Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

As SingleMa has posted, we had a wine tasting dinner at Fleming’s with Debt Hater. It was wonderful to meet Debt Hater in person. She was rocking some red heels on top of being really tall already! We also got to meet, Nina, her car.

Dinner was great. A little more of the breakdown when it comes to the food and wine experience and some tips for a good wine flight experience. (Who the hell comes up with names like “flight”? Dumb.)

All of us got the same thing, petite filet (8oz), cooked in various states. The server was kind enough to get me a steak that was rare+plus, i.e. some where between rare and medium rare. We worked the server really hard for us. That wasn’t intentional, but she was there to serve and it was really nice. I made the mistake of saying ‘pretty good’, my default phrase when asked how things are going. She paused and asked what wasn’t up to par. OOPS. Everything was actually pretty great on the food front, the bearnaise sauce, the grilled asparagus, the Fleming’s au gratin potatoes, the fabulous chocolate lava cake suggested by the server. The food was top notch. It was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had and I dine at a serious steakhouse at least once a year.

As SingleMa mentioned, the Riesling was a disappointment. I asked SingleMa and DebtHater what wines they liked they voiced a preference for sweeter wines and more lighter wine. I was leaning towards 2005 Caymus Conundrum from Rutherford Valley. It’s a fantastically fruity white, but they had run out of it! The server asked the sommelier to come over and he suggested a 2004 J. Barry Riesling, which I didn’t see on the wine list. Sure, ok.

Frankly, it tasted like rubber balloons soaked in water, and the water poured in a glass for us to drink. The finish on it had an underlying sweetness to it, but nothing overt. It was crisp and citrusy. Ugh. I hate whites like this. It was extremely dry which was not what I wanted. I was trying to cater to the desires of my guests for a sweeter wine and I should have been specific with the sommelier about that quality. I felt like this was going pretty badly, so I moved on fast to the second wine, the 2004 d’Arenburg Shiraz from France.

Debt Hater liked the red berry fruit flavor of the second wine. But SingleMa was taken aback by the tannic flavors. What’s funny is that the second wine was probably the deepest and most tannic of the three wines we drank. I would have put it last in the order of drinking, but without knowing the wine from a prior tasting, I couldn’t have known that. I encouraged SingleMa to go back to the Riesling and taste the difference. The food was served at this time too and we started to experience the difference that food makes with the enjoyment of wine.

Finally we reached the last wine, a 2004 Clos Du Bois Merlot, and I wasn’t too sure SingleMa was going to like it because it smelled sharply tannic, but ultimately, it was the smoothest of the three wines. Not as fruity as the Shiraz, but still, quite nice. It was very drinkable. What’s funny was that the server made a suggestion on the Merlot and pointed us at Alexander Valley right in the middle of the list, but I nixed it because I know it’s harder to find than some of the other wines on their Merlot list like Beaulieu, Mondavi or Clos Du Bois. Also, the CDB was higher on the list, so a lighter merlot than the Mondavi towards the bottom. I wanted to make sure that SingleMa and Debt Hater were going to be able to find this wine at their local wine shop if they liked it. It’s always good to have a fall back wine you can grab at the market before going out to a dinner party. After all, what is the point of tasting and drinking stuff you cannot buy or remember enough to purchase later? Tasting notes are key! The restaurant graciously gives you a little card with the wines written on it. Perfect. It’s those little details that make dinner like this worth the money.

Value. We got a lot of value out of dinner. The sommelier came around and asked how we liked the substitution. I told him the truth, not that great, but I didn’t tell him the rubber flavor observation. He was kind and took the Riesling off our check. Dinner was $200, but I added a few extra dollars to my check since I felt they did a great job putting up with my finicky requests. I am not normally that picky but I really wanted my two new wine drinking buddies to enjoy the evening so we can do it again!

I highly recommend Fleming’s in Tysons Corner.

I also recommend if you are going to do a wine flight, do three things:

1. Peruse the menu before you go to the restaurant so you have an idea of what you want to eat.
2. Ask to talk to the wine manager/sommelier about the flavors you like and let them make suggestions. If possible, tell them what wines you’ve had that you’ve really enjoyed in the past.
3. MAKE NOTES. If you are going on a research dinner, this is important. Memories are foggy, but pencil and paper are admissable evidence in court. Clearly if you are going out for a fancy dinner, this isn’t a good idea unless you want to make your mark as a serious wine geek or have very tolerant friends. Don’t do this to impress anyone. It’s a bad idea and your dorkpoints will go through the roof.

Bon Appetit!