<a target="_blank" href="http://www.themillingroom.com/">The Milling Room</a>

446 Columbus Avenue

(Between 81st
&amp; 82nd Streets)

New York, NY

(212) 595-0380&nbsp;

Food:

Hamachi Tartare; avocado, cucumber, chives, yuzu

Grilled Octopus; charred eggplant, arugula, smoked paprika
oil

Crisp Sweetbreads; capers, pickled fennel, tarragon

Rabbit Pappardelle; porcini, aromatic vegetables, orange

Long Island Duck Breast; parsnip purée, shaved brussel
sprouts, brandy jus

















Wine:



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</h3><a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2001+karthauserhof+eitelsbacher+spatlese">2001 Karthäuserhof&nbsp;</a><a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2001+karthauserhof+eitelsbacher+spatlese">Riesling Spätlese</a>&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2001+karthauserhof+eitelsbacher+spatlese">Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg&nbsp;</a>





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 93
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 1988 Chave Hermitage Blanc
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 97
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 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2002+Barthod+Baudes">2002 Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les
 Baudes</a>
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 92
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 1982 L’Église-Clinet
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 92
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 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2007+usseglio+deux+freres">2007 Usseglio&nbsp;</a><a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2007+usseglio+deux+freres">Châteauneuf-du-Pape</a>&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2007+usseglio+deux+freres">Réserve des Deux Frères</a>
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 &nbsp;
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 92
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Although I’ve lived on the west coast for the past five years,
New York City still feels like home. It’s where the majority of my friends
reside, and it still ranks as my favorite place in the world to eat and drink. On
this last trip, I met up with two of my favorite people for dinner—a mentor and
a dear friend, both of whom have ties to Veritas, my former place of employment
and my first job as a sommelier. Both avid wine collectors, they booked us
for dinner at The Milling Room on the Upper West Side, a choice based
as much on its relaxed corkage policy and the quality of its cuisine as its relative proximity to Westchester,
where they both live. The chef at The Milling Room is Scott Bryan, an underground New York legend who is perhaps best known as the founding chef
of Veritas. Although I came on board well after Bryan had left, regulars often
reminisced about the unpretentious though high quality nature of his cuisine, and
how well it paired with pedigreed wines. Indeed, that compatibility was
another draw on this night, as the wines my friends brought to share were
extraordinary, and demanded a position on center stage. 



Upon arriving, I was led past a bustling bar area and into
the enormous dining room, which features a lofty vaulted ceiling that recalls an old train station. Chef Bryan was out that evening, but he had already
created a tasting&nbsp;menu that&nbsp;was perfectly executed by his kitchen staff and
expertly served by the front of the house. Sommelier Tim Gemelli&nbsp;was very
accommodating, graciously preparing the wines to our exacting specifications. 

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1434651418936-tuna.JPG"> 

Hamachi tartare with
avocado, cucumber, chives, and yuzu



The opening course was a delicious Hamachi tartare, which
was extremely fresh and lemony with the perfect amount of crunch from the
cucumbers. Happily, our first wine was its ideal companion—a 2001 Karthäuserhof
Riesling Spätlese from the Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg vineyard. This was a
magical wine of incredible depth and complexity. Scents of oyster shell, lemon
oil, honeysuckle, torn spearmint, green tea, and gunpowder converged on the
nose. Texturally, it was beyond vibrant, with an otherworldly acidity snaking
through the wine’s gentle, subtly oily flesh. The mineral quality was profound,
and joined with the smart acidity to form an endless finish. A superb, and
unforgettable wine.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1434651398643-Hermitage.JPG"> 

The extraordinary and
rare 1988 Chave Hermitage Blanc



The Chave came next, which we had decanted upon arrival.
This is a wine of special emotional significance to me, as I had access to a
phenomenal vertical of Hermitage Blanc while at Veritas, and have had little
occasion to enjoy the wine since. As my first few experiences with Chave Blanc
were with exceptionally honeyed and earthy vintages, it took me a while to ‘get
it’, but when I finally did, I fell in love hard. As enthusiasts know, this
wine is a singular animal; it behaves and evolves like no other white wine on
the planet. When you catch a perfect bottle at a perfect moment, like this 1988
a few weeks ago, it resonates through your body as if a tuning fork tuned to
your very bones had been struck. This particular bottle was flawless, offering
scents of honey, straw, almond skin, baked golden apples, graham crackers,
crushed white flowers, and human sweat and tears. The texture was waxy and
rich, with a slow-building mineral presence, low-toned fruits and a lightly
astringent finish redolent of aspirin. As it was so unique, it was tricky with
the food, being too honeyed for the rich sweetbreads, but it sang with the
earthy rabbit. 

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1434651379171-rabbit.JPG"> 

Rabbit pappardelle
with porcini, aromatic vegetables, and orange



The aforementioned sweetbread dish was decadent and
interesting, with a rich sauce made lively by the smattering of capers. Though
the Chave didn’t work so well, the Riesling was a delightful match, at least for
those of us who still had some left to savor. The papperdelle was another hit, prepared perfectly and in a
classic mien. The Chave was beautiful with it, but so was the Barthod Les
Baudes, making for an interesting comparison. The Barthod was in a particularly
lovely place in its drinking arc, and accented the basil in the rabbit dish.
Simultaneously muscular and finessed, the Barthod impressed with its heady nose
of sweet earth, rich cherries, and blood.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1434651362741-Burg+Bord.JPG"> 

There’s nothing like
well-aged Burgundy and Bordeaux



The 1982 L’Église-Clinet was a real treat, as there
isn’t enough aged Bordeaux in my life. Well within its peak drinking window,
this wine offered a delightful, roasted nose of espresso, black truffles, dried
leaves, and iodine (also an uncanny note of wallpaper paste, as one of my
dining companions pointed out). The palate was turbid and mature, with an
integrated structure and a dusty, chalky finish. It was excellent with the duck,
whose subtle gaminess coaxed a sweet black cherry note from the wine. 

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1434651331444-CDP.JPG"> 

Usseglio’s luxurious
Réserve des Deux Frères



We ended the evening with the youngest of the wines, a 2007&nbsp;Châteauneuf-du-Pape&nbsp;Réserve
des Deux Frères from Usseglio. We had this wine without food, which I think was
appropriate, as it was a massive, powerful, and opulently styled red of great
proportions. The sweetly expressive nose offered up scents of cherry sauce,
brown baking spices, chalkboard, violets, and espresso. The palate was rich to
the point of feeling thick, with waves of dark succulent fruit proceeding
full-throttle into the warm and subtly oaky finish. Intense in personality and
hard to ignore, the 2007&nbsp;Réserve des Deux Frères&nbsp;is a wine&nbsp;I look forward to revisiting in several years. As
it was, it served as an impressive grand finale to a wonderful evening.



The Milling Room delivered a terrific&nbsp;dining experience, with classic, expertly rendered dishes, an energetic setting and warm hospitality. Although the wine list is well-priced and offers impressive depth
for its modest size, The Milling Room’s accommodating corkage policy ($30/bottle,
free on Tuesdays, no restrictions on number of wines) makes it an especially
attractive choice for collectors who want to drink wines from&nbsp;their cellars.



--Kelli White

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