My trip to NY - Part 1

I flew to NY to see family and a few friends a few weeks ago and was able to drink some great wine and beer and had some great food as well. My first full day there, I took the train down to Manhattan to meet my brother, but first stopped at Park Avenue Liquor where I used to work (I left there about 14 years ago, but still recommend it as one of New York City’s best wine and liquor shops). I still have a good friend, Peter, working there and stopped by on the way to my brother’s office to pick up some wine. In NY, liquor stores can sell wine and liquor but not beer. I told Peter I wanted two reds and a white all in the $15 range. He recommended a 2005 Arrocal from Ribero del Duero in Spain (about $20) and a 2005 Delas Cote du Ventoux ($12) for the reds, and a 2006 Saint Bris Sauvignon Blanc from Brocard ($14) for the white. This last one was unusual. Saint Bris is at the northern end of Burgundy near Chablis, but it’s Sauvignon Blanc and not Chardonnay, which is the most widely planted white in that area. I met my brother at his office and we took the bus over to New Jersey where he lives.

We got in about 7:00pm and chilled the white, but spent a fair amount of time with my nephew who I hadn’t met yet (they had been living in London for the last two and a half years). We didn’t start coking anything for dinner until around 8:00 and kept it simple. In this case it was ravioli in red sauce, but I opened the Saint Bris while we got everything ready. The wine was a revelation. My brother doesn’t normally drink whites, but even he was happily impressed. The fruit was very pure but had the steely quality you expect in great Chablis. It had great acidity and finished very crisp and clean with great length to the fruit. We drank part of it as an aperitif, but it would be a standout with food as well. At $14 retail, it’s a complete steal. I don’t know if it’s available in Oregon, but it’s worth seeking out. If you’re in NY, go to Park Ave. and get some of it. It’s that good.

With dinner, we opened the Arrocal which was tremendous but too big for pasta. The wine was deep purple and inky. The nose was filled with tarry, black fruit, and hints of leather and earth. It was well balanced and round, but a massive wine that would have been better with roasted lamb or beef (even though my brother is a vegetarian), but still completely delicious. It overwhelmed the food, and was a real show stopper. It will definitely age well for several years, but unfortunately, I only bought the one bottle. It seemed more muscular than many wines from this region, but had a velvety fruit quality that seems to be a hallmark of the best wines from this region.

The next day, we hit one of the local liquor stores to look for some local beer (because in New jersey, liquor stores can sell wine, liquor and beer). We were lucky to get find a knowledgeable “beer guy” in the store. There’s not nearly the selection of local beers that we have here in Oregon,
But I was able to find some unusual things from the East Coast that I can’t find here.

I found a Farmhouse Ale from Smuttynose in New Hampshire, which is a conditioned Saison style. I also picked up a fourn pack of Imperial Espresso Porter from Flying Fish (Cherry Hill, NJ), a six pack of Stoudt’s Golden Lager (a Helles style from Pennsylvania), and a growler of Climax Brewing’s IPA which was a small brew pub in Roselle Park, NJ (and the most local beer I found). We picked up some food at a local organic supermarket and had triued a few beers with lunch. The Stoudt’s was very impressive and as good as everything I’d read about it. If it was served to me blind I would likely guess that it was a true Munich Helles. The Flying Fish Imperial Porter was also very impressive, which didn’t surprise me as I’ve always been impressed by all of their beers that I’ve tasted. It was certainly “imperial” in alcohol, but was well balanced with great chocolate and mocha notes and without a real dark malt bite to it. It was round and deep and incredibly delicious.

That night I was back in White Plains at my parent’s house and we went to Ernesto’s, an incredible local Italian restaurant, which I opted to write up separately. The next day, I went back to NY to Park Avenue to meet Peter for lunch. We traditionally have gone to lunch around the corner at O’Casey’s which is a great Irish pub and restaurant which has great corned beef and an impressive tap selection. Although Peter had brought a bottle of wine, we actually started with a pint of Leffe, a Belgian Blonde Ale, that I don’t normally find on draft in Portland. It was delicious. We opened the wine with lunch and I’m afraid to say that I don’t recall the grower but it was a Bourgogne Blanc from a grower in Meursault. Peter told me it was essentially declassified Meursault that hadn’t made the final blend. Park Avenue had bought 50 cases of it because it was so good and an amazing value at $25 a bottle. White Burgundy has never been cheap, but this was an incredible value given the quality. After lunch we went back to the store and I bought a few more bottles for the rest of my stay.

That night at my parents we had some beautiful rib eyes and I had more of the Flying Fish Porter, which was even better with substantial food like that. After dinner, I tried the Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale, which was slightly sweeter and less hoppy than Saison Dupont, but which had very authentic flavors and aromas. There was a lovely orange spice note to it and had delicious sweet malt in the finish. I had only bought a single 22 oz bottle of it but would gladly have drunk more of it. I did try the Climax IPA and it was very nice, although like most east coast IPA’s was substantially less hoppy than what we produce on the west coast. It had a good malt backbone and seemed to favor “old school” American hops, like cascade for its hop profile. I fear it was a little past its prime, because it did taste a little tired. I’m not sure how many growlers of this get sold at that liquor store, but I’d like to try it at the brewery to compare. Still it had good flavor and was nicely balanced. I would love to try more of their beers at some point.