Tonight’s dinner, on a warm Spring evening, was crab in a Louis dressing on avocado and greens, with sections of ripe tomato and slices of hard-boiled egg. It was enjoyed with a 2004 Henri Boillot 1er Cru Puligny-Montrachet ‘Les Caillerets’ -medium yellow-gold in color; rich nose and flavors of citrus, pears, and white flowers; pleasant mid-palate of flowery fruit and good acidity; and a very long flowery, fruity finish.
Then for dessert we shared a Chocolate Maven Belgian Chocolate Brownie with a 375ml bottle of 2005 Susana Balbo Late-Harvest Malbec - the 2005 is a lot richer than the 2006, as I’ve explained before; the '05 was delightful with the rich brownie. It was a great finisher, after the nice Crab Louis.
Tonight we finished up the Louis dressing with another crab, avocado, egg, and tomato on greens for a light dinner. Wine was a 2005 Domaine Marc Morey 1er Cru Puligny-Montrachet ‘Les Pucelles’ - light green-gold in color; tight nose and flavors of white flowers and fruits; good acidity and a slight hardness in mid-palate; and a medium-long flowery fruit finish.
Then for dessert, while watching the Bahrain Grand Prix (via TiVo), we had several cheeses - St. Andre, Hudson Valley Sheeps’ Milk Camembert, Goat Boucheron, and Sottocenere Truffle Cheese; with three fruit pastes - peach-vanilla, black currant, and mango-pineapple; Whole Foods Deluxe Mixed Nuts; and an interesting and tasty 1983 Chateau Montelena Estate Zinfandel - mid neck fill; cork fully saturated; rich earthy berry nose and flavors; good acidity and balance in mid-palate; and a long berry fruit finish. It was very nice with the combination of cheeses, nuts, and fruit paste. Another enjoyable Santa Fe evening.
Dick, how long did you have the '83 Montelena Zin open? I’ve found that all kinds of Napa stuff prior to '85 needs a tiny bit of air (15-30 min) to get the old funk blown off, and then there is still some amazing brightness with the fruit, and tannic structure (depending on the wine, of course, but Montelena Zin should be able to go the long haul)
It was opened 45 minutes before we ate, and poured about 20 minute before. Carollee said she could smell the bouquet in the den, when I poured it at the dining table.