Food, Wine & Friends-Page 70
PROFESSOR DOUG BROWN VISITS CALIFORNIA
We had the pleasure of hosting Georgetown University
economics Professor Doug (D-Minus Brown) in early December of 2004.
A small soiree Chez Moi was a delight!
We opened a delicious bottle of Bruno Paillard 1995 Vintage Brut Champagne to
pair with the nibbles.
This was nice, but it really blossomed handsomely once I brought out some Prawns
Wrapped in Basil and Prosciutto.
Woodside's Champagne Queen, Alexia Moore, bends her elbow in the background.
The official "first course" was a plate of Rex Sole.
The Professor poses as a "West Virginia Hillbilly," but none of our
group was buying that crap.
Alexia performs "surgery" on the fish.
Bart, Henry and Claudia.
A savory lamb stew was the main dish on this wintry December evening.
Toasted Israeli Couscous with mushrooms.
Alexia can't believe he actually gives all those "D Minus" grades.
Henry, on the other hand, can believe it.
A toast!
And Doug brought two different 1997 vintage Pinot Noirs from Williams-Selyem.
The Precious Vineyard and Hirsch.
Both had a lot of "allspice" character to them. These were both
delicious and ready to drink. You could hold them a few more years if you
have cool storage conditions.
We then opened an old bottle of Chalone Pinot Noir...a 1979!
The Chalone was "old." Not totally shot, but very old.
We then adjourned to the living room for dessert...a fantastic berry pie with a
glass of Setubal.
The festivities continued a few days later for Doug's "Bon Voyage"
fest at Moore Manor in Woodside.
Alexia steamed some Dim Sum to go with her crudits and Hummus, pistachios
and olives.
Doug brought a 1990 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millnaires which was superb.
For comparison, I brought a 1995 of the same wine. Interestingly, my
bottle of 1995 seemed as though it may have been disgorged longer ago than the
1990 bottle!
The 1990 is on the left, its cork mushrooming out far more than the 1995 on the
right.
Alexia got busy with some Mushroom Ravioli.
Two different 2000 vintage Chardonnays accompanied this mushroom mania.
The Ridge was outstanding, smoky, toasty, Burgundian and bone dry.
A 2000 Talbott "Cuve Cynthia" was more tropical in terms of fruit
and perhaps a tad sweet.
Alexia brought out a 1981 Chateau Margaux which still had its $37.50 price tag
(bought from Weimax) to pair with Doug Brown's bottle of 1982 Chateau Margaux.
Henry decanted the wines.
Alexia had prepared a wonderful chicken dish.
Henry presents the main plate.
The two Margaux wines were excellent and rather close in terms of quality and
complexity.
There was a nice "pencil lead" sort of fragrance to both with cedary
undertones. The 1981 vintage gets little attention because of the
"legendary" status of the 1982. However, the 1981 was every bit
as good.
Dessert was accompanied by a 1979 Chateau Rieussec Sauternes.
The Rieussec was delicious. Still very fine.
Back
to the First Food, Wine & Friends Page
Back to the Previous Page
On to the next page
