Unauthorized

During my last Seattle trip, I had a fabulous evening with a number of eRP Subscribers at the Ethan Stowell restaurant, MKT. Located in the northern part of Seattle, in the Tangletown district, this is a tiny establishment (28 seats) and it has a casual, intimate and comfortable feel. The cuisine here is classic American fare, with a focus on fresh Northwest produce. We ordered mostly tapas styled dishes, and aside from tiny portions, the food was superb across the board. While we brought in our own wine, the wine list looks solid, and reasonably priced.

Looking at the wines, we had a bevy of brilliant reds. A bottle of 1988 Gentaz Côte Rôtie was gorgeous, with fully mature, yet textbook Côte Rôtie green olive, underbrush, hints of meatiness all present in its seamless, classic profile. I've been lucky enough to have had this numerous times recently, and it's always been at full maturity and drinking beautifully, so don't miss the boat here. Completely different, yet also gorgeous, the 2003 Guigal Côte Rôtie Château d'Ampuis is about as decadent, layered and rich as they come from this appellation. It's a great 2003 that has long life ahead of it. A bottle of the 2010 Force Majeure Collaboration III performed beautifully, and is one of the top Syrahs coming out of Washington State. Made by Mike MacMorran and 100% Syrah from Ciel du Cheval, it had textbook Syrah notes of red and black fruits, smoke, sweet spice and big minerality in its full-bodied, concentrated style. It's still a pup, but dished out plenty of pleasure on this evening. This was another great showing by Manfred's 2004 Sine Qua Non In The Dark, and it's a blockbuster styled Grenache that does everything right. Loaded with spice, graphite, ground pepper and kirsch, it's drinking perfectly now, but will continue to evolve gracefully. A wine that blew me away was the 2010 Le Dome. Making a mockery of people trying to stereotype Parker's palate by saying he only likes over the top efforts, this blend of 80% Cabernet Franc (with the balance Merlot) was pure class and elegance, with thrilling purity and depth in its gracefully, seamless profile. Full-bodied and concentrated, it gave up a floral-styled bouquet to go with plenty of crème de cassis, violets and spice. As is common with many great wines, it's incredible in its youth, but will evolve for 2-3 decades.

We finished the evening with the dessert 2002 Kracher #12. Checking in at only 5% alcohol (so technically, not even wine), it's massively sweet, thick, unctuous and decadent, yet stays fresh and lively on the palate. No dessert is required when sipping on this and it's almost a meal on its own.

This was a superb evening, and I'll certainly be back to this tiny, neighborhood restaurant!