TN: Bonnes Mares and Pinot Blanc make rose in Laguna

Wednesday Betsy and I went to 5 Feet, a Chinese-fusion restaurant in Laguna Beach. A nice place we had been before (easy walk from her grandmother's). I had inquired about corkage ($25, one bottle limit) and brought along a bottle from a Winex visit so I wouldn't need to lug back on airplane.

Some very good kimchee was brought out as we perused the menu. Betsy started with oysters, I had short ribs as an appetizer. The Kumamoto oysters were fat and juicy (more creamy than minerally), and contrasted well with the roe (flyingfish? looked like salmon, but smaller) and a citrusy mignonette sauce. The ribs were tender and flavorful, with a hoisin sauce and accompanied by a delicious slaw of peppers and green papaya.

The 1997 Fougeray de Beauclair Bonnes Mares was a very creditable effort for the vintage. Fat and round, earthy with a strong orientation towards red fruits. Some remaining tannins and just a hint of spicy oak. More acidity would have made it more food-friendly, but there was a nice core of raspberry and cherry fruit over some forest-floor aromas,and a nice minerality on the finish. B+

For her oysters, I had ordered a glbutt of Chalone Graff Vineyard Pinot Blanc -which then reminded me of why I don't usually buy Pinot Blanc. Soft, innocuous, anonymous. A little bit of oak, with apple and white peach fruit. Tasted like flat low-acid Pinot Gris. B--C+

We had drunk half a glbutt of the Pinot Blanc when the hostess came over and topped up the glbutt- with my Bonne Mares. Luckily I noticed before more than an ounce or two was poured. The hostess apologized, I said it didn't matter as we probably wouldn't have drunk the rest anyway (I regretted the loss of the Burg more than the PB being spoiled).

For main courses Betsy got a squab accompanied by a large salad, while I got the duck two ways- leg and breast meat, with some porcini ravioli and some Brussels sprouts with bacon. Everything was pretty good, though I prefer my duck breast with a bit of rareness. Burgundy-PN was certainly the way to go, good match with both the squab and the duck (and the mushroom ravioli). Although a smoky Northern Rhone would have been interesting, too.

Betsy got a cr=E8me brulee topped with berries for dessert. Overall we were pleased with our meal. When the check came I noticed that I had been charged $11.50 for a glbutt of "Graff Viognier" instead of the $8-9 that the Pinot Blanc was listed at. Now, lots of time at the end of a nice meal I probably wouldn't have said anything over a couple of dollars. But since the hostess had actually wasted some of MY wine as well as the btg white, I really didn't want to pay extra for that btg glbutt. So I called over waitress, who apologized and took bill back. 5 minutes later she returned- and set down the exact same bill. OK, now I was irritated. I called waitress back, pointed out the bill still was listing the $11.50 viognier (and mentioned we hadn't finished the PB, and that some of our wine had been wasted- she wasn't there when the hostess made her mistake). This time the bill came back correctly.

Normally if I'm paying corkage I tip 20% of what the bill would have been if I had ordered a moderately priced bottle (in a place like 5'0", I'd probably add say $35 mentally to the $25 corkage, there are plenty of bottles in that range there) or add the retail price of the bottle. While service started pretty good, we never saw our actual waitress between order being placed till the bill incident (runners brought the dishes), the hostess just said 'oops" after her pouring mistake, and it was irritating that I had to point out a billing error twice. If service could equal food (the short ribs and papaya salad were as good as I've had anywhere), I'd return every time I'm in Laguna. This time I just tipped 20% of the (finally corrected) bill.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. 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. =20