Our home
Tasted Sunday, June 4, 2017 by Loren Sonkin with 882 views
Last night Robert and Carrie, George and Sherry, joined my wife and I at our home to open some of the top wines in our cellars. The purpose of the evening was to share a bottle of Screaming Eagle, and then everything worked from there. My wife and I are vegetarians, so we were happy to do the cooking. That also allowed us to attempt to get some interesting food pairings. The wines were consumed over 4.5 hours. Although it was a lot of wine, eating slowly, in courses, allowed us to all have a nice pour of the wine and take time to enjoy it.
With: Goat Cheese and Herb Stuffed Dates and candied Pecans
and Green Stuff Olives.
The Dates worked very well with the Champagnes IMO. The Goat Cheese filling was a good match and while the Candied Pecans were sweet, the Champagne made a nice foil for it.
With: Alsatian Onion Tart with Zhug.
Great match. The Tart is rich with a heavy cream/egg filling on a slightly sweet crust. The Zhug is a spicy green pepper sauce. The Chard worked quite well with both of those, accentuating the cream, working with the onions and tempering the heat.
With: Sautéed Mushrooms with Toasted Flatbread and Baked Eggs
Great match. The mushrooms were sauteed in olive oil then finished with fresh Thyme and a bit of white wine and small pieces of Nan. An egg was added and the dish finished in the oven. The yolks were slightly runny. The Burg worked well with the Mushrooms (no surprise) but the egg made a kind of sauce that was picked up in the Nan. The earthiness of the wine worked very well with that as well.
With: Cheese Ravioli with Butter Garlic Cream Sauce
The Raviolis worked pretty well here, but it was the simple garlic Cream Sauce that made it all come together. The sauce had some weight to it that countered the size of the reds. Without it, the Ravioli might have been over powered. As it was, it was an even match. The combination worked well. IMO, the earthy, stink on the Dominus and its age worked a bit better than the ripe sweetness of the Hundred Acre, but that is a) a small point and b) only my opinion, others differed.
We also had a Passion fruit Sorbet palate cleanser before moving on.
With: Grilled Veggie Muffuletta Sandwich with Roasted Baby Potatoes
Lots of Roasted veggies in the sandwich (peppers, eggplants, zucchini, etc) worked very well with these young big wines. The sweetness and the char of the food wove well with the same qualities in the wine. The potatoes made a nice foil and gave everything some body. People say vegetarian food is hard to match with big Napa Cabs, but, this had some nice synergy to it.
With: Cheese Course: Grafton Village Cheddar, Montgomery’s Cheddar, Murrays’ La Tur
Amadeaus Schardinger, Ossau Iraty Pyraness, Epoisses, 1924 Bleu Herve Mons, Saint Angel
So, I hadn't planned on any wine at this point figuring we could finish the remaining wines in any bottles. There wasn't any remaining wine, and George pulled out the Maybach as his back up bottle. I ran down to the cellar and pulled the Kapcsandy. Boom. Extra flight of wines. Sometimes it good when a plan doesn't come together. ;-)
Too many cheeses to go thru each one. Most worked well. Not as much with the Blue, so I saved that for the next course. Loved the Murray's La Tur and Epoisses, also the Grafton Cheddar and the Amadeaus. All were fantastic though. Thanks to Robert and George for those.
With: Honey-Caramelized Apricots
I thought this would be the best match. In the end it was good, but too many like flavors to get some synergy from the matches. The blue cheese from the prior course, however, worked quite well with the Yquem.
My favorite food match ended up being the Sandwich to the big reds followed closely by the mushroom course. All of them worked well though.
This is absolutely my favorite way to enjoy wine. I much prefer it to restaurants where there is a lot of noise of other aromas. No pressure on the clock or wait staff coming over (even if well intentioned) I prefer it to mass tastings of all the same style of wine. Breaking it up into course with different kinds of wines allows each wine (and food) to be appreciated for what it is. Don't get me wrong, I like all the others, but having two other couple in our home, where the wines are great, the food works well and where the conversations and friendships are the true stars of the evening, well, that is amazing. Jane and I are truly blessed to be able to enjoy such wines, but moreover to have friends to enjoy them with.
Until next time, thank you George, Sherry, Robert, and Carrie from Jane and I.
2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne 95 Points
France, Champagne
Great way to end then day and start the evening. It is so impressive to produce a wine of this quality in the numbers they do every year it seems. Light golden in color. Lots of very small bubbles. The nose is very nice. More delicate than large. Slight floral note along with some toast, and a bit of pear. On the palate, very nice acidity. Such a smooth wine, no bite anywhere. This bottle is very elegant. Quite persistent on the finish. Worked quite well with the food.
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2003 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 96 Points
France, Champagne
Great showing and the groups seemed to prefer this over the 04 Dom. It did seem to be advancing pretty fast (for a Krug). Golden in color, much deeper than the Dom. The nose has that bit of oxidation Krug seems to have but just a bit and in a good way. Also some toast, hazelnut and Crem Brulee. With air, some ginger and even a slight pear emerge. On the palate, this is big wine. Lots of everything going on although perhaps it lacks the precision of the Dom. Notes of ginger, hazelnut, a bit of vanilla and peach pie. Surprisingly good acidity for 03. Long finish. Worked with the food. This exceeded my expectations for the vintage.
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