BYOB Dinner in Jersey City!

Sorry, I have not posted recently. August is a vacation month, including for those of us in the wine biz! Well, I had one week off...Last night, I dined at Madame Claude Cafe in Jersey City, NJ. The PGA is in town this weekend, so I met with a couple of clients to break bread.

I decided on Madame Claude because it seemed like an interesting spot. Tucked away in the ghetto in Jersey City, we dined outside overlooking the constant police cars blaring their sirens that sped past us.

The place was packed. I brought a few btls. These golfers tend to like the high octane Aussies and Spanish wines, but this week, one of them had an epiphany, or I should say a Leroy Gevrey Chambertin...so I changed the format...

The food was very good. I started with the stuffed mushrooms...they were on point. The other guys had salads and one had the soup of the day (Celery and Cauliflower). For entrees, they both had the Cous cous Madame Claude and could not stop raving about it. I opted for another house specialty, the steak frites. Simple dish, hangar steak and fries. The server gave me two dipping sauces...peppercorn and shallots. She recommended the peppercorn, which I thought might be too strong, but she was right. Good pairing for the wine. We shared some Cauliflower Au Gratin as a side, that I loved.

As for the wines...

1) 2006 David Duband Clos de la Roche-I recently featured this as a closeout special (event the Wine Spectator gave mention to our great closeouts lately). Opened and decant at 3 pm, served at 7 pm and it was absolutely delicious. Right in the wheelhouse. A bargain for the money...when you get a great Burgundy, there is nothing else like it.

2) 2006 Barroche CDP Signature- I had high hopes for this wine. I love the Fiancee and Pure from Barroche, so I thought that Julien's Signature CDP would sing as well. Opened and decanted at 3 pm, it was tight as nails, but a pretty bouquet. Drank at around 8 pm, this wine never hit that sweetspot for me. Tasty, but after the Clos de la Roche, it did not fare well.

3) 2002 Yalumba Signature- When we jumped from 2 people to 3 people for dinner, I needed more wine. So I stopped at the Jersey City Shop Rite and picked up the Robert Parker 96+ rated Yalumba Signature. $42.99, why not? Upon opening, this wine had a beautiful nose. Lots of mint, and eucalyptus. This reminded me of a great old Napa Cab or a Clarendon Hills Cabernet. Unfortunately, on the palate, it was neither. The wine was good, but nothing very exciting. For $20, this is a tasty drink. The nose is worth $40, but who drinks the nose?

4) NV Noon Tawny Port- When my supplier mentioned that they were looking to close this one out, I called bullshit. I never knew that Noon made Port. Heck, their regular wines taste like Port, so what would their Port taste like. Well, we found out last night. 19.5% alcohol listed on the btl, has to be more like 22%. The first taster remarked that it was like a liqueur. I thought it was more like a vodka on the rocks. It had lots of fruit behind it, but the alcohol was very offensive. It mellowed out over time, but was never very enjoyable. Out of a 500ml btl,3 of us left half of the btl to the table of cute girls who had also brought their own wines....magnums of Yellowtail! They were just happy to see more alcohol! They also got the remainder of the Yalumba...