Thursday we drove to SF, had a good afternoon at the de Young (Monet in Venice and the permanent collection), a walk in Golden Gate park, then a great dinner at the Progress. Varied menu, so we did BTG rather than a full bottle (and I drank most of each, Betsy was driving back to El Grenada).
2024 Joh. Bapt. Schafer x Atomic Workshop Trocken Riesling (Nahe)
Atomic Workshop is the State Bird/Progress group, so assume a special bottling for the restaurants. Peach, ginger, tangy, vibrant, fun. Light but with persistance. B+
2022 Gebruder Simon Pinot Meunier Brut Rose (Mosel)
Best Meunier bubbly from the Mosel I’ve ever had! OK only. Broad cherry and raspberry, a little biscuit, a touch of sweetness. I wouldn’t put up against a good Champagne but there’s a pleasant wine here. B
pig head with fennel, nectarines & fermented chile-garum (this was a beautiful dish, with the thin sliced cured meat draped over the mandolined fennel and fruit and an incredible sauce bringing it all together
local halibut crudo with watermelon aguachile, pickled ramps & nigella , I could drink a gallon of the qguachile
cucumbers, seaweeds & trout roe with wasabi & beech mushrooms, also lovely
2024 La Miraja Il Màt Grignolino
Light colored, on palate light with some deceptive structure. Red cherry, raspberry, and watermelon, herby. Very food friendly. B+/B
2023 Arnaud Lambert Clos Mazurique Saumur
Big, juicy, red plum and cassis, some CF green tobacco and herb, some tannin. Good but could use a touch more acidic backbone, B/B-
Jimmy Nardello peppers, Idiazabal, lamb chorizo, beas with a warm aioli, & marcona almonds, Every part of this was excellent, but maybe the only dish I wouldn’t order next time, it didn’t seem to have the cohesiveness of the others.
Veal with urfa-eggplant, grilled peppers & plums. Great.
Betsy loved the dessert- hojicha old fashioned donuts strawberry ice cream corn cream & raspberries
Really fine and fun dinner, but looking at neighboring tables now I want to go back for the duck, the seaweed brown butter noodles, the salmon, etc,
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 the only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.