Six courses, ten wines. Bliss.
Coming up: 10 and 20 Year Retrospective Dinners at Crush.
Here's the wine list and menu:
Menu and Wines
Rosé Saignée Champagne or Blanc de Noirs Champagne
Cured Salmon en Gelée with Haricot Vert and Caper Berry
Alain Burguet, Gevrey Chambertin “ Mes Favorites” 2005
Alain Burguet, Chambolle-Musigny “ Les Chardannes” 2005
Pig Trotter Salad with Red Onion and Arugula
Shea Cellars, Shea Vyd “Homer,”, Willamette 2002
Ken Wright, Guadalupe Vyd, Willamette 2002
Smoked Guinea Fowl Soup with Morel, Bacon and Leeks
Rochioli, Russian River 2005
Sea Smoke Southing Santa Rita Hills 2005
Baked Halibut, Peas, Beets and Truffle Butter
Robert Chevillon Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Les Perrieres 2003
Vincent Girardin Chambolle-Musigny Vielles Vignes 2003
Rabbit, Chanterelle, Goat Cheese with Sage Sauce
Chateau d’Arlay Pinot Noir Macvin nv
Strawberry Soup with Spice Infused Red Wine and Créme Fraîche
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( 3 / 193 )Recently, I had the great good fortune to take the trip of a lifetime, to Bordeaux on a private jet - a Gulfstream G4.
The trip was courtesy of a wine-loving billionaire who invited 10 wine professionals from around the country to tour his estates in Bordeaux and his friend's domaines in the Loire Valley.During the flights, we were pampered by an attentive flight attendant with glasses of Champagne, top Bordeaux and amazing platters of foods. Once on the ground, we were whisked around the French countryside in two Mercedes vans. Of course, we drank amazing wines and enjoyed spectacular cuisine!
Highlights of the trip:
* Touring Chateau Fontplegade, a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
* Barrel sampling the outstanding 2008 vintage in Bordeaux
* Catching air in front of Pomerol's legendary Chateau Petrus
* Dining like royalty in charming Saint-Emilion
* Goofing around the lawn of Chateau Cheval Blanc
* Staying in the picturesque village of Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley
* Visiting the "troglodyte" caves of Vouvray
* The wonderful, charming people I met, especially my fellow travelers - no self-important snoots on the trip!
* Getter better acquainted with Bordeaux and the Loire by insiders
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( 2.9 / 234 )I'm nearly recovered from jet lag so by the end of this week, I'll post a brief diary with photos of my trip last week to Bordeaux and the Loire Valley.
I had a blast, of course, and gained a few discreet pounds, alas.
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( 2.8 / 219 )I’m often asked how wines attain their varied aromas and flavors. When we smell or taste lemon citrus, vanilla, blueberry, anise, pepper, tobacco and myriad other delights (some not so delightful!), are they present because the winemaker has added a dash of lemon or blackberry to the wine? How do they happen?
The short answer is that these aromas and flavors occur naturally in wine. The process of fermentation creates a complex stew of organic compounds and some of them are volatile. It is these volatile compounds which are chiefly responsible for wine’s scents and tastes. There are many groups of these naturally-occurring compounds but we’ll just cover a few of them; I’m not writing a textbook!
Esters: These are a form of organic acids responsible for many of wine’s flavors and aromas. They can be analyzed and replicated, which is one reason why we have the multi-billion dollar artificial flavor and aroma industries developing new food dishes and perfumes. For example, the scent of banana is the ester amyl acetate. If you could analyze and chart all the esters in a wine, some might be similar to the lemon citrus or blueberry notes wafting from the wine glass.
Aldehydes: Acetaldehydes give you that tang you find in many fino style sherries. Those vanilla notes you might observe in oak-treated wines are a type of benzaldehyde.
Terpenes: These are highly aromatic compounds. Those lovely smells of lychee and Alpine mountain flowers in Gewürztraminer result from terpenes.
Methoxypyrazines: A mouthful to say but this class of compound, found in Cabernet and Sauvignon Blanc, can give a wine herbaceous aromas; the grassiness of some Sauvignon Blancs or the green bell pepper scents of some Cabernets.
Sulfur compounds: In high concentrations they can be nasty and responsible for unpleasant compounds like mercaptans, which result from the presence of hydrogen sulfide in the wine. They can smell like a burnt match, cooked cabbage or geraniums – yecch!
This is just a brief, simple discussion of where wine’s aromas and flavors come from. There are many more important compounds I didn’t mention but you get the idea. These scents and tastes, in the right circumstances, give us the magic in wine.
If you'd like to explore this further, check out the book, "The Science of Wine from Vine to Glass" by Jamie Goode. It is an excellent primer on wine science and inspired this posting.
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( 3 / 341 )First thing, you will not see the words “must” or “should” or the phrase “it is essential.” I don’t believe there are any absolutes regarding the way to hold a wine glass.
The main rule to properly holding the wine glass, is that you hold it comfortably for you. I’d suggest holding the glass by the stem, not the bowl, in order to keep your warm hand away from the wine in the bowl. Some people prefer to hold the glass near the base with the thumb and forefinger grasping the stem and the remaining fingers supporting the glass beneath the base; this keeps the hand farthest from the bowl.
If the wine is too cold, by all means feel free to hold the glass with the palms around the bowl in order to warm the wine until it reaches a more acceptable temperature.
Don’t stress if you need to hold the glass by the bowl or near it. It takes quite a few minutes of constant contact before the wine begins to warm. Often you’ll set the glass down so, normally, you’ll not hold onto a glass for an extended period.
I’m not a fan of stemless wine glasses; I prefer stems but this is matter of personal taste. The main idea is to enjoy the wine! A glass can enhance or reduce the enjoyment of wine but good wine will always speak out regardless of the vessel containing it.
For more on wine glasses, please see my post from last August Wine Glasses and Tasting Wine.
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