La Vierge de Bordeaux

We were in the mood for lamb chops and suitable accompaniments. Our usual Saratoga chops; asparagus, with aïoli of course. I doctored a bag of Trader Joe's insta-lentils with some sautéed onions, roasted red peppers, garlic, olive oil and fresh thyme. It was time to break out some Bordeaux.

The Princess was intrigued by the idea, having not yet been exposed to a really fine Bordeaux. I explained the Classed Growth system: in 1855 the wine brokers of France, at the request of Napoléon III, made a ranking of Bordeaux wines based on their price and reputation at the time. Although there have been many changes in vineyard ownership and actual quality since then, the assignments of properties into "first-growth" through "fifth-growth" have pretty much been set in stone.

The cellar held a 1997 Château Langoa-Barton (third growth), so we would have the double treat of something non-California (varietas vincit omnia) and some maturity, accelerated by being in half-bottle. I decanted and found a bit of fine sediment, and in the glass saw the slightest browning at the edge. This promised a different experience.

Now for the nose: wow.

Profound. (pause here for several minutes nose-in-glass as dinner cools dangerously)

Roasted meats, blackberries, smoke, black peppercorns and more spectres of umami swirled in our heads. When we finally tasted, the balance was perfect, everything in its place. I have paid more attention lately to balance and alcohol, and believe the modest 12.5% is helpful. A half bottle of this was really not enough. I never wanted to see it end.

The Princess pronounced it "intoxicating, earthy, rustic" and noted that fruitiness was not really in the picture, compared to our typical New World wines. She admitted that she "would like to try another Bordeaux sometime - maybe a second growth?"

Not quite around the corner

We arrived for dinner around 20.30, when only tourists are eating in Buenos Aires. The restaurant was almost deserted; another party of two (yes, tourists) was a few tables away. As it filled up, the service never slackened and the maître d' continued to dote on us as if we were the only table.

I don't recall what we ate or drank, except that it was delicious, but I will never forget the service. Example: My water glass was a little low, so I took the bottle of "con gas" from the service table. As I was about to pour, the maître d' flew across the room to pour it for me, apologizing profusely. Our waiter was only two seconds behind him and experienced his quiet wrath.

If only it were closer to home ... Lola restaurant in Buenos Aires.

Poisson avec passion

We dined the other night at Passionfish in Pacific Grove, where they have a very civilized wine pricing policy. This lets us try more (and more interesting) wines without breaking the budget. For us, it is mandatory to start with the fried oyster and arugula salad. My dinner was scallops with tomato truffle butter and thyme risotto; the Princess had sea bass with tomato aïoli and niçoise style vegetables.

I ordered the wine because it was a rarity: Tokaji Furmint 2005 from Gróf Degenfeld. How often do you see a Tokaji, let alone a dry one? It was crisp and somewhat aromatic; we smelled peaches and apricots. Happily we had enough to take home.

Next day: I felt like having something truffly again, so I did pasta with truffle oil. No recipe, just feeling my way through it. Soaked some dried morels in a little warm water, sliced them, strained the soak water and added to the pasta water. Whole wheat penne, butter, black truffle oil, shavings of Parmesan. At the table, we decided the truffleness was lacking, so rather than getting up for more oil, we grated more cheese on top. That did the job - the extra salt amplified the flavors.

The remaining Furmint was ... yum.

Dinner with the Princess

We went to Valentine's Day dinner at Au Midi, one of very few French restaurants in this area. (Note to the trade - let's remedy that.) Nice service, flawless food. An oyster in aspic with salmon roe forced us to confront our, er, aspicphobia. A great experience in fishiness and texture.

The Princess broke her fish habit by joining me in having filet mignon with morels and potatoes galette. As a confirmed mushroom-skeptic, I make an exception for morels, which have wonderful texture and flavor. What does it take to get a paper-thin browned layer on the very outside of the beef, while leaving the entire inside warm-rare? A defter touch than mine, for sure.

The Dashwood pinot noir from New Zealand had an incredible forest-floor earthiness, bright cherry fruit and wonderful texture. Not like a burgundy but better than most burgundies I've had lately. Altocedro malbec from Mendoza had more body than most malbecs, powerful plummy flavors and enough fruit to balance the tannins. Against my expectations the pinot was a better match with the beef.

Sorry, no vintage dates. One doesn't take notes in such august company.

Trying something different

There are NO Vietnamese restaurants in our sleepy burg, so we went on a trek to try one. Neither of us has any experience with this cuisine. Don't expect any profound insights here. Anyway, Xanh restaurant in Mountain View, CA was a pleasure.

Our wines were a somewhat assertive Trimbach Pinot Blanc and a more restrained Bonny Doon "Cigare Blanc" (made from Roussanne and Grenache Blanc).

The papaya salad with poached shrimp went well with the Trimbach's aromas of peach and lime; Frau Feinschmecker couldn't get enough of the nuoc cham vinaigrette. The Cigare had better balance with our "crab martini"; the Trimbach had a little too much personality for this dish. Finally, catfish in a clay pot with cilantro, ginger and chiles worked very well with both wines. Only being in public kept us from licking the plate clean.

Our waiter provided service that was exemplary, friendly and natural. In other words, I would hire him away in a second.

By the way, this is not the more distant restaurant I mentioned. Still working on that, likewise on some consistent formatting.

Good eats

Highlights of some fine recent meals:

at Fandango in Pacific Grove, CA
Their cassoulet was wonderful as always. If you can't spend all day (and more) in the kitchen to make your own cassoulet, get Fandango to do it.
The wine: 1999 Corton Clos Du Roi, Vincent Girardin. It was everything I hope a Burgundy will be. And so civilized that it's available in half bottles.

at Passionfish, also in Pacific Grove
Appetizers: fried oysters, then butternut squash soup with bacon (swoon). The kitchen split both of these for us without prompting.
Main: mahi with black pepper/rum sauce, cucumber salad, green onion rice
Wine: a Chablis Grand Cru by - oops, didn't write that one down. More nervy and elegant than the 2006 Petit Chablis by Roland Lavantureux we had last week.

Thoughts on a more distant restaurant soon ...