The past weekend, my husband and I went out to dinner for our 5th anniversary. We wanted to keep it comfy and low key, especially since we are both tired with a 6month old now trying to crawl around the house. With that in mind, we decided to go out to dinner at Bistro de l'Hermitage, which is a wonderful little french bistro in Downtown Culver City. We both ordered the specials of the day which were a shrimp risotto and a veal osso bucco - both Italian dishes, in know, but eating French is about just eating good food in general. ;) Anyway, since Hubby and I had very different dishes and we wanted to share a bottle of wine, our waiter recommended a 2001 Chateau Pavie Macquin Saint-Emilion Grand Cru at an unbelieveable price. I thought this was a good choice and I wasn't dissappointed. The Pavie-Macquin was a wonderful Saint-Emilion wine with refined tannins and a lingering finish. It was light ruby to the eye and had flavors of currant and minerals. It paired well with the saffron in my risotto and was just divine with the chocolate fondant we had for dessert. I would buy this wine again and again.

eta: Ch. Pavie-Macquin just got moved up to Premier Grand Cru designation, so buy your wine now before the price goes up. You can find a bottle in the $50-$60 range.

Show us something that takes your breath away.

that cute little smile

Cheeky Monkey :)

1 comment

Are there any snacks, food or candy that are no longer made that you desperately miss?

Pup N' Taco slushies.

Pnt

I received an email the other day that mentioned Lagier Meredith Syrah . I forgot much I loved this syrah when I tasted it last year that I quickly ordered more today. I lost my notes when I deleted my wine blog last year and forgot to save it, so it's going to be a pleasure to revisit this wine again. Here are is some info on on the 2003 Syrah.

Lagier

W&S (Wine & Spirits) 97 - "Dr. Carole Meredith, a plant geneticist at UC Davis, and her partner, winemaker Stephen Lagier, bought this small parcel on Mt. Veeder in 1985. They planted it to Syrah and have quietly been making this wine from it since 2000. Many wines in the Old World taste like the vines have accommodated themselves to their site; they have the bonhomie of a good marriage. In the New World, varieties and sites are constantly dating, but they rarely fall into a bond as electrifying as this. The wine has all the flavor elements you would hope to find in syrah grown in the best sites of the Northern Rhone: cool meatiness, lasting black pepper spiciness, scents of lavender and wild berries. And yet it doesn't taste like it's trying to mimic anything; it tastes like it belongs exactly where it grows (a vineyard at 1300 feet, on an east-facing slope surrounded by forest). The other powerful aspect of this wine is the arc of its development, gaining intensity over the course of several days after the bottle is first opened, peaking in its exuberant complexity around the fifth day before slowly receding. That resistance to oxidation- indeed, the benefits the wine derives from exposure to air- is a strong indicator that this wine will not only live long, it will evolve rather than simply mature. It meets that measure of greatness in wine."

RP (Robert Parker) 93 - "An incredible bouquet of flowers and mountain berry fruit could easily be mistaken for a new Chanel perfume. Dark ruby/purple in color, with hints of licorice, violets, blueberries, blackberries and cassis, this 2003 Syrah boasts medium to full-bodied, elegant, pure flavors that cascade over the palate with a multilayered silkiness. Nothing is out of place in this beautiful, complex, relatively evolved style of Syrah. Consume it over the next 5-6 years. A natural beauty!"

WS (Wine Spectator) 92 - "Fragrant aromas of cracked pepper, wild berry, plum and pretty floral scents give this a complex bouquet. The flavors fold over onto the palate, offering intensity, richness and depth with an underlying sense of elegance and restraint, with a gravelly, stony edge. Best from 2007 through 2012."

The Lord of the Rings (Collector's Edition)

J.R.R. Tolkien

What's the nerdiest thing about you?

I'm *really* into the Lord of the Rings? And I Iike comic books?

What albums are in heavy rotation for you right now?

Demon Days

Gorillaz

Quil0323

I was really happy to see this article because Muscadet is one of my favorite "non -frou frou" French wines. It's tasty and very reasonably priced and great with shellfish. I usually buy a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, because it's typically better than a plain Muscadet sur Lie (sur Lie basically means "on lies." They arebottled directly from the lees without racking.) Domaine de la Pépière and Domaine de la Quilla are among my favorite Muscadet producers.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_4189876

Don't think I can make it, but it sounds like a great time!

http://www.drinkeatplay.com/index.htm

I like this article. I'm glad that vintners are getting back to understated wines instead of trying to produce high alcohol fruit bombs.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/epicure/grace-in-a-glass/2006/08/14/1155407702363.html