WTN: Xmas wines w/7 fishes and 1 goose

Christmas Eve went to sister-in-law’s for a Feast of the Seven Fishes. A great spread, a mix of the traditional and the not so traditiona. Appetizers were potato chips with salmon roe,Thai squid with chilies and cilantro, fried shrimp wontons, a salt cod spread (an Istrian dish similar to brandade), and fried calamari with chipotle aioli. Sit down courses were crab salad on Boston lettuce, capellini with anchovy sauce, and a Catalan fish stew. Gelati followed.

I was driving for the Christmas party on the streets after the late service, so had to only sip (and occasionally spit):

NV Tullia Prosecco
Never seen this before, but pretty solid- good crispness, hint of sugar, citrus and flowers, not especially long but who needs long apertifs? B/B-

2012 Max Ferd. Richter Mülheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Kabinett Feinherb
Crisp, light, fun, minerally, easy. B/B+

2012 Ca Rugate “Monte Fiorentine” Soave Classico.
Medium bodied, white peaches and nuts, a little floral note. B

1997 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo
I was using host’s rabbit style opener, as soon as worm started in it pushed cork in bottle. Obviously not a tight fit, this was oxidized, sad. NR

1989 Goggiano Barolo
I didn’t have high expectations, but was still disappointed. I violated my “producer, producer, producer” mantra on idea anything 1989 Piedmont would impress, but was wrong. Maderized, muddy. C-

1970 Ratti “Marcenasco” Barolo
With the Valentini and Goggiano out of running, I ran home (2 minute drive). This was upright, was an unneeded backup for SOBER last week, so quickly double-decanted. Not best way, it needed more air, but did ok- pretty typical 1970 for my experience. Mature, cherry and tea, some tar, gets better with air but don’t think this needs any more time. B+

2007 La Lecciaia Brunello
Ripe black cherries, moderate acids, a little oak, others liked a lot, I liked ok. B/B-

Got back from city at 3:15, so I slept late Christmas, went into work for a bit, then came home to help Betsy prepare for our Christmas meal. By time guests started arriving I had ready some smoked salmon canapes, boquerones with an olive relish, and some vegetarian hors d'oeuvres.

The greeting bubblies were:

NV Bernard Bremont “Cuvee Prestige” Grand Cru Champagne
Medium to full, bright, apples overlaid with herb, smoke, and sourdough, lovely. A-

2004 Bonnaire Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Champagne
Seemingly a tad heavy on dosage, nuts, green apples, not loving this. Prefer the NV Bremont. B-

Main course was a lovely goose, with potatoes (cooked in the fat, of course), mushroom risotto, spinach with feta, beets with kale, & broccoli. A variety of wines to suit different tastes:

2002 Remi Jobard “Charmes” Meursault 1er Cru
Served because at a previous dinner one guest had called her favorite wine of all time. She loved it again, and so did I. Full, rich, balanced acids, long, pretty classic Meursault profile. A-

2007 Damien Laureau “Le Bel Ouvrage” Savennieres
Funky and exotic style of Savennieres, lots of sweet fruit though I think this is basically dry, not typical but good. B+

1997 Jadot Clos des Couchereaux Beaune 1er (mag)
In general not a fan of 1997s, but Jadot seems to have done uniformly well. From magnum this still has plenty of black cherry and raspberry fruit, with some spice and cocoa. A bit lower acid than my Beaune ideal, but good for 1997. Nice if not profound wine. B+/B

1986 Ch. Meyney
A little funky, cassis and saddle leather, just a hint of cow patty. Picks up weight, sturdy, going strong. B+

1979 Ch. du Tertre
A bit shrill at first, calms down, cassis and cigarbox, medium framed. Not best bottle I’ve had of this but nice. B+/B

Really fun dinner with a nice group, Some singing of Christmas carols, some card-playing, mostly just good conversation.

Friday dinner was just Betsy, her mom, and myself, with boiled lobster, sauteed greens, and barley. I went non-traditional with the 2010 Pepiere “Clos des Briords” Muscadet. Non-traditional was fine. Fresh, balanced, stony with some white pit fruits, long saline finish. Happy place. B+/A-

After dinner I used pressure cooker to make goose broth, and sampled leftover wines from Christmas Day. The Savennieres showed much the same. The du Tertre and Beaune were cracking up, but the Meyney showed well- just a hint of oxidation, but a mature yet brawny wine still.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.

[Jenise]

I have that Bonnaire. First bottle actually drank very dry like a no-dosage wine, but each bottle since has been like what you describe. Odd way to develop, in my meager experience.

How did the bones in the pressure cooker go? I would have been afraid of a cloudy broth from over-extracted proteins, so I'm curious of that worked out for you.

...and a partridge in a pear tree!!

Think I got the Bonnaire at a closeout site , my memory is liking first bottle, not rest so much- how strange!

Stock tastes and looks good. I won't say consomme clear, but I didn't fine of course. Some egg white would probably do the trick. I'm no food scientist (where are our chemists? Dr Lipton? Dr Deis?) but the pressure cooker cookbook we got when we first got cooker said since you can't actually accidentally boil in a pc, broth/stock comes out clearer than a poor traditional method. That has been my experience. This was a 12 lb bird, hardest part of stock was getting carcass into parts that could fit in pc (2 batches). Bone, onion, carrots, bay leaf, etc, more than a gallon of good stock.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/01/ask- ... ooker.html

Thanks for the note on the Laureau. I've tasted a few over the years but haven't properly followed them, always interesting to hear updates. And one would presume/hope that they only get better each year.

boiled lobster, sauteed greens, and barley. I went non-traditional with the 2010 Pepiere “Clos des Briords” Muscadet. Non-traditional was fine. Fresh, balanced, stony with some white pit fruits, long saline finish. Happy place. B+/A-

What is the traditional match for that food!! Are you saying Muscadet isn't rich enough for lobster. Certainly doesn't sound like a left-field pairing, at least to me.

Good question Rahsaan so I did some searching about which wine suits boiled lobster. Quite a few different thoughts out there including Chardonnay, Sancerre, Rioja Blanco, Alvarinho and Dale`s Muscadet!!

http://www.intowine.com/best-wine-pair-boiled-lobster

[Jenise]

T since you can't actually accidentally boil in a pc, broth/stock comes out clearer than a poor traditional method.

That's the ticket. Interesting, REALLY interesting, to know. Thanks!

What is the traditional match for that food!! Are you saying Muscadet isn't rich enough for lobster. Certainly doesn't sound like a left-field pairing, at least to me.

With unadorned lobster I tend to go with Chardonnay in a richer but not too woody style- for me, generally white Burgundy (either CdBeaune or Chablis, if latter usually PC or GC). I think the steely brightness of most good Muscadet shines better with things like raw oysters. That said, the Briords is big enough to have done well.
Equation changes if prep is different, if lobster has a little heat or ginger I like Kabinett Riesling.

What is the traditional match for that food!! Are you saying Muscadet isn't rich enough for lobster. Certainly doesn't sound like a left-field pairing, at least to me.

With unadorned lobster I tend to go with Chardonnay in a richer but not too woody style- for me, generally white Burgundy (either CdBeaune or Chablis, if latter usually PC or GC). I think the steely brightness of most good Muscadet shines better with things like raw oysters. That said, the Briords is big enough to have done well.
Equation changes if prep is different, if lobster has a little heat or ginger I like Kabinett Riesling.

Yes, I suppose that is the tradition. Although given the rest of your meal, the (bitter) greens and the barley, Briords Muscadet sounded like a much better match than a rich chardonnay. And I guess you felt the same way too!