Celebrating a friend Margot's birthday:
I began the meal with an amuse bouche course of tiny chicken and chive Chinese dumplings in a black vinegar sauce and this wine:
2013 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Terrassen Kamptal
Purchased this week to pair with a pea ravioli in a lime-ginger-butter sauce, and that worked beautifully. Issue could be less than perfect storage, but it's starting to show its age and I wouldn't be holding these beyond 2019.
Then I served seared scallops and the above-mentioned ravioli, and we segued into this wine which actually served it better:
Domaine Serge Laporte Sancerre Les Boursicottes Sauvignon Blanc
Everything I hope for from a $20ish Sancerre.
Two more courses and two Bordeauxs, so I served the following with a Chinese smashed cucumber salad. An unusual choice I recognize, but the smokey/nutty sesame oil and light sweetness in the dressing actually reached out to the mature aspects of the wine:
1998 Château Haut-Bergey Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend
Very good. Fully mature, holding well here.
And finally, with an Asian style pot roast (ginger and star anise were primary in the gravy) on crisp ramen pillows:
2000 Château du Tertre Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend
Earthy, with some cedar and animal elements. Comes out of the bottle rocking--aeration not needed, and no sediment on sides of bottle. More rustic to my tastes than the 01's have been but louder. One of the best 2000's I've had, at least among the 3-5th growths. Peak form now.