Fearrington Dinner

We had planned this event with the Souths and Bowers as an overnight stay at the wonderful Fearrington house with dinner at their highly rated restaurant accompanied by some great wines from our cellars. The wine service tonight was amongst the best I have ever received anywhere. The sommelier did a great job of decanting and having the wines ready for us according to the courses we had requested in advance. As always the food was wonderful. Others had some different food choices but Dena and I both went with the following:

Amuse Bouche: Duck Confit with an Orange Sauce

• 1976 René Collard Champagne Cuvée du Roi René 95 Points

  France, Champagne

  Medium gold in color with a classic Meunier nose to it. A very creamy and full bodied Champagne with apples and sea scents and what Dena correctly identified as the aroma of Taiglach ( Jewish dessert made for Rosh Hashana with honey, nuts, dried cherries and more ). Very deep and complex flavors including toast and fermented soy. Long finish. A terrific aged Champagne that doesn’t taste one bit over the hill. 50+13+14+9+9 = 95.

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• 1976 Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Medium yellow in the glass and quite a difference in profile to the ’76 Collard we had this next to. Loaded with lemons and to a lesser extent apples as well as minerals. Very Chardonnay as compared to the very Meunier Collard. Long lemony finish. Not as complex as the Collard but really enjoyable as well. What a treat to have 2 wonderful '76 Champagnes side by side. 50+13+12+8.5+8 = 91.5

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White Bean Soup with Truffle Cream and Grated Truffles

we continued drinking the Champagnes through this course.

Jumbo Lump Crab Meat with Sesame Seed Potato Chips, Lemon Flavored Custard with a Cilantro and Scallion Salad

• 2002 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl Vendange Tardive 95 Points

  France, Alsace

  Decanted about 1 hour. Medium yellow in the glass, this was my wine of the night. Although still a baby we wanted to pop one of these open to see how it was. Sweet aromas of smoke, apricots and fruit compote attack you as the glass is raised to the nose. Extremely full bodied this wine was very glycerol and mouthcoating. Deep and concentrated fruit flavors should integrate nicely in time and turn this into a legendary wine. Very long finish. This should be a worthy successor to the great ’94 bottling of this wine. 50+13+14+9+9 = 95++

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Poached Lobster with a Lobster Croquette, Sauce Americane, Buttered Spinach and Leeks

• 1969 Domaine des Baumard Coteaux du Layon Clos de Sainte Catherine 91 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon

  Medium gold in the glass. Very mild oxidative notes but otherwise drinking like a wine much younger than 36 years old. Nutty with brown sugar, pineapples and a light sweetness to it, this wine was very Chenin Blanc in it’s makeup. A long finish closed things out and I think this wine suffered being served right after the much bigger and younger ZH. This would be a good wine to have with a cheese course. 50+13+12+8+8 = 91.

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Intermezzo: Lemon Sorbet with Blood Oranges

Filet Mignon Rossini with Seared Foie Gras, Shaved Black Truffles, Carrots and a Red Wine Reduction

• 1985 Château Haut-Brion 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Decanted about 2 hours. Dark crimson in color with aromas of tobacco, tar and eucalyptus. I found the palate to be very soft and resolved but others seemed to find it much deeper and more complex than I did. A long spicy finish. I’m sure my score is lower than anyone else at the table would have rated this one. 50+12+11+8+8 = 89

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• 1985 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Decanted about 2 hours. Crimson in color with the classic aged Nebbiolo aromas/flavors including roses and other assorted flowers, black cherries and some mint. Developed but holding well and still very lively. Well balanced with a great depth to the fruit and a long finish. 50+12.5+12.5+8.5+8.5 = 92

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Hot Chocolate Souffle with Chocolate Sauce

• 2001 Fromm Riesling La Strada Beerenauslese 88 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Light yellow in the glass this had a very nice nose of fresh peaches and a ton of acidity on the medium bodied palate. Not the most complex or deep wine but very enjoyable. 50+13+11+7+7 = 88

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• 1999 Noon Grenache Vintage Port 91 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Dark purple in the glass, I think I was on food and wine overload by the time we opened this. A very sweet nose filled with blackberry liqueur. Very full bodied with a long spicy finish this matched well to the decadent chocolate soufflé. 50+13+12+8+8 = 91

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