I'm in NY for a week's business, so posts will likely be less frequent and heavily feature restaurant reviews as we will be 'entertained' most nights by our US colleagues.

Last night we went to Smith and Wollenski's, the famous steakhouse in mid-town Manhattan.  These big 'chain' restaurants all follow a familiar theme.  Average to rude service, average to poor food, pretty good ambience and very average wine lists.

Last night was as expected, save for the wine, which was good.   A long list - entirely US of course - with a reasonable price spread and some with a (little) age.   We settled on a 1999 Lorca Petite Syrah from Napa.   What a surprise.   Huge fruit, good deep colour, high alcohol at 14.2%, very dry and still tannic, it had a few more years in it for sure.

It was so good we had to have a second bottle.   Well, it's the best way I know of to deal with the jet lag.

Following on from my post on Friday about celebrating Friday 13th's with Bollinger champagne, I have a report from Special Correspondent San Fran Sean on the events in the London Wine Bar that night:

It was absolute chaos and tremendous fun!!!... All I know is we had 70 champagne glasses and they were all being used...

 

I arrived about 6.15pm and the place was crowded... then my mates behind the bar started clapping and cheering and everybody else joined in... it was a trifle embarrassing...

 

Opened the 1st bottle of Bollinger at 6.30pm... rapidly followed by bottles 2-10!!!!... Then the 1st magnum... I was so busy pouring champagne... I have never been hugged and kissed by so many strange women!!!!... I don't think it was me... must have been the Bollinger...

 

At 10pm my mate Gary (owner of the London Wine Bar) informed me we had just poured the 51st bottle... the record from Hong Kong was 52...

 

I opened a magnum which made it 52 and 53... a new record... we carried on to a final count of 52 regular bottles and 5 magnums (1.5L bottles)... The 5 magnums will all be signed and go up on the wall to join the other 186 magnums surrounding the entire bar...

 

The new Friday 13th World Record is now 62 bottles of Bollinger set at the London Wine Bar in San Francisco on January Friday 13th 2006...

  

Needless to say, the rules were adhered to... although... We didn't run out of Bollinger... I didn't run out of money... and I didn't expire... We actually ran out of people!!!!

Wonderful.   So remember, next Friday 13th, have a bottle of Bolly.   Or two.

We enjoyed a couple of really good bottles over the weekend. Don't worry - we didn't only drink two, but two were particularly of note.

First, with The Fisherman and Mrs Fisherman (if I call her Fishwife I'm in deep trouble) a 1988 Hospices de Beaune Volnay-Santenots by Bouchard was ...   more »

Hot on the heels of my trip to the US I headed off to Devon for a meeting of the NTHKWS (Not the Hong Kong Wine Society), UK Chapter. We now outnumber the donor branch which, given that there is only one criteria for membership: you had to be a ...   more »

One of the constraints of my hectic travel schedule is that too frequently it robs me of the opportunity to post posts. Conversely it does, however provide much material.

Last week whilst in Miami on business we had Thursday dinner in The Forge. A strange old place: part Munsters living ...   more »

Our efforts to explore the culinary hotspots of Wiltshire continued on Saturday with a visit to The Bell in Ramsbury. Ramsbury is apparently famous as it is the location of the start of the Band of Brothers TV series. Apparently. Have to say it is a very attractive old village with a great deal of character.

The Bell was very good. A pleasant ambience, a short and interesting menu with a wine list to match. Somehow you always know you are in safe hands when you spot a few favourites and a the odd unusual bottle.....

So it was that we started with a bottle of Cave de Ribeauville, Gewurztranimer, 2003 and followed it with a Hochar Pere et Fils wine made by Chateau Musar. This is what attracted my attention as it is not something you see very often. Chateau Musar is famous for two reasons. One, it produces some damn fine wines and two, it is in the Lebanon.

The Hochar family own and run the estate and what we drank was, in Bordeaux speak, the second wine of the Chateau. It was excellent. Clearly Cabernet based but with the more exotic (!) blend of Carigan and Cinsault, not a combination widely available from France (OK Fisherman, correct me if I'm wrong!). It really is a joy to go find a restaurant where both menu and wine list are short and focussed, offering something you don't see every day.

We'll be back.   more »

Quiet LIttle Drinks - QLD's to some - are always the most dangerous. Last evening, full of good intentions, I headed to Chuzzlewits for a glass of wine with a couple of colleagues, ideally to tee me up to face going into Safeway's before heading home for a nice nicoise ...   more »

This is a great article from the Guardian - a lefty rag which I never read.. but for one moment, sod the politics and enjoy a bit of simple prejudice...

A drinking woman's guide to wine
Polly Vernon

I was so very glad to hear that women are fuelling the ...   more »