Dinner with Manuel and Josie in New York (23 April 2004)

I bid farewell to the West Coast of the USA. I had ‘survived’ several days of pleasure at the hands of Americans and Canadians, and it was now time to see what New York had to offer. My flight from Seattle to New York was uneventful and I readied myself for the next mutual meeting of wine minds and palates.

I had last seen my good buddy Manuel Camblor and his lovely girlfriend Josie a few months ago when they were in London. They had very kindly extended their warm hand of friendship to me if I should ever venture back to The Big Apple. My people called his people, and before you could say ‘Has Time Square lost its edgy inner city charm’, a private jeebus was planned. This involved a few choice guests being invited to Manuel and Josie’s home for wine fun.

I must say that Manuel is an excellent cook and his dishes are worthy of a Michelin starred restaurant any day of the week. He likes to experiment (don’t we all) and he particularly enjoys matching his culinary creations with wine. Trust me when I say he knows what he is doing. I would like to thank Manuel and Josie for their generous hospitality throughout the evening.

The players for this evening’s fun were:

a) Manuel “Great cook/opinionated as ever and shoots from the hip/generous with his wines” Camblor;
b) Josie “Charming and the perfect hostess/enjoyed the fine wines” Castrodad;
c) Nicos “Your humble narrator/laughed a lot that evening” Neocleous
d) Nuray “Flew in from Toronto/impressive wine knowledge/great company” Ali;
e) Jay “legendary New York wine lover/very welcoming and knowledgeable” Miller;
f) George “Enthusiastic/good palate/’When’s the last train home?’/good to meet him” Henriquez

Some highlights of the evening included:

- Manuel was asking our opinions about the new colour scheme that he and Josie were planning for the walls.

- Their beautiful cats Garnacha and Riesling enjoyed our company by the end of the evening. Garnacha especially, as she tried to sip my 1976 Gran Reserva when I left it on the table. A top cat of taste!

- Manuel’s music mixes were the stuff of legends and the tunes he was ‘dropping’ that evening were entertaining. Loved the dance stuff/R&B from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s!

- Wine shopping in New York and where the best places are to shop.

We drank the following wines and I have posted them as TN’s in the TN section as there is not enough room to post them here.

Flight 1 – white wines
Served with the tasty starters.

1) 1989 Le L’d Or de Pierre Lareau – Cuvee Medaillee – Muscadet Sevre & Maine – sur lie (France)

2) 2002 Gaisberg Riesling – Hirsch: Zobing/Kamptal (Germany)

3) 2002 Vouvray – Le Haut – Lieu – Sec – Huet (Loire, France)

4) 2002 Vouvray – Le Mont - demi-sec – Huet (Loire, France)

Flight 2 - reds

5) 2002 Domaine de Belliviere – “Le Rouge-Gorge” (Coteaux du Loir, S.France)

6) 2000 Domaine de Belliviere – “Le Rouge-Gorge” (Coteaux du Loir, S.France)

7) 2000 Domaine de Belliviere – “Hommage a Louis Derre” (Coteaux du Loir, S.France)

8) 2000 Pierre Frick – Pinot Noir (Alsace, France)

9) 2000 Hermitage – E.Guigal (N.Rhone, France)

10) 1976 Gran Reserva – Vina Tondonia (Rioja, Spain)

Dessert wine

11) 2001 Icewine - Riesling – Cave Spring (VQA Niagara Peninsula, Canada)