Our friend Joe has been dating Donna for a while now, and mentioning they would like to have us up to dinner at her place in CT. Finally we settled on Saturday, and Betsy and I drove to Wilton. I hadn't understood Joe's invite title (Dinner with Daffodils) until we pulled into the driveway of the incredible 18th century house and spied the pasture filled with thousands of beautiful daffodils.
Joe was cooking madly, stirring the polenta for later. The other couple arrived (a bass player colleague of Betsy and Joe , plus her cellist husband), and we headed out (gorgeous June day in April!) for some Adirondack chairs with platter of charcuterie and some great tapenade and bread. First wine up was the 1996 Klein "aux Vieux Remparts" Riesling Burgreben. Light petrol notes,dry, a bit austere, yellow fruits. Pleasant enough, but without the minerality or length of a great dry Riesling. B-
A tour of the house (part dated back to 1714, majority late 1700s) and we settled on the porch with the 2007 Domaine de la Rochette Sauvignon (Touraine). Good balance of crispness and fruit, clear SB characteristics, some gooseberry and grass. Nice clean wine. B
We moved to dining room for dinner, first sitdown course was a lovely sea bass with ramps. The fish was cooked perfectly, and the ramps were divine. Wine was my offering, the 2000 Carillon "Les Combettes" Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru. Whew, no oxidation. Pears and lemon, a bit lower in acidity than my preference, but good length and lots of soil/stone notes. B+, could have moved into A territory with a little more crispness.
With a lovely endive salad, we tried my backup bottle (why carry it home), the 2006 Biondi "Outis" Etna Bianco. Floral nose with a hint of fennel seed, clean fresh lemony fruit, good acidity. Some mineral notes, light herbs. Pretty fun little wine. B+/B
Main course was an incredible lamb navarin, from a Thomas Keller recipe, served with the creamy polenta. Wine was a magnum of the 1994 Prieure Saint-Jean de Bebian (Coteaux du Languedoc). This would make a great ringer in a lineup of Chateauneuf, it reminded me of Beaucastel in a less explosive vintage. Red and dark fruits, lots of leather, good dose of herbs and garrigue. Mostly resolved tannins, good fruit, not too Grenache-jammy. B++
Dinner was followed by a cheese course - an Ossau-Iraty was my fave, but I liked all of the cheeses (there was a tomme de Savoie, a Roquefort-ish blue, a chevre, and a washed rind cheese whose name I missed). Then the dessert eaters enjoyed Donna's offerings- a flan/custard with prunes and raisins soaked in Armagnac, a apple tart, and some cookies. Finishing wine was the 2001 Doisy Vedrines from a half bottle. Infanticide, maybe, but actually showing beautifully. Full bodied but with a sprightly/nervy acid backbone, tropical fruit and apricots, good length. 2001 Sauternes/Barsacs are amazing. A-
Really an extraordinary meal, with great company in a great setting. I was grateful that Betsy was doing the driving!
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.
