Our very cool and swanky neighbors Cher and Chris invited us over for dinner last night. We never get to hang out because Kara and I work in the evenings and they have normal human jobs that take place during the day. So, when a three-day weekend rolls around, we try to make up for lost time. Last night was no exception.
Cher and Chris prepared the menu. I swashbuckled with my winekey. Kara ate and drank.
The first course was served at the bar downstairs: Broiled BBQ Shrimp and Chicken Skewers with a Tomato Caper Relish. For this I prepared a Jacoby 'Urziger Wurzgarten' Spatlese Riesling 1993. The wine was pure honey-drizzled peaches with hints of grapefruit and lime. Just enough sweetness to match the BBQ sauce and refresh the palate from the dash of cayenne in the sauce. It was not quite as good a match with the Tomoto-Caper Sauce on the chicken, as it washed out the fruit a touch, but still worked fine.
Next, we were escorted upstairs for the unveiling of their new terrace party pad. I popped the cork on the J. Lassalle Brut Rose . It's a favorite value Rose at about $50 retail. Lots of mineral and controlled fruit. Strawberry, peach, green apple. Always a pleasure to drink.
For the first formal course, Cher made a Grilled Salad. Grilled Romaine leaves topped with halved cherry tomatoes and cheese. As salad doesn't often like a pairing, we just moved on to the first red, which was the Sine Qua Non 'Covert Fingers' Pinot Noir 2004. Classic Santa Rita Hills black fruits. This is not a particular style of Pinot that I like, a la Sea Smoke, but Manfred is a genius and even though the wines are over-the-top, you can't help but like them for their complexity and balance within their components. The wine was showing gobs of black cherry, pomegranete, smoke, a hint of cola and some blackberry jam. The SQN crossed over into Chris' fantastic Grilled Bread which was a real hit.
For the main course, they prepared Surf & Turf with Grilled Peppers and Zuchini. In my continuing mission to drink some of these cult/trophy wines, I opened the 2003 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon. There has been a lot of uproar about this bottle on Cellar Tracker and I must say I was intrigued. I decanted the wine for a few hours to bring some balance (hopefully). What a mess! There was little more to the wine than a slalom of oak. It was virtually impossible to dig through it to the fruit. Loads of vanilla on ther nose, ground baking spices, toasted marshmallow. The fruit was barely a shadow under all of that, but I think it was typical Cab flavors. It's astounding that they're charging $400 a bottle for this stuff. To its credit, the wine did have an intriguing dollop of bitter earth on the finish. I couldn't really enjoy this on its own. But Chris' steaks, God love him, had a mesquite smokiness that cut the oak on the Sloan some. Ultimately, I had to run back home and get a bottle of Pichon Baron 1995 as I was ready for a little elegance. Lots of jalapeno pepper on the nose. The tannins have gone very soft and while I wouldn't have thought to pair it with lobster, the wine was soft enough to be enjoyed with that dish. Particularly with some of the zuchini lingering on the palate to cancel out the green note. I'd say drink these up before too long if you've got them. It seems to be as good as it's going to get.
For dessert, we roasted S'mores over their fire pit. Awesome! And Cher made some sauteed peaches and fresh whipped cream, which I paired a Lafaurie-Peyraguey 2003 with. I love a good Sauternes. Orange marmalade, coconut, stone fruit and honey. It had excellent balance, crisp acid, and wonderful complexity. I'm so glad I've got more of these little half-bottles in the cellar.
All-in-all, a magnificent evening. Great food, wine and company, which is what it's really all about. Thanks Cher and Chris!
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