Food, Wine & Friends Page 114
SANDY OBESTER'S BIRTHDAY
The 2006 Party
Hosted by Gerald in Burlingame
Henry poured the magnum of Henriot's 1990 Cuve des Enchanteleurs.
Alexia and Henry brought the nibbles to pair with the
Champagne.
Henry caught some great chanterelles.
The Champagne was 'toasty,' as we discovered after toasting Sandy.
And though this was a joyous occasion, we were sad that our
dear friend Marjorie Noble-Martin had passed away the previous week.
We hoisted a glass in Marjorie's honor and we were thrilled to have been able to
call her our friend.
We
will miss Marjorie!
The first course was a plate of roasted peppers with a Bagna Cauda
'sauce'.
We opened two interesting bottles of Italian white wines.
Cogno 2005 Anas-Ctta "Langhe" was a dry, simple, mildly smoky
white. We had an Argiolas white from Sardinia, a 2005 Nuragus di Cagliari
which was richer, deeper and creamier. Very fine.
The famous mushroom risotto was next, featuring Carnaroli rice
cooked with a broth of porcini mushrooms. We grated an Albese truffle on
top and this was superb!
I had placed the truffle in a container with a half-kilo of Carnaroli.
After a few days, the rice had picked up the perfume of the tartufo.
We drank two Nebbiolo wines with this.
Mamete Prevostini 1999 Valtellina Superiore "Corte di Cama" was a
deliciously oaky rendition from Lombardia, showing lots of oaky, woodsy
tones. Alexia suggested this had been aged in American oak.
The other wine was Castello di Neive 1999 Barbaresco Riserva "Santo
Stefano," a lovely, traditionally-styled Nebbiolo from a good vintage and
good estate.
To
cleanse the palate, we prepared a sorbet of 2006 Nouveau Beaujolais.
The
main course was grilled duck breasts accompanied by tomatoes filled with corn
and chili peppers, braised turnips and oven-roasted potatoes.
Two vintages of Forman Cabernet accompanied the duck. We decanted 1991 and
1994 vintages.
The duck was marinated in Syrah, garlic and seasoned with thyme.
The 1991 seemed old and a bit tired. I do not think this was a bottle
representative of Forman's 1991s, since we've had other bottles which were much
more fruity and lively. The 1994 was spot on, having dark fruits, a note
of tobacco and some cedary tones.
Alexia brought an assortment of cheeses.
Anne says she preferred the cheeses to the duck.
"No meat."
Gros Frres et Soeur 2004 Echzeaux and Domaine Dujac 2004 Morey Saint Denis
1er Cru. The Echzeaux was delightfully cherryish and showed a polished
oaky character. Dujac's wine was a bit smoky, with lovely notes of
underbrush and some dark cherry elements. Both wines were excellent,
despite their youth.
"Dang good!"
Bob appeared to be enjoying the wine and a sip of water...
Next
we had a lovely birthday cake from Burlingame's Copenhagen Bakery.
Sandy
then opened a few birthday gifts...
"Herbes de Provence? I wish I was IN Provence!"
The Banyuls from the Domaine de la Rectorie was delicious with the chocolate
cake.
And so we ended a lovely evening of good wine, good friends and good food...
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