Another Guy’s Dinner

With my wife away again for the weekend I polled our group and got a slightly different subset able to attend on rather short notice. Two of whom, however, were late cancellations due to illness. So, it ended up with 5 of us, and more wine than we could drink!!! (Not a problem…) I managed to acquire some Elk “strip loins” which I believe were backstraps. Glenn brought all the ingredients for bouillabaisse and Steve brought a beautiful lobe of duck foie gras (2 in the package actually) and some delicious Gorgonzola and a bottle of 2005 Ch Guiraud. Bob brought a cherished bottle of Quintarelli’s 1987 Alzero.

Glenn made a wonderful stock from a halibut carcass and added everything for a classic dish. The scallops, haddock, clams, mussels, et al were fresh and delicious. This was just spectacular and definitely should be up for a repeat performance if we ever get to do an “all-star” reprise of some of the best dishes we have ever had with the group.

The wines all went great but the Grillet was a notable perfect pairing for this wonderful dish reminiscent of the South of France.

• 2001 Château-Grillet (Neyret-Gachet) Château-Grillet 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Château-Grillet

  Every bottle/vintage of this wine I have had, has been exquisite. This was no exception. Limpid light yellow in color yet with tremendous depth and texture. Layers of fruit from pear to lemon to stone fruit juxtaposed through the 3-4 hours we tasted this. The acidity seemed low initially but tart lemon followed in the later tastes. Lightly floral, generous, and open. Yet tightly wound. So very elegant. There were only slight fleeting oxidative notes to indicate its 23 years. This was a wonderful accompaniment to Glenn’s magnificent Bouillabaisse.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2001 Domaine Georges Vernay Condrieu Les Chaillées de l'Enfer 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  Golden yellow color, much darker than the 2001 Ch. Grillet. The nose was initially quite muted later showing just a bit of the expected white floral notes. Dense and mouth coating. Lacking just a little acidity. Rich stone fruit and Asian pear and a mineral/wet stone backbone. Some noticable oxidation given its age unsurprisingly. Yet still not too much of a distraction. If anyone else is a weirdo like me with 23 year old Condrieu in the cellar, it’s probably time to drink these up. The Ch. Grillet was a notch or two less indicative of its anctual age. Very nice with Glenn’s wonderful bouillabaisse but the Grillet again was a notch or two even better.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2008 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa Valley 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Another wonderful bottle of this wine. This showed only hints of its age. It was a lively light golden yellow not looking oxidized. Classic clean, crisp, floral and fruity. Lemon, apple, pear and nectarine show through along with nice mineral and floral notes. Sadly only one bottle left from a case purchase nearly a decade ago.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Glenn had brought some tri-color greens for salad, I made a honey, lemon, champagne vinaigrette dressing for it, we had some quince and fig jams to add to the plate of pan sautéed foie gras. Classic pairing was delicious and at 3 of us went back for seconds on the remaining slices from the duck liver, one lobe of which was more than enough for the reduced number in attendance.

• 2005 Château Guiraud 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Brought by Steve and classically paired with a lovely foie gras collaboration dish with tri-color salad, brioche, and fig and quince jam. Classic aged Sauternes with all the high notes hit nicely. Apricot, burnt sugar, honey, caramel. Unctuous texture and perfectly controlled sweetness. Long finish. So balanced. Wonderful.

  Post a Comment / 5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

This was Elk from New Zealand actually, and very tasty! We served it with roasted rosemary potatoes and Brussels sprouts along with a cauliflower and roasted garlic flan, a recipe from an original member of the group who has moved to FL but was there in spirit.

The Alzero with its inky richness was great with this dish. Its intensity paired well with the rich flavor of the Elk.

• 2013 Cuchet-Beliando Cornas 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  This was decanted around 4pm and tasted over 6 hours both with and without food. This never changed, pleasant throughout but while it had decent acidity and minerality, the black fruit was very subdued and lacked depth. There was some peppery spice. Maybe an off bottle, but if this is representative this is over-hyped.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 1987 Giuseppe Quintarelli Cabernet Franc Alzero 94 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Vino da Tavola

  Brought by a friend to our group dinner. Double decanted about a hour before bringing it to our place. Dense, syrupy and intensely unique and profound. Nose and palate are very complex, lightly sweet, with plum, raisin, prune, chocolate, herbs and all sorts of nuances. Long unique finish. This was really good with Gorgonzola as well as with grilled elk loin. It did get a little disjointed after several hours. Labeled 14.5% ABV.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 1990 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 89 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This bottle was disappointing, decanted at 3:30pm and tasted over 6 hours. It never really came around. Better in first hour+ but closed down and didn’t get very effusive the whole evening. Seemed wimpy and more one dimensional than complex. I’d rated previous bottles 94-95 as recently as 2021.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Beside the fact that we were all quite over-stuffed and only picked at some pastries for dessert dropped off by one of those unable to attend, It was one of the more unique sets of wine we have had at one of these dinners. Sadly we also had 2 flawed old Bordeaux. It was probably the first time ever I have had 2 undrinkable bottles from my cellar in one evening. They were 1975 Ch. Prieurie-Lichine and 1983 Ch. Figeac. It was not too surprising on the Prieurie-Lichine as I had purchased that several years back knowing there were some storage issues. But, the Figeac had been in my cellar since release. I was quite looking forward to the Figeac, but didn’t bother digging around for my last bottle in light if the excess of wine we had anyway. Seven bottles - 5 guys!!!