An absolutely fantastic meal and wines to match. Chef Cox prepared a great meal that perfectly matched with a lineup of California Pinot Noir bling. The company was great and the conversation sparkled.

The menu:

Amuse or Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Poached Gulf Shrimp

1988 Salon - Slightly yeasty nose with almost still, very faint, very tiny bubbles. Absolutely delish. Oh how wonderfully an aged Champagne begins a meal.

I. Pan Roasted Piopinno Mushromms, Fresh Corn Polenta, Mushroom Jus
This course was heavenly. The creamy corn polenta sweet from the corn milk was the perfect foil for the perfectly roasted mushrooms. Everyone had to sit back between every bite to savor it. I only regret they took away my plate before I could wipe up every drop of the sauce with the wonderful, crusty bread.

2000 Martinelli Herford Corner PN - starting to muddy in color, it was a little citric/acidic on the back of the throat but still lots of fruit.

2000 Tandum Pisoni - Big wine, huge floral nose. Lots of fruit, very smooth and a long finish. Tied for my WOTN, if only by a nose.

2003 Patz and Hall Pisoni - Chewy, not as as big as the Tandum bu a very nice nose, and lots of fruit.


II. Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Fuji Apples, Frisse, Aged Balsamico
Oh boy I do love Foie Gras. Creamy and perfectly seared, it melted in your mouth. The balsamico and apples offering a wonderful sweet/sour counterpoint.

1997 Chateau de Malle Sauterne - Apples and honey with touches of vanilla. Nice acidity that kept it from being too sweet. Yum.

2004 Henry of Pelham Riesling Special Select Late Harvest - Very sweet, especially compared to the de Malle. Went well with the foie gras.


III. Wild Alaskan Halibut, Raviloi Vitello, Wilted Spinich, Pinot Noir Reduction
The veal raviloi with the halibut was an interesting pairing that worked very well.

2003 Alcina Sangiacomo Pinot Noir - A nose of beef and little barnyard. Nice fruit, cherry and blackberry, toasty oak, spices. Lots of alcohol in this one at 14.3%

2004 Rivers-Marie Summa Vineyard Pinot Noir - Elegant, medium bodied, nose of cranberrys and rasberrys. Lots of fruit and very smooth. Gave the Tandum a run for WOTN.


IV. Breast Of Muscovy Duck, Glazed Turnips, Poached Local Peaches, Duck Jus
Boy-oh-Boy. This was so good. Perfectly cooked, the peaches and turnips giving it an interesting mosaic of textures and flavors.

2003 Siduri Pinot Noir Cargasacchi Vineyard - More extracted that the wines so far, cherrys and plums with a little loam and vanilla. then touches of cola. Went very well with the duck, definitely a great food wine.

2004 Sea Smoke Ten - little acidic, way too young to open, this needs to spend at least 2 more years in the cellar and probably 5. Blueberrys and cherry, complex but just not showing well yet. However, it is going to be a stunner as it ages.

2004 Kosta-Browne RRV - The other WOTN. Blackberrys, cherrys, and raspberrys with a wonderful earthy loam. Smooth and ripe, firm tannins, what a great wine.

V. 3 Year Gouda, Mustard Vinaigrette, Crispy Shallots

2003 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Pinot Noir - Lots and lots of fruit, spices, and just the right touch of oak. Very smooth.

2003 Peay Pinot Noir Sonoma - Concentrated black cherrys and berrys, a touch of minerals, and a long, long finish.

VI. Mascarpone Cheese Cake, Bruleed Black Mission Figs - creamy and just the perfect end to a fantastic meal.

Service was great and they did a good job trying to keep up with the flurry of glasses needed to serve the wines. We closed the place and everyone had a great time. Nice to see faces that have been absent for a while from our gatherings.

What Dinwiddie said....

T-Rep

I'll chime in more thoroughly tomorrow with my notes, but it was quite a lot of fun last night.

Great notes Dinwiddie. Great evening. To my surprise, the Rivers Marie was my wine of the night. It improved in the glass all night. Although a completely different style, the Kosta Browne RRV was my second favorite. The Seasmoke Ten was too young and was very acidic. I have my doubts whether this will ever balance out. Unfortunately for me, I am forced to look for pinot mailers to drop. Sea Smoke and Alcina were my two mailer casualties last night. Let's be sure to make a return visit to Circle Bistro.

DW, that was a good report. I'll comment on the wines later, but here are my comments on the food --

Amuse of Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Poached Gulf Shrimp
This was delicious. I 'settled' the gazpacho in the tall shooter glass a few times to get the stuff to the bottom to properly get it all out. Used a knife to scrape the dregs. Yum.

I. Pan Roasted Piopinno Mushromms, Fresh Corn "Polenta", Mushroom Jus
This course was sublime. I'd only wished the portion here was larger so I could've experienced more of it. The layers of flavour with the corn were amazing and the mushrooms formed a great counterpoint. Wow. Tied for my COTN (course of the night).

II. Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Fuji Apples, Frisse, Aged Balsamico
Dinwiddie nailed describing this course. Pure foie perfection.

III. Wild Alaskan Halibut, Raviloi Vitello, Wilted Spinich, Pinot Noir Reduction
I thought this course was brilliant. I thought each component of the dish was great, but it shined most brightly when you tasted all of the things together. I'd not have thought to pair this together, but was very pleased with the result. Tied for COTN, too.

IV. Breast Of Muscovy Duck, Glazed Turnips, Poached Local Peaches, Duck Jus
While I thought this dish was good, I thought it was the weakest dish of the bunch. The dusk was well prepared, sure, but all of the components were. No, I think that the combination of flavors did not do it for me. Turnips and duck I can see working, as can the peaches and duck. But I did not really dig all three of these things together. Not a bad effort by any means, but, to me, clearly not up to the level of some of the other dishes.

V. 3 Year Gouda, Mustard Vinaigrette, Crispy Shallots
This was great. All of it worked well together and separately. I loved the crispy shallots and plan to lift the idea for cooking at home in the future. I saved a nice hunk of the cheese to finish with the remaining wine.

VI. Mascarpone Cheese Cake, Bruleed Black Mission Figs
I like the components of this dish. I love cheesecake, particularly that made with mascarpone. And I adore figs. But I didn't think this paired so well. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't think the pairing worked very well. So I ate the component separately and was very happy.

The service was great. The staff took great care of us, particularly with all of the wine glasses. I was not expecting them to commit so many glasses to us over the course of the evening. I was expecting maybe 3 stems tops to be given to us. But they kept bringing new ones which was very nice. I had 6 wines in front of me at one point. The trick was remembering which wine was which. It was also great to meet the chef and I was glad to be able to speak with him for a short bit.

I also thought it was funny that some of us either couldn't find the wine we wanted to bring, or discovered we'd already drunk it before (like me!).

Good notes guys!

In short, a nice night. Pinot wise, I liked the River Marie, which was showing well. I thought generally that all of the 2003 and 2004 Pinots were too young.

Food was good and well-prepared, Course 1 (mushrooms and corn) was my favorite, followed by the Foie. The Halibut and Duck were average courses to me, and the cheese and cheesecake unimpressive. I'd certainly go back, though.

i third the Rivers Marie as Pinot OTN. I wasn't getting as much from the "big boys" Sea Smoke, or even the KBs. Maybe i didn't let them open up enough.

I enjoyed the Patz & Hall 03 Pisoni over the Tandem 00 pisoni. the 03 was fuller and didn't have quite the pronounced "olive"-like flavor. TJ and trep and I were trying to figure out what it was...

The Alcina was indeed beefy and banyard-y. it eventually calmed down some but it didn't make me a fan. I don't recall the Alcina at Dave;s House tasting like that at all.

the mushroom course was extremely tasty. my fish was a tad dry, but the other parts of the dish made up for it.

the champagne had a gentle bead of very fine bubbles and i thought was showing very nice yeast and nut flavors (hazelnut and a few others) with a long finish. it wasn't as complex and I didn't get as much of the deep caramel as i did in the 85 but i still thought it was wonderful. my overall WOTN.

I enjoyed the citrus and minerality of the late harvest over the creamy feel of the sauturne although both went very well with the foie gras.

Sounds like you guys had a great time!

Sounds like a good time!

Thanks for the report everyone. Sounds like a great time.

This sounds like a great time -- thanks for the great write ups and this will teach me not to travel to ocean side resorts in tropical locations -- Not