Cyrus Chef's Tasting Menu w/Wine Pairings (and more)
Cyrus Restaurant, Healdsburg, California
Tasted Monday, March 15, 2010 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,787 views
Introduction
Richard, Conrad, Rebecca, Mike and Jeff
I've been dying to do a dinner at Cyrus since it opened, and had heard universally good things from all friends who had been there. It finally took Conrad, in town from Maryland for the weekend's La Paulee events, to make it happen. The food was creative, flavorful and beautifully presented; the service was impeccable; and the wine service, and attention to the needs and questions of a table-full of wine geeks, was everything we could have wanted. Sommelier Chase DuBay is a gem. This is a top flight restaurant that strives to please, and has the talent, training and creativity--not to mention, also, superlative raw materials--to ensure a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Having the perfect group of people to enjoy it with, as was the case for me, made it one of the most memorable meals of my life.
The wines below are a combination of a few wines that we brought (or ordered off the wine list, in the case of the Selosse and the Dönnhoff), along with the wine pairings for each of the eight courses (and for four courses there was a choice between two dishes, so we ended up with all 12 possible wine pairings).
Flight 1 - Champagne starter (1 Note)
We started with a glass of this at the bar (well, Mike started with a Sazerac).
Flight 2 - Amuse Bouche flight (1 Note)
Some of us still had our Krug to compare with this unique Champagne -- both great, and so different in style. The slightly oxidized nature of this wine paired well with our more savory amuses, as well as the next course.
Flight 3 - 1st course (2 Notes)
For some of us, the first course was a fabulous Soup Billi-Bi with fennel puree and tempura mussel, for others it was a Seared Hamachi with battera konbu, radish and candied kumquats, and chilled dashi. Chase DuBay's wine pairings below worked very well with both of these dishes, as did our Selosse Initiale. The white Lopez de Heredia was the best of their whites I've ever had. What a way to start a meal!
Flight 4 - White Burg (2 Notes)
This wine, one of the ones we brought along, was, unfortunately, affected by the '96-'03 white Burg curse of pre-mox.
Sommelier Chase with Jeff, Wine Director for Manresa, looking for something from the wine list to replace our pre-moxed Leroy. Jeff went with a gorgeous Dönnhoff. 
My dish with this course was a beautiful looking and tasty Roasted Lobster with daikon, blood oranges and tamarind ponzu.
Flight 5 - Riesling Flight (2 Notes)
Those who didn't have the lobster dish had the Seared Foie Gras with Asian pear coulis and lentils, vanilla bean gastrique. Chase's wine pairing for this was the Mount Horrocks, which tasted very much like a Kraacher. The Zilliken was the wine pairing choice with the lobster.
Flight 6 - Sekt and Ikeime Tai (1 Note)
Our dish for this course was Ikeime Tai with galangal rice noodles, banana blossoms and coconut milk froth. The sekt, which had good texture and a coconut scent of its own, was a brilliant pairing for this dish.
Flight 7 - Roasted Chicken and Pinot (2 Notes)
Our next course was Roasted Chicken with Potato Puree, asparagus and morels with fresh black truffles. Delicious! The '89 Roumier, which we had brought, seemed rather tired, although there was still a core of tart red fruit. The Peay Scallop Shelf was the Cyrus wine pairing with this dish.
Flight 8 - Big Red Flight (2 Notes)
We were served little frozen mango sorbet cubes on the end of a stick for a palate cleanser after the chicken course. For our next plate, some of us had the Lamb Loin Roulade with green garlic risotto, spring onions and fava beans, with which the Cyrus recommended wine pairing was the Piancornello Brunello, and others had the Hoisin Glazed Short Rib with water chestnuts and ginger bone marrow flan, for which the '07 Copain Syrah was Chase's recommended pairing. Both wines were very good, but very young and tight, of course.
Flight 9 - Cheese Course Flight (2 Notes)
The artisinal cheese table next made an appearance, and we were offered a choice from over a dozen different cheese. I chose the Saint-Maure (quite delicious), the La Serena (a thistle infused sheep's milk cheese) and the Bo Poisse. At this point we poured the '07 Rhys Swan Terrace we'd brought along, and had decanted through the dinner. The Cyrus wine pairing recommendation was the Bordelet Poiré Granit, which also worked well, and was refreshing and minerally.
Flight 10 - First Dessert Flight (2 Notes)
Our first dessert was the Seville Orange Cream, with macaroon and marmalade. The wine pairing was the Bert Simon BA, and we had another Rhys Pinot opened as well.
Flight 11 - Second Dessert Flight (2 Notes)
For our second dessert, some of us had the Chestnut Souffle with passion fruit and green tea, and the rest of us enjoyed a German Chocolate Doughnut with toasted coconut gelato. The wine pairing for the souffle was the Toakji Aszu, and the Alpianae Italian sweet wine, my WOTN, was Chase's pairing with the doughnut. What a lovely way to end a very memorable meal.
Flight 12 - Mignardises
We weren't quite done, of course. There were also assorted mignardises to be had, along with a boxed package of mignardises to take home (for breakfast, of course).
NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée 93 Points
France, Champagne
Light yellow color; yeasty, light toast, mineral nose; elegant, tasty, mineral, yeasty, cream, tart citrus palate; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.
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