July 28, 2007 Terroir Restaurant and Wine Bar "Jewels of the Medoc" Second Growths from St. Julien Wine and Food Society of Oregon members, Greg and Cami Bunnell, hosted a Bordeaux tasting and dinner at the newly opened Terroir Restaurant and Wine Bar. Terroir owner and chef, Stu Stein, owner and muse, Mary Hinds, and their able staff prepared a wonderful five course dinner to compliment the Bordeaux. All of the Bordeaux tasted were Second Growths and from the small commune of St. Julien in Bordeaux. The wine from St. Julien, on the Left Bank, is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with some blending of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  Greg has teamed up with Stu on several prior events. For this WFSO event, he provided Stu with the wine offerings and let Stu come up with dishes that woulld showcase the wine. The group of twelve partaking in the dinner included hosts Greg and Cami Bunnell, WFSO members Bill and Pat Kimmer, Karl Mantei, Nora Berwick, Richard Stinson, Judy Erdman, Jim Atwood, Rhonda Atwood, and special guests Neal and Valerie Bell. Greg, Neal and Bill are also members of Willamette Wine Tasters, a group that has been sharing wine since the early 1970's. We started off the evening with four preludes that included sweet corn madeleines with sturgeon, an Oregon blue cheese mousse on an Oregon port gelee, Panisse fries with anchovy sauce, and leek and oyster tartlets. The oyster tartlets went especially well with the 1996 AR Lenoble Grand Cru Vintage Brut Blanc de Blancs champagne. We also tasted a 1995 Chartron et Trebuchet Batard Montrachet and a 2000 Domaine Bonneau de Martray Corton Charlemagne. Most agreed that the Batard Montrachet was the wine of the first flight.  Next came a bacon roasted roulade of rolled duck breast with bean ragout, which was paired with two 1998's, one from Ch. Gruaud Larose and the other from Ch. Leoville Barton. The Gruaud Larose had a classic Bordeaux nose, ample fruit and a finish that lasted forever. The Barton was fine, but had a difficult time being tasted side by side with the Gruaud Larose. As expected, Stu's food pairing was spot on with the duck breast that seemed to melt in your mouth.  The table was then plated with a New York strip in a salt crust with wild mushrooms and cress. With this course, we all sampled a 1981 Clos du Marquis, the second wine of Ch. Leoville Las Cases and donated by Jim Atwood, a 1983 Ch. Leoville Las Cases, a 1994 Ch. Leoville Las Cases, and a 2004 St. George courtesy of Karl Mantei. The 1983 Las Cases had something going on with it at the beginning, but the funk seemed to blow off after awhile. Most agreed that the 1994 Las Cases was the wine of the flight with its near perfect nose, good mouth feel and long finish. Karl's donation, from the Right Bank commune of St. Emillion, was a nice addition and showed how wine with predominantly Merlot, rather than Cabernet Sauvignon, compared with the Left Bank wines from the commune of St. Julien.  The group then moved to the fourth course, an artisan cheese tasting, that included a smoked goat rind chevre from River's Edge wrapped in smoked maple leaves that were misted with bourbon, an organic sheep milk gouda from Cypress Grove, and a blue-veined cow semi-soft cheese from Rogue Creamery. With the cheese plate, we tasted a 1975 Ch. Leoville Las Cases, a 1978 Ch. Leoville Las Cases, a 1985 Ch. Gruaud Larose and a 1986 Ch. Gruaud Larose. Although there was no clear favorite of this flight, most were surprised at how the 1975 Las Cases was holding up and agreed that the 1985 Gruaud Larose was the most well-balanced.  Greg then opened a little surprise for the goup and a wine not listed in the menu, a 1961 Ch. Gloria. There was some concern that the wine was past it's prime, but after some decanting and time, the wine showed beautifully. For most, this turned out to be the wine of the evening. We ended the evening with a 1997 Rene Renou Cuvee Anne, a late harvest Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley, along side the Grand Dessert, Vanilla "Three Ways." The individual creme brulee, with a hard candy, went extremely well with the dessert wine. A special thanks to Stu and Mary, and the staff of Terrior, for making this one special evening. Those attending all agreed that the food pairings selected by Stu were spot on, the service of the wait staff, with Mary at the helm, was exceptional, and the wine from the little commune of St. Julien was almost flawless. |