WHINE # 53

 

“A meal without wine is called breakfast.”

GLOW WINE:  As part of my membership in the Opimian Society I participate in “Founders’ Choice , a program whereby I am regularly sent a case of  premium wines for a fixed price.  Each wine is specifically selected by an invited vintner.  Most of the time I have been very well pleased with these surprise selections, and frequently I end up with wines that I wouldn’t have otherwise purchased.

However, a few weeks ago I received a case of Bois des Lauriers Grignan Les Adhemar.  Not having ever heard of such a wine I rushed to my trusted encyclopedic dictionary of French wines.  To my surprise there was no listing for Grignan Les Adhemar.   Google, however, came to the rescue and I learned that Grignan Les Adhemar is the new name for Coteaux du Tricastin.  Apparently there is a nuclear reactor in Tricastin which spilled waste into the atmosphere back in 2008.  The wine growers managed to have the name of their wine changed so that it wouldn’t be associated with this nuclear accident.

I couldn’t resist.  I opened a bottle the very same day and Betty and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  I must confess, however, that after we retired I did cast several glances at my spouse to make certain she didn’t glow in the dark.

RESTAURANT REVIEW:  On the long weekend in May four of us travelled to Clare to participate in a weekend golf tournament.  On the eve of the event we made a reservation at Cuisine de Robichaud, a relatively new Acadian restaurant.    The place was very full when we arrived, but we were given a table overlooking St. Mary’s Bay.  We enjoyed watching the sunset as we dined.  As they were out of my favorite Rappie Pie I settled for the Fricot as a starter.  This was followed by a most magnificient pan-fried haddock that was smothered in a cream sauce and many large chunks of freshly steamed lobster.

We had been warned that the restaurant was not licensed, so we had taken a couple of bottles of our favorite wines.  To our very pleasant surprise there was no corkage fee.

The next day we played 18 holes of golf which was followed by a late lunch of boiled lobster with all the trimmings at the clubhouse.   Despite that mid-afternoon meal we armed ourselves with two more bottles of wine and returned in the evening to Cuisine de Robichaud for another meal of perfectly prepared local seafood.

I suspect that not many of you  often travel  to Lower Saulnierville.  However, if you are within 100 miles, make the effort to try this restaurant.   Be sure, however, to call ahead for reservations.  I understand that in the summer months a table for walk-ins is a rarity.

TAKING A BOTTLE OF WINE TO DINNER:  When invited to a dinner party most guests bring a small gift to the host.  Favorite choices are flowers or wine and sometimes both.

I have written many times about the importance of matching wine and food.  A good match improves both and a poor match diminishes both.  The guest, of course, rarely knows the menu so matching the wine to the food is pure chance, but more on that later.

Most dinner hosts will have chosen the wines prior to the guests’ arrival.   Gifts of wine from the guests should therefore be gratefully acknowledged and then set aside for another occasion.  I always mark on the bottle with masking tape, who brought the wine and when.   Sometimes I will e-mail the guest a year or two later and tell them how much I enjoyed their gift and how well it went with the previous evening’s meal.

If you don’t serve your guest’s wine the evening it was presented not only do you avoid a poor match to the food, you also prevent  comparison between bottles brought by different guests.

As a guest if you know that your host will not be serving your gift, your task is easy.  Take a bottle of your host’s favorite.  If you don’t know your host that well then just take any good bottle and it doesn’t matter whether you take red or white, so long as it is decent.

If you suspect that your host is going to uncork your gift immediately, then take something that is neither too light nor too heavy.  Avoid acidic wines such as Chianti.    Also avoid a tannic wine that needs cellaring.  That expensive bottle of California Cabernet may become wonderful in three or four years but at the moment it is simply not ready and it certainly is a poor match to a delicate fish, for example.  I  usually take a Merlot or a Malbec, as they pair well with most foods and they are also wines that I like to drink on almost any occasion.

CELLAR OFFERING 227:  Burgess wines are very good, albeit expensive.  If money is not a problem try # 7732, #7733, or # 7734.  I am not a great fan of Stone Valley wines or of Butterfly Ridge so suggest you avoid these.   I have liked wines from Castoro Cellars so recommend #’s 7755 to 7757.