Jason and Lynn maneuvered a Saturday night res for 6 at Gary Danko's to celebrate Roxi's birthday, so Jason, Lynn, Lou and Betty Lou Kessler joined us at the restaurant.
Roxi and I made sure to arrive early so we could sit at the bar and enjoy a cocktail and soak up the ambience. One of the best deals in town is to show up at GD's right after they open and eat at the bar. Great food, and good bar service, and you can a la carte a couple of courses if that's all you want. Plus GD's will massage any of the offerings as a different course, or in a different order, if that's what you want.
When our party was assembled we were immediately ushered to our table in the center of the room and we began our bacchanal.
Jason insisted on ordering off the list, and in honor of Roxi selected an Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru "VP", which apparently means extra long aging in the bottle. It shows. To clarify, both the Grand Cru quality and the prolonged aging shows. This is a full-throttle, toasty, tawny golden Champagne that is plump and bursting with aroma and flavor. The nose alone careens from flowery to apple to citrus to toasted bread to caramel-butterscotch. Superb, absolutely superb. I was actually distressed when the sommelier commented he didn't think E-G was making it anymore.
The Champagne accompanied two little amuse bouche surprises, the first a tiny teaser portion of lobster soup with enough (I think) chili oil spice to give spice but no actual heat. Delicious. The second was a devastatingly tasty pate en croute with frisee and a silky reduction sauce.
Lou supplied the next three wines. And, trust me, it's not easy to select three wines that GD doesn't already have on their truly impressive list. But Lou pulled it off effortlessly.
The white, which carried us through the next course (Lobster Bisque with an island of sweet pea flan and chunks of lobster for me) was the 2002 J-M Raveneau Chalis PC Chapelot. The color showed the age, with a rich, golden yellow, but the wine was nonetheless clear and brilliant. The Chardonnay had softened and rounded, with beautifully developed secondary characteristics that actually trumped the fruit components. And the wine clearly held its own against the sinfully rich bisque. It was complex enough that when citric backbone was needed, it was ther; when baked apple softness was needed, it was there. A deep, complex wine with infinite subtleties.
For the main course, and the following cheese course (for me a magnificent Bison and a selection of cheeses from Portugal, CA, France and Italy) was a pair of Bordeaux: The 1981 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and the 1970 Chateau Montrose.
The Lafite was....well, it was classic Lafite. Quietly, elegantly perfumed on the nose, but underneath the velvet softness there was a core of berry and violet, earthy richness, tobacco, and fine old saddle leather. Silky and lovely to savor slowly, and quite a match with the bison,
The 70 Montrose has always been a controversial wine---some loudly proclaimed it would never---could never---come around because the tannins were so rough and pronounced they could never soften and allow the fruit to pass. Well, the tannins are still there, still evident, but there is undeniable rich fruit still there as well. It's still a big bruiser of a wine, but with age and decanting, the brute is somewhat tamed. By anyone's measure, a stunning wine. Where the Lafite was elegance, the Montrose was force and vitality and fullness of flavor.
We didn't even bother discussing a dessert wine: that was the Montrose with the cheese for me. But we did have dessert, and mine was a really intriguing concoction of strawberry basil ice cream, done almost in an ice cream sandwich style, between two thin panes of caramelized sugar, and adorned with finely minced strawberries and basil for both a colorful and tasty side adornment. Perfect dessert: full flavors, but not heavy.
All in all, Gary Danko lived up to its towering reputation with superb food, brilliant presentation, and excellent service. And the wines were memorable, each and every one. Roxi had a good birthday. Thanks to Jason and Lynn for arranging it, and thanks to Lou and BL for the wines. But mostly, thanks to good friends.
--who seriously questioned if the 70 would ever come into balance. Personally, I was not all that concerned, but I did get occasionally concerned by te variability over the years. (Not that I've had all THAT many bottles of the 70 Montrose, mind you).