It was my birthday, but we both had long days, and our big night out was scheduled for following day. But I wanted to have some wine on my birthday, so Betsy invited one other couple. They made and brought a chicken liver mousse, we did sous vide strip steak and some DArtagnan sausages (wild boar and duck/armagnac) , greens, and potatoes

2010 Francois Carillon €œReferts€� Puligny-Montrachet 1er
Great showing, full and rich but with lively acidic backbone. Pearl, hazelnut, and wet stones. A-

1988 Gruaud-Larose
Ive had a bunch of these, but this didnt have Zachys (where I bought mine) barcode sticker, and I think might have been a gift at some point. Pretty saturated cork. Doesnt explicitly taste cookedbut softer and less dense than used to, the usual Cordier funk is more pronounced. Maybe seen some warmth at some point? B- for this bottle

2007 Chandon de Briailles €œIle de Vergelesses€�Pernand-Vergelesses
Tart red fruits (raspberry and cranberry), blood orange, bright. B+/B

Wednesday we did the big splurge and went to Blue Hill at Stone Barns for first time in more than a decade (and first since they went to all tasting menu format). I considered carrying a bottle ($90 corkage!), but with varied menu no bottle was going to be perfect. So we shared some BTG (nice pours, in Zaltos)

2018 Claudio Vio Pigato (Riviera Ligure di Ponente)
Light crisp and saline with pit fruit and citrus. Very versatile. B+
2016 Domaine de la Borde 'Veneon' Arbois Pupillin (Jura)
Who knew there was white Poulsard? Fuller, stony, not an oxidative style (I asked before ordering), though there is a hint of nuttiness on fihish. B
2016 Abbatucci 'Faustine€� ( Corsica)
Taut rose, herby/piney, good mineral. B/B+
2017 Rootdown 'Dry Bone Ranch' Mourvedre (Amador County)
Light, blackberry and cherry, anise. Dont think Id have guessed Mouvedre if blind but very good, in a Gamayesque style. B

Great night. The wines were in the background, but they gave us nice choices with the 20 or so courses, and all were fun. And new producers to me except for the Abbatucci.

And the food
We walked around the property a bit (Betsy loved seeing the guard dog laying down with his sheep) then returned to lounge, where we were offered pear kombucha (actually tasty, Im not a kombucha guy). Then to table. And the parade of dishes started. While there is a good bit of theater involved, the quality of the ingredients was astounding, as what the cooking.
(dish names from menu presented at end- every table gets a somewhat different rotation)
VEGETABLES FROM THE FARM
Charming display (board with pins sticking up) of baby radish, turnip, sweet pepper,
lettices, each with a delicate appropriate dressing
FLOWER DELIVERY
Baby fennel with a light dressing
KOHLRABI, NASTURTIUM AND PEACH
Baby kohlrabi with 2 sauces

ZUCCHINI FLOWERS, SUNFLOWER SEED AND BLUEBERRY
In a flower vase, the blueberry puree inside the flowers

PEACH AND POPPY SEEDS
Grilled slice, with abundant seeds scattered

TOMATOES ON THE VINE
With a couple of sauces (I particularly liked the tarragon)

(6 courses so far, with only the peach cooked!)
TOMATO PIZZA
Totally delicious, thin crust/flatbread

NEEDLES IN A HAYSTACK
They brought out a big basket of hay, hidden within were several very thin long cheese straws- dont eat the hay!
CORN BURGER
The best slider of my life had no meat.
PEPPER SUSHI
Fun and funky, veggie €œNigiri€�, a slice of roasted red pepper over crunchy rice with a touch of wasabi, ginger on the side

LIVER AND CHOCOLATE
Who knew? Very thin wafer of dark chocolate next to chicken liver bloc. Wow
WHOLE WHEAT EINKORN BREAD WHITE BREAD WHOLE BARBER
WHEAT BREAD
A server came up and asked if we were ready for a €œfield
trip€� and took us to the experimental bakery, where they mill grains and try
new things. My favorite was the dense Einkorn (an ancient wheat with very low
yield, often with only one kernel per plant) . A crafty way to get us from
table to change the tablecloth from earlier sauces.
Servers brought out cloth packets with assorted silverwear and chopsticks (all previous dishes were finger food)
SUNFLOWER MARROW AND SUNFLOWER
A big stalk, the marrow (seemed to be mixed with yogurt) was delicious on the sunflower bread
SUNFLOWER HEAD AND TROUT
Yum! Delicate and tasty
LAST CHANCE TOMATOES
Little clumps of end of season tomato- each different, I think one had pickled green tomato- with a fermented tomato broth, roasted garlic, and bread

STONE BARNS LETTUCE AND HAY CHEESE
They let us choose cheese aged in first cut hay vs third cut, they were different
but not sure I had preference.
CHICKEN MUSHROOM NUGGETS AND HABANADA
Nuggets of chicken mushroom, and well as actual chicken nuggets, nestled in some chicken mushrooms (raw, for decoration). A honey mustard sauce and habanada sauce (Habaneros bred without heat), as well as seasoned salt. My favorite nuggets ever (by a long shot, not a heavily contested category)
RED PEPPER EGG AND MUSHROOM
They had earlier brought 2 eggs, we each chose one (initialed), only one had been
fed red pepper. And yes it was a red yolk! Both eggs were great, but the star
was the intense sauteed mushrooms (mostly chanterelle with some matsutake)
WHOLE BARBER WHEAT LEVAIN WITH BLUE HILL BUTTER
A little break, I even liked the accompanying buttermilk
STONE BARNS WASTE-FED PORK, ARTICHOKE & TRUMPET MUSHROOM
3 perfect pork medallions, this was actually kind of huge considering it was about 20th course
CENTERCUT SQUASH AND BADGER FLAME BEET BARBECUE
Both beet and squash were intensely smoky with bbq sauce flavors, served with a
grilled kielbasa-ish sausage and all the BBQ sides- quirky takes on cole slaw,
baked beans, corn, greens, and potato salad
CHEESE TASTING PAW PAW TASTING
They brought Betsy a pawpaw dessert (only fruit native to Northeast) , since I dont eat dessert they gave me a nice cheese plate- goat, sheep, and cow with fig paste and great crackers
STONE BARNS HONEYCOMB AND FALL FRUIT
Actual honeycomb frame with figs, apples, grapes, and more
Really great evening. Lovely space, great for conversation (quiet, no close tables), attentive and friendly service, super cool tableware (changing every course), fun presentations, and most of all great company.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

On Friday, October 4, 2019 at 1:14:07 PM UTC-4, DaleW wrote:

> 2010 Francois Carillon €œReferts€� Puligny-Montrachet 1er
> Great showing, full and rich but with lively acidic backbone. Pearl, hazelnut, and wet stones. A-
>
Pear not pearl, sorry

On 10/4/19 11:18 AM, DaleW wrote:
> On Friday, October 4, 2019 at 1:14:07 PM UTC-4, DaleW wrote:
>
>> 2010 Francois Carillon €œReferts€� Puligny-Montrachet 1er
>> Great showing, full and rich but with lively acidic backbone. Pearl, hazelnut, and wet stones. A-
>>
> Pear not pearl, sorry
>
Kind of wondered what pearls smell like.

On 10/4/19 1:14 PM, DaleW wrote:
> It was my birthday, but we both had long days, and our big night out was scheduled for following day. But I wanted to have some wine on my birthday, so Betsy invited one other couple. They made and brought a chicken liver mousse, we did sous vide strip steak and some DArtagnan sausages (wild boar and duck/armagnac) , greens, and potatoes

Happy Birthday! For some reason, I'd thought that you were part of the
April birthday crowd.


> 2007 Chandon de Briailles €œIle de Vergelesses€�Pernand-Vergelesses
> Tart red fruits (raspberry and cranberry), blood orange, bright. B+/B

Thanks for the notes. It sounds like it's still pretty tight (which
some notes on CT seem to support), and Gilman does suggest a 2017-2035
drinking window. I think I'll hold onto my remaining 3 bottles a bit
longer in hopes that it opens up more. So much for the early drinking
2007 vintage

<SNIP Stone Barn menu>

Wow, what a meal! I'm not sure that it would be to the tastes of Jean
and Andy, though. Was the emphasis on vegetables a theme for the
evening, or a recurrent theme?

Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Monday, October 7, 2019 at 3:34:05 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
> On 10/4/19 1:14 PM, DaleW wrote:
> Happy Birthday! For some reason, I'd thought that you were part of the
> April birthday crowd.

I think you probably mixed up the fact that the larger NY winegeek crowd you know has a grouping of spring birthdays with the fact there is a group (me, JeffG, JayM, JohnG) of 1960s. More to celebrate
>
>
> Wow, what a meal! I'm not sure that it would be to the tastes of Jean
> and Andy, though. Was the emphasis on vegetables a theme for the
> evening, or a recurrent theme?
>
Well, it is farm to table, and I think the vegetable emphasis is there year-round (though there are things from pasture and woods as well)>
I was very happy with my veggies!