Saturday Betsy had the night off, which was a good thing, as it was our wedding anniversary. I took her to One on Irvington, where we had a nice meal. We started with a delicious rock shrimp bisque with chorizo, and I had a crispy sweetbreads dish on top of polenta and some tiny braised greens. We had a starter of a quartino of the 2006 Sepp Gruner Veltliner. Light, a little peppery, decent if unremarkable. Could have used a little more "oomph", but fruit was ripe and acidity balanced, so a nice backdrop to the food. B
For main course Betsy had a lamb "open ravioli" (basically slow-cooked lamb with some lasagna- like pasta sheets , accompanied by pureed root vegetables with creme fraiche. I had the squab, with duck sausage, pea shoots and sauteed vegetables, and we shared a side of Brussels sprouts with pancetta. Dinner wine was the 2005 Drouhin Chorey-les-Beaune. Served at cellar temp ( a little cool, but preferrable to me than the more normal 70°), it showed bright and crystalline clear, maybe just a tad thin at first sip but it developed much more fruit and concentration as it warmed. Black and red cherry fruit, a little smoke, nice meaty note in the background. Bright acidity, some ripe tannins, good depth for the village. B+/A-
Nice night, the restaurant overall had very good food (although Betsy found the apple-ginger beignets very disappointing, too heavy) and good service.
Sunday we both worked most of day, when I got home I put the duck legs and squash she had prepared in over. On her return she made a watercress and mushroom salad. Wine was the 2005 Foris Pinot Noir (Rogue Valley). Lighter style of Oregon PN, good forward black cherry and berry fruit. Fresh and tasty, but could use a bit more body and finish. Tasty for what it is. B
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency