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2010 Wine in Context: Your Turn

I'm delighted that this year as last year, Winedoctor readers have been sending their favourite wine in context moments of 2010, and the first batch is reproduced here.

If you aren't sure what Wine in Context is all about, think of it as your favourite wine-related moment of 2010, but where instead of focusing on an intrinsically great wine, we look at the synthesis of life and wine. So it's not about that thimbleful of 1947 Cheval Blanc you were lucky enough to taste, it's more about that bottle of pétillant Huet Vouvray that you used to wet your first-born's head, that bottle of Mosel Riesling you shared with a long-lost friend recently found again, even (or perhaps especially!) your favourite food and wine combination of the year. Whatever it is, it's about context, not just the wine.

Why not send me yours?

So here goes with the first batch of 2010 submissions, with stories of fine dining, a rescued birthday, the discovery of Burgundy, drinking a long-anticipated bottle with family and an unplanned toast to the late Marcel Lapierre, an icon of modern-day natural Beaujolais, who died earlier this year. (22/12/10)

Occasion: Anniversary dinner, then Steppenwolf Theater which we subscribe to yearly.

Restaurant: Avec - French-inspired modern cuisine, but uses flavors from many regions. Mostly tapas portions, but with some entrees, the next door sister restaurant Blackbird is well known for wild game etc…

Wine: 2008 Susanna Balboa Signature Malbec. I’m usually critical about Argentinian Malbec as for me many are too modern in style and too fruit forward. This wine was a really nice combination of new world/old world. Had the more ripened open fruit flavors that you see in Argentina as opposed to many Cahors, but was balanced beautifully, had a terrific sense of place. Really shows the potential for Argentine Malbec when done right. Because of the balance and old world feel this wine while still young was, as is my experience with more aged malbec, perfect to pair with any type of cuisine, the real test.

Dinner: Chorizo-stuffed Medool dates, Burgundy snails and fennel, Grilled shrimp with chilis, cilantro whole-roasted whitefish with a spiced crust.

This type of menu and variety would be a challenge for any single wine, but the Malbec was beautiful with each dish and balanced well with all of the flavors. I was a bit worried about the whole roasted fish, especially for a wine so young, but no problem whatsoever. The young tannins we silky and sweet enough to go well at this stage. Shared some with our waitress who was pretty knowledgeable about wine and she too thought it was a great pairing. Surprising the restaurant had no malbec on the wine list. All I can say is that what it’s all about, for me and this wine was $19.

Thanks Gary - wine and food together, a perfect wine in context moment. - Chris.

My best wine in context this year was a bottle of Chateau Musar red 2002. I have been lucky enough to have some great wines this year (including my first Yquem (1997, great) and my first Mouton (1990, bah)), but the context of the Musar makes it stand out in my memory.

I have been working on a matter relating to Lebanon since I took my current job four years ago, and last month finally the project was ready to be launched. Throughout these four years, I kept telling myself that if everything went well I deserved to buy myself a bottle of Ch. Musar, and finally that moment was fast approaching...and then...I fell sick and had to skip the signing ceremony. So the bottle sit unopened in the fridge waiting for the next occasion.

Which came quite soon, though. My in-laws came to visit to meet our second daughter born in October. It was also the first time they visited our new house, and my father-in-law's birthday. Lots to celebrate then! Just across the road from us there is an unassuming, simple snack bar. It is manned however by a Moroccan chef who, if asked, would be happy to cook the best tajines and cous-cous I have yet to taste.

So there we were, in the new house, with the new baby, with family from far away, snow gleaming in the garden outside the kitchen door, away from the office on parental leave, with lots of steaming plates and pots of every possible meat, vegetable and spice. The wine was great, its peculiar and constantly changing aromas jumping out of the glass, its nice acidity washing down lamb and merguez, its sweet fruit echoing the veggies, raisins, cinnamon and chicken. Very long. It goes without saying that we finished the bottle with no effort. Everybody had a great time and it was one of these special moments when everything seems to be fine.

I hope Christmas and 2011 will bring more of these moments!

PS: congrats on the website, keep up the good work!

Thanks Luca, and congratulations on the birth of your daughter. These moments when everything seems to slow down for a short while, giving us time to be with family or friends, with good food and good wine to lubricate the occasion, are very special. - Chris.

Three actually.

First was at the gite in Burgundy in May - a bottle of 2009 Bocard Chablis that accompanied chicken with epoisses. Not a great, critic-pleasing wine necessarily but it cut the richness of the cheese beautifully. A reminder that wine is food.

Second, on the same trip - 2005 Les Fornières at Paul Bocuse, to go with a rack of lamb (mine) and filet with Perigeux sauce, topped with foie gras (my wife's). Memorable because it was the first Premier Cru Burgundy I can recall drinking, and even more memorable because my wife discovered good Burgundy. Thus it may turn out to be a very expensive bottle indeed!

Third, we dined with friends at June Restaurant in Peoria Illinois (of all places), and ordered a bottle that was listed as "Morgon." It seemed like a safe choice, but it turned out to be way better than that: Marcel Lapierre Cuvée Mathieu 2007. What made it most memorable was that this was only a few days after M. Lapierre's passing - I felt as if he were sending a message from beyond, and what better one than good friends, good food and good wine?

Thanks for the blog; it's a highlight of my day. Best for the Holidays and 2011.

Thanks Frank, three great wine in context moments there. Marcel Lapierre's passing has been mourned across the world, both online and offline. It's remarkable to think this wine, unidentified, should pop up in this fashion just a few days after his death. - Chris.

I love your emphasis on context to finish off the year. Best of all, it made me take a look back on my own experiences for 2010, and relive those special moments for an hour or two. The following is one in which the context played a particularly important role.

For my wife’s birthday last April, I reserved a table at some fancy Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, the bus never showed up, leaving us stranded in our little countryside village on the most important night of the year! After the tears dried and a backup plan was improvised, we made our way back home, where I opened a half-bottle of the Wegeler 2007 Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Auslese.

What better to mend a broken evening than a deliciously sweet night cap with ‘the doctor’? I had visited the estate a week earlier and instantly wanted to share a bottle with her upon tasting the wine. So I offered her a glass like one offers a birthday card: just to say “I’m thinking of you”.

The wine tickled our palates, overwhelming our senses with a generous warmth, while a refreshing bite put the entire experience into perspective: the sour moments are there to balance out the sweet summer dreams. In short, sorry for messing up your birthday!

Thank you Didier - I'm always amazed at the many different ways wine can make or break a situation. In this case it sounds like it rescued one. Many thanks for telling all, Didier. - Chris

Wine in Context moments don't have to concern only great or expensive wines to qualify, it's the context that I'm looking for! So send me your best wine moments of 2010, and I will post them online (I am assuming your consent for that!). Email them to me here.