5 posts tagged “wine”

 Well, John arrived last night with champagne (Chanoine 2002) and has just left to return to his whirlwind tour of the old home town and visit dear old mom. I will not see him again before he leaves for England.

John and I were roomies a long, long, time ago (many stories) and worked at the campus radio station. "That's the Chineese national anthem which means it's twelve o'clock and time for the BBC news." It was different. When he came back from England with the Pistols and Elvis even I knew that something had changed.

John

Lots of water, floods of water, has gone under the bridge since then. SIckness. Health. Friends. Relationships. Places we have lived. Jobs we've had.

He's one of the very few friends I have who's the sibling I never had. With that comes, of  course, responsibility but also scary "family" photos (wink).

Great to see ya John - oh. All the best!

It really is that season! Please excuse the self indulgence.

Bill T. hosted the office crew, minus Clifford the dog, and thier partners to a meal at Les Fougères restaurant. While the old taste buds are still not functioning up to standards, how could anyone refuse?

We began with a glass of Kir while we perused the menu. Contrary to common experience these days everyone wanted red wine so the challenge of this selection was capably taken up by Bill. I must say the wine list was interesting and offered a wide selection in both places of origin and price. Credit for this must go to Véronique Rivest Les Fougères' sommelier and National Sommelier of the Year (Good luck at the International Sommelier Competition next March in Barcelona).

Ok foodies let's get down to business. My selections were, perhaps, a bit conservative but I generally know what I can and cannot eat these days - not.

The appetizer was "seared Marieville foie gras served with fig compote and a grilled slice of fig, pinenut and rosemary cake". This was really rich but the tasty cake helped somewhat. Unfortunately I would pay for this later. It was too rich for my system but almost worth it. My fault, no one else's. The wine was an Australian Mentor.

 For the main course I really had a craving for caribou. Unfortunately it wasn't available that evening. Instead I had bison prepared in caribou fashion. This was "broiled juniper-rubbed with a New Brunswick partridgeberry, horseradish and Port jus served on a sauté of root vegetables with truffled potato dauphinoise". The accompanying wine was a 2003 Mercurey from France.
Dessert was "caramelized pear en coupe layered with Poire William crème fraîche and a honey quince purée, served with pear sorbet and cassis compote". It was delightful to the eye and refreshing to my limited palate.

It was a great meal only surpassed by the delightful company. Thanks Bill!!!

I will avoid foie gras for quite a while.

The NY Times Annual Year in Ideas is online.

Always a fun issue, I really enjoyed Noah Shachtman's article on "wine that ages instantly".

Here is a "zany Japanese promo video" to supplement the article.

Insta-Wine Promo

Pontet-Laroche

Chateau Pontet-Laroche 2003

Part of my quest to "keep it inexpensive" but good has taken me back to France.

" Ce vin est d'un beau rouge rubis avec une belle brillance. Sa couronne montre un début de tuilé.
Au premier, c'est un parfum très floral mais qui évolue vers la réglisse. Son attaque est très fruité avec une finale tannique. C'est un vin plutôt doux, ce qui nous a forcé à réduire sa note un peu." LouisWorld

Try this one with lamb or game.

While I cannot stand Chateau Dep (corner store wine) I don't like spending too much either.

Lately I have begun to explore Spanish wines and have quite enjoyed Mas Collet.

Mas_collet

Of course, due to treatment, my taste buds are not quite up to scratch these days but Spain is showing great promise. (Thanks Bill!)

"Comentario sobre la bodega

La Cooperativa de Capçanes fue fundada en 1933 y actualmente está constituida por 125 socios que reúnen entre todos unas 250 ha de viñedo.

La actualización y evolución ascendente de la cooperativa se ha traducido, en los últimos años, en un cambio cualitativo muy importante en sus vinos, convirtiéndose en una de las cooperativas modélicas del país. El potencial de esta bodega se fundamenta en la riqueza y diversidad de fincas que permiten elaborar una gran variedad de vinos. La edad media de las cepas oscila entre los 30 y los 95 años y los tipos de suelos calcáreo-arcillosos, se combinan con pizarras en diferentes porcentajes en cada finca. Las variedades cultivadas principalmente son la garnacha tinta, cariñena, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo y syrah." vinissimus.com