Blog-a-Dog Continued...
The meal with the Dogs was one classic dish after the other with some very interesting pairings. The first seated hors d'oeuvre was a poached quail's egg in rabbit aspic with sweet leeks and slivers of Perigord truffle. The item truly looked like jewelry on the plate. The great pleasure of it was bursting the yolk and having it act as the sauce for the truffle-perfumed aspic. I provided a 1976 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru for the dish, it was remarkable together. The richness of the dish balanced the austerity of the noble, mature white and the remaining fruit enlivened the communing of the minerals in the wine and the truffle's earthy and generous flavor.
Prodigal Dog lambasted Knuckles for the assignment he was given: providing wine for the Rabbit Consommé. It's not something you would typically do - cold wine with hot soup. At any rate, it came off pretty well. He and International put Rhone Ranger whites on the table including a super-rich and detailed Sine Qua Non blend. The soup had a sweet, delicate and intense rabbit flavor and the garnish included more truffle and Crepes snipped tableside.
Finally, it was time for some red wine. Iron Dog had provided us a few bottles of Jacky Truchot's fantastically detailed and hedonistic Clos de La Roche 1999 for little Golden Quail Roasted in Pastry with Green Grapes and a Natural Reduction Sauce made from the Quail wings. While this wine is still very young, it is showing very, very well owing to the gently extracted style of wines the Truchot makes.
Next were Beef Tournedoes (Filet Mignon) Henri IV - meaning garnished with an Artichoke bottom and Béarnaise Sauce tableside. A meat stock reduction deepened the dish considerably. Wines for this had varying degrees of success. Our guest had brought a 2000 La Mondotte (very ungettable bottle of Saint Emilion) which seemed like a barrel sample and was not expressive. To me, it was almost undrinkable at this point in time. It will be fantastic in 35 years I believe. Mr. Big J had brought a magnum of 1990 Bosquet des Papes which showed great fruit, breadth and depth and would perform really well for lamb or maybe pork but with this dish, it was not satisfactory to me. I had a bottle of 1969 Richbourg from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti opened. This showed great detail and gained power and even some primary fruit expression with air. Big burgundy - when drinking - is remarkably nice with lean beef like this dish. The details of the wine are shown in great relief against the dish and the fine grain of the tannins is sufficient for the fat of the cut. No one seemed to mind my presumptive addition.
The nicest aspect of this meal - after having many "fashion show" tastings - was the effort and focus on nailing the wine for the dish. I hope we'll have other hosts working in this method.
Prodigal Dog lambasted Knuckles for the assignment he was given: providing wine for the Rabbit Consommé. It's not something you would typically do - cold wine with hot soup. At any rate, it came off pretty well. He and International put Rhone Ranger whites on the table including a super-rich and detailed Sine Qua Non blend. The soup had a sweet, delicate and intense rabbit flavor and the garnish included more truffle and Crepes snipped tableside.
Finally, it was time for some red wine. Iron Dog had provided us a few bottles of Jacky Truchot's fantastically detailed and hedonistic Clos de La Roche 1999 for little Golden Quail Roasted in Pastry with Green Grapes and a Natural Reduction Sauce made from the Quail wings. While this wine is still very young, it is showing very, very well owing to the gently extracted style of wines the Truchot makes.
Next were Beef Tournedoes (Filet Mignon) Henri IV - meaning garnished with an Artichoke bottom and Béarnaise Sauce tableside. A meat stock reduction deepened the dish considerably. Wines for this had varying degrees of success. Our guest had brought a 2000 La Mondotte (very ungettable bottle of Saint Emilion) which seemed like a barrel sample and was not expressive. To me, it was almost undrinkable at this point in time. It will be fantastic in 35 years I believe. Mr. Big J had brought a magnum of 1990 Bosquet des Papes which showed great fruit, breadth and depth and would perform really well for lamb or maybe pork but with this dish, it was not satisfactory to me. I had a bottle of 1969 Richbourg from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti opened. This showed great detail and gained power and even some primary fruit expression with air. Big burgundy - when drinking - is remarkably nice with lean beef like this dish. The details of the wine are shown in great relief against the dish and the fine grain of the tannins is sufficient for the fat of the cut. No one seemed to mind my presumptive addition.
The nicest aspect of this meal - after having many "fashion show" tastings - was the effort and focus on nailing the wine for the dish. I hope we'll have other hosts working in this method.
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