Just A Little Something For The Final, "Date Night"

“Bennett for my last official Thursday at The Wine Country I am going to bring a bottle from my cellar to share with everyone, you want to bring one too?” Amy asked our domestic wine buyer Bennett Traub. Bennett has been a collector for like 30 years so when he chooses to share something with us it is always something with plenty of age and a treat that we all look forward to. Amy offered to pick up some snacks and we met at Merritt’s pad for a night of nibbles and wine. Bennett’s offerings…..

We started with a bottle of R.H. Coutier Grand Cru Brut, moved on to some Duval-Leroy, (the Paris bottle. Thank you Michael Para, very sweet of you to drop off that bottle for us to share!) and then into Amy’s bottle, a 2000 Jobard Meursault En la Barre. The Jobard was still so young, took a little time and vigorous swirling to wake it up but man….what a lovely Chardonnay. Slightly nutty, loaded with minerals and baked citrus, white flowers and pear on the plate with mouth tingling acidity on the finish.

We moved on to the Lafon, (it was also interesting as it was from Clos de la Barre) and I think this was the first pre-Dominique Lafon I have ever had. Brilliant color, nose full of baked pears, roasted nuts and caramel. In the mouth the wine was heavy, supple, sexy…luscious, the way it slowly rolled across the palate gentle and heavy with roasted fruit, nuts and cream….absolutely delicious.

Amy had picked up some duck pate which I guess, (cannot ingest the filter meats…ick) went beautifully with the 1979 Rieussec Sauternes that Bennett brought but my aversion to innards had me looking to the hunk of Roquefort….um, yeah goose bumps. The wine had lost a bunch of its upfront sweetness but in its place was this rich, deep, mouth coating indescribable, (such a copout but I have no words, no flavors to compare it to) ethereal glass of something that seemed beyond wine. Deep, slightly savory, peaches, honey….breathtaking.



We spent so long emoting over the wines and picking at the snacks that our plans to go get some Korean BBQ were killed, they were closed so we ended up getting some crappy pizza and a couple of cocktails and Amy, (who is our houseguest until we fly out to Texas tomorrow night) and I stayed up until 2 in the morning chatting, laughing and talking about what we love most, wine, our boys and each other….cannot imagine a better way to honor our little Thursday evening ritual, simply one of the best date nights ever. Thank you Bennett, the wines were unreal. Thank you Merzie for offering your pad and hosting. Thank you Amy…just thank you.