Tuesday night we headed back to La Miche (www.lamiche.com) in Bethesda, where our last wine dinner was a bit less than memorable. This time the event, the wines, the service and the food was a total hit.
Our wines were from ROCCHE CASTAMAGNA in Piemonte in Italy and they were all quite superb starting with a 2007 ARNEIS which was served with GOAT CHEESE & BASIL RAVIOLI with BLACK TRUFFLES. In my memory, this is the first time I have ever had Chef Jason Tepper's pasta, and he did the tasty little pillows great justice with a wow of a sauce.
WILD BURGUNDY ESCARGOTS loaded with garlic came next and was served with a BABERA d'ALBA 2005 which was an excellent full bodied red that was perfect with the dish, but it was the DOLCETTO d'ALBA 2005 that usually is a lighter red that really blew us away with its wonderful full body and intensity. This was served with a TROUT Fillet topped with crunchy PANCETTA that was a great touch to the superb fish.
Our entree was the VEAL RIB CHOP which is always great at La Miche and the other night it was in a superb MUSHROOM LEMON CREAM Sauce and served with WILD MUSHROOM POLENTA CAKE; it was a truly wonderful dish heralding the cooler weather that was to arrive today! The BAROLO "Bricco Francesco" 2003 was a huge wine and sadly not ready to drink yet, but I would love to taste it again in 5 years! Indeed, we returned to the wonderful Dolcetto for seconds!
Dessert was a GREEN APPLE SORBET that I could have traded, but was so full, I did not care and the glass of LEMONCELLO was just the perfect end to a great meal with great friends!
