Monday night "MEATLOAF" (Musigny, Montrachet and Petrus)

Dinner with a client last night took me to La Panetiere in Rye. La Panetiere is one of my favorite restaurants in the area. The mansion is beautiful. The service is impeccable and the food is terrific. Last night was no exception. I was glad to see some other diners on a Monday evening, as well. Good sign for the economy. It should be noted that La Panetiere no longer requires men to wear jackets, as it used to.

Food wise, we both started with the escargot, which was topped with some toasted crushed nuts. Previous to that, the amuse was fish soup. Not a favorite for me A method I had never seen before, but it was delicious. After the snails, the restaurant brought us a terrine of Foie Gras (made up for the fish soup, for me). I never turn down Foie Gras. one of the things that makes La Panetiere's Foie Gras so tasty is the toasted brioche bread served with it.

For an entree, I did the veal cheeks and sweetbread. Yes, heading for the heart attack (I had no idea we were getting foie gras). The mushrooms that accompanied my entree were delightful.

We finished with cheese (with the Petrus) and the equivalent of a baked apple for dessert. I think they gave us a pound of cheese per person...

Onto the wines...

2006 Domaine Baron Thenard Montrachet: I double decanted this about 90 minutes before the meal. Should have done it earlier. Thenard is an estate in Givry that has been around for a couple hundred years, typically selling off their fruit annually. The Montrachet goes to Remoissenet, historically. 2006 is the first vintage that they have produced enough, on their own, to be imported into the United States. This wine was really singing, after about 30 minutes in the glass. The acidity mellowed out, and honey/fruit flavors exploded. My client commented how easy to drink it was, and meant it as a positive. We had no problem polishing off the bottle.

1964 Faiveley Musigny: This is a bottle of wine that I have been eyeing for quite a bit on La Panetiere's wine list. And when you are having dinner with a great client, it seems like as good a time as any, to pop one. The first btl brought over had a slightly lower fill than I would have liked, so they ended up bringing up another btl that looked much better. The btl was opened and sat, recorked, as we finished off the Montrachet. Then, the first glasses were poured and the aromas poured out of the glass. Wow, you knew this going to be good. We actually took the cork out of the btl for a bit, to let the wine breathe a little more, as we both agreed, the wine could open up even more. This wine was a pleasure to drink. Soft and silky, this wine danced around your mouth. Fairly rich, and intense (considering the vintage). Truth be told, I let the last glass of this sit in my glass and did fade and become austere as the fruit dried out. The bottle had been open for an hour at that point. If we had dinner for 4, we would have never seen the wine fizzle out, as it all would have been consumed quicker. Nevertheless, an outstanding effort, and happy to have had the opportunity to drink it.

1990 Ch Petrus: My client was insistent on ordering something after the Faiveley. I said it was very unnecessary. He looked over the list and talked about 1926 Ausone or 1929 Cos. I excused myself to the bathroom, for a brief moment. Upon my return, he had opted for 1990 Petrus. He said he could not resist. Who was I to argue? This wine was a baby. My client mentioned that it was almost California Cabernet like in style. That could be, but for 20 year old wine, the youthfulness really shocked me. 1992 Grange last week was youthful but very drinkable. 1990 Petrus, in my opinion, needs to sit down for another decade. We decanted the btl and sat with it for an hour. It just never really opened up. You could tell that the fruit was there and the nose was getting more enjoyable, but this was like killing a baby, only the baby was 19 years old. Who would have thought?