Fresh Tart

An Early Summer Night's Dream

FreshTartSteph — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:45:31 PDT

Here's the perfect way to kick off summer: Get yourself invited to Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams' home for dinner. There is no lovelier place to be on a first-summer's-blush evening, on the patio in their lush back yard, chatting with them as well as Sue & Louis Ainsworth, sipping incredible wine, eating beautiful food, celebrating the end of another Minnesota winter. It's over, it's really, really over! Those leaves are real, those flowers smell like heaven, I am wearing sandals, and it will not snow for at least five months. Cheers to that.

Drinking wine with Stu is an honor and pleasure. He delights in sharing the unexpected, the fascinating, the obscure, collecting our reactions and observations like a child collects toys. He remembers what his guests like and dislike, then reaches into his cellar for something new and interesting the next time we get together.

Yeah, he thinks like that. I wish I had one-eighth of that talent, but it is not so. That's OK. I accept my limitations and happily sit back and enjoy the ride.

A ride that includes food worthy of the wine. Debbie & Stu always pull together colorful, fresh-from-the-market meals, this time grilled Scottish Highland beef, Boer goat, and St. Croix lamb from Blue Gentian Farms in New Richmond, WI (available locally at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market).

Alongside new potatoes with fresh morels and grilled asparagus, it was a spectular meal. Especially bookended by foie gras sprinkled with black Himalayan salt and Rustica Bakery rhubarb tarts. Yeah.

What we tasted:

Pierre Peters Cuvee Reserve Blanc de Blanc NV Champagne

Pierre Peters 2001 Brut Cuvee Speciale Les Chetillons Champagne

2006 Nicholas Joly Les Clos Sacres Savennieres

2005 Domaine Vincent Girardin Mersault Les Narvaux

1975 Chateau Montrose

1975 Chateau Pichon Lalande

1977 D'Oliverias Reserva Terrantez Maderia

Rare Wine Company's Historic Series Charleston Sercial Maderia

Hello summer.

Cassoulet, Parts III & IV

FreshTartSteph — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:25:18 PST

The big day finally arrived! We actually got to eat the damn cassoulet, a dish I've become very familiar with over the last several days that it's taken me to prepare it. Let me say right off the bat - it was well worth the effort. And for more reasons than the obvious deliciousness - including the excitement of my fabulously foodie guests (Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams and Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa), the beauty of the completed casserole, and the satisfaction in finally preparing such a classic dish (it's been on my list for a long while).

So, I left off on Friday having prepared the bean and lamb stews, as well as pulling apart the duck confit and browning the sausages. Yesterday I made fresh bread crumbs, and roasted the duck skin, first cut into thin strips, to make duck cracklings (pictured above). Oh my, those cracklings, so rich and decadently crisp, reminiscent of perfectly fried bacon, except...ducky. Divine.

About an hour before I planned to assemble it all, I heated both the bean and lamb stews to simmering. I set out my duck pieces, duck cracklings, and sausage. I pulled out my 50-lb. (at least it seems like it weighs 50 lbs.) Le Creuset 5-quart casserole and muscled it onto the stove top. I preheated the oven to 375 degrees F.

I put together an aioli platter for a light appetizer - raw mushrooms and radishes, paper thin slices of salami, cornichon pickles, olives, and tiny boiled potatoes. John lit a fire in the fireplace - always lovely, except if the flue is closed (our furnace guy had stopped by a couple of weeks ago when our new furnace didn't seem to be keeping the house warm; he latched windows and closed the flue, without telling us, yeah). Soon clouds of black smoke were filling the living room, sending me running for a pitcher of water and John scrambling to open windows and the front door. We aired the room out the best that we could and soldiered on, a glass of Veuve Cliquot firmly in hand. (Recipe for aioli here.)

After that drama (see below), I rushed back into the kitchen and got to work building the dish, the cassoulet, my reward for three days of preparation, smoke-choked dining room be damned, and it felt great. Here's the deal: I first spooned in a layer of beans, then a layer of lamb, duck, duck cracklings, and sausage. More beans. More meat. I finished with a last layer of beans, a generous topping of fresh breadcrumbs, and several ladles-ful of the lamb and bean stewing liquids. I then heaved the now 100-lb. pan into the oven and prepared for our guests to arrive.

Debbie & Stu arrived first, walking in the still-standing-open front door, commenting on how lovely it was to be greeted by an open door and the rustic, cassoulet-appropriate smell of a roaring fire. I love my gracious friends. Ana & Rudy came next, with the same cheerful take on the smoke, and we settled into the kitchen for champagne and aioli.

While we sipped and chatted, the casserole was transformed into crusty, golden cassoulet. I opened the oven, admired its beauty, and began smacking the crust with a spoon, pushing it down into the beans - what? Yep, that's what you do, then you put it back in the oven and let the crust form again. And then you admire, smack, and bake it again, and again, until at the very end, after all the chopping and browning and braising and layering and baking and smacking, a most awesomely masochistic dish emerges, to the delighted oohs and ahhs of anyone within 100 yards of the thing, because it is nothing if not impressive.

I served a simple salad as a first course (greens, apple, dried cherries, hazelnuts). I then lugged the cassoulet onto the table, and spooned crusty, juicy servings into warmed, shallow bowls, and we dug in. My first impression - rich. Meaty, garlicky rich. The soft beans absorb all of the strong, disparate flavors - gamey duck and lamb, spicy sausage, smoky bacon - and throw it back at you mellowed, blended, perfected. The chewy, smooth, and creamy textures complement one another, brought together by that glorious, golden crust. We ate more than half of the cassoulet, in the end, a stunning feat. With what remained, I happily made up packages for my guests to enjoy today.

We even pulled off eating dessert, the cherry almond tart I'd made earlier in the day. John had luckily for us ordered several pints of Jeni's Ice Cream, including Salty Caramel, arguably the best ice cream on planet Earth, especially with cherry almond tart. Alongside, we sipped Boston Bual Madeira - the cherries in the tart beautifully complemented by the cherry flavors in the Madeira. A great end to a great evening. (Recipe for cherry almond tart here.)

So there it is. Cassoulet, baby. The recipe is here, with the modifications I made as I went along (mostly to clarify where I thought things were confusing). I followed for the most part a Julia Child recipe from Julia's Menus for Special Occasions, but I also incorporated ideas from my father-in-law John's cassoulet recipe (never had his cassoulet, but given how delicious all of his recipes are, I trust that it completely rocks). All in all, a grand adventure, I highly recommend giving it a try. If you do, you must let me know how it goes (here, on Facebook, or on Twitter).

Here are the beautiful wines we tasted:

Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Brut

Château Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay 2007

Kitchak Cellars Scherzo Napa Valley Rose 2007 (Stu & Debbie)

Roessler Ridges Ollie & Hazel’s Block Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2006 (Rudy & Ana)

Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee 2003 (Stu & Debbie)

Turley Hayne Vineyard Napa Valley Zinfandel 2007

The Rare Wine Co. Historic Series Boston Bual Special Reserve

Cassoulet, Parts I & II

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:16:21 PST

So, tomorrow night we're hosting Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams and Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa for dinner. Remember our recent dinner at Heartland, where I mentioned I'd like to tackle cassoulet? Well, I put the plans into motion that night for tomorrow night's feast, and started getting down to business yesterday.

Cassoulet is a hearty French white bean casserole/stew, loaded with rich meats like duck or goose confit, lamb or pork shoulder, salt pork or bacon, and sausage. The beans, meat, and stewing juices are layered together and topped with fresh bread crumbs, then baked until the top is insane-crusty-perfection. I've taken a couple of days to prepare the dish, which in effect is bean & pork stew (day one), layered with lamb stew (day two), layered with sausages and duck confit and topped with bread crumbs (day three). You could make the bean and lamb stews on the same day - neither are difficult - but they are time-consuming. Since entertaining is supposed to be, you know, fun, to me it's worth the extra planning to start a few days ahead so that I can be relatively relaxed and enjoy my guests.

I started in an unorthodox manner - by browning the bacon (I chose bacon over salt pork). Most recipes have you layer un-browned salt pork into the casserole, but I knew the flavor of lightly browned bacon would be lovely with the beans, so that's what I did. Mon dieu, I know, I know. Into the bacon, I stirred onions and a bouquet garni of parsley, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. And then I stirred in the beans, of course - I used navy; flageolet are traditional, but I couldn't easily put my hands on them, and many recipes just call for navy anyhow. Last I stirred in water, just enough to cover, slowly adding more to keep the beans covered while they simmered, until they were just-tender, about an hour and a half. I added salt and pepper to taste a couple of times throughout the cooking process, although carefully, knowing that the forthcoming lamb and sausages would add saltiness as well.

Today I made the lamb stew, with a lamb shoulder roast. Since I couldn't secure a bone-in roast, I added a beef marrow bone to the stock pot along with the browned-in-duck-fat lamb, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, tomato paste, and beef stock. A slow braise in the oven for about two hours produced a beautifully rich, meaty stew.

I also dug into the (purchased) duck (legs) confit today - I pulled the meat from the bones into bite-size pieces, and pulled the skin from the meat. I also diced and sauteed the beautiful French garlic sausages I bought - I almost hate to put them in the cassoulet, they're so delicious on their own (nibble, nibble). But in they'll go, I swear. Tomorrow I'll make cracklings by roasting the duck skin until crisp.

OK, that's all I've got for now, other than the menu (below; recipe will follow after I make note of the adjustments I've made). Notice that we're pretty much just having crudite for an appetizer, and a simple cherry tart for dessert - no cheese, cassoulet is just too rich (shucks, I love an excuse - aka a party - for a cheese course; ah well, next time). Stay tuned for wine - we haven't nailed it down yet:

Aioli platter with raw mushrooms and radishes, boiled potatoes, thinly sliced salami, cornichon pickles, and olives

Watercress/frisee salad with apples, toasted hazelnuts, dried cherries, goat cheese, shallots, and hazelnut oil/apple cider vinegar vinaigrette

Cassoulet

Cherry Tart

So Many Chateaux, So Little Time

FreshTartSteph — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:36:28 PST

Let me clarify - I was not in France (sacre bleu). Instead, France kindly came here, to freezing cold and colorless Minnesota-in-January, at the invitation of the Commanderie de Bordeaux Minnesota Chapter. Let me clarify - I'm not a member of the Commanderie de Bordeaux (sacre bleu). But my friends Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams are, and I've been privileged to accompany them as a guest to a few of the Commanderie's insanely fabulous wine tasting dinners, including last night.

The guests of honors were Patrick Maroteaux, owner of Chateau Branaire-Ducru; and Count Stephan von Neipperg, manager of Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere, La Mondotte, Clos de l'Oratoire, Chateau Peyreau, Clos Marsalette, and Chateau d'Aguilhe. They each charmingly described their wine-making history, philosophy, and introduced the (dozen) wines we tasted as the evening sipped on.

As usual, The Minneapolis Club's executive chef John Thompson and staff created a lovely menu to pair with the wines:

Chanterelle Mushroom-Speck Terrine

Sweetbread Strudle with Hollandaise Noir

Duck Liver Parfait with Black Currant Preserve

Château Branaire-Ducru 2007

Duluc de Branaire-Ducru 2005

St. Julien

Château Cannon La Gaffeliere 2007

Clos de l’Oratoire 2007

St. Emilion

Lanson Brut Gold Label 1996

Champagne

Truffle Poached Diver Scallops with Skate Wing, Parsley-Parsnip Coulis and Tomato Jam

Château Branaire-Ducru 2003

Château Branaire-Ducru 2000

Château Branaire-Ducru 1995

St. Julien

Juniper Roasted Breast of Squab with Rosemary Spaetzle, Foie Gras Emulsion, Smoked Portabello Carpaccio

Château d’Aiguilhe 2003

Cotes de Castillon

La Mondotte 1997 en Magnum

St. Emilion

Château Canon La Gaffeliere 1989

St. Emilion

Rogue River Blue, St. Nectaire, Beaufort d’Alpage (selection of cheeses)

Poached Apricot Tartlette with Caramelized Pineapple Coulis

Château Guiraud 1990

Sauternes

All of the wines were oustanding - for me, an incredible grouping. The food-wine pairings were interesting as well, in particular the rich and gamey, crisp-roasted squab with the La Mondotte 1997, a truly spectacular wine. From Robert Parker: "94 points, an amazing effort and unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage, La Mondotte's 1997 boasts a saturated purple color as well as an explosive nose of blackberries, violets, minerals, and sweet toasty oak. Huge and massive, yet gorgeously proportioned, it possesses an unctious texture with no hard edges." To me it smelled heavenly and tasted smooth, earthy, rich...and French. How amazing to be able to taste such a special wine, certainly not something I'd be able to do without Debbie & Stu's generous invitation, so yet again, I thank them.

The only drawback to attending Commanderie dinners is that I am next to worthless the next day - so lame. Although perhaps it's a good thing that my body just can't take such a massive infusion of rich food and wine. Instinctive moderation. I like it.

Madeira

FreshTartSteph — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:30:15 PST

Yesterday I caught an early version of Eric Asimov's The Pour column on the New York Times Dining & Wine page. The headline - A New Course for Dessert Wine - jumped right out at me. I prefer dessert-style wines paired with savory foods (foie gras, blue cheese), so I clicked through and was delighted to read about Madeira wines in particular. Asimov acknowledges that "...serving a sweet wine with a savory dish may strike many people as odd - unless they live in one of the great sweet-wine centers of the world." But he goes on to give several enticing examples of sweet wine/savory food pairings, all of which sounded delicious: Sauternes with lobster, auslese reisling with lamb vindaloo, and his own personal experiment, Madeira with skirt steak and pickled Vidalia onions. He tasted the steak with two Madeiras, both from the Rare Wine Company's Historic Series.

I quickly sent the link to both Stu The Wine Genius Williams, and my husband John, who happen to work together. A few minutes later my phone rang - Stu had read my email, and the article, and was just about to run an errand, so offered to pick up the Madeira mentioned in the article for us to try. Yes! (The Rare Wine Company's Historic Series Madeiras are distributed in Minnesota by the New France Wine Company, info@newfrancewine.net, 651-698-2533.)

Stu picked up and John brought home four Madeiras from the series, each named for a U.S. city where Madeira was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries: Boston Bual Special Reserve, New York Malmsey Special Reserve, Charleston Sercial Special Reserve, and a limited release New Orleans Special Reserve. Since Asimov particularly loved the Charleston Sercial Special Reserve with the steak and onions he'd prepared, that's what we opened first, since I just happened to have...steak and onions already in the fridge, ready to go for dinner.

I decided to caramelize the onions to bring out their sweetness, adding sauteed mushrooms and a splash of the Sercial to finish. Since our grill and deck are covered in snow, I just pan-seared the steaks on one side and finished them in a hot (500 degree) oven. I prepared the onions first, set them aside, then prepped the steaks. When the steaks were done, I transferred them to a cutting board to set up, then sauteed the mushrooms in the (fabulously crusty) steak pan. After adding the splash of Madeira, I stirred the caramelized onions into the pan, sliced the steaks, and served the steak with the onions and mushrooms alongside. The Sercial was as delicious with the crusty, salty beef and sweet onions as promised. The mushrooms added an extra earthy note that complimented the sweetness nicely. All good.

My next try is likely to be an Indian-style curry, with the Boston Bual (sweeter than the Sercial, which is the dryest of the group), which would be a stunning combination, I think. I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I plan to finish off the Sercial with some sort of fabulously toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Or with another mushroom saute - I'm telling you, the splash of Madeira to finish the mushrooms was so delicious, I could have had just that for dinner.

Big thanks to Stu and New France Wine Company for all the fun!

So Long Montana, Hello Puppy Louis

FreshTartSteph — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 08:02:43 PDT

Good-bye summer! It was a chilly 45 degrees at 3 o'clock this morning, autumn is definitely in the air. If you're wondering why I know the temp at 3 a.m., it's not because I was out partying. It's because we got...a new puppy! Puppy Louis, a mini goldendoodle (will be 45 lbs. full grown), and he is about as sweet and cute as puppies can be. But since he's also little - 9 weeks old - he needs a bathroom break once in the middle of the night for a few more weeks. Ah, yes, good thing they're so cute, and good thing he seems so incredibly trainable - all is going very well.

As a result of Louis - who we picked up the day after we got back from vacation, yikes! - I haven't had a chance to write about our fabulous trip to visit my dad and stepmom Susanna south of Bozeman, Montana. We visited last week, with Stacey and Cooper, my cousin Kim, and Debbie and Stu the Wine Genius Williams. Fly-fishing the Madison River, taking in the beautiful views down the Madison river valley, hiking, playing pool, and preparing and consuming copious amounts of delicious food and wine (thanks to Stu & Debbie) is the grand routine, and we had a blast.

The night after we arrived we celebrated my dad's birthday in fine style with the largest prime rib of beef I've ever seen, courtesy of Jay Taylor. Susanna had to trim it to fit it into a roasting pan (steaks for later, yum)! She roasted it using the classic technique of roasting for one hour, turning the oven off for a few hours, then roasting again for a short period of time before eating (I've found so many different versions on the web, I'll ask for her specific recipe). It was perfect. We made caesar salad and crushed new potatoes (tossed with butter and showered with plenty of freshy minced herbs) to accompany, and hot fudge sundaes for dessert at my dad's request. Susanna's brother Jim, his wife Anne, their daughter Farley, and Susanna's cousin Barbara, joined us for a knock-down, drag-out birthday feast.

The next night we made another classic - the Silver Palate's chicken marbella. Ah, the Silver Palate cookbook, my friends and I cooked our way through it in the 90s. It and Bon Apetit magazine defined my generation's newlywed/new home-owner dinner parties. And for good reason - the recipes are terrific, and fun, and I'm thinking I need to revisit my old pal. Especially after re-experiencing chicken marbella, studded with prunes, olives, and capers, holy moly is it a delicious recipe. Easy too, and inexpensive because the key to the whole dish is to use skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, which can stand up to the marinade and roasting, emerging crusty-tender (whereas breasts, I think, tend to dry out). Recipe here.

But now the vacation is over, sniff, and so is summer. I can't seem to manage - yet - both the new puppy (watching, watching, outside, outside) and making anything very interesting for dinner. We're finding a groove, however, and just yesterday I slipped away to spend the afternoon with Birthday Girl Suz. We drove up to darling Lindstrom, shopped for antiques, and downed a totally tasty diner-lunch at The Swedish Cafe. A good session of hooting and hollering and talking about everything from religion to Quick-Curl Barbies was just what my stir-crazy self needed. Happy Birthday my dear Susie, the greatest, most awesome, funniest, kindest friend on the planet!

Today, I'm thinking corn. I've had only one piece of corn-on-the-cob this summer (luckily a particularly delicious one) and it's time for more. Suz and I intended to stop at a stand somewhere along the way and pick some up, but then we got talking...and well, no corn. But today I plan a walk - it's sparkling and cool outside, how could I resist? - and a stop at some local stand to load up. I think I'll grill it (a la the State Fair - their sweet corn completely rocks), and serve it alongside steaks. I'd serve tomatoes from my pots as well but...wasn't meant to be this summer. Luckily Whole Foods has had delicious home-grown cherry tomatoes for the last several weeks; they'll make a perfect salad.

And oh! Definitely check out the very kindly Saturday, August 22, post on The Lighthearted Locavore, by our friend Lexi Van De Walle. In fact, check out her whole excellent blog, about eating locally in NYC and the Hamptons.

More pics of Montana and Puppy Louis below.

Bison, 101 Simple Salads

FreshTartSteph — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:02:22 PDT

I lucked into a delicious dinner at Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius' on Sunday night. After a dry, dusty afternoon spent watching Little League baseball, it was oh-so-nice to sit in their lovely, shady backyard and sip a cool glass of white wine, ahhh. Bill & Karla Forsythe were there as well, with their dachshund Sophie, joining Williams' two dachshunds Margeaux and brand new Sophie (yes, two dachshund Sophie's, ha). All three girls are darling, but Puppy Sophie stole the show with her round, pink belly and happy napping.

While Sophie played musical laps, Stu grilled bison tenderloin and ribeye steaks. I've eaten a fair amount of bison in my day, and certainly enjoyed it, but this version (from Whole Foods) was positively divine - tender-yet-beefy-beefy-beefy (despite being, technically, not beef), I imagine it tastes the way steak is supposed to taste. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to throw some on the grill, rarrr. Stu and Debbie plated the sizzling steaks alongside roasted potatoes and asparagus (I forgot my camera, and Stu hadn't pulled his out yet, so I missed the gorgeous pic of all three piled on the same huge platter, set down in the center of the table, shame). Stu poured a delicious Cote du Rhone alongside, Andezon 2004 - get this, it's $10/bottle!

For dessert we dug into two pastries (pictured above) from divine Rustica Bakery - a chiffon cake and a berry tart, served with a scoop of melty vanilla ice cream, so good. Thanks to Debbe & Stu for another fab meal and evening!

Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times

On another note...you must check out this Mark Bittman article titled 101 Simple Salads for the Season which popped onto the NYTimes website this afternoon. What a jewel! Completely genius, do not miss it - in fact, print it out (I linked to the printable version) and get ready to hit your farmer's market this and every weekend for the rest of the summer. Made my whole day - nice.

La Belle Vie

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:26:56 PDT

Date Night, Bar La Belle Vie, all good. We skipped wine and sipped truly yummy summer cocktails - tasties such as Old Cubans (Mount Gay Rum, Fresh Mint, Bitters, Fresh Lime and Cava) and Prince Alberts (Earl Grey Infused Bombay Sapphire Gin, Fresh Lemon Sweet & Sour And Soda). We sat down at the bar and both said, "Gosh, I wish we'd invited Stu (the Wine Genius) and Debbie" and lo and behold, in walked Stu and Debbie and Debbie's awesome sister Michelle, no kidding.

We munched on the best - The Best - bar burgers in Minneapoils, the mini-lamb burgers, topped with a spicy pepper and yogurt sauce, juicy, lamb-y, spicy-creamy perfection, they kill me, seriously.

We also noshed on crispy-salty pommes frites, and downed a mache-baby artichoke salad tossed over a pool of cumin-yogurt and slices of artichoke that was particularly divine with swipes of pommes frites.

Fry this, fry that, shake this, shake that, all fab, yum.

A drive home around lovely Lake of the Isles and despite the cold (it's 58 degrees out there as I type, nice July, puhlease), a gorgeous night.

Prep Time

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:27:14 PDT

We're hosting a dinner party tonight - Debbie & Stu The Wine Genius Williams and Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa - so I'm hopping to it. Here's the menu:

Radishes with butter (Hope Creamery, of course)
Dates wrapped in bacon
Roasted new potatoes with aioli

Roasted chickens (on the grill, using two genius Weber Poultry Roasters)
Wild mushroom sauce
Bread salad of chard, onions, pine nuts, and currants

Cheeses, Brownies

I'll fill in wine details after I figure them out, but I think we'll open with champagne and a white burgundy; pinot noir or French burgundy(s) with dinner; sauterne with cheese/dessert. Stay tuned...

One Cold, Blustery, Thursday Night...

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:49:08 PST

John and I had plans to hit Grand Cafe for dinner last night, but a serendipitous end-of-day exchange in the copy room of Henson & Efron changed all that. Instead we were invited to dine a la chez Williams, with Debbie and Stu the Wine Genius, and we gratefully accepted. I threw together a quick tray of cheeses from our fridge (luckily some tasty things - roquefort, a firm, sweet goat's milk, and hand-dipped ricotta from Whole Foods), roasted red peppers, and crisp flatbread from the pantry, and we were out the door.

Once settled in Debbie and Stu's lovely, cozy kitchen, we dug into snacks (said cheeses plus olives and a delicious truffle mousse pâté Stu set out) and got around to sipping some serious wines. We opened with the 2007 vintage of a memorable Gewurztraminer that Debbie, Stu, and I enjoyed at Bouchon in Napa Valley a few years ago - Lazy Creek Vineyards Anderson Valley. We moved on to the most delicious Viognier I've ever had, a lush 2007 Melville Verna's Estate Santa Barbara that was selling for around $22/bottle until Robert Parker gave it 94 points and it basically disappeared, poof. Of course Stu had purchased it before all the fuss, so I count myself lucky, once again, that I got to try a wine with Stu that I'd never try otherwise.

Ditto for the two reds we tasted, both Saxum 2004 Syrah blends, one a James Berry Paso Robles, the other a Broken Stones Paso Robles. It was so fun to taste these wines side-by-side and note their (to me, pretty subtle) differences - as Stu pointed out, if we'd had them on separate occasions we'd think they were quite similar. Both were incredibly delicious, a huge treat. (Note in the pic that Saxum, like Stu-Fave Sine Qua Non, changes their label with every vintage - Stu pulled some bottles to illustrate. The two we tried are on the left. And speaking of Sine Qua Non - the papers lying in front of the glasses are Sine Qua Non catalogue pages for an upcoming wine auction.)

In case you were wondering, yes, we did eat something other than cheese, olives, and pâté. We had a delicious dinner of crusty, rosy pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, and steamed broccoli. We finished with slices of pear and blue cheese, along with a glass of champagne that hooooey! put me right on over the top. Yeah, baby, it may have been cold outside, but I was plenty warm and toasty.

Thank you to Debbie and Stu for another lovely evening!