Xmas 2021, Day -1

[stefan]

Xmas 2021, Day -1

Our 2021 Xmas begins officially when T, Judd, and whiskey^2 (AKA Rye) arrive tomorrow, snow gods willing. We got an early start last night when stefanJr & Irena treated us to a dinner at the best winery near Eugene. Here is what we ate and drank:

2016 Antiquum Farm Just Disgorged Marion Extra Brut.

Pear, bitter greens, walnuts with 2017 Antiquum Farm Aurosa Pinot Gris.

Tortellini, ricotta, coeur with 2017 Antiquum Farm Juel Pinot Noir.

Chicken, pommel, collards with 2016 Antiquum Farm Juel Pinot Noir.

Chocolate, hazelnut, Chantilly with 2016 Antiquum Farm Daphne Care Harvest Pinot Gris.

The food, prepared mostly from ingredients provided by Antiquum Farm itself, was expertly prepared by the chefs, one of whom work at a leading restaurant in Portland. Except for the dessert course, the wines and food were paired extremely well. Overall it was one of the best restaurant meals we have had in Oregon.

As for the wines, the sparkler, made of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, was a most pleasant surprise; a very nice light, aromatic aperitif. The Pinot Gris was a great foil to the bitter salad. The tastes in the delicate and slightly astringent 2017 PN is brought out by the chicken innards, while the 2017 hits you hard and is a match for the strong flavored chicken from the farm. I hope stefanJr has some of the 2016. I would buy myself but, alas, Antiquum is sold out of all of its wine other than what it is holding for its weekly dinners. The dessert was excellent, but clashed with the late harvest Pinot Gris, which would have gone better with apple tart.

[Nicklasss]

Extasy, when stefan starts the family wine report from the holidays.

Have happy holidays, lucie, stefan, and al, the family.

[DavidG]

Love seeing your family gathering notes Stefan. It's become a BWE tradition!

[Jay Winton]

and so it begins (again)!

[JimHow]

Break out the popcorn and champagne!

[JoelD]

We had the 2016 Sparkler at dinner last night after the domaine holiday party. It was delightful. Closer to champagne than most french sparkling wines even.

[dstgolf]

Holiday time returned semi to normalcy with the advent of the annual Stefan Christmas review. Look forward to sharing the next few days. Merry Christmas to everyone in the family and hopefully everyone stays safe and healthy through these trying times.
Who'd have thought we'd still be dealing with a 4th wave of covid straining through the world this far out from the outset. These little episodes of joy brought to us us by Stefan are very welcomed and warming as we await the next instalment. Til next time....