Fish with Red Wine (and other stuff)

[AKR]

It has been a very long time since BillP and I had gotten together with our spouses for dinner, perhaps not since the Fall of 2019? He'd missed the last local confab, so we decided to meet at our place for supper. These are always good excuses to clean up the dining room, polish the decanters, and see what kitchen gadgets can be deployed.

Decanters unleashed

Our first course was cheese, a couple Marin French (Truffle Brie, Breakfast) and Skigetost (an odd unrefrigerated Norwegian one) along with a fresh baguette.

Cheese!

With that we drank a 2000 Petit Village [Pomerol] which had been held from release, but feels like its starting to fade. It opens up as we drink it, showing truffely notes, cued up from the cheese too. Nice texture, a touch higher acid than ideal for me. 13% abv, medium bodied, decanted, a little sediment. This bottle was from Premier Cru!

I hadn't figured out the wines even after we milled around the living room so we discussed what to have with the next course - trout almondine with zucchini latkes/fritters. The fish was really coated with a pecan flour, with slivered almonds when served (which we almost forgot).

Butterflied trout

In any case we decided to continue with red Bordeaux, and the 2005 Prieure Lichine [Margaux] was next. 13.5% abv, decanted, and for my tastes - a very complete and delicious wine. It has a lovely berry nose, those 'margauxberries' that Stefan alludes to. This is a really fine wine, that should get a little more attention on BWE. Sediment is light, the finish is long, and it has great balance. BillP noted how much better the estate is now, compared to 70's. Whether or not this was the correct pairing with the fish...who cares...I loved both!

what is the legal difference between latkes and fritters?

We took a break at this point to sear a sous vide leg of lamb and pan fry some polenta. This was milder American lamb, rather than gamey OZ/NZ stuff I normally get. However since the pandemic, all these specialty meats have been somewhat harder to find.

Sous vide lamb: 4 hrs at 135F with a rub of mustard, pepper, and Penzeys 'Turkish'

The next bottle was a 1998 Pavie Decesse [St Emilion] with an import tag from Adventures in Wine. Sadly, the proprietor of AiW - Merrick - passed away from COVID early on; we had a festive SF BWE dinner* with him a few years ago. This Pavie Decesse continues to be a powerful, dense, concentrated St Emilion, which benefited from decanting. I'd expect the latter two wines to continue to drink well for many years; the Pomerol should be consumed now.

After that we took another break while Linda's dessert was plated - a great Key Lime pie. We had a beerenauslese to go with that, but I hardly know anything about that. It was great catching up and hearing what is going on in family life.

* viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6869&p=55878

[AKR]

Lots of good wine and great friends

Somehow I can't get this to attach to the first post. Maybe I'm over the memory allotment.

[JimHow]

You are truly Bordeaux wine enthusiasts.
Well done. Very well done indeed.

[DavidG]

Great report. I always love your pictures and descriptions.

[Claudius2]

Guys
There is nothing wrong with drinking red wine with fish or white wine with red meat.
I just drank Australian Chardonnay with bolognaise and it was fine. I was going to pop open a Chianti Classico but the heat here has exhausted me and drank a 2015 Grosset Adelaide Hills Chardonnay with lots of minerality and rich fruit.

As for Prieure Lichine, it is a wine I’ve been drinking since the 80’s and it has been a bit uneven over the years but I’ve bought it regularly since 2009 including 2019 en primeur. Margaux is now offering good value and needs more recognition outside of chateau Margaux and Palmer.

Cheers
Mark

[stefan]

What a great BWE get together you had!

I have always liked the monster 1998 Pavie Decesse. No doubt it matched well with the lamb.

[William P]

It was wonderful night. It had been a while since Arv and I tipped a glass together. Arv is a fantastic cook and the dinner was of his usual high quality.

I intended to moderate my intake that evening but alas, the wine were too delicious to limit consumption. I think my favorite of the night was the 2005 Prieure Lichine. It was in a "good" place. The Pavie D was as Arv indicate very powerful and well built. It has a long life ahead of it, but that is not to say it cannot be enjoyed now. The Pomerol was an excellent wine but it had powerful competition this night.

In all, it was a fun night. Hoping that another will happen sooner than 1.5 years.

Bill

[jckba]

Arv, a nice lineup matched with what really looked like a wonderful meal; well done!

[jal]

Very nice, I've had that 1998 Pavie Decesse many times and loved it.
I agree that Prieuré Lichine is underrated, I always thought it was the because the Bordelais viewed Alexis Lichine as an outsider, a French speaking Russian émigré who became American and was a major in the US army during WWII. He defied stereotype but I always appreciated his wines then and now.
Latke is the Yiddish word for fried pancake, it is a traditional Hanuka dish when one is supposed to eat fried food. Growing up, in Israel, we used the word levivot (little hearts). I only first heard the word latke in the US. The French criques are similar but are lighter and much easier to make here's a recipe for those interested
https://food52.com/blog/22426-how-jacqu ... o-pancakes
And last, i always found American lamb much more gamey than lamb from Australia or New Zealand. Maybe I'm getting the wrong lamb?

[AKR]

The kids claim that latkes are shallow fried / sauteed, and fritters must be deep fried (oil covering all sides).

So I could NOT call these fritters*, since they were not prepared in the deLonghi deep fryolater.

11 year olds can be very precise about some things.

Especially when they were cutting up Linda's left over pie, and watching like a hawk over who got how much.

* there are people on the internet who appear to be wrong in their recipe descriptions

PS: I think OZ/NZ lamb is likely to have been frozen on its way stateside, and that can temper some of the flavor.

[stefan]

My experience with lamb agrees with Patrick's. Maybe CA lamb is wimpier than the rugged ones from CO and TX.