Some friends wanted us to stay on their boat in Charleston, SC and go out to eat.
I thought it would be more fun to stay on the boat and eat there. All (3 couples) agreed so we did.
We started eating about 6:30 and didn't stop until after mid-night.
The wine were mostly wonderful:
Starting with an William Fevre '06 Champs Royaux Chablis that seem to be getting better and better. (90+pts) (with shrimp)
With the hummus and shrimp we opened an La Chablisienne '05 La Sereine. This is on point and beautiful. (90 pts). I was lucky enough to visit this coop a few years ago. Most impressive.
My wife had prepared a lobster bisque (Cognac and all) and with it we had a '04 Cornin Pouilly-Fussie. The light oak was perfect with the brandied bisque. (91 pts.)
Then on to a '98 Sociando Mallet that is starting to show some age, and was not as good as a year ago, but decent (86 pts.)
The '01 DuHart-Milon was bright and ready, but not what you would expect at this level. (88 pts)
By this time we were into a grilled rib-eye from Whole Foods and we had a '00 Pavilon Rouge de Margaux (decanted). This started out nicely but towards the end it became sublime. How often have I done that. Rush the wine and miss the best part. The last 1/3 of the bottle was a solid 94 pts. Live & Learn!
Then on to the champers!
Started with an Alfred Gratien NV with a citrus and avocado salad. This is one of my favorite NV's. Perfect. (92 pts)
Then on to a Charles Ellner NV to finish the salad and get ready for the "ball to drop". (90 pts)
Then with tiramasu we poured the Cliqueot NV Rose. I was impressed with the strength of this wine. It was fabulous and could have stood up to much bigger fare. Excellant! (92 pts)
Glad to see '08 come to an end and can only hope for better (not better wine) in the new year.
Happy New Year to all!
