It's rare that we get good quality fried seafood out here in the desert. Our friends parents are recent transplants to AZ from MA. Her Dad had a bundle of shucked Ipswich clams along with condensed milk for bathing and corn flour for coating all sent from Woodman's of Essex for a date with the deep fryer. We also had a bunch of New Bedford scallops that also met the same fate, her Mom's Vietnamese coconut shrimp, Clams Casino, slaw, corn salad, and we brought along fixin's for a bundle of lobster rolls with meat shipped in from James Hook in Boston, including the infamous flat sided hot dog rolls that aren't available in AZ. We also brought wine....
Dirty and Rowdy Pet Nat Pinot Blanc 2013. What a fun little wine! Super fine, spritzy mousse with first sips that showed considerable r.s., enough so that I was worried it might be a bit flabby. But with the coconut shrimp and spicy fruity dipping sauce the wine really shined and was gone far too fast. When Lill says "We have more of this right?" I know we have a winner. (Sadly, we don't!)
Next up with the clams was 2008 François Chidaine Vouvray Le Bouchet that has shed the roundness and crunchy sugars of youth and emerge with lovely lemon waxy sprightliness. Not as bold and creamy as, say, Clos Baudoin, but lovely in a more subdued way.
Fried seafood, lobster rolls and sides followed along with a duo of wine. The 2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel was the star of the night (#22-02). Opened about an hour before drinking, there was a scant sign of Prüm sulphur that was gone pretty quickly. It has all that contrast that you'd want in an aged auslese...richly flavored but light on the tongue, stone and minerals with all kinds of sweet fruit countered by firm acidity. While this wine will only get better over the next few decades, I thoroughly enjoyed it now, particularly with the lobster rolls (scant bit of mayo, fine dice celery, hint of tarragon on a buttered toasted bun). btw, I found two bottles of this in a funky dump of a shop that smelled of old cheese in the Boston suburbs for the mispriced sum of $30 each, back in 2005.
Now the fried seafood paired much better for me with 2009 Clos des Briords. Is there a more dependable wine than Briords? Yes, some vintages, like this one, are a bit more round, but there is always a beautiful seaspray lemon brightness that is so alive...and they are pretty much timeless. This wine always makes me happy.