Saint Emilion, France
25-12-2010
By now I realize it’s very belated, but Merry Christmas. I am working hard to try and catch up to more present times, but as you can see and read there is a lot to talk about, as I, like the French, really do like to celebrate their food and wine.
So Christmas day was the last full day that Margaux and I would be spending together, and it was also the last day that we would have the Smart Car, so we decided to spend the day on a day trip across the Gironde to Saint Emilion. A small charming town that is a wine lover’s Mecca to say the least, much like Bordeaux proper and Graves the vineyards literally back right up to the city. We figured most everything would be closed, but remained hopeful that we would be able to find a place to have lunch after walking around the store fronts. Well I am happy to report that we lucked out tremendously with Amelia Canta. The town itself is very small, and this brasserie is located in the main place in the center of it all, hard to miss.
The place was pretty full when we arrived and, everyone seemed to be in good spirits, maybe because of the holiday, but maybe because of the good libations too. The wine menu was well supplied with many different Saint Emilion wines spanning a few vintages. It is kind of funny that the whole time in Bordeaux, Europe as a whole in fact, I have not had a single bottle of wine decanted, even offered. No sweat I figure, as the whole atmosphere does seem to be a bit laid back, but still… Well I am happy to report that up to this point this was the best wine service given. I want to stress to people reading, and it may seem like a little thing, but ALWAYS cut your foil cap below the lip of the bottle-never above! And always wipe the lip before you begin to pour. Both these actions were, for the first time in France in fact, done correctly! I mention the decanting only because the wine I selected was a half bottle of Chateau Laroze Saint Emilion Grand Cru 1999. It definitely needed some air and it did through sediment. But let’s talk food first.
We were on a bit of a time constraint and so we went for the 2 course pre-fix menu, a main and a dessert. This may shock you based on past articles, but I went with the Duck! Crazy me, I know, haha. It was the best single dish I had in my whole time in France, barely eclipsing the cake from Beaune because I couldn’t eat the cake every day, but the duck I could. It was a perfectly braised leg with a great skin, full of flavor. It was finished in an Orange sauce that was screaming with the duck. A simple potato cake and a warm slaw were the accompanying sides. Simple, fresh and flavorful, I could ask for nothing more. Margaux also got the duck and was very pleased as well. Considering the menu for the 2 courses was something like 16 Euro I felt very satisfied.
Dessert had a few options, and we picked two different selections. Margaux went for an apple dessert that is hard to explain, but was easy to enjoy. I’m not sure what to call it, but from the picture you get a good idea. I decided to go a new route for me, learning my lesson in avoiding chocolate to save myself disappointment, and went for a Raspberry Pain Perdut. So simple, so easy and so tasty, especially with my last few sips of wine! Sure a long processed, contrived extravagant dish can be amazing, but a simple dish can be just as good.
And back to the wine, let’s talk about it for a bit. My next post to follow this article will be my second visit to the Max Wine Gallery, which will be dedicated entirely to wines from the Right Bank of Bordeaux. This is Saint Emilion and Pomerol mostly. To coincide with that posting I will also be adding my amendment to my Bordeaux section so that you can read a bit and learn the simple facts about this area in Bordeaux. So I will save time and space here. Like I said it was Christmas day, and even a hard working Sommelier like me needs a break from the rigors of recording his wine notes, no nothing was written, only cataloged mentally. The wine was very consistent with what to expect from a Saint Emilion wine in color and concentration. The flavors I recall were quite enjoyable, red fruits well preserved despite its age, although they had begun to mellow and tinge more on the dry side. This wine was definitely all about the secondary flavors of tobacco, cigar, and coffee tones, intermixed with the abundant warm red clay soil earthiness. I thought overall the wine showed well and was pretty much reaching its peak drinking window, especially in the half bottle format. You could hold onto it for a few more years, but I do not see it improving at this point, but will be great for a while longer. It was about 24 Euro for it I believe, which I felt was fair for the age.
All in all the Christmas holiday was going great, we drove around a bit and found Chateau Cheval Blanc, which was kind of a mess as the facility is going through major construction projects, and also got to drive by Chateau Figeac. Never could find Chateau Petrus, also we tried….but ran out of time and had to get the car back. Margaux and I were very excited though, as Christmas dinner was shaping up to be, and ultimately would end up, the culmination of an amazing gastronomic and vinonomic experience through France. Salute!
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