Thread: Swanson Dinner
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Richard Neidich Richard  Neidich is offline
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Default Swanson Dinner

You had me worried for a minute. I thought you were going to say you had
wine with a Swanson TV dinner.

:-)


"Bill S." > wrote in message
ups.com...
We did a Swanson dinner recently in Vancouver, with Clarke Swanson
attending.

2004 Rosato - made from Syrah, I found this rather deeply coloured
(red with an orange tint) rosé to lack much in the nose despite taking
care top warm it before passing judgement (many wines are served too
cold at a dinner to allow proper evaluation). There was an initial hit
of acidity but the wine tailed off swiftly at the end. It wasn't
flawed in the way that many Californian attempts at this sort of wine
are; it has sufficient acidity, it didn't have too much residual
sugar. It just wasn't very interesting. Things picked up from here.

With gratin of oyster and dried cherry sabayon (I had the good fortune
to have sat at a table of non-oyster appreciators and instead of 3
wound up with 6 or 7 of these little gems). Haven't hit it that lucky
since I sat beside someone that refused to eat seared foie gras, and
traded him my lobster for his little slice of heaven.

2004 Pinot Grigio - all right, I admit that I am predisposed to not
liking Californian Italian attempts after struggling through so many
things like Nebbiolos that were limp, atypical or just strange. This
was a very pleasant surprise! Crisp mineral nose, crisp acidic entry,
clean finish and excellent with the oysters.

With wild organic lobster (the description of which made me want to
spew - presumably to set it apart from all that tame inorganic
product floating around?), salmon boudin, daikon puree and vanilla
cream (the latter took a bit of getting used to, but in the end was at
least interesting).

2004 Chardonnay - I was flabbergasted to be told that this was a
totally unoaked chardonnay as it exhibited a definite vanilla nose,
perhaps from the fermentation sur lie, frequently stirred which one
assumes gave it the same sort of complexity as oak would. Another good
one!

With roasted rabbit loin stuffed with pancetta and mushrooms on a
peach/ginger coulis (I thought the railroads were built by coulis -
no idea why chefs seem reluctant to use the word 'sauce')

1999 Merlot - a 'salon' wine, meaning not available except at the
winery. Half American and half French oak were evidenced in the smoky
oaky nose. Still tannic, with good balance and quite tasty, it went
with the food nicely, but as it warmed up a bit and aired, the tannins
became a little more prominent, so I'd give it a few more years.

With roast suckling pig (why does that dish always make me think of the
Wine Speculator...?)

2000 Alexis - they have been making this cab, cab franc, merlot and
syrah blend since 1994 and this one was at least old enough to be
coming 'on line'. Dark, with a sweet, slightly hot cocoa nose,
tight and big in the mouth, yet smooth for all that concentration, with
very good length. Surprisingly this wine is drinking very well right
now, especially with food, yet again, as it opened up, the tannins at
the end seemed to get a bit harder and some time in cellar is
indicated.

With oka cheese en croute.

2002 Petite Sirah - now I am a BIG fan of the old style unsubtle
Californian PS, but I don't see too many of them any more - I
suppose producing that sort of vin de garde is a formula for commercial
suicide these days. Another salon wine, this black/purple wine had a
sweetish nose that was more Syrah in nature than anything else,
particularly the floral element - so much so that I'd have been
touting Northern Rhone - before I tasted it. Once it hit the palate,
though, it was clearly a good old California PS, huge tight and tannic.
I'd love to try this in 10-15 years, but as it is another salon wine,
we can't buy it in Canada.

With some frivolously named and inappropriate dessert.

1997 Fortified Muscat - this looked like an Amontillado, and had a
typical sweet Muscat nose, but it wasn't too sweet on palate and was
fairly well balanced with acidity. Nice wine to end with.