Dinner with Friends
FMIII in the OC
Tasted Saturday, January 26, 2013 by brigcampbell with 485 views
Introduction
There are dinner parties and there are wine parties. But nothing is better than when they're combined with fun people, good times are guaranteed. We really don't have a theme for these dinners other than each couple picks a course and then pairs it with two wines of their choice. It's a terrific opportunity to pull a bottle you want to share with other cork dorks or go off the reservation with a flyer knowing you'll get a "oh well, nice try" if it doesn't work out as anticipated. I tend to bring a safe bet wine and a flyer.
Flight 1 - Cheese, cheese, and more cheese please! (2 Notes)
Perfect variety of cheese; goat, Brie, blue, English cheddar with apricots, figs, crackers, walnuts, and lavender honey. Special award goes to the blue cheese, my goodness was it tasty.
Flight 2 - Soup de Jour (2 Notes)
The weather cooperated perfectly for soup as it turned cold and blustery. Start with shiitake, blah, and blah mushrooms then add two types of onions sauted to caramelized deliciousness and you get the idea.
Flight 3 - Cheese tart and arugula salad with dried blueberries (3 Notes)
Yummy, and like all the main dishes this was gluten free. The crust was rice flour based covered with reduced tomato and cheese. It was baked perfectly, light, flakey, and crisp.
Flight 4 - Seared Lamb with basalmic reduction (2 Notes)
Plate it with orzo salad, bravo.
Flight 5 - Coq au vin (2 Notes)
This is Julia Childs recipe and I'm certain she never made it better, the bones pulled out cleanly and the meat was really tender and flavorful. 
Flight 6 - Chocolate mousse with home made cookie (2 Notes)
The cookie was amazing, best part was every guest received a gift bag with cookies. Ummmm chocolate mousse... Just because it wasn't decadent enough, there were chocolate covered espresso beans too! 
Closing
What an enjoyable evening but wait, it's not over! Sean found the pinball machine and before we knew it there was a knock down drag out four way match for the championship of the world. Chris held here own but ultimately nobody could hold off Frank and the home field advantage as he found the bonus round and really started racking them up.
2001 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Double blind - guessed chardonnay and a burg and took a stab at the vintage with 2003 because it looked to have a little age from the color. But the flavors where not "aged", a little apple and lemon with medium acid to balance it all out in what is still youthful and fresh.
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2009 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Didn't get real detailed on this because I was obsessing over the cheese plate at the time. Interesting combination of citrus (lemon and lime) with a honey note on the back end of the finish. After the first taste I thought maybe I had some honey from the cheese plate on the rim of the glass. Nope, cleaned the rim and tasted it again. I enjoyed it and it paired well with the starter.
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