New years eve dinner, started with curried shrimp. Accompanied by Luneau-Papin
"L d'Or" 2005 Muscadet. This is rapidly growing into one of my favorite
bottles: chalk, citrus, apple, lots of zing and complexity too. You can practically
smell the ocean. Fantastic.

With gigot de chevreuil and truffle sauce, garlic potatoes anna, steamed green beans,
Beaurenard 1989 Chateauneuf du Pape. This is the regular cuvée, IIRC the "Boisrenard"
experiment had not yet begun (although this would have been a good year to
try it; 1989 being IMHO the central and best of those 3 now legendary successive
vintages.) Why is the Coulon family so successful? Well aside from the marketing
vigour, the nose of this wine quickly tells the story. Bright and bursting with plums,
seems like a toddler, from a wine that could vote in most countries. In the mouth
a real classic, very elegant and not overpowering, but deep black cherry, spice and
boxwood, a tarry backbone over perfectly integrated tannins. Long and soyeuse,
a fine accompaniment to the wonderful chevreuil.

With cheese and boozy fruitcake -- a great friend and great cook sends these
out annually, after a full year of curing -- Heidsieck monopole "Capsule Bleu".
I actually bought a half a case of this as a twofer from the supermarket.
Heidsieck seems to be dumping as I've since noticed the same deal at 2
other competing chains. We drink less champagne than cremant, and this
was a perfect example of why. No great bargain even at 12 EU when there
are so many many better bubblies available for less. Good fine mousse, correct
length, but a little lemon sour in the mouth and poorly balanced. Will do well
as Kir Royal.

Happy new year to all, regulars, newbies and lurkers alike.

-E

--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Jan 1, 8:03�am, Emery Davis > wrote:
> New years eve dinner, started with curried shrimp. �Accompanied by Luneau-Papin
> "L d'Or" 2005 Muscadet. �This is rapidly growing into one of my favorite
> bottles: �chalk, citrus, apple, lots of zing and complexity too. �You can practically
> smell the ocean. �Fantastic.
>
> With gigot de chevreuil and truffle sauce, garlic potatoes anna, steamed green beans,
> Beaurenard 1989 Chateauneuf du Pape. �This is the regular cuv�e, IIRC the "Boisrenard"
> experiment had not yet begun (although this would have been a good year to
> try it; 1989 being IMHO the central and best of those 3 now legendary successive
> vintages.) �Why is the Coulon family so successful? Well aside from the marketing
> vigour, the nose of this wine quickly tells the story. �Bright and bursting with plums,
> seems like a toddler, from a wine that could vote in most countries. �In the mouth
> a real classic, very elegant and not overpowering, but deep black cherry, spice and
> boxwood, a tarry backbone over perfectly integrated tannins. �Long and soyeuse,
> a fine accompaniment to the wonderful chevreuil.
>
> With cheese and boozy fruitcake -- a great friend and great cook sends these
> out annually, after a full year of curing -- Heidsieck monopole "Capsule Bleu".
> I actually bought a half a case of this as a twofer from the supermarket. �
> Heidsieck seems to be dumping as I've since noticed the same deal at 2
> other competing chains. �We drink less champagne than cremant, and this
> was a perfect example of why. �No great bargain even at 12 EU when there
> are so many many better bubblies available for less. �Good fine mousse, correct
> length, but a little lemon sour in the mouth and poorly balanced. �Will do well
> as Kir Royal.
>
> Happy new year to all, regulars, newbies and lurkers alike.
>
> -E
>
> --
> Emery Davis
> You can reply to
> by removing the well known companies
> Questions about wine? �Visithttp://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Happy New Year and thanks for the notes Emery. For my own edification
does a gigot de chevreuil translate to a leg of venison (deer) in
English? Is the deer farm raised or wild? I've found that the leg of
wild deer here in Ohio are just too tough to roast even though we have
very fat and healthy wild deer due to the large amount of high quality
feed available to them in farm country. We usually cut the leg into
what is known as "round steak" which is the top of the leg and that is
used in braised dishes such as "Swiss Steak" or stews. I generally
find CdP is a wonderful match with venison as are some of the
California style Syrah's.

On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 07:02:30 -0800 (PST)
"Bi!!" > wrote:

> Happy New Year and thanks for the notes Emery. For my own edification
> does a gigot de chevreuil translate to a leg of venison (deer) in
> English? Is the deer farm raised or wild? I've found that the leg of
> wild deer here in Ohio are just too tough to roast even though we have
> very fat and healthy wild deer due to the large amount of high quality
> feed available to them in farm country. We usually cut the leg into
> what is known as "round steak" which is the top of the leg and that is
> used in braised dishes such as "Swiss Steak" or stews. I generally
> find CdP is a wonderful match with venison as are some of the
> California style Syrah's.

Hi Bill,

I usually "go to" CdP with venison too. Chevreuil is a roe deer, a very
small, delicate (and tasty) animal not much larger than a big dog. There
are a huge number of these beasts here in the bocage, where they have a
strong penchant for ornamental garden shrubs.

Chevreuil is more tender than its larger cousin, biche (or cerf, tougher still) and
we have often roasted the leg from the wild version, marinated or not. We are
neighbors to a large hunting domain, and they keep us sweet with several
donations throughout the season (as well as mushrooming rights).

This leg though was so tender it practically melted in the mouth, so although
it had very good flavour I'd wager it was farm raised. Also, I got it from
a butcher, although sometimes you get hunted game there too, but in
this case I didn't inquire.

Best wishes to you and family for 2008,

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Jan 1, 12:44�pm, Emery Davis > wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 07:02:30 -0800 (PST)
>
> "Bi!!" > wrote:
> > Happy New Year and thanks for the notes Emery. �For my own edification
> > does a gigot de chevreuil translate to a leg of venison (deer) in
> > English? �Is the deer farm raised or wild? �I've found that the leg of
> > wild deer here in Ohio are just too tough to roast even though we have
> > very fat and healthy wild deer due to the large amount of high quality
> > feed available to them in farm country. �We usually cut the leg into
> > what is known as "round steak" which is the top of the leg and that is
> > used in braised dishes such as "Swiss Steak" or stews. �I generally
> > find CdP is a wonderful match with venison as are some of the
> > California style Syrah's.
>
> Hi Bill,
>
> I usually "go to" CdP with venison too. �Chevreuil is a roe deer, a very
> small, delicate (and tasty) animal not much larger than a big dog. �There
> are a huge number of these beasts here in the bocage, where they have a
> strong penchant for ornamental garden shrubs. �
>
> Chevreuil is more tender than its larger cousin, biche (or cerf, tougher still) and
> we have often roasted the leg from the wild version, marinated or not. �We are
> neighbors to a large hunting domain, and they keep us sweet with several
> donations throughout the season (as well as mushrooming rights).
>
> This leg though was so tender it practically melted in the mouth, so although
> it had very good flavour I'd wager it was farm raised. �Also, I got it from
> a butcher, although sometimes you get hunted game there too, but in
> this case I didn't inquire.
>
> Best wishes to you and family for 2008,
>
> -E
> --
> Emery Davis
> You can reply to
> by removing the well known companies
> Questions about wine? �Visithttp://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Thanks for the info Emery. We have a large population of White Tailed
Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) which are said to me more numerous now
that when the pilgrims landed due to their affinity for suburban
landscaping and the "Bambi" factor brought on by the PETA people. I
thought PETA stood for "People Eating Tasty Animals".....