Lasalle NV Brut Reserve & 07 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage at dinner w JBL & Lynn!!

[Tony Velebil]

It's been way too long since we've gotten together with our good friends Jason Brandt Lewis and his lovely and fun wife Lynn. So we put a date on the calendar and braved a cold and wet North Oakland/Berkeley evening to head to dinner at Cafe Rouge in Berkeley. A wonderful little bistro "type" restaurant where we caught up, told stories, dined and oh a little wine. Here's the meal:

Roasted beef marrow
House made charcuterie plate with a smoked beef tongue "prosciutto" (Yum!)
La Quercia Prosciutto w truffled pecorino cheese and bread sticks

Then something green where we split two salads:
Kale Caesar Salad with parmesan achovies and croutons
Warm Spinach salad with marble potatoes, nicoise olives, feta and shallots

Dinner:
Spit Roasted Central Coast Farm chicken with glazed baby carrots, brussel sprouts, fingerling potatoes and lemon herb butter
Grilled dry-aged ribeye steak w/ French fries and red wine shallot butter
Cafe Rouge hamburger and french fries (really good fries too)
Hangar steak with farro, wild mushrooms and brussel sprouts

The wine...which is always secondary to the food and conversation when we go to dinner:

NV Brut Réservé, 1er Cru, Lasalle, Chigny-les-Roses
This was nice and fun and my first sip I thought green apples. Nice acidity, more green apples, a bit of citrus and pretty crisp/laser like. Ultimately a touch simple though.

2007 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage
This was very nice and paired well with my hangar steak. Nice plum and red cherry fruit, pepper, a touch of tobacco leaf with good acidity to keep it on the juicier side versus lusher side. Well done! 89-90 pts

We finished with two desserts but those were average and certainly the low of the meal.

Both wines purchased from the list at Cafe Rouge

[Loren Sonkin]

I miss JBL's posts on othere boards. Perhaps you can get him over here? Graillot used to be a good source for quality and value. I haven't bought in a few vintages though. Thanks for the note.

[Tony Velebil]

JBL is quite a source of information but I suspect he is done posting. While he still loves and enjoys wine, I think it has taken a back seat to other things like food, travel and family...but it is fun to hang out with them.