Berserkers,
The Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ made a special visit to Auberge du Pommier, one of the finest and longest lived French restaurants in Toronto. It was established in 1987 and constructed around the rustic vestiges of two 1860’s woodcutters’ cottages that were quite literally inserted into a modern industrial building. The result is an amazing combination of the old and new, the classic and the modern, both literally and figuratively in the appearance, atmosphere and of course the food.
Auberge du Pommier holds a special place in TWEC ™ member Michael Wright’s heart as it is one of his late father’s favorite restaurants and his family dined there very often. He has been dining there consistently ever since and he made the reservation for us. We were joined on this occasion by our friends fellow board member Chris and Catherine from the US who were visiting us from the US on their way to Niagara Falls and the Finger Lakes area. Naturally, we had to bring some high end wine to match the food, location and of course the company.
**WISTON NV ROSE ** – This is a British sparkling wine done in the traditional method. Pale salmon color, light brioche and cranberry flavors. Bit of a bitter finish. The others seem to love this, I’m not quite as thrilled. Short finish. Michael Grammer notes some raspberry flavor. It was slightly better with the food.
JM LABRUYERE PROLOGUE NV GRAND CRU CHAMPAGNE – This is an extra brut cuvée Champagne from J.M. Labruyère, harvested in 2016, blended with 33% reserve wine from each of the 3 years prior and aged 4 years on the lees. 69% pinot noir, 31% chardonnay and 7% of the wine has aged in oak barrels from Domaine Jacques Prieur. Extremely rich sherried nose, definitely a riche style champagne, really nutty and quite delicious. Very drinkable but almost too big for the food. Almost. As intense and sherried as the 1997 Sensation which is amazing when you consider how long that Champagne aged.
BOUCHARD PERE ET FILS 2014 MEURSAULT 1ER CRU GENEVRIERES – Sweet and creamy flint with a finish that goes on and on and on. Michael Wright and Jay Shampur both loved this and commented that it easily beats their Montrachet. This was just beautiful with my spring pea ravioli and lamb dishes which I’ll get to below.
DOMAINE HUET 2005 CLOS DU BOURG VOUVRAY MOELLEUX PREMIERE TRIE – One of the greatest sweet wines ever made from one of its best vintages ever. And, shocker, this was Jay Shampur’s contribution and not mine! 
Insanely smooth glycerin like texture, light body, decent acidity and rich persimmon, peach and nectarine fruit flavors. Graham cracker nose. Perfectly balanced. Pretty much the polar opposite of Alsacian wine which often claims to be a table wine but acts like a dessert wine. Yes, it’s got sweetness but it’s so ridiculously well balanced and light on its feet that it still acts as a table wine. Insanely good. And boy did we go through this one fast without even realizing it. I’ve got bottles of 2010 to share with the gang at a future date.
ARROWOOD 1994 SONOMA COAST CABERNET SAUVIGNON – Beautiful lavender nose. Catherine says it smells like shampoo and she meant that in a good way. Rich red fruit, star anise and eucalyptus flavors. This would have been fabulous but for the fact that I detected the small amount of TCA corkiness. I was hoping it would blow off but it never got better as the night went on. It didn’t get any worse, either, but a corked wine is still a corked wine. Shame. I detected it well before the far more experienced drinkers at the table, confirming my evolution into a TCA bloodhound. I should charge for this extremely valuable service.
So with that excellent selection of wines, we enjoyed absolutely impeccable service which is one of the hallmarks of Auberge du Pommier. We were seated inside but right next to the outdoor patio so we kind of got the best of both worlds in that respect as we got the natural light, cool air and fresh breeze but were spared the blazing heat from the sun. Our evening began with a cocktail and an amouse bouche of honeydew lime gazpacho with dill and espalette pepper.
Next up were our opening appetizers. We ordered the Burrata, Rabbit Terrine, hand cut Tartare, and the Hamachi:
I ordered an extra course of the Pates du Jour which was a spring pea ravioli for the table to share:
Then it was on to the main courses. We ordered the Lamb, Duck, Veal, Beef and Halibut main courses:
Lastly, we ordered some desserts. The classic Grand Marnier Souffle, Creme Brulee and Panna Cotta:
The meal ended with everyone’s coffee, digestifs and some petit fours brought to our table:
TWEC ™ would like to thank the kitchen and floor staff including Auberge’s sommelier as well as head chef Doug Penfold who came out to greet us at our table. We will definitely be returning.
