What Robert Parker Drinks, Two Food-Friendly Wines, and a Massive Party on Friday

A couple of quick food-and-wine notes on a Tuesday...

This past weekend, none other than Robert Parker himself took a road trip to Philadelphia and dined at the city’s spectacular Bibou, a French BYOB that locals have known for a long time is one of the best restaurants not just in the city, but in the entire region and beyond. You can always tell the quality of a BYO by the bottles dotting tables around the room: If guests respect the food enough, they’ll dig deep into their cellars and pop the corks on the good stuff. And at Bibou, there’s always a jaw-dropping selection of great wines being enjoyed and--often--shared among complete strangers. Parker, as is to be expected, drank pretty well that night; he also loved the meal, referring to the food as “as great a bistro fare as one can imagine.” The list of bottles (there were others in addition to these) from his table is below. It’s a pretty amazing selection. Wouldn’t you be disappointed if Robert Parker drank poorly?

Marcassin estate chardonnay 2000
Leeuwin Estate 2004 chardonnay
Guigal 1990 white Hermitage
Dagueneau 2006 Silex
Beaux Freres 1994
Haut Brion 1982
Vina Tondonia 1976
Catena Alta 1997 Malbec
Rostaing 1991 Cote Rotie La Landonne
Guigal 1991 La Landonne
Guigal 1985 and 1988 La Mouline
Guigal 1989 La Landonne

And last night, at the press unveiling for a number of new, fantastic seasonal dishes at The Fountain Restaurant at The Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia (also one of the top restaurants in the region...and beyond), I was yet again reminded of the versatility of pinot gris and a good syrah. The white, from highly regarded producer Trimbach, worked as well alongside the seared tuna with a walnut puree, juniper oil, and a light-as-air pumpkin souffle as it did with a heady potato leak soup with duck confit pierogi and foie gras butter. And the syrah, a 2005 from Carneros standout Truchard, sang with heartier preparations of veal porterhouse and a grilled venison saddle in a cabernet sauce. Even at the best restaurants, great wine pairings don’t have to cost a fortune.

Finally, a reminder: This Friday is the blowout launch party of UncorkDeals.com at Wine Chateau Piscataway. The party will feature everything from Sassicaia, Oreno, Duckhorn, Cakebread and other top wines to single malt Scotches, beers from all over the world, a former White House chef, live entertainment, and great food. Get there early! (It runs from 5:00 - 10:00.)

Read rest of entry

Wine Review Wednesday

The three wines we’re featuring this week for Wine Review Wednesday may, on the surface, seem to have little in common: A gruner veltliner from Austria, a pinot gris from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and a South African pinotage.

Despite their obvious differences, however, they share several very important things with one another: They’re beautifully made, wonderfully expressive, and utterly perfect this time of year.

No matter what style a wine is made in, or where it’s from or what grape varieties went into its composition, that’s pretty much all you could ever ask for.

Domane Wachau Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Terrassen 2009

Ripe and generous on the nose, with hints of mineral-inflected apricot, peach, and a subtle grassiness that eventually turns to pine forest and mint with some air. The palate shows minerals and sweet fruit, including mandarin orange, lemon verbena, bright, singing acidity, and a peppercorn-spiced finish that carries on for a full 30 seconds. Very deep and powerful despite its youth and subtlety, and unexpectedly captivating this early on in its evolution. Great now, with lots of potential in reserve.

Forefront (by Pine Ridge Vineyards) Pinot Gris 2009

This is exactly what I love about Oregon pinot gris: An exceptionally fresh nose with gorgeous aromas of lemon, a bit of lime, a pronounced minerality, and smokiness providing added depth. There’s also chalk, gravel, lemon oil, and white-blossomed flowers hovering around the edges adding even more complexity to it. The palate possesses a beautiful, tongue-coating texture that lends a real sense of weight, but the acid keeps it all nimble. Flavors of honeysuckle, apple, pear, white pepper, and minerals turn to something more membrillo-like on the finish. Perfectly balanced, and a steal at the price.

Val de Vie Pinotage "Barista" 2009

The nose here exhibits varietally accurate scorched earth and hints of rubber, but there is a sweetness brought by the oak, a chocolate character that is absolutely intriguing. It reminds me of some sort of smoked cherries and plums enrobed in a beautiful chocolate. All those flavors follow through to the palate with more of a focus on the fruit, and despite their depth, the texture of the wine remains surprisingly lithe. Cafe viennoise, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cherry-pie filling linger through to the remarkably consistent finish. This is not only a delicious wine, but a great example of how thoroughly exciting South African pinotage is these days. I’d be the happiest guy in the world to be able to enjoy this alongside a grilled steak with a balsamic glaze.

Read rest of entry

Mix in Las Vegas: What Dining Out is All About

Once in a while, a meal is so complete, so thoroughly enjoyable, so reaffirming in its balance of elegance, creativity, and warmth, that it reminds you exactly what makes dining out such a treat and, in times like these, such an emotional necessity.

I had an experience like that this past February at Mix, the fabulous restaurant at the top of THEhotel, next to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. For my last night in town (coincidentally my birthday), my wife had flown out to join me for a special dinner. I’d been in Vegas all week hosting the culinary demonstrations at the Catersource and Event Solutions Conference and Trade Show, the largest gathering of its kind in the world, and this meal was to be the capstone on the week.

It also was a chance to reunite with a good friend of ours, Christophe Tassan, who we’d gotten to know in Philadelphia when he worked as the Sommelier and General Manager of the legendary Le Bec-Fin, and who now is the Wine Director at Mix. He’s also one of the single most knowledgeable wine experts I know, blending a deep knowledge and understanding with an infectious enthusiasm that’s impossible not to get swept up in.

So, just to reiterate: I was already in Las Vegas for work, but my wife had flown across the country for a single meal (we found a cheap flight…gotta love Southwest!). If ever there was pressure on a dining experience to be great, this was it: Hours on a cramped airplane, with only a single night out providing the light at the end of that long tunnel, tends to amplify expectations.

Put simply, we were not let down. In fact, quite the opposite happened: This proved to be one of the best dining experiences we’ve ever had.

Upon stepping off the elevator at the top of THEhotel, we were greeted by a shimmering sea of whites and creams; a gargantuan chandelier that, despite its size and its composition of 15,000 Murano glass balls made to look like Champagne bubbles, managed to appear almost impossibly light; and the best views in the city.

As for the food, it more than lived up to the surroundings in which it was enjoyed, blending brilliantly defined flavors, a sense of luxury, and just the slightest touch of whimsy. The dishes on the Grand Tasting Menu, regardless of their individual ingredients, all struck perfectly balanced poses that highlighted both richness and a stunning sense of restraint.

The highlights were too numerous to include in their entirety: Kampachi sashimi was the texture of silk and the perfect in situ argument for allowing top-notch ingredients to speak for themselves; seared Thai snapper with a carrot fondant and a tagine jus embodied everything that's great about dishes that pull from numerous cultures to create something new and deeply satisfying; roasted Maine lobster “au curry” with coconut basmati rice utilized its ambrosial perfume as well as it velvety flavors and textures to create a unified, gently aromatic whole; impossibly tender Colorado lamb loin was paired with miniature samosas whose own sense of spice cast the earthiness of the meat into exquisitely sharp relief. The list goes on.

And all of these dishes were made even better by Mr. Tassan’s wine pairings. From the fantastic Herman Story “Tomboy,” a white Rhone-style stunner from Santa Maria, to one of the most complete wines I’ve ever tasted, the Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St.-Urbain 1996, the procession of glasses demonstrated exactly what has always made Mr. Tassan one of the best in the world: His pure love of wine from all over the planet, and his willingness to experiment with flavor and texture combinations, leading to pairings that surprise, delight, and, indeed, make you think.

That theme carried through to dessert, too, when we were shown to our “dessert table” on the outdoor terrace 43 floors above the Strip. From the rich to the refreshing—the “floating island” was a standout—the selection of sweets, the planes taking off and landing in the distance, the spotlight shining up from the Luxor below...it all brought the meal to a perfect close.

This was, without a doubt, an extraordinary meal, one of the best I've ever had. Indeed, it was an experience worth flying across the country for. Great food, spectacular wine, and being reunited with an old friend you haven’t seen in a long time: There’s just nothing better.

Read rest of entry