A wonderful night of favorites
We returned once again to our local fav restaurant, Stonehouse Restaurant, located on the property of the ritzy, world class resort, the San Ysidro Ranch.
As usual, we took one of our favorite champagnes and a Pinot Noir made by one of our all time favorite friends, Burt Williams.
While seated at our favorite table on the upper outside patio on a blue bird night, we also were treated to the extraordinary service by our favorite waiter who is Dutch and communicates with us, especially Roelanda, in Dutch most of the evening.
And then we ordered and ate some of our favorite dishes from the numerous options available from both, the regular dinner menu and the vegetarian menu.
But first, one of our favorite champagnes:
2006 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- I`ve reviewed this bubbly so many times, as I’ve had close to 60 bottles including magnums now, and it’s pretty easy to note the various nuances for this consistently great champagne that has been fantastic out of the gate and has only gotten better with time and there’s a lot more coming; bright acidity, lovely aromas of toasty brioche and spicy citrus followed by a preponderance of fresh lemon zest and orchard fruit on the palate plus a creamy, feel good mousse and ideal balance all contribute to making this the stupendous wine that it is.
1994 WILLIAMS SELYEM RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- of all of the Burt Williams made wines I’ve had since the late 1980s, I can only recall a couple that were flawed and now there’s one more to add to the list; the hints of wet cardboard in the nose was too telltale of this being corked and it only got worse; swirling was out of the question as it just served to increase the off putting odor and as much as we tried to get beyond it, the atypical mineral laced mature dried red fruit just did not cut it; out of sympathy and unsolicited, our waiter brought us each a glass of a village red Burgundy on the house.
How special to have so many favored things all in one night. Life is good.
Cheers,
Blake