Letter From Dan's Wine Guide Editor: Dinner With The Millers

By Susan Whitney Simm

When serious wine drinkers gather - in this case two enthusiasts and, as novelist Jay McInerney would put it, two "wonks" - there are bound to be a few "aha" moments.

My husband David and myself, the "enthusiasts," met Chris and Melissa Miller, the "wonks," at Vine Street Café on Shelter Island for a simple four-course dinner. This presented the obvious opportunity to open four bottles. We opened five.

We met the Millers at the bar, where we began with a 1990 Lenz RD Cuvee. Wow! Eric Fry's sparkler was wonderful. We clinked flutes in his honor and that of our local wine region's history.

The first course was an excellent pan-seared grouper, and the wonks were sure we would bring a red Burgundy, which we love. While the grape was indeed Pinot Noir - Chris hovered around Oregon and Melissa landed on France - the wine (poured blind) was a 2005 Lane Tanner Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara. It was elegant, complex, very Burgundian. Turns out Chris knows Lane. "Aha" indeed.

We also brought (not blind) our favorite Brunello di Montalcino, a 1997 Altesino, for the pasta course. Still young at ten years, it was blow away with the Bolognese (one of VSC's best dishes).

The Millers brought what David was sure would be a Bordeaux for the steak frites (blind, but I was in on this one). Chris produced a beautiful, medium-bodied red that David swore was a St-Emilion. It turned out to be......drum roll please...... a 1992 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. Integrated tannins, incredible length, round, voluptuous. Just like a great Bordeaux. It turns out Lane knows Forman. Surprise!

We could have spent out dessert course just swirling and sniffing our rows of reds, but then we would have missed the amazing 1989 Von Hovel Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Riesling Auslese.

So ended an evening of friends celebrating their mutual love of wine. It was, as Chris later described the Riesling, "perfect."

Email Dan's Wine Guide editor at ssimm@optonline.net

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