Introduction
After the cancellation of Shane's 2020 Game Dinner, this Event for the guys was set up by Shane as a "make up". The 2021 Game Dinner is scheduled for two weeks hence! The theme today was seafood cooked/smoked outdoors on the wood fire. A beautiful evening setting by the pool, pavilion and outdoor kitchen together with the array of unique creations over seven courses left the seven of us nearly speechless in amazement. Prior to the event Shane and your's truly had done a "test kitchen" on several dishes and discussed wine pairings at length. The final product was exquisite in its execution.
Flight 1 - Arrival (1 note)
As the group arrived we broke some of my sourdough baguettes made in the morning together with the Vilmart Champagne. This was a new Champagne for most of the group and it was unanimously enjoyed.
White - Sparkling
2012 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay. Starter before 7 courses…Superbly elegant and refined. Light golden yellow color. Fragrant, yeasty nose but in a controlled way. Also lemon and with some air it’s a little “doughier” in a broader sense. Bright high acidity should keep this fresh for many years. Palate is notably lemon, tart apple and golden cranberry or golden currant. Nicely balanced with some air to tone down the acidity. Overall bright and energetic. Very enjoyable.
Flight 2 - Course 1 - Cold Tea Smoked Halibut Crudo (1 note)
Halibut crudo smoked with jasmine tea, fire roasted beets, garden tomato, soy cream, lemon confit, jalapeño avocado cucumber cream.
While the Fevre Chablis was not a pristine bottle, the pairing worked surprisingly well and the modest oxidation was somehow negated especially by the "jalepeño avocado cucumber cream". In this case the food made the wine better.
Delicious dish but if memory serves, only one person had this in their top 3 for the night.
White
2009 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Served for the first of seven courses, a cold smoked Halibut Crudo. For me this wine was a disappointment especially on first opening and given the stellar pro reviews from the first few years this was available. There was distinct mild oxidation on the nose and palate, gave it some air in the cellar with hopes it might improve. When served it was still there…The color was lovely, medium golden yellow. Aside from the oxidation the nose was lightly floral (white flowers) and earthy with a little oak and stone fruit. Palate had medium (+) acidity. Seems more like a Meursault than a Chablis almost. The mouth feel is very nice and it shows grilled peach, a nuttiness and some chalk. Finish is quite long. This seemed a product perhaps of the warm 2009 vintage and didn’t exhibit some of the more mineral and acid driven characteristics I love in Chablis especially the Grand Cru….BUT curiously this wine really changed rather remarkably with all of the elements in the Halibut dish, they virtually eliminated the oxidation and the wine tasted much fruitier with pear distinctly in the forefront. Overall, this was less fresh than expected and while it is by no means flabby, on its own it seemed rather flat and lacking in depth. On its own I would have scored this 90 or perhaps lower, but with the food, 92…so average 91. I’m not certain this will be better in the future, I would suggest drinking any if you have some sooner rather than later…premox???
Flight 3 - Course 2 - Grilled Prawn and Caviar (2 notes)
Jumbo prawn grilled with curry butter, puree of butternut squash, corn and curry garnished with chives and sturgeon caviar.
Several of us thought this was one of the best courses overall.
Both of these 1994 Rieslings were marvelous with the dish. The Spätlese was just a notch better both on its own and with the dish with everybody in agreement.
White - Off-dry
1994 Weingut Hermann Ludes Klüsserather Bruderschaft Riesling Auslese
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Served along side the Thörnicher Ritsch Spätlese of the same vintage and producer to accompany a grilled prawn and caviar dish. Both worked well but the consensus was for the Spätlese. The color of this was a medium yellow green that looked amazingly youthful for a 27 year old white wine. The nose was somewhat muted but you could smell the wet stones. Good but not extreme acidity. Palate showed flavors of cantaloupe, white peach and lemon. Long balanced finish. Excellent with the dish but overshadowed by the Spätlese.
White - Off-dry
1994 Weingut Hermann Ludes Thörnicher Ritsch Riesling Spätlese
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Served along with the Klüsserather Bruderschaft Auslese of the same producer and vintage to accompany a prawn and caviar dish as the second of seven courses. Brilliant medium lemon yellow color that belies its age. Could be mistaken for a 5 year old riesling. Very fragrant nose with notes of acacia flower, a little petrol and apricots. Palate is very rich and unctuous while still being very bright with acidity. Great texture. Modestly sweet and also quite saline, especially on the finish, while flavors of apricot, pear, pineapple, green apple and minerals abound. Very long finish. Gorgeous with the prawn and there was a unanimous consensus that this was the better bottle compared to its sibling.
Flight 4 - Course 3 - Grilled Monkfish with Corn and Asparagus Succotash (1 note)
Monk fish grilled by wood fire, creamed corn, asparagus and corn succotash with fresh basil, pickled red onion.
This was also a very fine pairing, with the acidity of the wine and the richness of the creamed corn sauce and succotash just popping.
Several guests had this among their top 3 dishes.
White
2014 Trimbach Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Schlossberg
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
Served with the third of seven courses, a grilled monkfish dish. Brilliant medium yellow color. Very fragrant, floral nose…palate and nose show various stone fruit, pear and lemon. Bracing acidity. Needs air and cellar time, probably still improving. Very long finish for over a minute with a mineral edge. Energetic and elegant. Beautiful with the monkfish and especially the corn elements in the dish.
Flight 5 - Course 4 - Grilled Lobster with Radish Gnocchi (1 note)
Lobster sous vide in tarragon and butter lightly fire grilled, gnocchi made with tarragon, garden radish tossed in fennel cream, garnished with sautéed chanterelle mushroom and basil oil.
This was another nearly unanimously acclaimed dish.
This was a classic pairing...Great Chard and Lobster never gets old, and despite my mistake of not giving the wine its proper due in the decanter it worked beautifully especially with some aggressive swirling in your glass.
White
2007 Hanzell Chardonnay Ambassador's 1953 Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
This was served with the fourth of seven courses paired with grilled lobster and radish gnocchi. This is a wine that needs a 2 hour decant. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication between our host and I, I failed to decant this until just before the course was to be served, just as I was explaining to some of the guests about the necessity of decanting…UGH! In “emergency” mode, I slowly decanted it 6 times between two decanters and managed to approximate at least some reasonable aeration. I have seen some low scores on CT for this wine when PnP…Hanzell Chards are usually best with 2-3 hours in a decanter, especially so for the Ambassador 1953 Cru. Anyway, this wine was beautiful and getting better when the last drops were finished and request for more were heard. The wine was youthfully bright lemon yellow. The nose was initially a bit muted but with swirling in the glass really opened up. It was smokey yet floral with an undertone of anise and lemon. Acidity was very bright and mouthwatering. Flavors included lemon, pear, mixed stone fruit and a bit herbaceous with the lobster, showing hints of tarragon. Very bright and energetic. Supremely well balanced. I wonder how much better it would be if I had done my unusual 2-3 hour decant?? A previous note on this says it reminds him of Batard Montrachet and I would agree!
Flight 6 - Course 5 - Grilled Sous Vide Octopus (2 notes)
Octopus grilled from 7hr sous-vide, roasted red pepper marinated potatoes with parsley, shishito peppers, capers, pancetta, dill aioli and lemon confit vinaigrette.
For this dish we went around in circles before the event, Shane wanted to do a red but I wasn't convinced, so we explored coastal res wines in the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions. We settled on finding a Baga to have but also to have a Vouvray demi-sec to compare and contrast. Luck would have it that, of all places, there was a supply of the Luis Pato Bairrada across the river in the PA State liquor store in New Hope, PA. While the Huet Vouvray was the better pairing, everyone enjoyed trying the Pato and several people were heard declaring that they could enjoy drinking the Pato for hours all by itself. But with all the elements of this dish the Vouvray sang. Fun to see the differences.
Several of us had this as one of our top 3 dishes.
Red
2015 Luis Pato Bairrada Vinha Pan
Portugal, Beiras, Bairrada
Decanted at 4pm and enjoyed at about 8:30pm with the 5th of 7 courses, a grilled octopus dish. Also with this dish was a 2015 Domaine Huet Le Haut-Lieu Demi Sec, which was the better pairing with the dish, but we wanted to try something new and a little off the beaten path. The wine was delightful and one attendee commented was that he could be a wine he could drink all night. It really has a lot of character. The nose is earthy and slightly leathery with some sous bois, cherry, roses, mace and under-ripe pomegranate. The palate has a rich and chewy texture with distinct acidity and tannin, that had just faded a bit with the long decant. Flavors were well layered and interesting with Damson plum, pepper, cardamom, cherry and a little tobacco. Finish was long and accented by dried plum. Nice balanced wine that should age pretty well and reminded my of a Nebbiolo from the Alto Piemonte.
White - Off-dry
2015 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Another excellent bottle of this. Light to medium yellow color. Nose is quite fragrant with a fruity and earthy character along with burnt/melted wax and honeysuckle. Palate is lemon/citrus dominated as well as pear, with some tropical fruit undertones and a long finish, but not extremely so. This was served along side a red wine from Portugal with a grilled octopus dish. This went better than the red with the dish and in fact was one of those nearly magical pairings where the wine really elevated the food to a much more intense and flavorful level. Nearly perfect match with the dish.
Flight 7 - Course 6 - Orange Glazed Salmon and Butternut Squash Gratin (2 notes)
Crispy salmon with orange honey glaze, butternut squash gratin, beet green, Swiss chard and sweet pea puree, garnished with micro greens, roasted onion petal and pickled Swiss chard stem.
Another more classic pairing...Pinot Noir and Salmon! It was delicious and again one wine was just a notch (or 2) better. The higher acid, Oregon Pinot from a cool wet year wasn't quite as good as the Hanzell Ambassador's 1953 Pinot. I think with another decade in the cellar the Adelsheim may be even better however.
This dish was one of nearly everyone's top 3.
Red
2011 Adelsheim Pinot Noir Nicholas
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
The grapes for this were harvested very late, on October 27 after a cool rainy harvest for most of Willamette Valley in 2011 but in perfect weather at that time. Aged in 33% new French oak. Double decanted at 2-2:30pm and served with the 6th of 7 courses at about 9pm of orange glazed, grilled salmon. This may have needed even more air. It was a bright translucent medium garnet-ruby. The nose was very fragrant with rose petals, game meat, strawberry and white pepper. High acidity with some moderate tannin, it was chewy, savory and minerally. Palate was all about cranberry, strawberry, white pepper and wet gravel. The finish was just a bit shorter than most of the other wines we had tonight, which for me kept this from scoring a couple notches higher. Wonderful wine however and at least a couple people thought it was their favorite red of the evening. This should be even better a decade from now!
Red
2003 Hanzell Pinot Noir Ambassadors 1953 Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
Double decanted at 3-3:30pm and left open until serving at about 9pm when it was served with orange glazed grilled salmon as the 6th of 7 courses. This was a bright medium ruby crimson. The nose was a little spicy and fresh, with red berries, herbs and anise. Great acidity and balance with depth and a rich, chewy, unctuous texture. This wine hit lots of high points for me. Flavors included pomegranate, cherry, strawberry, anise and tarragon with a very long charcoal infused finish. Perfect with the salmon. Our host’s and my red WOTN. Plenty of life left if properly cellared, easily another decade or two.
Flight 8 - Course 7 - Grilled Peach with Whipped Ricotta (2 notes)
Compressed grilled peach on crumbled walnut, candied pecan and Biscoff, grilled fig, micro green and apricot truffle honey broth.
Wonderful dessert, just slightly sweet and great with the Sauternes. It was a tough call and not unanimous but I thought the Rieussec was a touch better today. Maybe vintage, Maybe bottle condition...either way both were wonderful.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1996 Château d'Yquem
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Recently acquired from a reputable retailer who stores at cellar temperature. Decanted about 2 hours before serving at cellar temperature, from 375ml bottle. Served with grilled peach and whipped ricotta. Marvelous pairing. Dark caramel color, seemed a little more advanced than I might have expected but no worse for the wear. Fragrant, lightly smokey caramel and stone fruit on the nose. Palate is more distinctly apricot and vanilla with superb acidity and just the right amount of sweetness. Not the best Ch. d’Yquem I have had but delicious, equaled or maybe slightly surpassed by the 2000 Ch. Rieussec we also had with dessert.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2000 Château Rieussec
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Decanted for about 2 hours prior to serving at cellar temperature, from 375ml bottle. Rusty, luminous dark caramel color. Nose was more reserved than the 1996 Ch. d’Yquem we also had, both of which were superb pairings with the grilled peach and whipped ricotta. Very bright acidity, such that the wine really dances on your tongue with flavors of caramel, apricot, peach and lightly floral undertone. Very long, over 1 minute finish. Elegant and energetic. For me this equaled or slightly surpassed the Ch. d’Yquem on this evening. 95-96
Closing
Truly a unique event that was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to Shane for his creativity and plating skills and to the group who made for great company as well as for the help getting things prepared and cleaned up along the way! One of the thoughts I came away from this with is that while we had some fairly expensive wines tonight, some of the best pairings were wines that do not "break the bank"... You can find wonderful wines from around the world (including the USA) that work well with world class food without spending an "arm and a leg"!
