Saturday Night - Julie/Julia and Mick – Part 3

Click here for Part 1

 

For the main course Mick did a NY Strip Steaks with a peppercorn sauce recipe that was also a Julia Childs recipe.  He served this with homemade French Fries and Asparagus.  The meal was paired with a 2003 Chateau St Jean Cinq Cepages.  The Cinq Cepages is a Bordeaux style red wine blend.

 

The nose on the wine was beautiful with strong aromas of cherry, green pepper, cedar and black pepper (really, there was black pepper in the wine’s aroma and not from Mick’s peppercorn sauce!).   Tasting the wine black cherry and chocolate were the main flavours with a hint of vanilla in the background.  The structure on the wine was the failing point as it came across hot and acidic and really needed more fruit and more tannin to balance/round out the wine.  It was a good pairing with the meal but I think this was more of a case of the excellent food helping out the wine vs. the other way round.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 87, Mark - 86, Kathy – 86, Amy – 86, Overall – 86.25.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

CHATEAU ST. JEAN CINQ CÉPAGES 2008
VINTAGES 710913
750 mL bottle
Price $ 75.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Treasury Wine Estates
Release Date: Dec 8, 2012
Wine, Red Wine
14.4% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
All other wines that match this varietal »
Sugar Content: 5 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Description -  Cinq Cépages refers to the five Bordeaux varieties used to make this wine.

Tasting Note -  The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Cinq Cepages is an explosive wine endowed with tons of depth and richness. It is an impeccably textured wine graced with notable size and elegance. Blackberry jam, savory herbs, graphite, tar and licorice inform the exuberant, polished finish. The 2008 relies heavily on fruit from vineyards in Knights Valley, with the addition of fruit from Alexander and Sonoma Valleys. In 2008 the blend is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2028. Score - 94. (Antonio Galloni, erobertparker.com, Feb. 2012) 
*Note this is for the 2008 and not the 2003 reviewed here

Cinq Cepages is a funny wine, as if you hit the right year it can more than compete with wines at almost double its price, hit the wrong year and you have trouble justifying its $75 price point.
Mick’s peppercorn steak and fry dish was amazing.  The peppercorn sauce was perfect, just enough bite from the pepper but not enough to make it overbearing.  His steaks were cooked to an exact medium rare and were so flavourful it was incredible.  The homemade French fries were to die for and I think you’d be truly hard-pressed to find better fries on the planet.  This truly was an amazing dish all around.

For dessert, Amy picked up a Carrot cake which capped off the evening nicely.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and to Mick for some wonderful dishes and his hard work for making them.

Cheers!

Mark