Food, Wine & Friends Page 197
December 2010
With the weather turning cold following some nice Summer-like
days in November, we found ourselves hankering for Choucroute Garnie.
So a trip to Dittmer's in Mountain View was made and on a Thursday night, we
pulled it together.
The festivities began with a bottle of Rene Mure's Cremant d'Alsace.
Constance opened the bubbly as Karen "Special K" Kuhlman looked on.
We had some simple nibbles with the bubbly...the Mure wine was
nice, mildly fruity more than yeasty and rather dry. Perfectly pleasant.
The young sommelier then opened a bottle of Gouailhardou Chablis.
This was a nice, young, fresh white wine. It has more fruit and wasn't
especially minerally or stony. We felt it showed more characteristics
similar to the wines of Macon than to those of Chablis.
The escargot were good...could have used a bit more garlic.
Eau yes!
A Beaujolais ice nicely refreshed the palate and prepared us
for the Choucroute...
Then, Choucroute time:
Smoked Pork Chops (Kasler Ripchen)...
We had three kinds of sausages...
And some potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes...
Constance opened a bottle of a Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer.
The Germano "Herzu" Riesling was good, although a bit less profound
than the other wines we opened. Still, it's a nice version of Riesling.
The best Riesling we had was a 2006 Grand Cru from Schlumberger.
It's from the Saering site and was wonderfully floral and fruity, with crisp
acidity and a minerally, stony element. Very fine.
Ellen and Brian enjoyed the vittles, too.
Shortly afterwards, Connie (apparently) said "Brian, pull my finger."
Dessert was an Ollalieberry Pie made by Duarte's (of
Pescadero) and sold "frozen" in a nearby store.
We had some vanilla ice cream with this...
The Zind-Humbrecht Gewurz from Clos Windsbuhl (2006) was remarkably
intense. It's mildly sweet and too intense for the main course, but quite
at home with dessert.
Karen and Mark were thoroughly busy with this...
And so we adjourned the proceedings...
Much fun to have a special seasonal dish on the perfect night of the season...
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