First Tastes of Spring / Divine Wines - Dinner by William Bradley, Addison at the Grand Del Mar

A great dinner at the Beard House. A restaurant which does not yet exist - opening later this year - at a resort which does not yet exist - also opening later this year in San Diego. But they went all out. Great food, great wines, great pairings. All wines from large format bottles.

A beautiful champagne, served with 4 different hors d'ouevres. White asparagus with royal golden osetra caviar - which was really like a chilled asparagus soup with caviar. King Crab with lemon poppy seed dressing (which was awesome), Belon Oysters with cauliflower and wild sorrel, and Gravlox with shallot marmalade and blood oranges.

• 1995 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 94 Points

  France, Champagne

  Served with canapes at a Beard dinner. Served from magnum. Notes from memory. Very nice, relatively dry champagne. Not yeasty in the least. Lovely fruit flavors, with no sweetness. Nice minerality. So young. I'd love to try this again in 20 years.

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Maine Lobster with Spring garlic confit, green apples, and thyme flower. A great little course, and a wonderful pairing.

• 2004 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Served at a Beard house dinner. From magnum. Notes from memory. This was a beautiful riesling. Just a bit of sweetness. Very nice on its own, but this just sang with the dish - Maine Lobster with spring garlic confit, green apples, and thyme flower. A wonderful pairing. Would love to try this with more age.

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While the wine didn't show as well as it should have, the dish itself was wonderful. Sea scallop with parmesan puree, fava beans, and fines herbes.

• 1999 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Served at a Beard house dinner. From double magnum. I don't know if this was in an awkward phase, or somehow an off bottle, but while this was nice, I don't think it was showing what it was supposed to. There was a bit of a funk - in sort of a minerally, wash-water sort of way. There was a very nice wine there as well, but certainly not one as great as this should have been. Also, there was too much oak for my palate. 88 for this showing, but I'm reserving judgement.

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A very nice wine, and a very nice pairing.

• 1997 Georges Lignier et Fils Bonnes Mares 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Served at a Beard house dinner. From magnum. A really lovely wine, and a great pairing with the morels with creme fraiche and sweet marsala butter. Don't remember specifics as far as flavor profile, etc go, but I remember this being in perfect harmony, and drinking beautifully.

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Veal tenderloin with smoked almonds, tangerines, and pommery mustard. Served with 3 decades of Napa cab. The Araujo was my WOTF and WOTN.

• 1985 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Served at a Beard house dinner. From 5L bottle. Notes from memory. This was a lovely mature cab. Fully mature; I suspect 750's would be over the hill at this point (at least based on this bottle). Really enjoyable, but outclassed by the Araujo on the table.

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• 1996 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Served at a Beard dinner. From magnum. Notes from memory. This was my wine of the night. A gorgeous cab, with classic napa cab characteristics, lovely leather notes, nice fruit. Silky mouthfeel, wonderful finish. Drinking really well - probably nearing prime time for 750's for my palate.

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• 2000 Harlan Estate 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Served at a Beard house dinner. From magnum. Notes from memory. A lovely cab. Surprisingly open for business. Last time I tried this, it was huge and still quite tight. This was ready to go - almost well on its way to maturity. Really nice wine but I was very surprised how mature it seemed.

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the caramelized brioche custard with lavender-scented chandler strawberries was a heavenly match with this beautiful sauternes.

• 1971 Château Rieussec 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Served at a Beard house dinner. From magnum. Notes from memory. This was a lovely sauternes. Fairly mature, but still has tons of life left in it. Surprisingly light in color for a 36 year old wine. Very nice on its own. A spectacular pairing with the caramelized brioche custard served for dessert.

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