Unauthorized

A spectacular meal from Chef Olivier Muller, the young, super-talented chef at Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro, located in Manhattan’s theater district, began with a superb escargot and chicken oyster fricassee. Two other dishes to die for included the chestnut orecchiette, a Colorado venison ragout with wild mushrooms, and the stuffed pig’s trotters with black truffle juice and lentils from the Puy area.

The wines included a gorgeous example from a challenging vintage, the 1998 Coche-Dury Meursault-Perrières. Pure liquid mineral/citrus offered in a medium-bodied style with good underlying acidity and freshness, it has another 5-10 years of life ahead of it. The 1990 Rayas Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc (primarily Grenache Blanc, Clairette, and another varietal the late Jacqueys Reynaud asked me to never mention) was slightly oxidized and unratable. I have had stunning bottles, but this 1990 is incredibly irregular from bottle to bottle. A beautiful Chinon from a vintage where the Cabernet Franc achieved full ripeness (a rarity in the Loire) is the 1990 Chinon Les Picasses from Olga Raffault, an elegant wine that revealed plenty of herb, smoke, currant, and cherry notes.

Next we opened a magnum of Bruno Giacosa’s famed 2000 Barbaresco Asili Red Label Riserva. A stunningly rich effort, it offered up scents of rose petals, sweet kirsch, tobacco leaf, spice, and white truffles. Full-bodied with silky tannin, this still young beauty should drink gorgeously well in a decade, and last for twenty years thereafter. A wine that is just coming into its own was the profound 1989 Aldo Conterno Barolo Riserva Granbussia, which we also had from magnum. We then moved to a young, but enormously promising Giacomo Conterno 1999 Barolo Riserva Monfortino, which lived up to its rave reviews. It should be a true classic with another 10-15 years of cellaring. The opulent 1997 Percarlo Martini di Cigala was pure elixir. It was rich, concentrated, modern-styled, deep, smoky, and meaty with loads of black fruits. A perfect wine, the 1999 Michel Ogier Côte Rôtie Belle Hélène is still too young to drink. An inky/ruby/purple hue is accompanied by glorious aromas of lychee nuts, crème de cassis, sweet raspberries, licorice, and flowers. This stunning effort should be at its finest in 5-6 years, and last for two decades.

The final two offerings are always controversial, especially when they follow a flight of European wines. The 1996 Greenock Creek Shiraz Roennfeldt is reminiscent of 10W40 motor oil. Extremely dry, rich, and intense, this young Shiraz will be an awesome wine in 15-20 years, but it is overwhelmingly rich and almost undrinkable currently. Even though it is ten years old, it shows no signs of evolution, and could easily have been mistaken for a barrel sample ... it’s that young and primary. The 2003 Kongsgaard Syrah is a wild, nearly uncivilized, but extremely interesting and utterly profound Syrah. Complex gamy, smoky, aged beef notes intermixed with sweet blueberry, charcoal, and espresso roast characteristics are present in this distinctive Syrah. It should age nicely for a decade.

After such a terrific night of great food and wine, I can’t recommend DB Bistro Moderne highly enough. Moreover, it is the least expensive and most casual venue in the Daniel Boulud constellation of restaurants. Chef Olivier Muller is at the top of his game.