TNs: TWEC (TM) Returns to OPUS

Berserkers,

Well we all know my fellow TWEC ™ and board member Mike Grammer is sunsetting due to advancing age and alcohol induced dwindling of his brain cells, but at least he still has enough common sense to call upon my impeccable wine journalism skills (TN--2000 Chateau Musar) to give everyone a proper report on our wine dinners because he can’t remember anything past one single wine. :laughing:

The Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ dined this past Saturday night at the revered Opus restaurant in Toronto. This long-standing icon run by brothers Mario and Tony Amaro is one of the most sophisticated and reknowned restaurants in Toronto and members Jay Shampur, Mike Grammer, Michael Wright and myself brought along guest Brad and Marnie Kent who had never been to Opus before but always wanted to try.

The evening began with cocktails and the bread service. Jay had a classic Martini while Mr. Wright and Marnie went for fruited variations:


Brad and I both went for a classic Bourbon Sour:

The bread is made entirely in-house and served alongside cultured butter:

Our first wine was the Robert Montcuit NV Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs. Made from Chardonnay located in the villages of Mesnil and Oger. 80% of its base vintage and 20% reserve wine from the preceding vintage. Dosage is not zero as I expected but still a miniscule 5 g/L of RS. This is bright, crisp, refreshing and very lively.


This was followed by the J.M. Boillot 2018 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet. This is an excellent Montrachet, clean and savory with fresh green apple flavor and phenolics and noticeably not a hint of sulphuric flint on the nose at all. Very pure for a white Burgundy.

With the second wine open, it was now time for the appetizers. Mike and Brad both started off with the Rabbit Tortellini. Rabbit stuffed tortellini served with racks of rabbit tenderloin ribs. Here it is from two angles:


Yours truly had the seared foie gras:

Jay had a pretty cool Deconstructed Sushi and Sashimi. King crab leg and tuna loin served with sauces and sushi rice.

Then we opened Jay’s Chateau Musar 2000 Red. This was quite heavy in sediment which had to be decanted and then the remainder filtered out. This was as perfect as a red wine gets. Light bodied, smooth, great texture, full of cranberry and licorice flavor. Fantastic with our main courses. In a funny moment, our server filtered out the remaining sedimented one to get one more glass at Jay’s request… which Marnie promptly took out of the server’s hand and drank. :rofl: Jay might want to be a bit more specific about those orders next time.


Marnie had the Cod special:

Mike had the Pork Loin special:

Michael Wright had the Halibut special:

Jay had a Tuna Loin special:

After waffling for a long time between the Lamb and the Venison special, I went for the Venison:

Brad had the Rack of Lamb (not pictured) to round out the mains. We then moved on to our desserts. Our dessert wine was the 2016 Chateau Coutet (not pictured). This was very clean and had a supple texture which definitely helped the sweet banana and pineapple cream flavors go down well without being syrupy. Light to medium bodied.

Marnie had the Sponge Toffee Profiteroles:

Jay had a Berry Dacquoise:

I had the Creme Brulée with Grilled Peach:

This is the Pineapple Rum Cake:

And here we have the Lime Cheesecake:

Great meal with great wine and glad to have popped Marnie and Brad’s Opus cherry. TWEC ™ looks forward to our eventual return.

5 Likes

Great recap and photos. Thank you for posting and writing. Those appetizers in particular look amazing.

I had a chuckle at the “exit” sign in the reflection of a phone as the night wound down. :grin:

Brandon, you’ve captured the Paradox that is Tran: He’s usually at his most profound when he’s his most unaware :wink:

2 Likes

Good of you, Tran, to credit me with still having a few brain cells left. :grin:

I’ll just sketch out brief impressions on the wines—Tran’s already linked to my full note on the Musar.

Robert Moncuit Reserve Perptuelle Grand Cru was a good Moncuit—I’ve had a few right now with mostly good results. Crisp and fresh, had requisite appley fruit backing and a nice sense of balance. Nothing elevates to the extraordinary, but enjoyed it.

The 2018 J-M Boillot Puligny Champ-Canet was a curious beast. While quite elegant and expressive in the mouth, it missed for me Puligny characteristics, being quite round and not, for me, a lot of mineral character. This was also a nice match with my pork main, didn’t quite work with the rabbit tortellini.

The 2016 Chateau Coutet was an uncomplicated but pleasurable finish. It does have the lightness-and-lift that I do like in Coutet.

A wonderful evening filled with laughs and good camaraderie, not only between our group but with Mario and Tony, who were consummate hosts and really engaged with us

Skal

Mike