Friday I took Betsy to One in Irvington (my Christmas gifts had been mostly prosaic, so had included "coupon" for a dinner out),
We had:
Amuse: foie gras and fig cream puffs
First course:
I had a crab and avocado salad with a miso-ginger dressing, Betsy a great roasted onion soup with merguez and goat cheese croutons
Mains:
I had glazed duck breasts over lentils with gogi berries (??), Betsy a rack of veal.
Dessert- she had a lemon curd tart
Betsy said she didn't want to have much wine, and I decided not to order a bottle. Instead, I took advantage of their quartino program. I very much like the idea of quartino (1/3 of a bottle). Lets one choose a red and a white and still not be drinking equivalent of a bottle, yet with each person getting a good pour. And since there are 3 pours per bottle, maybe less likely to run across oxidized wine. Pricing on the quartinos was from $10 to $15, and most of the bottles probably retail for about that. In other words, a bit better than BTG pricing in metro area. Wish more places used this approach.
We had:
2006 Seven Hills Riesling (Washington)
Just off-dry, bright apple fruit, ok length, maybe could use just a tad more zip, but good for NW Riesling. B
2006 Babich Pinot Noir
A bit thin and light. Pleasant cherry fruit, a little sharp, ok as a dinner wine, don't think I'd look to buy any. B-
Since she did drink her share, as she had dessert I had a glass of the Quinta do Noval Late Bottled Vintage (list said 1999, but I noticed later bill said 2000). Nicest wine of the night, pushing the sweetness edge, but with clean licorice and chocolate notes on top of tasty black plum fruit. B+
Good evening out, food was mostly very good (2 caveats: the glaze on duck would have been ok, but the sweetness of the berries in the lentils meant combo a bit much, plus Betsy felt the toasted meringue ond tart too sweet), the wine fine as a backdrop.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency