New Year's with Nils

Mike Tommasi

Started off with Champagne by Drappier accompanied by Rökt Lax.

The Anjou 83 by Touchais (of Systembolaget origin) was fine, beautiful amber gold wine, perfect balance, waxy citrusy aromas. The combination with pheasant (OK, the farmed type) cooked in Coteaux du Layon and cabbage was much better than I expected, the residual sugar in the wine matching the concentrated Layon in the cooking juices.

Recioto di Gambellara by Angiolino Maule (La Biancara) was stupendous, well balanced sugar with grapefruit and fig on the nose, and a remarkable persistence, further enhanced by Cathy's well caramelized tarte Tatin with Reinette Grise apples, matching the latter even in its deep amber colour.

Today we had a lunch snack of more smoked salmon accompanied by Tom S.'s 2001 Chateau Burbank chardonnay, very very good indeed, oak well integrated and superb golden colour, spicy round wine not reminiscent of any Cal chard that I have experienced, As Nils said, not Burgundy either, but definitely European ;-) The 2002 that I tasted recently could have benefited from an extra year in the bottle, and this 2001 seems to be the proof, a very well made wine.

More from Nils later... he's driving to Nice right now.

Happy New year all

-- Mike Tommasi - Six Fours, France