I had dinner with some friends at Chez Francois in Vermillion last
night. Chez Francois is a nice place with a great kitchen and a good
wine list, Vermillion is a quaint little town on the shores of Lake
Erie. I had a gazpacho shooter as an amuse, house made ravioli with
lobster claw meat and white truffle butter, a small goat cheese and
fiddlehead salad, Beef Wellington with black truffles and cheese
(epoisses) after dinner.

We started with 1998 Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc Cuvee Speciale-very
yeasty and appley on the nose, buttered toast and apple pie on the
palate with very complex layers of anise, honey, peaches and pears.
Lovely. B+

Next a 2006 William Fevre Chablis 1er "Fourchaume" Very aromatic with
Asian spices, lemon zest and limestone minerality. The wine was rich
and fruity with a good acidic balance to round it out and offset the
richness. "B+"

2002 Kamen Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-inky purple in the
glass, nose of graphite, black coffee and cassis. Medium heavy bodied
wine with big flavors of blackberry, blueberry, black currants, anise
and black pepper. A bit of Napa dust. Quite tasty. "A"

With dessert/cheese-Niepoort 10 year Tawny Port-Nice light refreshing
tawny Port with toffee and a orange citrus finish. "B"

On Jun 16, 3:40*pm, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> I had dinner with some friends at Chez Francois in Vermillion last
> night. *Chez Francois is a nice place with a great kitchen and a good
> wine list, Vermillion is a quaint little town on the shores of Lake
> Erie. *I had a gazpacho shooter as an amuse, house made ravioli with
> lobster claw meat and white truffle butter, a small goat cheese and
> fiddlehead salad, Beef Wellington with black truffles and cheese
> (epoisses) after dinner.
>
> We started with 1998 Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc Cuvee Speciale-very
> yeasty and appley on the nose, buttered toast and apple pie on the
> palate with very complex layers of anise, honey, peaches and pears.
> Lovely. B+
>
> Next a 2006 William Fevre Chablis 1er "Fourchaume" Very aromatic with
> Asian spices, lemon zest and limestone minerality. *The wine was rich
> and fruity with a good acidic balance to round it out and offset the
> richness. *"B+"
>
> 2002 Kamen Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-inky purple in the
> glass, nose of graphite, black coffee and cassis. *Medium heavy bodied
> wine with big flavors of blackberry, blueberry, black currants, anise
> and black pepper. *A bit of Napa dust. *Quite tasty. *"A"
>
> With dessert/cheese-Niepoort 10 year Tawny Port-Nice light refreshing
> tawny Port with toffee and a orange citrus finish. "B"

Sounds like a great meal. I don't really know Kamen- are they
consistent?

On Jun 18, 10:29*am, DaleW > wrote:
> On Jun 16, 3:40*pm, "Bi!!" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I had dinner with some friends at Chez Francois in Vermillion last
> > night. *Chez Francois is a nice place with a great kitchen and a good
> > wine list, Vermillion is a quaint little town on the shores of Lake
> > Erie. *I had a gazpacho shooter as an amuse, house made ravioli with
> > lobster claw meat and white truffle butter, a small goat cheese and
> > fiddlehead salad, Beef Wellington with black truffles and cheese
> > (epoisses) after dinner.
>
> > We started with 1998 Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc Cuvee Speciale-very
> > yeasty and appley on the nose, buttered toast and apple pie on the
> > palate with very complex layers of anise, honey, peaches and pears.
> > Lovely. B+
>
> > Next a 2006 William Fevre Chablis 1er "Fourchaume" Very aromatic with
> > Asian spices, lemon zest and limestone minerality. *The wine was rich
> > and fruity with a good acidic balance to round it out and offset the
> > richness. *"B+"
>
> > 2002 Kamen Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-inky purple in the
> > glass, nose of graphite, black coffee and cassis. *Medium heavy bodied
> > wine with big flavors of blackberry, blueberry, black currants, anise
> > and black pepper. *A bit of Napa dust. *Quite tasty. *"A"
>
> > With dessert/cheese-Niepoort 10 year Tawny Port-Nice light refreshing
> > tawny Port with toffee and a orange citrus finish. "B"
>
> Sounds like a great meal. I don't really know Kamen- are they
> consistent?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I got to know Robert Kamen a number of years ago when I was affiliated
with a wine distributor that distributed his wines. Bob is a well
known screen writer who wrote "Taps", "Karate Kid", "A Walk in The
Clouds", etc. His first release was in the late 90's and his wines
are consistantly terrific. Small production, good winemaking (Mark
Herold), prototypical California Cabs with plenty of ripe, intense
fruit but well balanced, never cloying or jammy. Not sure of the
price point these days but the 2005 vintage was priced at $60 retail
in Ohio.