Christmas Eve wines and dinner

Our Christmas Eve dinner, this time, was in Aldea Restaurant, a modern Portuguese in NYC’s Chelsea area. It was certainly quiet and cozy, however, not as rustic as I was hoping for with the chef’s modern take on classic Portuguese dishes.

My appetizer of Slow Poached Egg with Benton bacon, black truffles and drenched in hen consommé is easily makes it to one of my top 10 dishes of the year. Excellent. My entrée was the Arroz de Pato, a paella-type dish with duck confit, chorizo and Clementine and, as supposedly the restaurant’s signature dish, did not disappoint. However, it was not in the same “my epiphany” dish as the egg appetizer

2009 Philippe Raimbault Apud Sariacum Sancerre, Vallee de la Loire
Grassy nose on this lush style of sauvignon blanc. Grapefruit and apples. Nicely contained fruit and pleasing to drink. B

1983 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Paulliac
No let down on the bouquet from the first time it was poured until the last glass drank after our dessert. The sommelier had asked my permission to decant and I obliged. A very good bottle, filled up to the lower level of the neck, and with cork stained just about two-third up its length. Wet leaves, cigar, leather, and dry earth in the very alluring bouquet. The wine was silky, sexy, and elegant. It was all about being feminine and softness. My only knock on it is that it needed some brutish power that I associate and like with good First Growth Bordeaux. This is at peak drinking form and my instinct tells me that it will continue to be there for a long time. A-

Lovely wines, Ramon, and at a restaurant I am determined to try.

Our Christmas Eve tradition for the past several years is to have dinner with friends at Ben Benson's, my husband's favorite. It is very rare for him to insist on a particular restaurant, but this is the one time he does....besides his birthday. At least, I'm given the wine list.

thanks for notes, so many '83s drinking well now. Egg dish sounds great, must try this place.

Our Christmas Eve tradition for the past several years is to have dinner with friends at Ben Benson's, my husband's favorite. It is very rare for him to insist on a particular restaurant, but this is the one time he does....besides his birthday. At least, I'm given the wine list.

Hard to break what looks like a nice tradition that is also enjoyable for everybody.

thanks for notes, so many '83s drinking well now. Egg dish sounds great, must try this place.

Also in my top 10 dish is the egg-in-a-jar at the Bar Room at the Modern. That one actually ranks a notch higher. I'm just a sucker for egg-based dishes.

Could the 83s be even better than the 82s? Seems that way to me.

Could the 83s be even better than the 82s? Seems that way to me.

I really like 83 as a vintage, and they tend to be drinking superbly at moment, but outside of Margaux I don't think there would many '83s I'd take over their '82 siblings (Cheval Blanc maybe). Margaux AC is different, I'd take '83 over '82 in every instance I've tried both (Palmer, Rauzan Segla, Brane Cantenac, Issan, Tertre), and probably Ch. Margaux as well, though I haven't had the '82. This Mouton sounds nice, but the 82 is a stunning wine to me (others differ).

Chateau Margaux 1982 is amazing. I once tasted it next to the 1983 and favored the 1982. I scored the 1983 A/A+ and the 1982 A+. The 1990 also scored A+ that night.

I've also had the 82 and 83 Palmer back to back and that is no contest, 1983 was the clear winner.

Could the 83s be even better than the 82s? Seems that way to me.

Based on the wines that I had, the ones from Margaux (have not had the 82 Margaux) have stood out to be better in 1983. Although, I have had a few Chateau du Tertre from both years, '82 and '83, and have been generally more pleased with the 82 in this case. Outside of Margaux, I've found '82 to generally outclass '83. Agree with Dale that that '82 Mouton is the much better wine.