At this charity event an overwhelming number of wines were opened and served with the exceptional bistro-styled cuisine of Press. A relatively new restaurant run by Leslie Rudd, also the owner of Dean and Deluca, it is modeled after a classic Parisian bistro with a California touch. As one enters the beautiful dining room, there is an attractive whiff of wood fire where they prepare the rotisserie chickens. When I ate there last year for the first time, the food was impeccable, but the service was uneven. However, on this occasion, the food and service were exquisite (I wish I lived closer so I could dine here more frequently). Prices are high, but only the finest products are purchased. The terrific hor d’oeuvres consisted of fabulous Hog Island oysters (including the tremendously mineral/sea-tasting kumamotos) and the giant prawns, beautifully prepared and served with several condiments. Press is famous for their tenderloin steak tartare, which may be the finest steak tartare I have had outside the 21 Club in New York City.

We enjoyed grilled spiny lobsters done to perfection, but the dish that blew me away was the best roast chicken I have had other than L’Ami Louis’s and a few other French venues. A Sonoma free range chicken done on a rotisserie over a wood fire was bursting with flavor. Moreover, it was carved tableside, a rarity in the USA. It was so good, I didn’t leave enough room for the extraordinary aged beef offered by the northern California butcher, Bryan Flannery. His 60 day aged rib eyes (prepared at the request of fellow board member, Jeff Leve) are to die for. Flannery’s strip steaks are also spectacular. This aged beef is every bit as good as Lobel’s in New York, which, along with the Peter Lugar porterhouse steaks, are my reference points for aged beef.

The wines were nearly overwhelming as it was one of those nights when a smorgasbord of beauties was offered. I kept reasonably good notes for about two-thirds of them, but then it just got out of control. There were some perfect wines served, starting with two from California’s Sine Qua Non (both magnums). In the company of Grenache legends from Châteauneuf du Pape, the 2000 Incognito (primarily Grenache) performed fabulously. We also had Sine Qua Non’s 2002 Just For The Love Of It, a wine I have consistently rated 100 points. For me, it is the greatest Syrah (although there is a small amount of Viognier in the blend) ever made in California. The 2001 Midnight Oil was also beautiful, but it revealed more evolution and nuances as it is older. As for the other perfect cuvées, the 1998 Pégaü Cuvée da Capo is out of this world. It was fun to have it beside the perfect magnum of Incognito. Two unreal Burgundies include the famous 1985 Hopsice de Beaune Mazis Chambertin Cuvée Madeleine Collignon. Raised by Domaine Leroy, I rated it 100 points when it was released in the late eighties, and this bottle was pure nectar of the gods. It was equaled, albeit in a different manner, by the 1959 DRC La Tâche, an amazing effort from a very low acid, high alcohol, ripe Burgundy vintage (so much for those ripe vintages not showing terroir or finesse).

With so many compelling wines it was nearly a sin to be taking tiny pours and having to expectorate some of the wines. We began the evening with some other wines, with the Krug non-vintage Rosé a brilliant sparkler, although not as spectacular as I had hoped. The rare Ponsot 2003 Morey St.-Denis Clos Mont Luisants blanc was slightly corked. That was followed by two beautiful Chardonnays from the up-and-coming Santa Barbara winery, Ambullneo. Both were top-notch with the 2005 Fang being more Chablis-like since part of the cuvée is aged in stainless steel. One of the wines I supplied was the 1996 Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne, for which I had high expectations. While it was not oxidized (as are many 1996 white Burgundies), it was extremely backward, with screamingly high acid, and did not seem to have as much weight and richness as I expected. It should last for two more decades, but whether or not it possesses the richness to merit the rave reviews it has received is questionable.

A flight of Piedmontese wines was marred by a badly corked and dirty smelling 1958 Enrico Seraffino Barolo, but we enjoyed a delicious 2001 Barbaresco from Gaja. The Nebbiolo from Ambullneo, the 2001 Zito Bien Nacido Vineyard, held its own beautifully. It was softer, but clearly smelled and tasted of Nebbiolo with its cherries, tobacco, and tapenade/herbal notes.

The Rhône varietals flight was dominated by the two perfect wines, Sine Qua Non’s Incognito and the Pégaü 1998 Cuvée da Capo. We also had some other sensational wines, including a brilliant 2003 Grenache from Alban, and a stunning array of 2003 Châteauneuf du Papes. The latter wines included the Mon Aïeul, which was pure blueberry, pepper, and garrigue, the Clos des Papes, which offered spectacular kirsch liqueur and raspberry sweetness, and the 2003 Janasse Vieilles Vignes, which was the most backward wine in the Rhône grouping. Another impressive effort was the 2004 Howling Syrah from Ambullneo, which revealed plenty of tar, blackberry, and cassis notes. We finished with two Guigal single vineyard offerings (which should probably have been served at the beginning of the flight as opposed to the end). The gorgeous, fully mature 1982 Côte Rôtie La Landonne is beautifully rich with a dark plum/garnet color and a sweet nose of bacon fat, black truffles, tapenade, and black fruits. The soft, fully mature 1987 Guigal Côte Rôtie La Landonne was delicious, but I think it suffered from coming after all the bigger, younger wines.

In the Burgundy flight, few wines could ever surpass the 1985 Hospice de Beaune Mazis Chambertin Cuvée Madeleine Collignon or 1959 DRC La Tâche. Unfortunately, the 1959 DRC Richebourg was slightly oxidized. The 1947 DRC Romanée St. Vivant displayed mid-ninety point aromatics and mid-eighty point flavors.

We then moved to a flight of Bordeaux, which included a sour, hard, astringent, acidic 1947 Lafite Rothschild, and a disappointing 1947 Calon Ségur. The latter was one of the best Médoc wines from that vintage, but this bottle was not up to par. We had a magnificent bottle of one of the vintage’s top wines, the 1966 Palmer. Sine Qua Non’s Midnight Oil was opened toward the end of the tasting, but I wasn’t really taking notes at that point. I tried to regain my focus in order to take a few notes on the two dessert wines, both of which were stunning. The 1947 Coutet was outstanding, but the real knock out was Huet’s deep gold-colored, sweet, but with superb acidity and minerality, 1947 Vouvray.

All in all this was a great evening shared with terrific guests, which raised an enormous amount of money for the Robert M. Parker, Jr. Scholarship Fund.