Mother's Day Chards at Chauncey Creek Lobster Pound

In Kittery Maine, right over the NH border about an hour from Boston, a BYO seasonal lobster pound that does nothing but boil lobsters, crabs, make some shellfish rolls and fries and onion rings and chowder, if not on menu, you bring everything else. 80F with a very light seabreeze on the tidal creek today, lots of moms showing up with huge vase of flowers and fancy tablecloths for the picnic tables on the deck.

2007 Ramey Carneros District Chardonnay - right in its prime with lemon, buttery Cali chard flavours, ripeness reflecting the vintage, massively long finish, very nice with the crustacean. Runs about $35.

2001 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne - drink up if you have them, on the tipping point where fruit is more muted from last bottle about a year ago (not oxed though), leaner than the Ramey by far.

Happy Mother’s Day to the few that end up at this lovely place on the board!

LOL, was just about to post about Lobsters and wine pairings. I steamed some huge live Maine Lobsters for the spousal unit and the monster in law a couple of hours ago. Even my kid finally dove in. Many healthy puppies went down this evening. I’m always trying to find the right white wine pairing, even trying young Sauternes once. But tonight I found it: Merry Edwards Sav Blanc. We knocked back both the '09 and the '10. Perfect pairing. Enough tangy citrus to appeal to our non-Chard palates, but with a soft kiss of sweet oak to work well with the sweet, buttery lobster.

Great stuff!

Thanks for the suggestion Robert, have a 2010 Merry Edwards SB in the cellar that might need to take the trip next time! As I’m sure you know by now, you marry the family! BTW, lobster pounds make (almost) all the in-law pain go away. Cheers.

Stumbled by there on my honeymoon 15 years ago. Just booked a return trip this summer.

Monte

Monte, in the upside/downside of man’s impact on other species you might be heartened to know that since the fishermen have fished out the lobsters’ natural predators the cod, lobsters are bigger and more plentiful in the area than before.

When we lived in Exeter, NH we’d often make the short trip to Chauncey Creek. Actually took my mom there many years ago. Lovely place. Thanks for bringing back some nice memories.

Love Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier. One of my favorite spots for a great summer lunch before heading over to Fort Foster with the dog. Sean, sounds like you had the perfect day for it.

Driving up to Sebago Lake in Maine on 7/20. We spent the night in Kittery last year because or check in is the next Saturday afternoon. Will definitely try to got to Chauncey Creek. Thanks for the recommendation.

Jorge, if you’re there on a weekend day it is advisable to get there between 1130A-12P as there are no res and picnic tables fill up. They post a 2 hour limit, but a good tip to the seasonal help lets you stretch it a bit. Weekdays not as much of a problem. The place is great, it’s literally BYO anything we don’t sell, so along with the beverages, cheeses, salads, fruits, etc.

Sean, if we are able to make it, we would be going on Friday evening. Think it’ll be too difficult? We’d have a 3.5 & 2 year old in tow.

I don’t think so, a lot of people come up from Boston on Saturday/Sunday for the big lunch plus the outlets shopping so it’s very much a day-trip place. They’re on the web with their particulars - note the directions it’s a bit out of the way:

Glad to hear, thanks! Yeah, it’s not on the “main strip”, but last year we overnighted at a Days Inn that’s about 12 minutes away. Horrible little motel, but it’s just a place to lie down for 6-7 hours before continuing the trip to Sebago. I will definitely push to go here.

Jorge, Portsmouth NH is 5 miles south right on the border and gives you more hotel options (Courtyard, Sheraton, Marriott resort) plus the shopping experience that is the NH State Liquor Stores (2009 Tempier Bandol for $32 on Sunday even though it was marked $44 on-shelf the receipt noted the discount)and many other dining/tax-free shopping options for late morning/early afternoon on Saturday, great little New England city.

We are going to be celebrating my parent’s 50th this summer and just rented a house in Saco. My wife grew up in Eliot until she was seven (Her dad was stationed at Pease) so I know we will hit lunch there when we visit that area.

I’m in charge of wine for the trip. We are flying into Boston. Do you recommend getting wine in Boston/Mass. after picking up the rental, stopping in New Hampshire or looking in Portland? I’m not familiar with the liquor laws in those areas.

Monte

This thread is making me nostalgic.
Portsmouth is wonderful! Incredible little 17th century neighborhood there. You can see it all by foot in maybe an hour and a half.
The NH State Liqour Store used to have (probably still does) an outlet at a rest stop on I-95. Great prices. I got the 94 Dominus (on release) there for $42.

If you’re trying to get going out of Boston, I would definitely recommend the NH state liquor and wine stores. They typically have a pretty great selection at decent prices, with the added benefit of no sales tax. You can find everything from Yellowtail to Copain to d’Yquem. In my experience the two “best” stores along your route as far as selection goes would be the one on 95-North in Hampton just before the toll, as well as the Portsmouth traffic circle store (right off of 95-North as well). The best part of the NH stores is their online inventory system which you can search from their website. That way you can see if a particular store has something you’re specifically looking for.

Up in Portland you’ll find more boutique-y wine shops, but typically bottles will be more expensive and have sales tax tacked on. However, there are some nice stores up there that carry some more hard-to-find stuff (Bond, etc.)

Sean - I must have missed my email invite for this one :wink: Let’s hook something up this summer, should I post it in the Offline Planner?

Monte, the above recs are good for buys on the way up, if you want to stop in the Boston area, you have Marty’s, Blanchards and Gordons which have a larger selection likely, but varying prices. NH state stores have a lot of Jadot-type buys and somewhat less of smaller boutique producers from my experience, great prices, but you won’t find that 200 case lot of Bonnezeaux there.

Jordan is spot on with the 2 outlets on the way up from Boston, quite convenient, and Daniel is correct in his 90 minute tour of Portsmouth, but you could easily spend a few days there too, lots to do, and some varied dining options, especially recently.

Peter it was a last minute trip up there as the weather initially looked dicey and then as we crossed the river into Maine at 1115A the sun popped out and it was a glorious day. It’s a good day to go here as it’s opening weekend and you know there are no lobsters there more than 24 hours caught. Sometimes you see the boats come in on the creek and drop their catch off there. Wonderful stuff and the kids love the activity. The market price for all sizes last weekend was $15/pound. I think if you buy live lobsters around Portland it’s currently about $5-$6/pound, but the markup is worthwhile with the view/atmosphere, and all the BYO of more than booze you can do. Oh, BTW, tip your staff heavy to stretch the 2 hour limit on tables prime-time, I don’t think it’s much of a problem on weekdays.