#1 scallops on the bed of mushrooms and herbs with hazelnut oil.
#2 oysters in Chablis broth with aromatic veggies.
#3 chateaubriand.
#4 leg of lamb.

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For the leg of lamb, I would go with a Cal Syrah. My favorites with lamb include Ojai Melville and Jade Mountain, although there are a dozen others I can think of off the top of my head that would be great.

I'd go and do an all out West Australian (Margaret River) hit for this.

Scallops: Verdelho, Riesling or Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc. The Verdelhos are fairly light bodied with nice fruit forward flavours. Good makers to look for include Abbey Vale, Sandalford and Moondah Brook. The Rieslings are a steelier and have a definite lemon/lime edge. For Riesling I would aim for Alkoomi or Howard Park. For a S/SB blend Leeuwin Estate make a corker as do Voyager Estate

Oysters: Chardonnay, Leeuwin Estate. Art Series if your budget is expansive or Prelude if your budget is a bit tighter. These wines are made closer to the chablis style than the new world butter bombs. Other names to look for in this mould include Cullen, Devils Lair. Pierro Chardonnay is exceptionally good, but it is in the big nuttery new world style.

Chateaubriand: Shiraz. Howard Park Leston, Alkoomi Blackbutt, Cape Mentelle, and Vasse Felix.

Lamb: Cabernet-Sauvignon: Moss Wood, Cullen, Vasse Felix, Voyager Estate, and Cape Mentelle

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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer

1. Chardonnay

2. Champagne

3. Cab or Meritage

4. Rhone, Syrah, Shiraz, or Zinfandel

Just one more sip.

sorry for such brief disriptions. would anyone care to help me choose from a wine list? if you have time to kill, check www.hostellerie-des-clos.fr in the restaurant section. thanks.

Free Martha!

From sushi to chateaubriand! Be careful. All that good advice we gave you for getting even with your sushi chef will not work in France!

Is this where you will be having this meal? If so, it seems silly to me to drink anything other than French wine. So, I would go with Champagne with the scallops (the 95 Palmer Blanc de Blancs looks like a good deal) and Chablis with the Oysters, which is a classic pairing. I looked at the first page of Bourgogne, and would probably ask the Sommelier for a recommendation. Chablis has enjoyed a string of good vintages. I think I've read that Pomerol is the traditional French wine to have with lamb, but I also like a full bodied Burgundy with it. I've never had Chateaubriand, so I don't think I should make any suggestions there. I look forward to hearing about it.

I'll recommend an all South American lineup:

#1 scallops on the bed of mushrooms and herbs with hazelnut oil. Chardonnay Catena Alta - fantastic, plenty of fruit, French oak, subtle
#2 oysters in Chablis broth with aromatic veggies. I lied. If you don't want to spend a lot of money the Bollinger NV is a great choice here.
#3 chateaubriand. A very structured cab works well for me. Try the Saint Felicien (Bodegas Esmerelda) cab or cab-merlot blend. very elegant tannins. The Clos Apalta from Casa Lapostolle is also very interesting, a merlot-cab-carmenere blend.
#4 leg of lamb. The Lord created the malbec grape for lamb! There are some great SA malbecs now available in the United States. Yacocuya Malbec Cafayate 2000 is fantastic - high alcohol, inky, and really chewy. If this is your sister you are cooking for, and not some hot babe you hope to see more of I can recommend the Viña Doña Paula
Cab Luján de Cuyo Los Cardos 2001, pretty good backbone, and the tannins are not nearly so rough.

malena

malena, we are actually eating out but thank you for suggesting south american theme. it will be difficult to implement though for at least two reasons: i don't really feel fond of most of them and it's gonna be hard to procure'em in Chablis, that's for sure.

Free Martha!

Sorry, grunhauser. I must have missed the point that you were eating out. I'll keep working on you to try to some South American wines.

malena

It would be a totaly and complete shame to be in Chablis and not have a Chablis. To quote Grunhauser himself "What's wrong with you people".

I'd be tempted to match a different Chablis with each of the first two dishes. Maybe a a Vaillons with the first course, but I would do a Los Clos with the second. A Corton Charlemagne sounded good with the nutty, herby first course as well, but I spied none on the menu. A Girardin Chassagne Montrachet would mix things up though too.

A red Burgundy for the third course. The Gevrey Chambertin's seemed pricey but there where some 99 Nuits-Saint-Georges "Les Vaucrains" on the list at @ 50 Euros.

Leg of Lamb 1990 Delas Hermitage.

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Santa Cruz Mountains Vintage Chart

well, chablis it was!
and since i was really in no shape to choose wine after the flight and zooming at 180km/h through the countryside, we just went with menu Gourmand and asked the somm to pair it with whatever he thought was appropriate. the wines were Chablis Bernard Defaix 2001, Chablis 1er Cru Montmains Denis Race 2002, local red Bourgogne Coulange de Vineuse (with sandre and lamb), the name escapes me now, and a 96 Fevre Bougros Grand Cru with cheese course.
here are some other places i would not hesitate to recomend: Chapeau Rouge in Dijon as a great 4 star hotel and a superb 1 star restaurant( Le Soft Shell and St.Jacques with Jacquesson NV, and pigeon and pork loin with 1999 Dujac Gevrey Chambertin). also in Dijon, Dame D'Aquitaine,with great selection of vintage armagnacs( had a Cepede 1968 and a 1959 bla-bla-bla) is worth a visit, but it's not as good as C.R.
Bon Bistrot in Gevrey for a nice unassuming country lunch ( kir, jambon persile and endive and roquefort salad, lapin roti and onglet steak with house Gevrey wine). after lunch that day we did a great tour of Jadot in Beaune... i can still taste the '03 we've tried , thanks to Anthony Ravat, who gave us a truly great, detailed 2 hour tour. higly recomend to visit! and to be on the look out for their '02 and '03 offerings.
Le Repair de Cartouche in Paris, if you can stand several hours of smoke assault ( 1999 Laurent Volnay)
Le Bistrot du Sommeliere on Haussmann Blvd in Paris was fantastic from start to finish and certainly should be on any wine lover's to-do list. the somm seems a little "wine-nazi-ish" at first, but really warms up, if you show interest in wine. here is the site, www.bistrotdusommelier.com

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