The long weekend starts with a series of private dinners and I attended a magnificent one last night at the cliff-hanging over the Potomac mansion of Dr. & Mrs. Pierre Asmar. About twenty of us starting the evening noshing on the likes of SHORT RIB WONTON with LIME PICKLE on AOILI HERB CROSTINI, TOMATO CONFIT, NASTURTIUM (which I had to look up in a BIG dictionary and it is an herb flower). There was a wild SALMON EGG and SAKE SHOOTER with SPECK BURRATA and FENNEL POLLEN. These were like a cross between mini-sushi shooters and a Bloody Mary! A real treat was the French goat cheese mixed with Brie and slightly melted on
a simple toasted bread with herbs!!
All this with an excellent POL ROGER BRUT CHAMPAGNE N/V which flowed easily as we gazed over the Great Falls below and the sky darkened ominously.
We were ushered into the dining room and I was seated next to the three vignerons (wine guys) from France who introduced their wines, bantered hysterically throughout the meal about the "left" and "right" banks in Bordeaux, and were just such nice guys!
Marcel DUCASSE from the largest of the three vineyards, Chateau LAGRANGE (in Saint Julien) spoke about his first wine, CHATEAU LES ARUMS de LAGRANGE 2004 a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon and 10% Muscadet more of as a sideline,as these are BIG red producers. The wine was superb and paired nicely with the SPICED TUNA LOIN, CELERY ROOT PUREE, HAZELNUTS and CRISPY LOMO. The dish could easily have worked with a red wine, but a white was nice and refreshing as well. Second at bat was the owner of CHATEAU CORBIN from across the river in St. Emilion. Sebastien BARDINET had left his wife in charge as well as a one month old Henri, who we all toasted with his excellent CHATEAU CORBIN 2001. Our next course arrived and was a marvelous RISOTTO with FOIE GRAS, MUSHROOMS and RED WINE EMULSION. Two more Bordeaux were poured with this course, and the flow never seemed to stop all evening. The eloquent EMMANUEL CRUSE of the smallest CHATEAU d'ISSAN (in Margaux) introduced his 1999 which was simply elegant, and then we had the 1995 Chateaux Lagrange, all three side by side was a great way to compare wines, vintages and so much more. It was completely mind boggling. So much so that even Washington Post wine critic Ben Gilberti across the table seemed overwhelmed.
The GRILLED PRIME BEEF with RED QUINOA and SHORT RIB JUS was as simple and rare as a dish can be. It allowed us to enjoy the excellent meat without overwhelming the excellent wines. Our final two reds with this course were the 1998 Issan and Lagrange, both of which reigned supreme, although I insisted on an extra glass of the Lagrange, which I enjoyed into my dessert:
TIRAMISU TRUFFLE with PRESERVED LEMON ICES was a wonderful dish, but really begged for the red wine as the elegant CHATEAU COUTET 1989 SAUTERNES that was served was just wrong with the rich chocolatey dish. I had my Lagrange with the dessert, and then enjoyed a second sweet rich dessert in the glass of old Sauternes, so beautifully amber and soft.
After getting lost twice trying to find the house, I was able to find my way home much more easily, and would love to return to another Private Dinner again next year, and intend to get to Chef Myer's SONA in LA soon as well. In the meantime, we can know that he will cook, along with 28 other chefs, and also 29 different Bordeaux vintners will serve their wines at the main auction and benefit this Saturday night!
