Holiday Champagne Dinner, December 12
As 2009 came to an end, so did a year of fabulous wine dinners (and one beer dinner) at the cafe. To celebrate the fun times, great food, fabulous wines, engaging winemakers, and friendships formed, Ericka and Heather hosted a spectacular Holiday Champagne dinner!
The menu for the evening was as follows:
Taleggio Gougere, herb salad
Casa Coste Piane, NV
Beluga Caviar x Three
Truffle Egg Custard topped with Caviar + Traditional Blini with Caviar and Creme Fraiche + Oyster on the Half Shell with Caviar
Gatinois Brut Tradion Grand Cru, NV
Seared Scallops and White Prawns, creamed leeks, tarragon beurre blanc
Larmandier Bernier Blanc De Blancs, NV
Petit Filet Mignon, Dungeness crab bearnaise & crispy ozette potatoes
Dumont Brut Rose, NV
Vanilla Pot de Creme, rose-pomegranate gelee
Renardat-Fache Bugey De Cerdon, NV
About The Wines:
Casa Coste Piane
100% Prosecco from the Veneto in North Eastern Italy. It comes from vineyards that are very steep while most mass produced Prosecco comes from vines on the valley floor. Their YOUNGEST vines are 65 years old with some as old as 100 years old, and they are grown organically. The wines are made sur lie which imparts a very toasty quality, and the wine only goes through one fermentation, which is stopped and eventually finishes in the bottle.
Gatinois Brut Tradion Grand Cru
Gatinois has long been a supplier to Grande Marque house Bollinger. What they keep to bottle themselves are their best plots. Like most producers in and around Aÿ, the wines are predominantly Pinot Noir. At Gatinois, their Brut Tradition is a blend of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay. Their entire production is about 30,000 bottles. The beauty of such a small production is that they can pay very close attention to their individual cuvées. Their Pinot Noirs show beautiful acidity and richness.
Larmandier Bernier Blanc De Blancs
Pierre and Sophie Larmandier work biodynamically in and around Vertus, Cramant, Avize, and Oger, areas that many consider the best part of Champagne for Chardonnay. Their vines are 35 years old and are fermented in stainless steel, and then transferred to vat for winter storage. The wine is blended and bottled in May. The wine sees its second fermentation in bottle and importantly, is HAND disgorged and bottled with a low dosage resulting in a bracing, crisp, extra-brut Champagne.
Dumont Brut Rosé
This wine is made by the Dumont family in the Côte de Bar, the southernmost Champagne region specializing in Pinot Noir. While most Grande Marque Rosé Champagnes are made by adding red wine to white, Bernard Dumont makes this wine entirely of Pinot Noir using his press, paying close attention to the color and flavor. He bleeds the juice off the skins when he feels that the wine is a good blend of a “white and a red wine.” The resulting rosé is lightly salmon colored with soft pretty tannins that allow the wine to pair beautifully with stronger dishes.
Renardat-Fâche Bugey De Cerdon
This charming pink sparkler comes from the town of Bugey, due East of Lyons on the road to Geneva. It is made primarily with Gamay, but the addition of about 20% Polsard gives this wine structure and bramble. The wine is made by Méthode Ancestrale, leaving the wine at about 7% alcohol and imparting a softer, delicate mousse. The wine is redolent of strawberries and finishes with a slightly sweet palate.
