is from producer Damian Pinon, from the village and appellation of Vouvray, in the Loire Valley wine region in west-central France. This label offering is named 'Tuffo' by the producer.
Damien Pinon ‘Tuffo’ Vouvray Loire Valley 2017
RM 89 points.
Fellow Cellartracker collector WineShlub from Long Island loves this wine and gave it 94 points, writing in his tasting note: "Aroma of stone fruit with a bit of beeswax. Complex mix of flavors includes elements of stone fruit, lanolin, lichee. Rich lichee and apricot finish. Fresh, vibrant, complex, firm backbone, great staying power. Archetypal Vouvray, excellent QPR."
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3187013
I arrived early and tasted a couple of their wines-by-the-glass (WBTG) offerings as part of their happy hour special features.
Peter Yealands 2018 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, Marlborough, New Zealand
Butter colored, light bodied, crisp clean pleasant easy drinking, green apples, lychee and stone fruit with a smooth clean finish.
RM 90 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3118040
https://www.yealands.co.nz/
Château La Fleur Plaisance 2016 Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux, France
Chateau La Fleur Plaisance is a quaint, family owned estate nestled on 29 acres located just north of the village of Saint-Emilion. Vineyard management and wine making is a joint venture between the Eresue family and notable Bordeaux winemaker Benoit Calvet.
There is a saying, 'you don't get Dom Perignon by the glass'! Hence, caveat emptor when ordering any wine by the glass since it may have been opened for a while and storing opened wine is a challenge for more than just a day or two unless the proper facilities are in place.
Tasted BTG (By-the-Glass), I sense this WBTG offering perhaps had been opened too long or not stored appropriately and was beyond its suitable serving/drinking state. Hence, take my tasting experience with a note of caution since it may not be a fair appraisal of this label.
Garnet colored, medium bodied, smoke and earth notes overtake the black berry fruits with tones of anise, leather and hint of cedar.
RM 87 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/editnote.asp?iWine=3429195
