Old Wine Dinner Menus

In preparation for moving house, we are sorting through years worth of the debris one collects - recipes, wine notes, menus for dinners I've give,

One menu was for the last dinner we had at our other house before we moved back into the family home where we are now. Thought it might be fun to post it.

Colue Moscato d'Asti (prior to food, a light and tasty fizz)

1982 Bersano Barbera d'Asti and 1992 Gaja Sito Moresco
with sweetbreads and chanterelles (and a cream sauce, IIRC)

1988 Renato Ratti Barbaresco, 1988 Marenga Marenda Barbaresco 'La Terre Forte'
with marinated quail and frisee

1978 Mauro Osvaldo Barolo, 1978 Montanello Barolo Risrva
with roast rabbit and braised fennel

1979 Sassicaia and 1980 Sassicaia
with beef with Gorgonzola sauce and roasted potatos

1988 Taurino Patriglione
with cheese

I think I still have a bottle or two of the Sassicaias - might be fun to include them in a house warming dinner for the new digs.

Nice batch of wines there! When did you have this dinner?

Spring 1998

Wow! How many people got to share that tremendous repast with you?

Wow! How many people got to share that tremendous repast with you?

The menu doesn't say, but usually a total of 8 including us.

The menu doesn't say, but usually a total of 8 including us.

That must have been one happy octet. Fantastic.

[Jenise]

Were John and Kathy part of that dinner? It was fun, at their house, going back through some of those old menus. Interesting to consider the differences in your cooking then and now. Btw, would you serve the Moscato cocktail today? Doesn't sound like you.

They could well have been there.

Would I serve a 5% alcohol sweet Italian fizz as an aperitif? No, I'd go for a Prosecco in an Italian theme dinner these days.

Found another menu from dinners I put on.

Mostly American:

1989 Robert Weil Kiedricher Wasseros Riesling Kabinett

With Fennel Boats stuffed with Chicken and Oyster Mushrooms

1994 Villa Mount Eden Grand reserve Chardonnay

With Bocconcini, Home grown Tomatoes and Basil Salad

1985 Clos du Val Cabernet

1985 Bellerose 'Cuvee Bellerose' Cabernet

1985 Stags Leap Winery Cabernet

With Roast goose with chestnuts and prune/pate stuffing

1997 Lingenfelter Freinsheimer Goldberg Scheurebe Auslese

With Pumpkin Chiffon Cake with warm nutmeg sauce.

[Jenise]

Sounds amazing, as usual. But what's a fennel boat?

Sounds amazing, as usual. But what's a fennel boat?

You cook a fennel bulb and then slice and separate it as you would a Belgian endive, and fill the resulting hollow scoop with filling. Works as finger food.

Found another:

1976 Schloss Eltz Eltviller Sonnenberg Riesling Spätlese
1989 Veuve Clicquot Trilennium Reserve Cuvée

(with some amuses bouches I failed to note)

1986 Rougeot-Latour Meursaults Les Pellans

with risotto aux crevettes

1975 Ch. Branaire Ducru

1975 Ch. Beychevelle

1975 Ch. Lynch Bages

with sweetbreads braised with chanterelles and mustard

1970 Ch. St. Pierre Servaistre (I think this wine dropped the last word shortly after this vintage)

1970 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste

1970 Ch. Margaux

with magret and confit de canard with prune/port sauce

1977 Grahams Port

Couldn't do that line up any more - I am pretty much out of 1970s and have also drunk up many of the 75s.