This morning I watched Stage 8 of the Tour de France and then we made breakfast by using a container of PPI chicken Adobo with spinach and beans Willy left in the refrigerator yesterday. I cut the chicken breast into chunks and then Suzette sautéed the chicken with the spinach and beans and when warmed made crevices in the ingredients for three eggs. She then covered the skillet with a lid and poached the eggs until they became partially firm. After breakfast I called Antonio, who came by to buy the Cruiser. Antonio is a photographer who sometimes teaches as an adjunct professor at UNM. I was thrilled that he liked my art and asked questions. I showed him the entire collection after we did the paperwork.
J
While I was transporting the cruiser to Antonio’s house and showing him the art collection, Suzette went to the garden and picked a bowl of sorrel leaves and then made sorrel pesto with sorrel, pine nuts, olive oil, butter, and raisins.
When I returned from Antonio’s I had a lovely surprise waiting for me. Suzette had made us lunch; bowls of cucumber soup garnished with croutons, steamed asparagus, and Deviled Eggs flavored with fresh Tarragon.
Then we worked in the garden a bit and set up the table and chairs for dinner in the garden by laying cushions on the concrete brick side wall of the southern raised bed and 5 chairs around the ends and south side of a six foot long table.
I also cleared the dining room table of papers from my tax prep, just in case it rained.
Then we napped and at 4:00 I showered and dressed for the party. At 5:00 we sat in the living room and had a cocktail and talked.
Dinner guests started arriving at 6:00 eave with a dish and a bottle of wine. I had organized the menu by letting each couple choose a dish. The dishes and progression of the meal was as follows: Janis and Tom brought a platter with crab cakes and tartar sauce and a herb dip made with sour cream, basil, thyme, and dill with water biscuits and a bottle of an elegantly light 2016 Mohua Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough wine district of New Zealand. The wine is named for a small bird indigenous to New Zealand’s South Island that has become an endangered species.
The wine went perfectly with the tender crab cakes. I could still taste the crab, corn, and celery in the crab cakes along with the light clean character of the Sauvignon Blanc; a perfect match. Being able to taste the crab is a very significant compliment, because many crab cakes add filler of different types that obscure the elusive sweetness of the crab meat. Wine Spectstor gives Mohua 90 points, which made it the best wine of the evening.
Since there were eight of us, we drained the bottle of Mohua before we finished Janis’ appetizers, so I opened a bottle of 2015 Famille Bougrier Vouvray Vielles Vignes Grand Reserve Chenin Blanc, which had a heavier sweeter cast to it and lacked elegance compared to the lighter Mohua. In fact the Chenin Blanc is a good example of how Total Wine dresses up inferior wine to look like superior wine. The Famille Bougrier are wine merchants who buy wine from lots of different producers and blend them into something that is representative of a Medium bodied Chenin Blanc. Here are the wine notes from Wine Enthusiast, which is more generous than I was on the grading.
Bougrier 2015 V Grande Réserve Vieilles Vignes (Vouvray)
86
POINTS
This is a medium-sweet wine, full of honey and lemon flavors. A rich character balances sweetness with apple fruit and acidity. It's ready to drink.
PRICE $17, Buy Now
DESIGNATION V Grande Réserve Vieilles Vignes
VARIETY Chenin Blanc
APPELLATION Vouvray, Loire Valley, France
WINERY Bougrier
ALCOHOL 11%
BOTTLE SIZE 750 ml
CATEGORY White
IMPORTER Saranty Imports
DATE PUBLISHED 12/31/2016
USER AVG RATING Not rated yet [Add Your Review]
The rain had stopped so we decided to move from under the patio awning to the table we had set up in the garden. After the table was set up, Suzette grilled the two salmon fillets she had placed on cedar planks we had purchased yesterday that she cut to the length of the salmon fillets today and soaked in the tub until saturated with water.
After she placed the salmon on the grill we slathered the tops of the fish with the sorrel pesto Suzette had made in the morning.
In about fifteen minutes when the salmon was cooked Wayne and Elaine brought out the large platter they brought filled with salad ingredients in segregated areas on the platter. The ingredients included blanched string beans, mung bean sprouts and fresh chopped cucumber slices, Savoy cabbage, and red leaf lettuce, plus slices of mango
They had made a lovely peanut sauce to drizzle over the salad ingredients that had an interesting and distinctive spiciness derived from the addition of shiracha.
We used Suzette’s pre-WWII Noritake china she received from her mother and father.
We served pieces of salmon and poured the bottle of 2015 Les Champs des Plantes Appellation Pouilly-Fume white Loire wine Blanc from Total Wine. This was another Sauvignon Blanc and another Loire Valley wine but this was from the up river area nearer the Sancerre area.
Here is some information on the appellation.
Pouilly Fumé has an unusual flavor for a dry white wine: a strong flavor of musk and smoked.
Pouilly sur Loire is a different wine made with Chasselas grape variety. It should be drunk young. When the phylloxera destroyed all the vines 2 centuries ago, vine growers replace them with Sauvignon to create the Pouilly Fumé. Nowadays Pouilly sur Loire makes less than 5% of the production of Pouilly.
Pouilly is very close from Sancerre, just on the other side of the river. However both wines are a little bit different. Pouilly Fumé is probably thicker, deeper and has more structure.
Do not confuse Pouilly Fumé with Pouilly Fuissé, a white wine from Burgundy.
Pouilly Fumé wine information :
Name:
Appellation Pouilly Fumé Controlée
Location:
Eastern part of the Loire Valley
East of Sancerre and Bourges
Places: Pouilly sur Loire, Saint Andelain, Tracy sur Loire, etc
Soil: Limestone
Clayey-limestone
Size: 850 ha (2,100 acres)
Production:
6 million bottles
White wine only!
Grapes:
Pouilly Fumé: Sauvignon
Pouilly sur Loire: Chasselas
Type of wines: Thick dry white wine
Age: 1 to 5 years
Vintages:
(recommended) 2003
Aromas:
Smoked
Broom
Acacia
Food:
Salmon
Chicken
Veal
Aperitif
Wine a Spectator gives this Pouilly-Fime an 87 rating.
Wine Spectator Magazine
Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is an American magazine specializing in tasting notes, industry news and wine-personality profiles. The magazine was founded by Bob Morrisey in 1976, and sold just three years later to Marvin Shanken, who moved the operation to its current headquarters in New York.
Each year the announcement of the magazine's Top 100 Wines and Wine of the Year in November is eagerly awaited. For the latest list of results, see: Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines 2014.
All 15 editions of Wine Spectator published each year include more than 400 tasting notes, and in some cases upwards of 1000. The wine critics who figure among Wine Spectator’s tasting and reviewing panel are James Laube, Harvey Steiman, Bruce Sanderson, Kim Marcus and James Molesworth. James Suckling wrote for the magazine between 1981 and 2010 but now has an independent website. Wine Spectator's online presence is at Winespectator.com.
Wine Spectator's 100-point wine-scoring scale:
95–100 – Classic: a great wine
90–94 – Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style
85–89 – Very good: a wine with special qualities
80–84 – Good: a solid, well-made wine
75–79 – Mediocre: a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws
50–74 – Not recommended
Wine Spectator's wine scores on Wine-Searcher:
Score range: 60 – 100 points
50% fall between: 87 – 91 points
Average score: 88.5 points
(Data: October 2015)
Last updated 12-Oct-2015
We all enjoyed sitting in the garden. We all seem to enjoy lighter healthier foods because everyone ate the salmon and salad. No one asked for bread.
After dinner most folks had had enough wine. I opened the La Marca Prosecco but there were few takers. Also, Clift and I went to the cellar and brought up the home made raspberry brandy and the Trimbach Raspberry Brandy but no one drank any except Suzette, Clift, and me.
Nancy’s Raspberry Tart was amazing. The crust was made with almond flour and almond extract, the top was filled with rows of large raspberries and glazed with a raspberry glaze. She did a fabulous job. A perfect ending to a meal that emphasized seasonal ingredients.
We started at 6:30 and ended by 9:30, a leisurely French style meal, simple dishes prepared with fresh ingredients served al fresco in the garden.
Bon Appetit
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