My brother and his husband were here to celebrate their emergence from Covid hell. I described what I was serving and set out a number of wines for them to choose from as pairings.
To go with a salad of butter lettuce in an emulsified mustard vinaigrette with tons of chopped chives and grated hard-boiled egg, they chose:
2020 Navarro Vineyards Chardonnay Mendocino
A chardonnay like no other. Not California-tropical, not burgundian, not oaky nor unoaked, neither heavy nor light, just a ray of drinkable sunshine in a glass. Very balanced. A perfect every day chardonnay I'd never tire of.
Opinions were divided on the main course. On the one hand: chardonnay and lobster, all day. But on the other: thermidor sauce with brandy and an assertive amount of fresh tarragon. So I said let's have both:
2021 Le Vieux Pin Sauvignon Blanc Okanagan Valley
Better bottle than the first we opened two weeks ago. The pencil shavings are gone, and there's more grass and gooseberry. Generous but wisely not opulent.
2014 P. Dubreuil-Fontaine Père & Fils Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Clos Berthet Chardonnay
Prem-ox!!! (A bottle two weeks ago was terrific). So at the last minute I replaced that with:
2018 Ramey Fort Ross Seaview
Interesting to have this on the same night as the lighter Navarro. My BIL, who loves big chardonnays, was in heaven, but acknowledged that most of the food he prepares (he's a fine cook) would be better suited to the Navarro. No need to leave either one behind.