Quick wine reviews from the Jersey Shore

I am enjoying an extended stay in Avalon this month, which means I cook almost every night and there's always wine. Here's a quick review of the wines we've had so far.

Gilles Gelin Beaujolais Villages 2010 -- Everybody knows 2009 was perhaps the best Beaujolais vintage of our lifetimes, but 2010 was very close to it. Perhaps less rich fruit and more mineral body, which would be my preference anyway outside of the crus of Julienas and Chiroubles which to me should be about fruit first. This Villages is several cuts above the more commercial Villages, with deep mineral flavors supporting crushed black cherry and herbal flavors. Now to 2016. Served with marinated steaks.

Johann Peter Reinert Wawerner Ritterpfad Riesling Auslese halbtrocken 2011 -- If Donnhoff, based in the Nahe, are now my favorite German winemakers, Reinert, a Saar-based veteran, is right behind. This magic exilir, served with grilled scallops stuffed with basil and garlic, is a candidate for wine of the year. The Auslese means it's full-bodied, with an intense backbone of pure Riesling fruit, but the halbtrocken means it's more or less dry on the palate with a teasing of sweet petrol on the end. Every sip leaves you wanting more. Stunning now, but will last for decades.

2012 Chateau Revelette Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Rose -- 

Perhaps the finest rose being sold right now,  but the price creep to $19 is a bit of a concern. A pale, "onion skin" color with herbal notes of thyme and rosemary. Very refreshing and mouth-puckering, but not quite the equal of the 2011 (see below). Worth the price, but the value isn't what it used to be. Served with sausages. Drink now, or 2014.

NV Pol Roger Champagne -- Served with fireworks on the beach on July 4. My favorite non-vintage Champagne, endlessly rich, lovely mousse, acidity just right and frothy fun to celebrate a birthday!

2011 Chateau Revelette Coteaux d'Aix Provence Rose -- Leftover from last year, these four bottles were blown through at record speed with everything from shrimp remoulade to frankfurters to fish. I have been drinking this wine for several years now and the 2011 is the best vintage ever. Massive amounts of flowers and herbs on the nose, lovely strawberry, honeysuckle and tart raspberry fruit, vibrant acidity, a finish to remember. Drink with whatever you are eating. Could last three years. Won't at my house.

NV Hawk Haven "American Kestrel" White -- From a Cape May County winery. 80 percent chardonnay, 20 percent sauvignon blanc. The Chard is aged in stainless steel and therefore is crisp and clean, peachy; the Sauv is aged in French oak; creamy and complex. A fine blend, though 60/40 may been more to my taste. Serve this deeply cold; it refreshes very well and warns into something a bit more complex. Served with grilled chicken with spicy sauce, and held up vs. the intense sauce. $14 a fair price.

2012 Josef Leitz "Eins Zwei Dry Rheingau Riesling Trocken -- This is one of Germany's efforts to crack the international market for everyday table wine -- simpler label, under a screwcap, priced at $13. Leitz has a winner here. More alcoholic than many German rieslings at 12.5 percent from fully ripened grapes from the glorious south-facing wall of vines that is the Rheingau, it's full-bodied but still racy, the acidity balancing out the fruit. Long, intense finish. Johannes Leitz was named German winemaker of the year in 2011 and I can see why; he is innovative while respecting a family tradition that dates back to 1744. This is a terrific wine to serve to people who think all German Rieslings are sugar bombs. This can age, but will be just fine young and fresh.

Brad's Montreal Odyssey -- Day Eight, 17 Avril 2013

The eighth of the daily blogs, featuring food and drink, from Montreal!

Last day, always kind of melancholy. But lots to do.
More wonderful cafe au lait and almond croissants, this time with fresh-squeezed orange juice, at the Brulerie St. Denis then off to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
I spent a lot time there and didn't see some of what I wanted to, such as the design collections and Asian art. What I saw was pretty good, including paintings from Matisse, Rembrandt, Monet and Brueghel the Younger, a Calder mobile, sculpture by Henry Moore and Rodin, a good Napoleon exhibit and a dazzling display of old-master drawings from Bernini, Tiepolo, Fragonard and Brueghel the Elder. And all free, too.
Lunch was at the museum's cafeteria, which was a good if strange whitefish-and-artichoke sandwich on tasty black bread. I had tomato juice, advertised as specifically Canadian which was intriguing and was fine, sparkling water and a very good maple-syrup cake. Recommended if you're in the museum and want to save time on lunch.
I then went to one of the province's "signature" liquor stores to look around and was dazzled as a wine geek. Five magnums of Latour, all from different vintages. Every first growth Bordeaux in multiple vintages. D'Yquem in all kinds of vintages in every format. Imperials of vintage Champagane. Mouton Rothschild's marc. Every great Burgundy name (except for DRC) such as Vogue, Roumier, Jayer, Leflaive, Leroy, etc., every Grand Cru red or white. Alsace, Port, Italy, the Loire, all the best vineyards and Crus. Top California wines. It was amazing.
No purchases there -- are you kidding? -- and went on to the free night at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. Their collection and exhibits were a little disappointing; a large exhibit of Quebecois abstraction was colorful and well-crafted but very derivative; you went to painting after painting and just called out the influences: 'Pollock. Newman. Rothko. Motherwell. Kline.'
They did have a great film by the Swiss artist David Weiss called "The Way Things Go" which is 30 minutes of the world's biggest Rube Goldberg contraption and highly worth watching. That alone was worth the trip to the museum..
Dinner plans called for me to go back near my hotel because I wanted to hear the jazz band at Diese Onze. I had seen a sign outside an average-looking bar on Rue St.-Denis called Brasserie Cherrier advertising Alsatian cuisine at very fair prices. I'd be craving choucroute garnie lately, so off I went.
The situation was a bit unusual. Brasserie Cherrier is your average neighborhood bar where locals of all ages (18 to 65 or older, from what I saw) come to play pool, drink Molson and watch the Canadiens, who were losing to Pittsburgh this night. The place looks like just what it is.
But inside the bar was a restaurant, Restaurant Flamme, run in theory independently from the bar. The bar man brings you your drinks and you pay him for those; the waiter, in my case a chef moonlighting because they didn't have anyone else, handles the food.
The wine list had seven wines, all available by the glass, three whites, three reds and a rose. Two of the whites were Alsatian -- Willm's 2010 Riesling and 2011 Pinot Blanc -- which seemed like a nice coincidence until the waiter told me that the bar man had changed his wines to help the chef out. So the operations, while independent, look out for the others' interests.
The menu had bar snacks (they cook the nacho chips to order for each other), burgers (they grind the meat to order), the wonderful Alsatian snack pie called flammekueche (which I saw rolled to order as a pizza man would toss dough to order) and some other Alsatian mains with sausage, chicken or pork.
I ordered the choucroute ($15), which, for $4 more, was turned into a meal with soup, dessert and coffee.
I started with a glass of rose, a 2011 Lamura Casa Girelli from Sicily, which had a strawberry nose, a lovely deep-pinkish color, and all kinds of sun-splashed fruit on the palate, with a wash of acidity at the finish. A lovely aperitif and good with strongly-flavored salads, fish, or poultry.
The meal was a true bargain. The soup was a minestrone much like a Philadelphia friend makes, bursting with fresh veggie flavor in a tasty, homemade stock. The choucroute was enormous - a massive pile of well-flavored sauerkraut and two boiled potatoes with slabs of Canadian bacon (of course), regular bacon, and pork shoulder plus a frankfurter of high quality and a big link of fresh, chunky, spicy pork sausage. Filling and flavorful.
Dessert was a lemony pound cake with creme anglaise, light and refreshing., Coffee was fine. For less than $20, a terrific bargain.
I drank two glasses of the Willm which was drinking perfectly now; limpid, golden, luscious, bags of Ries appley fruit, enough structure to avoid preciousness, just perfect. I find Willm's basic wines to be very fine in their category.
Service could not have been friendlier, if a little harried and scattershot, and can be summed up by the bar man's leaving the Ries bottle on my table after my second glass, saying, 'there's not enough for a third glass here, finish it off if you like.' That is what they call a lagniappe in New Orleans, something you neither asked for or deserve, but is welcome.
The place is recommended if you can stand the vibe of eating around tables of hockey fans -- Philadelphians who are rightly horrified at the thought of doing so with Flyer fans should know that Canadian fans are much more civilized -- in a neighborhood bar. The food is worth the trip.
I finished up the night at Diese Onze, listening to The Jan Jarcyzk Trio -- the playing of Jarcyzk, the 60-ish piano player, reminded me of Tommy Flanagan, and I have no higher compliment -- enjoying that wonderful stout from McAuslan and chatting with my friend Gary. A terrific way to end what was a magical week.
Returning to the U.S. -- but not home -- loomed. Stay tuned for a report from New York!

Restaurant Flamme and Brasserie Cherrier, 3638 Rue St. Denis, Montreal. Food 1100-2200; Bar until 0300.

Avalon wine report

Always pleasant to spend a couple of days at The Lemon Drop in Avalon with my mother. And always wine around, too, making it even more pleasant, even if the weather largely was not.! A brief report:

Donnhoff Oberhausen Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 2011
Safe to say I have never had anything else than an outstanding wine from Herrmann Donnhoff's brilliant domaine in the Nahe region of the Rhineland. This is a 'basic' wine of his, but one brimming with life. Pale, a tad sweeter than many Kabinett wines, with all of what the great Michael Broadbent likes to call "fruit salad" in the winem, and grapey, mouthfilling midpalate. Elegant and refreshing. Long, fruit finish, with a hint of austerity right at the end. 10 percent alcohol. A steal at $23. With Galatoire's Crabmeat Maison and a pork roast. Now-'2020. ****  (at the The Lemon Drop, Avalon, N.J. 3/2008).

Chateau Les Fromanteaux Clos du Poyet Muscadet Sevre et Maine "Vielles Vignes" Sur Lie 2010
Just perfect. Citrus yet earthy nose, some golden color, lemony and crisp and lots of complexity on the end from the "Sur Lie", I am sure. Palate-sweeping finish. All-purpose seafood wine, thought good with chicken too. Just 2 bottles left in my case - sigh. 12 percent, perfect for food. With deviled clams and Brad's Shrimp Tarragon. $16, a bargain. Just wish there were oysters. Now-2017. ***1/2 (at the The Lemon Drop, Avalon, N.J. 4/2008).

NV Ferriera Ruby Porto

Bought for a dessert  - peaches soaked in port, then ladled over ice cream -- and drank with it. Those used to aged tawnies, LBVs or Vintage Port will be disappointed here, but this is fine for the basic item: darkly purple color, spirity nose, not itensely sweet, satisfying fruit, good strong alcoholic, but not too much, finish, not cloying. Probably could pay less than the $16 I did at Fred's Avalon Liquors. Once opened, 2 weeks at then most. Good with English farmhouse cheeses or dark chocolate And with a dark chocolate Easter bunny -- always eat the ears first!. ** 1/2 (at the The Lemon Drop, Avalon, N.J. 4/2008).

Why I will never buy another bottle of white wine from the Pennsylvania state stores

I've had it.
In the last two months, I purchased four bottles of white wine that turned out to be oxidized and undrinkable.
One, a Macon-Villages, was from Fred's Avalon Liquors near my mother's house in Avalon, N.J. Fred's is a reliable shop with a good selection, if a bit pricey due to being on a resort  island. I have bought dozens of wines from them over the years and had one or two bad bottles. So, a corked Macon was upsetting, but it happens.
The other three  -  another Macon , a Vouvray and a Trimbach Riesling, all 2010 or later - all came from the Pennsylvania LCB operation, indeed from one store, the rather spiffy one on  Columbus Boulevard  in South Philadelphia. All were awful. All poured down the sink, along with about $60 of my money. My lovely homemade choucroute garnie had to be paired with an inappropriate wine rather than that Trimbach.
I suppose it's possible all three wines were bad from the time left the domaines in France, but I suspect  that's not so. All were from quality producers with long histories of success.
What I suspect is that the dunderheads of the LCB have no idea how to store white wine. Red wine can take a bit of a beating and still be OK, but not whites; temperature and proper storage are critical. Look at the 1994 Ampeau Meursault that I have been drinking that is heavenly -- stored properly in  Burgundy, in transit, in Moore  Brothers' store and in my wine cellar.
So no more whites at the State Store for me! No reason to gamble that much cash on potential garbage.

2007 Wine Dinner Tasting Notes

It appears that the original posting of these notes vanished with the Angel's Share. The following represents tasting notes from the 2007 Wine Dinner held at the Pen & Pencil Club of Philadelphia in October 2007.

NV Heidseick Monopole "Blue Top" Brut
Somewhere, there's a checklist for classic Champagne: toasty aroma, plenty of mousse, crisp, appley flavor, zesty, lemon finish, and a desire to drink another flute immediately. This one checked all those high points. Couldn't have been more well-received by the guests. We served it with Scottish Imperial smoked salmon, dill cream and red onions and its freshness and zestiness cut the rich salmon very well. No, this did not have the breed and richness of Pol Roger, the evanescent lightness of Taittinger, the boldness of Lanson Black Label, the depth of Bollinger ... but it was a very nice middle-of-the-road prototype of a classic. Lasted nicely in the glass, still with crisp mousse 40-45 minutes later. At what we paid ($24) a steal. (And the elegant packaging was a plus ). ****

2004 Zind-Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turckheim Riesling
Now, if the Champagne was a prototypical classic, this was not: not much Riesling tastes like this. Would that more did. Words slightly fail me here because I was so blown away. That ultra-rich aroma, tinged with kerosene, pineapple, perfumed fruit, and hint of vanilla. Pale yellowish color. Massive depth of flavor and structure that hits you right away. Almost Sauternes-like in richness, but racier, and with a mind-blowing fruit finish (esp. apricots) that went on and on and on. Zind's wines are known for depth of flavor and richness. This was all of that. A nervous wine in that the structure had to fight off being swamped by the richness. Not especially sweet for Riesling though as it warmed, the sweetness level amped up. Could age for a decade or more; that might settle the richness down a touch. Good right now. We served it with luscious little crab-and-pimento cakes. This wine would overpower a lot of things; really good crabmeat would be fine. Also some Alsatian cheeses, veal sausages, blue trout would all be good. Not cheap ($32) but worth every penny. ****1/2

2005 David Duband Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits "Louis Auguste"
One word: fresh. From the delightful berry aroma to the entrancing first sip to the grandly sweeping, woody, earthy, Pinot Noir finish, all young and delightful and oh so fresh. Almost as effervescent as a good Beaujolais Cru (a compliment from me). Served lightly chilled - I highly recommend doing so - it was like a wine of young cherries and raspberries, with a fleeting, heady, almost magical Pinot aroma. If 2005 was like this in the Hautes Cotes de Nuits, just imagine what it was like in Gevrey or Chambolle (and given the 2005 prices imagining is what most of us will have to settle for). A pleasant bitterish finish left the palate ready for another bite of creamed portobellos. Excellent value at $25 from a wine shop in Chicago. Can age, but if you can buy village or 1er cru wines and age them and drink this lovely charmer while it's ... fresh. ****

2002 Sociando-Mallet
I have always like this big-shouldered Haut-Medoc (from St. Seurin de Cadbourne, just north of St. Estephe. It shares some of the characteristics of a St. Estephe, notably its firmness and body, but Sociando always drinks better young than do the great St. Estephe wines (or even the less great ones; I had a 2001 St. Estephe, I forget the chateau, in Paris in 2004 that was like drinking a brick wall. A big one). 2002 was one of those in-between vintages in Bordeaux, not a dazzler like 2000 or 2005, not as hot as 2003, but good wines were made, and the Sociando is one of those. All the classic Bordeaux elements: that elusive aroma of earth that says "Bordeaux" before you take a sip - it's what "terroir" is all about - then a jammy, cassis flavor that broadens to tobacco, lead pencil and leather as you swirl in the mouth, then a clean, crisp finish that went on for a while. Layers of flavor that came out in the glass. Not as fruity as, say, a 2003 would have been, and a touch austere for people used to Napa Cabs. Lacked that richness and depth of a top vintage, but also did not cost as much ($32). Perfect with lamb chops. A classic Bordeaux. Could age for 10-15 years, probably best in 2010 or so. My kind of wine. ***1/2

1989 Clos Baudoin (Prince Poniatowski) Vouvray
All of what is good about French wine is in this bottle: the historic plot (a walled vineyard), the family traditions (the Poniatowskis fought with Napoleon), the regional grape (Chenin Blanc in its homeland, the middle Loire Valley), the refusal to pander (some years, the Clos makes wines that are sweet, some years they are dry, depends on the grapes and the weather. You have to know, or ask) and attention to detail and quality. The '84 Clos was one of the best dry whites I have ever had, even after 15 years it had power and lushness. The '90 is all power. The '89 is sweet, but not overly so, pale in color, lovely quince and apricot nose, plenty of acidity to tame the sweetness, and an elegant, sweet/sour finish that went on forever. DO NOT SERVE TOO COLD!!! It will lose its luster and just be a nice quaff. Changes personalities in the glass, becomes pineappley and denser as it warms. We served it with cinnamony bread pudding, but could also go with fruit desserts (but not chocolate or anything overly sweet), foie gras, and even scallops, shrimps or a flatfish. The Prince has sold the Clos and his winery so grab these classics while you can. At $19 the steal of the century. Could age for 40 years. Any I have won't get the chance to last that long. ******

Tasting notes from a glorious weekend

The weekend of 27-30 March offered a wedding, a terrific dinner, and some spectacular wines Given my schedule, it's unusual to have so many nights in a row where wine was a part of my life - it was very pleasant!

Notes in order:

2006 Domaine de Vercheres Macon-Villages
A strange, strange wine. Macon-Villages typically offers clean, crisp, refreshing wine, always Chardonnay lightly oaked if at all, simple but pleasant, good with food. Since this said Macon-Villages on the label, I will assume it was Chardonnay, but to me more like a white Rhone blend or even, at times, a Chenin Blanc - a tad watery, weirdly sweetish, heavy lime taste, not too pale, a little vanilla. Peach at mid-palate, creamy (like a Chenin), limey, short finish. Zero steely crispness typical of Macon. I tasted this before I ordered dinner, and the pork chops in a rich brown sauce - NOT normally what I'd eat with a Macon-Villages - went well. Not at all bad, but wildly untypical of its type. About $9 a bottle. Drink now. ** (at the Pen & Pencil Club, Philadelphia, 3/2008)

2007 Cantina del Castello Soave Classico
Served with wild boar prosciutto (on endive) from the remarkable butcher shop D'Angelo Brothers on 9th St. in Philadelphia's Italian Market - they have every kind of meat you can imagine and some you cannot . I was looking for something light but flavorful to match the cured meat and this was a real winner. Very pale, fruity nose. A hint of fizz, lemony, nutty, clean finish, not long, but lovely while there. Handled the boar and endive well, as its citrus elements cleaned the palate nicely. 12 percent alcohol or so. $17 a bottle, a fair price for hand-made Soave from the best part of the growing area (i.e., the hill, not the plain). Good summer wine. *** (at Chez Bailey, New York, 3/2008)

1996 H. Billiot en Fils Champagne
This and the next three wines came from a spectacular BYOB dinner thanks to the generosity of a wonderful old friend. This was the aperitif. It offered a yeasty apple blast at the beginning - I have never had such an apple-y Champagne - a light mousse, a gentle, mature wine with body and class. The '96's have been the greatest Champagne vintage of the last 15 years and they are starting to be fully mature. This lovely wine is ready now but has the structure and the fruit - all that apple! - to go for a while. My preference is towards more lemony and mineral bubblies, but I'd drink this anytime. Might be really good with a creamy, milder cheese. Now-2012. **** (at La Sirene, New York, 3/2008)

2002 Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Hunawihr Riesling
A half-bottle. Not as massive as some of the Z-H's I have had over the years - see the 2007 wine dinner report for one of those - but thus perhaps more typical of Alsatian Riesling. Deep, wonderful aroma of apricot and petrol; bags of racy Riesling fruit, nice acidity to balance the fruit and a firm, age-worthy body. Light honey on the long, long finish. It felt a touch stronger than some Rieslings (I did not get the alcohol number but it had to be 12.5 minimum). Delightful with duck salad, though trout or game may have been even better. Now-2017. **** (at La Sirene, New York, 3/2008)

1998 La Conseillante Pomerol
I've had La Conseillante before and always been pleased but somewhat underwhelmed (in Bordeaux I am more of a Left Bank guy), but it is a favorite of my dining group and thus I see it more frequently than any other Pomerol (or Right Bank wine in general). Decanted for roughly an hour. Eucalyptus and mint on the powerful nose at first, then, in a bit, classic Bordeaux nose, not as leathery as the Left Bank, more plummy cassis and hints of cigars (good ones too!). Deep purple color, rich, a hint of sweet, well-balanced, body to spare, refreshing, cassis long finish. A powerhouse. Got better in the glass. Had this with the duck and a rich monkfish stew with mushrooms. Absolutely classic, best La Conseillante I ever had. Good now, will last. And last. Now-2020. ****1/2 (at La Sirene, New York, 3/2008)

1999 Laville Haut Brion Pessac-Leognan blanc
The white of La Mission Haut Brion. White Bordeaux is usually hit with me, though more so from Pessac-Leognan and Graves than the Medoc; I've had Mouton's (Aile d'Argent) and Margaux's (Pavillon Blanc) whites and been, again, pleased but underwhelmed, while I cannot praise Domaine de Chevalier's white (Graves) enough. I came to this wine with much anticipation and excitement and I am pleased to say it delivered though in an unexpected way. In an age of obvious wines that show their hand right at the start, this is a subtle, quiet gem that reveals its pleasures slowly and only to those who are paying attention. Don't guzzle this, don't serve it without food and DO serve it with people whose conversation is as good as the wine because that will stretch the wine and you'll know its secrets better. Palish, golden wine. Minty, subtle nose of citrus and lanolin; more lime and meadow on the palate, a bare hint of grapefruit, and then it goes on and on and on the finish and remained in the mouth as an evanescent memory. Served probably a hair too cold, changed as it warmed, apricot, mint, that meadowy, grassy (in a good way) flavor. Some commentators such as Michael Broadbent suggest this wine could be in a "dumb" (i.e., closed) phase now, which could account for the subtleness of the flavors, but it gives much pleasure. It suited the monkfish stew but would have been so perfect with diver scallops or even simply prepared good pork. A wine for connoisseurs and sophisticated palates. Now-2020? ****1/2 (At La Sirene, New York, 3/2008).

1998 Aubry Champagne
Wow! This one grabs you at the start, bready, zesty nose leaps drom the glass, chalky, minerally, aggressive in a good way. Massive mousse. Lemons and citrus on the palate, not as appley as the Billot. A tremendous aperitif but stood up just fine, indeed amazingly well, to somewhat overcooked prime rib. Oysters or game birds would be a spectacular match. Years to here. I have been loyal to the '96 Champagnes but '98 needs more investigation, will have get on that prompt. A divine wine to toast the wedding of two of my dearest friends - they deserve the best, of course! (They had Pol Roger '96 at the head table; my little party had this wine to ourselves). Festive, a real treat, made the occasion sparkle even more than it did already. Now-2015? More? **** (At The Riviera at Massapequa, Massepequa, New York, 3/2008)

2007 Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)
The wedding (open) bar's white wine. A commercial product and it shows, the flavors are more obvious and cruder. Served too cold, flat and cloying when too cold. But as it warmed up, hints of lemon, mint and vanilla. Would be a decent beach wine or lunch wine with leftover fish and fowl. OK value at $8. Drink now, if at all. For what it was, OK; could have been a lot worse. *1/2 (At The Riviera at Massapequa, Massepequa, New York, 3/2008).

Lunch at Le Bec-Fin: food good, wine off the charts

I was one of the last customers to enjoy a weekday luncheon at Philadelphia’s temple of haute cuisine, as they only serve lunch on Friday and Saturdays now (and just this week chef Georges Perrier announced he was scrapping his prix-fixe-only dinners and will serve a la carte). I still think the $52 lunch menu was a bargain, given that it offered an appetizer, entrée and the fabulous, Lucullan, dessert cart, perhaps the greatest landmark to the sweet meal-ending course ever devised. There are at least 20 choices, you can have as many as you want, and among the classics such as gateau de l’Opera, sorbet de cassis, and floating island, there pop up things such as lemon-basil cake. Get anything with pears.

I have eaten at Le Bec occasionally over the years since 1983, and the food is always never less than terrific, though at times one wonders if it could be a tad less rich and still as good. Perrier’s quenelles of pike in lobster sauce still set the standard for me for seafood and nobody does veal better. His service has had its ups and downs, which it should not given the price (prix-fixe dinner with wine for two was not less than $400 assuming a decent bottle of wine and a tip) but service at a 2007 lunch was near-perfect.

So when I was invited to luncheon by an old friend on his dime, I was of course thrilled. Since both of us needed to be functional afterwards, and we like different foods (he almost always orders a steak) we decided on wine by the glass.

And was I glad I did. Three brilliant wines, each better than the last – I was left staggered at the quality. I would imagine Le Bec’s glassware (Riedel of course) helped a lot.

I wanted a wine aperitif, knowing that: a) Le Bec’s liquor prices are staggering and b) their mixed drinks have always been so-so. So I chose a 2002 Domaine Armand Gilg Grand Cru Moenchberg Riesling from Alsace, and it was just what I wanted: a bouquet bursting out of the glass, pure Riesling fruit, a little petrol-scent, apples and peaches, tons of structure and acidity carrying the fruit, long, scented finish. Talk about whetting the palate! Served perhaps too cold, warmed up nicely. A solid ****. Now-2015.

For my monkfish-and-lobster napoleon first course, the sommelier ravished praise on the 2005 Domaine de la Chapelle Pouilly-Fuisse. And he should have – this was perfection. Easily one of the best white Burgundies I have ever had, even better than some Grand Crus – this blew away a 1998 (I think) Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne I was unimpressed with once. If I had been served this as a Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru I’d have been very pleased and it would have trounced most village Pulignys and Chassagne-Montrachets. Pale, aroma rendolent with tropical fruit, toasty nose, spicy, creamy, rich, even a hint of pineapple, crisp, steely finish, a little vanilla there. If there was oak, it was judiciously used. Went on and on. Served just chilled enough. As I said, if this had been a Cote d’Or Burgundy, I’d have been thrilled, but this kind of splendor from the Maconnais, even from Pouilly? Who could have expected that? I didn’t want to finish it because then it would be gone. I kept the glass to savor the aroma. Easily a top-5 Chardonnay-based wine. This just shows how good the 2005 vintage was in France and especially Burgundy – as I said if the Pouillys are like this, what must the Pulignys be like (or the Montrachet and its hyphenated Grand Crus)? I can’t imagine. ****1/2. Now-2012.

Couldn't get better? Well, came pretty close. With my perfectly-done duck breast in a rich demiglace came a glass of 2000 Domaine de Courcel Pommard “Les Fremiers” Premier Cru. Here’s an example of fine winemaking in an iffy vintage; 2000 was not an easy year in the Cote de Beaune and the pinot noir can be temperamental even in a fine year. But Courcel, a family concern with four centuries of winemaking in Pommard under its belt, has few peers in Pommard; they do not destalk and try to get the most out of every grape. They conquered the elements to produce this earthy, fragrant, cassis-soaked wine which had a beguiling, soft, earthy, nose; sweet cassis and cherry on the palate, tangy, a hint of vanilla and coffee, but still tannic at the end, oak helps the structure, more cassis on the elegant finish, which never seemed to end. A mouthful of this was like having a succession of small flavor-filled fireworks going off on the tongue, one following the other in harmonic excitement. As I said, heavenly with the duck. Would have been spectacular with veal or even a well-roasted capon. At its peak, I’d say, but the tannins may last. Now-2010. ****1/2.

No wine with dessert, which included a pear tart, pistachio ice cream and macerated cherries. Finished with a lovely Cognac, I did not catch the label, smooth and well-balanced.

Let's do lunch again, eh?

Looking for offbeat wines? Good bargains?

The circular for the Chicago-based Wine Discount Center came the other day and I was once again reminded of their fascinating selection and very fair pricing. They are not paying me for this, by the way, but I’d recommend a look at their Web site and signing up for their newsletter – this month it features a dry Alsatian Muscat, a Prum Mosel Kabinett and some excellent Portuguese wines among other treasures. They are especially strong in Champagne and sparkling wines, Beaujolais and the Rhone, also ports and the like.