Bo knows Ssam

So a group of hungry winos got together last night to enjoy some great wines and some Bo Ssam which is the huge pork shoulder they serve at Momofuku Ssam bar. It is pictured below and you really are not prepared for how enormous this thing until it is thrust upon you. It is a whole pork shoulder and seasoned beautifully with a heavy rich glaze. It just falls off the bone. Melts in your mouth. There are four sauces that come with it. One is scallions in some liquid that is clear, one is sweet brown/red creamy paste thing, one is kimchi, and one looks like kimchi tomato sauce/mixed with salsa concoction. You roll it up in Bibb lettuce, throw on an oyster, add what sauces you like and then get some pork shoulder, which they give you tongs as your silverware, and eat it like a taco. A remarkable taco. This had been in the planning stages for a while, so there were thousands e-mails traded back and forth. Because to plan a dinner among six wine geeks (eventually five) you need at least a thousand e-mails. It is part of The Game. There was a lovely assortment of wines.


We started off with the Henri Billiot Cuvee Laetitia which was fantastic stuff. I have never had this cuvee before but have heard so many good things about it that I had to try it. The nose is deep and layered right off the bat with lovely almond brioche complexity and minerals. The palate was just amazing. Deep, opulent and very refined. There was lovely rich almond-tinged fruit and great purity. The acid was very nice but not quite up to my zippy standards. Teh finish was long and detailed. This was great and performed above my expectations. PAME!

Next up was the 2006 Reichsgraf Von Kesselstat Piesporter Goldtropfchen Grosses Gewachs. Another one of the great Kesselstat dry wines that I tasted on my summer visit there. This had a great nose out of the gates with tangerine, minerals, slate, peach flesh and lots of other nuance. Very prickly nose. The palate was full and lush with a vevlety mouthfeel and very pure dark orange citrus fruits. Then it closed down on the palate every so slowly throughout the night. There was greta acidity and so much stuffing to this wine. This really seems like it has a long life ahead of it. The nose did get dazzlingly complex towards the end of the night and the palate did show some warmth as it warmed up. That seems to be common trend in the 2006 GG and EG's. We'll see if age can tame that.

We then moved onto the 2001 Robert Weil Kiedrich Grafenberg Spatlese which was showing very nicely. Extremely refined wine. The nose was citrus, baby powder, slight petrol, honey, canned peach juice. The palate was lush and velvety. Not the most acidic 2001 I have had but very nice nonetheless for its purity and seamless quality. The palate has amazing mouthfeel, cling and opulence. Yet it is restrained. Really showed well.

Then there was a 2000 Leon Beyer Pinot Gris Vendange Tardive which really suprised everyone at the table how good it was. I will admit I prefer my Pinot Gris to be from Southern Germany and to be called Grauburgunder but this was very good. It was ripe, rich and had a nice intense lemon vibe on the palate. Good purity and balance. Matched great with the food. Toned done some of the spicey flavors. I did not spend that much time with it but the glass I had I enjoyed very much.

The first red of the evening was the 1995 Yves Gangloff Cote Rotie and it was spectacular albeit a touch closed. This is before Gangloff went to the dark side per se and started spoofing the shit out of his wines. There was one cuvee then and he aged the stuff in old foudre. Now there are two cuvees. Oakier and Oakiest. This had a lovely nose of spice, some cherry and bluberry and earth. The palate had an uncanny freshness about it. It would have refreshed me on a hot day on the beach kind of freshness we are talking here. The palate had great balance and concentration and a long finish. There was fruit but it took some coaxing to come out. Seemed a bit closed in that respect. But even with minimal fruit it was a lovely wine. When the fruit kicks in, in say about 3-5 years, this will be a stunner.

The final wine of the night was the 2002 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru "Clos des Epeneaux" and it was smoking. It was eerie how wide open this was. Nose was heavenly with high-toned floral notes, baking spices, big cherry fruit and lots of wet earth complexity. The palate was lovely but a little lighter than I expected. Pure waves of red fruit and mineral with lovely definition and cut. Great acidity and just super wine. Really wide open.