Saturday Night – Happy 40th Buddy!

It was Mick’s birthday this weekend so we ended up at the 1010 Bistro to celebrate. Mick is actually turning 37 but I was having fun annoying him with the whole 40 thing.

"Very Food Friendly"

We started off the night with a bottle of 2005 Bouchard Pere & Fils “Petit-Chablis”. Petit-Chablis is a Chardonnay that is mostly grown at higher altitudes on mixed limestone soils. It tends to be much lighter than a California Chardonnay.

LCBO Information - BOUCHARD P & F PETIT CHABLIS

LCBO 51466
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 19.10
11.7% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: Burgundy, France
By: BOUCHARD PERE & FILS

Tasting Note - Pale straw colour; green apple, pear, citrus and minerals with touch of almond on the nose; dry, crisp and clean with a hint of clove and a long citrus finish.

Serving Suggestion - Hors d'oeuvres; crab stuffed sole; oysters on a half shell; simply prepared shellfish dishes

This wine is definitely a food wine – on its own it is nothing special but with food it is really good. The wine paired amazingly well with a number of different appetizers – Tomato and Lobster Bisque, Crabs Cakes with a spicy Santa Fe sauce, Scallops on a bed of Lentils and Grilled Calamari. It was OK with a Caesar Salad. The seafood appetizers being a good match weren’t a surprise but I was very impressed how well the wine handled the Tomato and Lobster Bisque.

The wine was so good we ended up ordering a second bottle. For a $20 wine this is a “must” buy.

"Something New"

For dinner Amy and I had the Beef Tenderloin, Kathy had the Grilled Venison and Mick had the evening’s special which was Lamb Shank. The wine I ordered was a 2000 Chateau Fleur de Jean Gué Lalande de Pomerol. I knew this wine would work with the Tenderloin and the Venison but wasn’t sure about the Lamb.

The Chateau Fleur de Jean Gué Lalande de Pomerol is a Merlot with some Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blended in. At first there wasn’t much of a nose to the wine, but as it sat and opened up, there was a nice berry and smoke aroma. The Merlot was very dark in colour and had a good full body to it. It was a good match for the Tenderloin, and great match for the Venison and an OK match for the Lamb Shank.

Mick ended up ordering a California Pinot Noir that the 1010 had by the glass. He really liked it; unfortunately I forgot to write down the name of it.

The 2000 Chateau Fleur de Jean Gué Lalande de Pomerol was fun to try and a nice wine but it didn’t blow me away. I couldn’t find any information on it at the LCBO or the Wine Spectator. My recommendation on buying this wine is to spend your money on something else as I have had better wines for less money. Hey, they all can’t be winners can they?

Dessert was accompanied by a couple of glasses of Taylor Fladgate 20 year old port which I passed on, but was told that it was up to its usual standard of excellence. The night was a great night of friends and food at one of Hamilton’s better restaurants.

Cheers!

Mark.