Dinner at Copine with Steve and Jason

Tracy was able to get us a reservation at Copine but sadly was unable to join.

We had a little time to kill before dinner, so we popped down one corner to the Outpouring Bottle Shop for a quick sip before dinner. Excellent place!

Amuse bouche of compressed watermelon and prosciutto. Plus a wonderful filled gougere. Magic with the Dom.

First course was a very complex Hamachi Tartare (tapioca nori cracker, avocado mousse, coconut-lime nage, kari kari chili crisp.

• 1996 Dom Pérignon Champagne Oenothèque

  France, Champagne

  Tightly wound and fabulously complex. White chocolate, sea air, hints of brioche. The palate is pure silk, racy, insanely young.

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Slow smoked pure country pork belly (deconstructed marble potato salad, whole grain mustard vinaigrette).

Magic with the La Turque!

• 1991 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Wow, wow, wow, insanely smoky, dark and exotic. It starts our racy with amazing acidity, but with time it gets deeper, darker, more layered, more brooding. Incredible.

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Grilled beef bavette aka Flank Steak (bone marror-white bean puree, asparagus, lemon + black pepper beef jus).

My dessert was savory: whipped chevre (pistachio butter, local cherries, arugula)

• 1989 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  The 1989 Chave is just such classic Hermitage. Smoky, roasted, yet Burgundian in that Chave way with cherry and mineral. For an appellation that tends to have burly and sturdy, masculine, expression of Syrah, this is the exact opposite.

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The food was lovely, with excellent service, and excellent handling of the wines we brought in.