Blackwood Bar and Grill was proposed as the venue for J’s birthday party to which I readily agreed since it would be a chance to try it out. I had always meant to try it when it was still at McKinley Hill but never got around to it. It was also a chance to meet up with a couple of other wine aficionados whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time.
We were each assigned a wine style to bring and I got Champagne so my bottle was the first to be opened. The Laurent-Perrier Brut Millésimé 2002 showed good fruit and a rather fleshy mouthfeel. Youthful and fresh with green apple notes, this has a lot of appeal at this stage. I usually like my champagne older but I’m not sure if I want this one to age as it’s so good now.
Laurent Perrier 2002 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
We started out with a couple of appetizers- chorizo, a shrimp and clam bake, crab cakes and a unique buffalo crab claws. These were small (alimasag – blue swimmer crab) claws shelled and cooked in a buffalo wings sauce. Quite addicting but since they are pretty small, you’ll probably need two orders for three people to share.
Shrimp and Clam Bake by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Chorizo by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Crab Cake by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Buffalo Crab Claws by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
A white Burgundy was up next. Louis Lequin Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2004. Oaky on the nose. Soft but woody on the palate. Some overripe orange. Very California in style with the oak just over the top for me. You need to eat something with this in order to tame the oak. Not my taste in wine and certainly not a good representation of Burgundy.
Louis Lequin Corton-Charlemagne 2004 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
A couple of pizzas that used phyllo pastry rather than regular pizza dough were also ordered. The crab pizza and truffle and mushroom were good but I thought the prosciutto and arugula pizza was the best.
Crab Phyllo Pizza by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Mushroom and Truffle Oil Phyllo Pizza by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Ham and Arugula Phyllo Pizza by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
For the reds, we had two from Pomerol and two from the Left Bank so we had them in two flights with Pomerol starting us off.
The first Pomerol was one I was unfamiliar with – La Croix St. Georges 2002. This was very dark, with a good nose of ripe black fruits and an underlay of asphalt and graphite. On the palate, plum and black cherry with dark chocolate. It’s a rather fruit-forward style; soft and sweet. It’s quite modern and could be mistaken for a California wine but I enjoyed it a lot. 95% Merlot 5% Cabernet Franc.
La Croix St Georges Pomerol 2002 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
The second Pomerol was a Conseillante 1999. The nose was a little puzzling as it had a touch of toffee. It took a while for this to open up. Another soft wine with the usual plummy Merlot fruit but not much else besides. Possibly closed at this stage. Maybe try again in 3 years.
La Conseillante 1999 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
By this time, the rest of the food was served. This consisted of a steak, salmon and a seafood pasta. We also had a small sample of beef ravioli care of the chef.
The pasta noodles (tagliatelle) were home-made and very fine. The clams were also of good quality, very plump and juicy. I would have preferred a bit more sauce as the pasta was a bit dry but perhaps we just didn’t mix up enough. I imagine they could do a pretty good vongole with the ingredients they use. The salmon was walnut crusted on a bed of vegetables. Although well cooked, maybe some kind of sauce would have improved the dish as the fish was on the dry side. The steak was cooked exactly as we requested and I thought of good quality. The accompanying side dish of fried rice was also very tasty. The beef ravioli was also quite good.
Pasta Mediterranean by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Walnut crusted Salmon by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Beef Ravioli by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
USDA Prime Rib by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
The other wines were a Gruaud-Larose 1996 and a mystery wine. The Gruaud Larose could have been mistaken for a Rhone wine if served blind. Barnyard, grilled meat and leather notes dominated the nose and palate. I thought it was very good but not what I was expecting.
Gruaud Larose 1996 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
The mystery wine had sweet spices on the nose. Quite dry and woody, though. Perhaps it had seen better days. We were told it was Pauillac so I guessed Pichon Lalande 1999. Close enough, I suppose, as it was a Pichon Baron 1995.
Pichon Baron 1995 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
For dessert, we had a very nice apple walnut cheesecake. It’s easy to eat a lot of this since it’s quite light for a cheesecake. The dessert wine was a Doisy Vedrines 2003. Classic Sauternes nose. Very complex wine. Caramel, burnt sugar, honey, marmalade, bitter orange, tobacco leaf, cream, white chocolate and nuts are all crammed into this deceptively light wine. Easily wine of the night for me.
Apple and Walnut Cheesecake by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Doisy Vedrines 2003 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Many thanks to Gino for introducing us to a new restaurant and to everyone for the great wines!