Good, Wine & Friends Page 115
As 2006 gave way to 2007, we gathered out on the
Left Coast of the United States at Paul and Sandy's wonderful beach house.
Bob and I picked up the freshly-shucked oysters and made tracks for Pescadero
arriving just in time to start the festivities.
Henry was in charge of opening the jeroboam of bubbly, a Roederer Estate from
Mendocino's Anderson Valley.
The bubbly was poured into the glasses on the tray and passed around...
Everyone had a flute of bubbly, but we seemed to have mis-counted the
stemware. Henry was missing a glass...
...until Paul took the decorations out of the table's centerpiece and revealed a
Henry-sized flute!
Of course, Henry was delighted by this
"challenge."
Much to Alexia's relief (and Henry's dismay),
the Obesters found a normal-sized glass for Henry!
The Viking in the crowd was ready for the
challenge of the big flute...
The appetizers were waiting...
Sandy's gravlax and Cucumber jelly.
Oysters and prawns...
Alexia turned her deaf ear to Paul as he explained about his latest trout
fishing expedition.
Bob went diving for oysters...
Sandy made a fantabulous duck terrine, too.
Even Princess Alanna was able to hoist a glass of bubbly...
An unusual photo of Amy...no wine glass in hand!
Sandy, meanwhile, was busy in the kitchen preparing the almond-crusted Shrimp
Cakes and the Scallion Pancakes.
We had two wonderful and contrasting 2004 White Burgundies...
The Chteau de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet "La Dent de Chien"
was deep in fruit and lavishly oaked...the Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet
"Clavoillon" was very smoky and leesy...lovely and crisp on the
palate, too.
We had a toast to our recently-departed, dear friend Dr. Marjorie Noble-Martin.
Bob was "up" next, whacking up the foie gras.
Jesper, Dane and Amy.
We opened a bottle of Sauternes to pair with the foie gras.
Bob brought a black truffle to shave atop the truffle.
After that deliciously decadent course, Sandy got busy
again...
A couple of Gewurztraminers from Alsace were paired with the
Vietnamese Noodles and Veggies.
The Domaine Weinbach 2004 Gewurztraminer was fruity and ripe, with some lychee
notes. The 2003 Meyer-Fonne was redolent of rose petals.
We had a palate-refreshing sorbet next...
It was made of Muscat d'Alsace, lemon and tarragon.
I decanted Alexia's bottles of Domaine de Chevalier...a 1978
and 1988 as Paul worked on the roasted veal.
The veal was paired with freshly-caught Chanterelles which
Henry! foraged in the wilds of Woodside.
The 1978 Domaine de Chevalier displayed notes of tobacco and was perfectly
mature. The 1988 was still youthful and showed nice, black fruit tones of
the Cabernet. It can be cellared, probably, for another decade, or more!
Amy is not a big fan of foie gras or veal...
Paul baked some breads for the cheese course...
Jesper baked a delicious chocolate cake for our
enjoyment. We paired it with a sweet, old dessert wine from the Maury
appellation in France. This was a recently-bottled wine from 1937.
Maury is located in the Roussillon region and is, for the major part, made of
Grenache Noir. This was certainly an old wine, but it still had some
vitality and a bit of fruit. We found a nutty tone, too. It was
sweet and had a nice finish, but it's lighter than a mature Vintage Port, for
example.
Henry and Alexia had disappeared by this time and I was
starting to nod off, so I said my "good nights" and went downstairs to
achieve "horizontality."
What a wonderful dining experience!
The next morning we awoke to a beautiful view of the Pacific
Ocean and the smell of croissants and brioche baking in the oven...
The Danish Baker displays some of his "Flour Power."
Jesper, Alexia and Bob enjoying breakfast...
Paul spooning some "raw honey" on a fresh-baked pastry that's flakier
than me...
We then opened a few little "gifts"...
Looks can be deceiving.
German Shampoo, ohne kse, for a "cheese head."
Just at the right moment the phone rang with "New Year's Greetings"
from Gaby and Norbert...
Dane was busy working on his new "Hot Wheels."
Alanna, meanwhile, was dealing with her new Etch-A-Sketch...
Paul, ever the aviator, got out his little remote-controlled
helicopter and amused everyone.
We then sat down in the solarium to enjoy the view and a cup
of coffee.
Tiger.
Bob.
Jesper and the kids meandered down to the beach, looking for
shark's teeth.
And so it was time to drive off into the new year....
And this year started off with a boost for the Fitz-Jensen caravan!
Happy New Year to all and thanks for the great party!!!
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