A new in-depth report on the exciting wines of Portugal. An in-depth look at important trends in viticulture and winemaking. Identification of the top winemakers and their wines. The inside scoop on new releases and the best Portuguese wines for the money.Michael Mina’s Tasting Menu
In its continued pursuit of truth and knowledge in all things vinous, we ordered the Seasonal Tasting menu at Michael Mina’s eponymous restaurant at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco and tasted head sommelier Tony Cha’s recommended wine pairings with six different dishes. While the food was stellar and the service impeccable, our review focuses only on the food and wine pairings themselves.
We tasted seven different wines provided by Tony (pictured at left) along with two special bottles we ourselves provided—a Vatan 2007 Chavignol and a 1994 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Our notes follow, provided in order of the plates served.
Quinault River Steelhead served with braised romaine, green garlic and tellicherry pepper. We tried both a Blanchet 2008 Pouilly Fumé Cuvée Silice (Loire Valley) and the Vatan 2007 Chavignol. Both are beautiful wines, with the Blanchet Pouilly Fume offering an aromatic perfume and bright fruit flavors, while the Vatan Chavignol provides chalky minerals with notes of flint and tea in both the bouquet and palate. We found the Chavignol paired perfectly with the light and delicate steelhead, while the effusive fruitiness of the Pouilly Fumé tended to overwhelm it.
Maine Lobster Tortellini with black trumpet mushrooms, chervil, and caramelized sunchoke cream. We tried a Jean-Philippe Fichet 2007 Meursault (Burgundy) and Jackie Blot’s Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups 2008 Les Dix Arpents Mont Louis Sec. Despite its toasted oak and creamy palate, the Meursault couldn’t quite hold up to the sweet, creamy lobster. On the other hand, the tightly focused Mont Louis Sec with its mélange of pure tropical fruit, minerals and brisk acidity was a perfect foil to the dish.
Columbia River Sturgeon with fines herbs panade, roasted heirloom beets and watercress sauce. The combination of delicate white fish and sweet and sour beets makes this a difficult dish to pair with a single wine, but the Domaine de Veronnet 2006 Roussete de Savoie (Savoie) did an admirable job. This little-known wine made from an unfamiliar grape (Altesse) grown in an equally unfamiliar region of France offers a waxy nose with honey-lemon notes, a touch of anise on the palate, and an excellent acidic backbone. It complemented the fish beautifully with both the wine and the food tasting better as a result of the pairing. One of the most successful pairings of the meal.
Bacon Wrapped Rabbit Loin with Stockton asparagus, French breakfast radish, and Cipollini onion. The wine in this case was Jean Foillard 2008 Morgon Cuvée Corcelette (Beaujolais). This pairing was another of the highlights of the dinner. The Morgon is a gorgeous wine on its own, showing effusive cherries and red berries on the nose and a medium weight palate of fresh fruit. It beautifully complemented the moist and smoky bacon rabbit.
Elysian Fields Lamb Chop with potato-cardoon gratin, braised fennel and Niçoise olive. We paired this perfect, medium rare lamb chop with two wines—an Alain Graillot 2007 Crozes-Hermitage (Rhone) and a La Jota 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon (Howell Mountain). The Crozes-Hermitage showed dark fruit with minerals and mocha notes, while the La Jota was super rich and concentrated and surprisingly fresh given its 15 year age. These two quite different wines were satisfactory with the tender, flavorful lamb chop, but neither complemented the food in terms of raising its flavor to another level. A Santa Lucia Highlands or Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir might have been a better choice.
Devils Food Cake with sour cherries, cocoa nib, and buttermilk. This moderately rich dessert—not nearly as rich as the name suggests—went very well with its wine pairing, a 1990 Mas Amiel (Maury), which offered a concentrated, ripe extract of dried red fruit.
What a great food and wine experience! We thank Tony for introducing us to some new wines and for providing some memorable food and wine pairings. We also compliment the Michael Mina staff for the best service we’ve received at a restaurant in a very long time. We were impressed with their level of knowledge of both the wines and the food. Very well done!
Mike Potashnik and Don Winkler
International Wine Review
March 1, 2010