Alumette
11-06-2006, 03:24 AM
No joke.
I'm sure my utter passion for food and wine comes as no surprise to any Guru. However, tonight I had a completely sublime religious experience.
As many of you know I live in a "foodie" town: there is an actual restaurant *scene* here and people keep up on the lives of chefs and restaurant managers like most people keep up with soap plots or political machinations (and often the line between the three is rather blurred). I went to a wine-tasting dinner at one of my favorite seafood restaurants, and I saw God.
Mr. Alumette and I go to this place for happy hour most Fridays, and I'm kind of a friend of the chef's as a result. I also have a raging crush on him but that's a story for another time (seriously, the man's palate is absolutely amazing). :) So we got invited to this private wine-tasting dinner. The winemaker was there and he talked about the wines, and told stories and jokes and was generally an impresario during the evening.
The wine was exceptional.
The food was exceptional.
And the wine + food = a religious experience.
The menu:
First course--sushi plate including a tuna and honeydew melon roll with whitefish caviar, an eel roll, and a third roll which I can't remember. Wine: Stanley Lambert Pristine Chardonnay
Second course--smoked salmon micro-herb salad with cave-aged gruyere and black currants, topped with blood-orange vinaigrette. Wine: Stanley Lambert Sauvignon Blanc
Third course--Seared day boat scallops with cashew butter and honeydew melon emulsion atop a black quinoa salade. Wine: Stanley Lambert Full Sister Semillon
Fourth course--Lump crab-stuffed filet mignon topped with shiitake and oyster mushrooms, served with caramelized cauliflower and a fig-port reduction. Wine: Stanley Lambert Black Sheep Shiraz
Fifth course--chocolate ancho chile ice cream with almond tuile cup and cassis syrup. Wine: Stanley Lambert Thoroughbred Cabernet Sauvingnon
To be honest, the fourth course was somewhat of a disappointment, as was the wine that accompanied it. Still excellent, but after the choirs of angels that accompanied the first, second, third, and fifth courses, the fourth was kind of "meh." The chardonnay was superb: appropriately named "pristine" due to its complete lack of oak (if you ever want to see me get my knickers in a twist, get me started on oak in chardonnay). It was very crisp and soft. The sauvignon blanc practically danced across the palate. It had amazing depth and clarity. It was like Bach, or like a date with a superb conversationalist.
The semillon was amazing, but made more so by the pairing with the scallops. I felt this course was the height of the evening. The acidity of the semillon cut through the fat of the cashew butter, but it still had enough fruit to carry the briny richness of the scallop and the lime notes in the wine were a perfect counterbalance to the honeydew emulsion. It was this course that gave me a whole new respect for Chef Joe's palate.
I want to run away with him. :)
The fourth course was delicious, but as said, kind of "meh," relatively speaking. I'm a big fan of shiraz, and this shiraz had a wonderful color and bouquet, but it fell flat on the palate. They softened it with merlot and countered the softness of the merlot with a malbec (I don't remember the precise percentages). I'm also a big fan of malbec, but I hate merlot. I think they went too far with the merlot--the end result was a shiraz with a great fruity bouquet, characteristic of shiraz, but with the top notes muted into practically nothingness. I thought the taste had too much tannin and the delicious bouquet couldn't compensate for it. The winemaker said there would be crushed violet on the finish but I couldn't find it. It may have been that the fig-port reduction was too overpowering for that note. I found the shiraz one-dimensional, which was a shame considering the high quality of the other wines, and the fact that I generally like shiraz.
The cab was out of this world, and paired with the dessert it was another religious experience. Smoky, plummy, and a bit acidic, it was luscious slow sex in a glass. It tasted the way kisses all over one's body feel.
I love this restaurant. I can't wait till the next wine-tasting dinner.
I'll be in my bunk.
:)
I'm sure my utter passion for food and wine comes as no surprise to any Guru. However, tonight I had a completely sublime religious experience.
As many of you know I live in a "foodie" town: there is an actual restaurant *scene* here and people keep up on the lives of chefs and restaurant managers like most people keep up with soap plots or political machinations (and often the line between the three is rather blurred). I went to a wine-tasting dinner at one of my favorite seafood restaurants, and I saw God.
Mr. Alumette and I go to this place for happy hour most Fridays, and I'm kind of a friend of the chef's as a result. I also have a raging crush on him but that's a story for another time (seriously, the man's palate is absolutely amazing). :) So we got invited to this private wine-tasting dinner. The winemaker was there and he talked about the wines, and told stories and jokes and was generally an impresario during the evening.
The wine was exceptional.
The food was exceptional.
And the wine + food = a religious experience.
The menu:
First course--sushi plate including a tuna and honeydew melon roll with whitefish caviar, an eel roll, and a third roll which I can't remember. Wine: Stanley Lambert Pristine Chardonnay
Second course--smoked salmon micro-herb salad with cave-aged gruyere and black currants, topped with blood-orange vinaigrette. Wine: Stanley Lambert Sauvignon Blanc
Third course--Seared day boat scallops with cashew butter and honeydew melon emulsion atop a black quinoa salade. Wine: Stanley Lambert Full Sister Semillon
Fourth course--Lump crab-stuffed filet mignon topped with shiitake and oyster mushrooms, served with caramelized cauliflower and a fig-port reduction. Wine: Stanley Lambert Black Sheep Shiraz
Fifth course--chocolate ancho chile ice cream with almond tuile cup and cassis syrup. Wine: Stanley Lambert Thoroughbred Cabernet Sauvingnon
To be honest, the fourth course was somewhat of a disappointment, as was the wine that accompanied it. Still excellent, but after the choirs of angels that accompanied the first, second, third, and fifth courses, the fourth was kind of "meh." The chardonnay was superb: appropriately named "pristine" due to its complete lack of oak (if you ever want to see me get my knickers in a twist, get me started on oak in chardonnay). It was very crisp and soft. The sauvignon blanc practically danced across the palate. It had amazing depth and clarity. It was like Bach, or like a date with a superb conversationalist.
The semillon was amazing, but made more so by the pairing with the scallops. I felt this course was the height of the evening. The acidity of the semillon cut through the fat of the cashew butter, but it still had enough fruit to carry the briny richness of the scallop and the lime notes in the wine were a perfect counterbalance to the honeydew emulsion. It was this course that gave me a whole new respect for Chef Joe's palate.
I want to run away with him. :)
The fourth course was delicious, but as said, kind of "meh," relatively speaking. I'm a big fan of shiraz, and this shiraz had a wonderful color and bouquet, but it fell flat on the palate. They softened it with merlot and countered the softness of the merlot with a malbec (I don't remember the precise percentages). I'm also a big fan of malbec, but I hate merlot. I think they went too far with the merlot--the end result was a shiraz with a great fruity bouquet, characteristic of shiraz, but with the top notes muted into practically nothingness. I thought the taste had too much tannin and the delicious bouquet couldn't compensate for it. The winemaker said there would be crushed violet on the finish but I couldn't find it. It may have been that the fig-port reduction was too overpowering for that note. I found the shiraz one-dimensional, which was a shame considering the high quality of the other wines, and the fact that I generally like shiraz.
The cab was out of this world, and paired with the dessert it was another religious experience. Smoky, plummy, and a bit acidic, it was luscious slow sex in a glass. It tasted the way kisses all over one's body feel.
I love this restaurant. I can't wait till the next wine-tasting dinner.
I'll be in my bunk.
:)