by Julian Schultz
julian@oxfordwineroom.com
When Webster House
Restaurant’s Chris Liazos had announced that his August wine dinner would
showcases wines of the Loire Valley, my heart leaped up as I beheld visions
there of past pleasure, amusement and sorrow.
Flittering through my mind were pictures of venerable Chateau d’ Artigny in Montbazon, Loire; Jarko, my Indonesian friend who had died ecstatically of extreme exhaustion and advanced old age; and a Sweet Life Foods Company associate and I sipping Armagnacs (groan!), 15 vintages from 1915 through 1929.
And thereby hang tales that I shall later relate.
The Webster House’s Loire wine dinner was another resounding triumph for Chris’s monthly wine tastings. I knew it would be so: At the earlier trial tasting of the food and matching wines our perfection-seeking evaluation group was unanimously agreed – not the usual savage arguments, no fierce personal recriminations – that the food and wine pairings were…perfection!
A dining record: For the third straight wine dinner the welcoming hors d‘oeuvre was feather light finger pastry containing melted Gruyere cheese. This well may be the toothsome introduction to all future wine dinners…they are so exquisitely delicious and respond so harmoniously to welcoming wines.
This evening the paired wine was Domaine Nouelles Rosé D’Anjou 2005, ($7.99 at O’Hara’s Discount Liquors; all wines that were poured reflect O’Hara’s discounted prices). Anjou rosés are considered by connoisseurs to be the greatest among rosé wines; they are not your spinster Aunt Lizzie’s sweet soda pop rosés.
The Domaine Nouelles is made from the Cabernet Franc grape, is sweet-edged, zesty, cranberried, full-fruited, somewhat steely, and dry with a delicious fruited aftertaste; superb introductory wine, superb price/quality value at $7.99.
The first course was delayed: The some 55 dinner attendees continued eating away on the delectable melted Gruyere cheese-filled puffs, and warm-hearted Chris had the kitchen preparing- and waitstaff of lovely, smiling, engaging Debbie Byrne and Patricia Shaku refilling the platters.
Also poured: dry, crisp, sweet-edged Domaine de Vaufuget Vouvray 2005, $8.79, made from the Chenin Blanc grape, which offered a fresh grassy nose and flavors of lemon, citrus and hints of melon, apples and apricots.
Finally came the oysters on the half shell – plump, tender, baked or raw for our preference. In the baked version the oysters, topped with a luscious cream wine sauce in a light lemon/basil dressing, were accompanied by shallots, mushrooms, green and yellow onions. Delicious! Seconds generously offered and were eagerly accepted.
The bi-valves combined exquisitely with the light, mineral-y/citrus-y, bone dry, fresh, crisp, lemon-grassed, fruit/acid balanced Chateau De Chasseloir Muscadet Sevre Et Maine 2005, $9.59, made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, the ultimate oyster seafood accompaniment wine.
The Muscadet was poured and I remembered my sniffing Muscadet at the Chateau d’Artigny at Montbazon. As I am wont to do, I was sniffing the Muscadet, alternating with my left and right nostril. A swarthy young man with black almond-shaped eyes, wearing a tightly curled karakul hat that resembled an overturned flower pot, wearing a broad green sash over the shoulder of his red silk shirt, approached me. He said his name was Jarko Naarko and that he came from Indonesia to France to broaden his sophistication.
He wished to know why I was sniffing my Muscadet through first my left nostril and then through my right. I said, to catch the coveted bouquet better, that the bouquet delivers about 90 percent of the wine’s taste, that some people experience orgasmic ecstasy from bouquet, and how bouquet became a fatal aphrodisiac for a friend of my college days. The story:
After an active and vigorous night the irrepressible Werner Von Wuchtig wiped his face with the discarded nightie of his young lady friend. He became so overwhelmed by its aroma that he was overcome with ardent and insatiable passion for her… and neither of them was seen from that moment on. I learned later he had died ecstatically from exhaustion and early old age.
I suggested to Jarko that if he wished to explore this blissful possibility, he must become sensitive to the complexities of bouquet and that best place to start was with wine…with wine sniffed properly: “When you sniff, put your nose against the inside of the glass to smell better the esters that rise along the sides, and tilt the glass towards you. The bouquet will be immediate and forthcoming and remarkably improved.”
Jarko began sniffing furiously, alternating with is left and right nostrils. He said he hoped the bouquet would work for him. I cautioned him to wait at least 15 seconds between sniffs because the olfactory sense becomes quickly jaded.
He pointed to an attractive and well-upholstered, mini-mini-mini-skirted young woman bending over at the hors d’oeuvres table, wearing frilly pink panties. A new friend, he said dreamily, and that he would like to introduce her to the exotic merits and ecstatic possibilities bouquet. I told him to go for it.
He pumped my hand with much fervor, bowing repeatedly and expressing his gratitude for my advice. He looked longingly again at his attractive and well-upholstered, mini-mini-mini-skirted new friend who was bending over the hors d’oeuvres table, wearing frilly pink panties. He said that with luck…he would never write to me or see me again.
Two years later I received a letter from Count Francois of Chateau d’Artigny: “Jarko said before he died that he had had an ecstatically good life, that he had no regrets about his dying of extreme exhaustion and advanced old age.”
Count Francois added: “Mademoiselle Onna Herback is in a convent and is being treated for back fatigue, bed sores, and crushed bones. Her outlook is doubtful.”
Way to go, Jarko!
Second course: baked skinless chicken breast in fennel sauce, with steamed brown rice, shallots and basil. Some uninhibited, unrestrained, wine infused gourmets among us enthusiastically applauded and called for Chefs John Hammerstrom and Jason LeBlanc to temporarily abandon their skillets, vacate their beloved pots and pans and accept our congratulations.
The tender, moist, complex-flavored, delicious, chicken and the Pouilly Fumé Le Porte Abbaye 2004, $15.99 (Sauvignon Blanc grape) – the latter richly scented, flinty, earthy, herbaceous, melon-y, hints of nuts, yeast and wood, full-bodied and round – was the conception of the combination created in Paradise?
No! The conception was created at the trial dinner with input from savvy heartthrobs Frances Friedman and Karen Davis, and Jeff Davis, Paul Lapenas, O’Hara’s Discount Liquors’ Jim Vasiliadis, Dr. Bob Ouellette, Chris and me.
Third course: baked fillet of sole stuffed with crabmeat, mushrooms, shallots in a light herb sauce. The dish’s blended tastes, tenderness and perfect compatibility with the paired wine -- the dry, grapefruit-nuanced Domaine de Crochet Sancerre Blanc 2005, $15.99 (Sauvignon Blanc grape), which offered sweet-edged zesty fruitiness, crisp acidity, flint, earth, subtlety – evoked murmurs of pleasure and congratulatory comments throughout the room from 55 delighted palateers.
Chris suggested we hold our applause and congratulations until we had tasted the grand entré: thick-slabbed, melt-in-mouth tender, medium-rare, juicy Chateaubriand tenderloin with Béarnaise sauce, roasted potatoes, carrot sticks and green beans; two Loire red wines accompanied the tenderloin: Domaine de la Colline Chinon Rouge)2004, $9.99 (Cabernet Franc grape) and Sancerre Rouge Etienne Loury 2003, $15.99 (Pinot Noir grape).
Chinon (remarkable price/quality value): complex, interestingly odd – mysterious -- delightful, unusual sweet-edged fruit – abundant herb-tinged raspberry, blueberry, hints of lead pencil, roses; some violet perfume and wild strawberry. Flavor is totally foreign to my experience; I enthusiastically bought some.
Sancerre: light body and fruit; smooth texture, light tannins, amalgamated hints of cherry, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, clove and pepper; not so assertive as the Chinon, but more elegant and graceful, smooth and supple.
Sensational…sensational…sensational -- the grand entrée. And I remembered – like déjà vu -- the almost replication of this course at Chateau d’Artingny; only ours this evening was better…more inspired. The Chateaubriand was generously-portioned and it was as delicious as it was generous. I and others took portions home. The remembrance brought to mind my downfall at the chateau:
Blame it on the Armagnac (think Cognac-like) that doesn’t even come from the Loire Valley, but from the south of Bordeaux:
The night before we were to visit Loire wine chateaux and vineyards, we partook of an epicurean feast at Chateau d’Artigny. Indulging a gargantuan appetite, I ordered seconds of French onion, leek and cabbage soup served with slabs of Livarot and Gruyere cheeses, which I consumed with heady, nutty amontillado sherries.
I was bloated and surfeited by dinner’s end when our titled host insisted that my associate and I visit his library to taste his ancient, high alcohol Armagnacs. We sipped away on vintages from 1915 through 1929 – 15 as I remember.
At 8 a.m. next morning, I stared up at the 40-foot high ornately-painted ceiling with its naked cherubs floating to and fro, around and around, my head splitting, my eyes glazed, my belly sickly green with nausea.
My beloved now departed Lillian, who could not have cared less about doing the tour, represented her ailing husband. Our Sweet Life supermarket customers, to whom I was host, couldn’t believe that I would miss an opportunity to visit vineyards and to taste Loire wines: “Julian too ill to taste wine?!” Rumor spread that I was hospitalized.
At 4 p.m. I tasted my first food: cream of wheat. At 7 I joined the group for dinner, a five-course gourmet affair: prawn soup, crab and lobster, poached salmon, Chateaubriand tenderloin and fruit crepes. The wines were spectacular…so they said: sherry from Spain; Muscadet, Vouvray, Sancerre, Chinon from Loire; and Chateau Climens from Sauternes.
I dined miserably on poached eggs atop white toast and sipped mild tea with honey. I haven’t tasted Armagnac since, and that’s a long, long time ago.
Dessert: peach Melba with ice cream, whipped cream, sponge cake, half of fresh peach and raspberries from Helena Liazos’ inspired culinary imagination. It was as enjoyable as were the other dinner courses, imparting to us soft, light, delicious flavors and a glow of pleasure.
We were treated to illuminating discussions of the wines by Paul Lapenas, wine consultant for Monsieur Touton Selection, Ltd., and by our own popular wine guru, Dr. Bob Ouellette. Paul enlightened us about the Loire white wines, Dr. Bob about the reds. Both wine experts considerably enhanced our knowledge about Loire wines and how they pair best with certain foods. Thanks, guys! Great job.
Reserve early for the Italian Wine dinner, Wednesday, Sept. 20. Phone: 508-757-7208. We will do the trial dinner, Thursday, August 31; will update you.
Wine Pick: Dry Creek Fumé Blanc DCV3 2004, around $25 (100 percent Sauvignon Blanc grapes). Forthcoming aromas of freshly cut grass, zesty lemon, lively grapefruit, whiff of spice; palate: in addition to aromas, enjoy flavors of added spice, citrus and herbs; beautifully balanced with rich fruit and perky fruit acids. Move over Loire: Make way for this superb Dry Creek Fumé Blanc.
Wine Pick: Lockwood Partners’ Reserve Red 2002, around $20, and worth every cent. A blend of 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 36 Merlot, 12 Malbec and 2 Petit Verdot; enjoy toasty aromatics, ripe fruit, firm tannins and silky mouthfeel from assertive and assorted flavors…primarily taste of black cherry; perfect fruit, acid, tannins and texture balance; long finish…but sniff, sip and judge for yourself.
Wine Pick: Angove’s Nine Vines Rosé 2006, around $10, and enjoy a blend of Grenache and Shiraz. This delightful sipping wine offers aromas of red cherry, cranberry with a zesty hint of orange. Excellent with salmon, burgers, chicken and grilled summer vegetables; gourmet adventurers will be delighted when it is paired with chili-spiked Thai noodles and curries – even fiery boiled seafood. Buy one bottle…and you’ll be back for additional purchases.
Email Comments to Julian at:
julian@oxfordwineroom.com