Lucie's Birthday Dinner
Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:13 pm
Last night I took our family of nine to Bar Purlieu, a French bistro in Eugene. The occasion was the 39th anniversary of Lucie's 39th birthday. The restaurant has the friendly ambience of a neighborhood restaurant, and the food was very good across the board. I took two red wines and ordered Champagne off the menu because the restaurant has a two bottle limit on brought in wines and waives corkage if you buy a bottle.
2011 Blanc de Blanc, José Michel “Clos Saint Jean”. This light but pleasant bubbly is citrusy and good with oysters. With the other appetizers the consensus was that it is too acidic.
1989 Louis Latour Corton Grancey. The first Grand Cru Burgundy that Lucie and I drank was 1962 Corton Grancey. That was in 1970. Latour fell on hard times and even now is not highly regarded. However, this flagship Latour wine from 1989 was very good, with asphalt and tobacco accents to the dark fruit.
1982 La Lagune. This is a wine that I do not recommend buying as it is so variable. You expect to pour six or seven bottles down the drain to get a bottle that contains drinkable juice. This time we were lucky. '82 La Lagune, when on, approaches FG level, and it more resembles a Graves than a Margaux. The Corton was a better match with my quail, but the filet mignon eaters said that the La Lagune was much better with the steak.
2011 Blanc de Blanc, José Michel “Clos Saint Jean”. This light but pleasant bubbly is citrusy and good with oysters. With the other appetizers the consensus was that it is too acidic.
1989 Louis Latour Corton Grancey. The first Grand Cru Burgundy that Lucie and I drank was 1962 Corton Grancey. That was in 1970. Latour fell on hard times and even now is not highly regarded. However, this flagship Latour wine from 1989 was very good, with asphalt and tobacco accents to the dark fruit.
1982 La Lagune. This is a wine that I do not recommend buying as it is so variable. You expect to pour six or seven bottles down the drain to get a bottle that contains drinkable juice. This time we were lucky. '82 La Lagune, when on, approaches FG level, and it more resembles a Graves than a Margaux. The Corton was a better match with my quail, but the filet mignon eaters said that the La Lagune was much better with the steak.