26631 Thu Nov 20 15:55:48 -0800 2003 26 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 108598 Last night, 14 curry-divers gathered at Darbar in San Francisco, including visiting chowhounds Denise and Bill from the Great White North (Newfoundland!), for a survey of Vouvray wine styles and Mughlai cuisine. Many thanks to my co-hosts, Shreesh Taskar, for coming up with the idea and helping select the wines and to Neena Taskar for choosing the menu. They are both new to the chowhound community and jumped into their first chowdown as organizers! As I am still moving sloooowly after the night’s excesses, I’ll just post the menu and wine list for now and ask for comments on the individual dishes and wines. Thank you all for your good humor, spirited conversation and for raising $210 in GoodWill for Chowhound.com. Darbar: A Survey of Mughlai Cuisine APPETIZERS Chapli Kebab: A Lahori specialty – Panfried/roasted yummy thingies of minced meat, lentils, herbs and spices Tandoori Prawns Tandoori Murgh Boti- Grilled cubes of chicken breast MEATS Nargisi Kofta: Meat wrapped egg balls in curry Karahi Chicken: Sauteed chicken with fresh tomatoes and cilantro Achar Gosht: Goat curry with peppers, mango pickles, and spices Keema Mater: Ground beef/lamb with peas Nihari: Slow cooked seasoned beef leg bones VEGETABLES Sarson Ka Saag: Traditional mustard spinach pureed with spices Gobi Aloo Menthi: Cauliflower and potatoes seasoned with fenugreek Daal Makhani: Lentils with cream sauce in a down-home preparation BREADS Makke Ki Roti: Traditional Punjabi roti, similar to corn tortillas Plain, Garlic and Onion Naan Paratha: RICE Sindhi Biryani: Saffron-flavored basmati rice layered with lamb curry sauce Darbari Chawal: Basmati rice cooked with cumin and saffron RAITA Boondi Raita: Yogurt palate-cleanser with chickpea crisps DESSERTS Gulab Jamun: Royal sweets of deep-fried milk solids Darbari kheer: Rice pudding Vouvray Wines: A Survey of Styles A. NV Champalou Petillant Brut, $15 (Importer and Retailer: Kermit Lynch) B. 2001 Marc Brédif, $10 (Importer: Maison Marques Domaines, Retailer: Wine Club) C. 2002 Champalou, $13 D. 2002 Domaine Pichot, Dom. Le Peu de la Mariette, $9 (Importer: Vineyard Brands, Retailer: Wine Club) E. 2002 Sula Chenin Blanc, India, $10 (Retailer: Wine Globe) F. 1997 Domaine de la Fontainerie, Coteau la Fontainerie, $26 (Importer: Beaune Imports, Retailer: K&L Wines) G. 2000 Champalou, Le Clos de Portail, $23 H. 2002 Champalou, Cuvée Fondreaux, $15 I. 1989 Champalou, Cuvée Catherine, $72 J. 1989 Huet, Le Mont, Premier Trie, $60 (Importer: Robert Chadderon, Retailer: Rare Wine Co. of Sonoma) K. 1995 Bourillon-Dorleans, La Coulée d'Or-Tris de Nobles Grains Moelleux, $33 (Importer: Diamond Wine Merchants, Retailer: Amphora) L. 2001 Champalou, Cuvée Moelleuse, $20 Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/26375#107183 Thu Nov 20 15:55:48 -0800 2003 0 Melanie Wong 1 108618 At 4am last night a man in a motorized wheelchair stole my dining room table and chairs. I walked into my dining room and collapsed upon the spot where my table used to stand. I watched in a paralysis of grief as the man wheeled himself at 0.5mph through my kitchen carrying the final chair. Once he left my sight I could still hear the buzz of the electric motors as he piloted his way out the door. "How has he taken all my stuff down two flights of stairs?" I sobbed. I'll never know the answer to that question, because that's when I awoke crying "No, no, no!" Victoria had earlier said that spicy Indian food causes strange and vivid dreams. And how. Sindhi Biryani -------------- Last night, our charming organizers explained to us the wonder of biryani. It is a dish of layers, of strata of flavors and of physical ingredients. It is a dish of mystery, of not knowing what will come next. It is a dish of surprise, of discovering new tastes and textures with each bite. It is a dish of uniqueness, of no two bites in either the same dish or across dishes made at different times and places ever being the same. The biryani at Darbar was none of these. It was instead, I suspect, steamed rice to which a lamb curry had been mixed. It looked good: dark red rice with numerous chunks of meat and vegetables. But it tasted simultaneously like rice to which not enough curry had been added and curry to which too much flavor had been diluted with rice. All of this is probably why only several spoonfuls were eaten from the two large plates that were served. Other Thoughts -------------- Thankfully I enjoyed most of the other food very much. This was without a doubt the spiciest food in the Curry Dive so far, the only food that has really satisfied on that dimension. The achar, prawns, tandoori chicken were the hottest dishes. The achar was great, my favorite dish of the evening, while the prawns and chicken suffered from slight overdryness. My favorites were: - achar gosht - chapli kabob (great crunchy texture and flavors), - nihari (tender meat redolent of cinnamon), - saag (fluffy, whipped texture) - makke ki roti (liket a fat corn tortilla and, as Marc pointed out, an excellent match with the saag) - darbari kheer (very good rice pudding) I particularly disliked: - Biryani - Naan (undercooked and doughy) - Boondi Raita (too much lime-like sourness for me) - Kheema Mater (quite flavorless) The other dishes fell somewhere in between: enjoyable but not excellent. I don't have my wine notes and I'm having trouble remembering which was which. The only thing I'll say is that the Sula wine showed very well against the Vouvreys. It is showing up on wine lists in Indian restaurants more and more these days, and I encourage anyone to give it a try if you see it. This event was a heck of a lot of fun. And as has always happened at each dinner, new people show up and experience for the first time the pleasure of eating chowdown-style. I hope more newcomers continue to join us for the remaining Curry Dives and future Chowdowns. -Nick Thu Nov 20 18:16:23 -0800 2003 108598 0 nja 2 108638 !I think I was at the same table?! Was there a Karahi Chicken? Was that final dish the Keema Mater? and were there peas in it? Since no one ate the Biryani, most of it became lunch and dinner for my 80-yr.old mother, Phyllis. It reheats very nicely; large tender chunks of lamb, with almonds and raisins, well-seasoned and very spicy. This can't be the same dish we bypassed last night - but, it is. Somehow, it is better the next day. So, for future reference; I'd order it for takeout, and reheat it. Really, it's pretty good, Nick. And another day-after dish that fares well is that last one that I think might be the keema mater (no peas?). It reheats in the microwave with just a little broth or water and is amazingly juicy and flavorful with complex seasonings. I think we were sated by the end of the "rotation". I, also, really liked the achar gosht with the baby goat, and the makke ki roti. What's paan? Thu Nov 20 20:17:46 -0800 2003 108618 0 Cynthia 3 108697 If you say they got better after reheating, I'm not going to argue! :) Sometimes dishes like that do better after a day of rest. I'm very happy to hear that all that food was ultimately enjoyed. I too don't recall ever tasting the karahi chicken. I believe the last dish to come out was the nihari, which did not have peas. Fri Nov 21 12:03:52 -0800 2003 108638 0 nja 3 108720 The Keema was the minced beef dish that had peas in it. As for Biryani, a lot of people feel that it gets better the second day. Paan refers to the betel leaf. It's used to make a digestive morsel, by filling the leaf with various ingredients, almost always including some chopped areca nut (aka betelnut), which is called sopari, and folded into a little triangle. This triangle is also called Paan, and is eaten after and in between meals in India. Unfortunately, they didn't have any at Darbar for us to try on Wednesday. Link: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1994/2/1994-2-17.shtml Fri Nov 21 13:51:14 -0800 2003 108638 0 Malik 3 108916 Yes, there was a Karahi chicken. It came out with the Achar gosht. At Darbar, it was presented in the same gratin like dish as the curries, rather than the small faux wok dishes that some other restaurants use. As at Sultan, I only got a bit of the sauce and none of the chicken itself. The last dish was seekh kebab. It wasn't on the printed menu, but was added on the spot when Malik pointed out that it had been the one dish we'd ordered at each place and could be one standard of comparison. I'm glad Phyllis enjoyed it. Mon Nov 24 03:41:01 -0800 2003 108638 0 Melanie Wong 1 108631 These two regional dishes are specialties: Chapli Kebab,a famous dish in Pakistan, is a tender flat pattie of minced lean beef, lentils and cornflour, seasoned with a garam masala of clove powder, cumin, black pepper with chopped pomegranate seeds and crushed coriander seeds, tomato and onion, pan fried to a crispness and best eaten very hot on naan with the green mint table sauce. The Nargisi Kofta, a dish usually only served at weddings, is ground beef wrapped around a small hard-boiled egg and served with a rich, creamy yellow curry sauce with whole mustard seeds and cumin. Very delicious dishes. Thu Nov 20 19:42:39 -0800 2003 108598 0 Cynthia 2 108917 Loved the chapli kebab - maybe ate too much that night because I was scavenging the bits of it left on the various serving plates. This had a much crunchier exterior than the version we had in Concord at the Uzbeki place and was less meaty and more transformed. I only had the sauce for the nargisi kofta (just not fast enough!), enjoyed that very much too. This is not on the menu, but Neena made a special request for this dish. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/26545#108290 Mon Nov 24 03:46:55 -0800 2003 108631 0 Melanie Wong 1 108643 1) Nihari. This a braised beef curry dish. I loved the spicing with notes of cinammon and cardammon. It had a good amount of heat too. The meat was a bit dry and stringy, perhaps they could have used a cut of meat with more gelatin. The nihari we had at shalimar had a more succulent texture and the sauce had a nice silky texture from gelatin, but it was rather bland. Somehow, I think that the perfect dish is a mixture between the two. It is too bad that we did not get to try the nihari at Pakwan since various people at the table believe it to be the best version. 2) Naans. We had an onion, garlic and plain naan. The naans were very doughy. The onion naan was my least favorite as the onions tasted a bit acrid/sulfuric, but I doubt it was because of asafetida and instead i believe the onions were prepped too far in advance. Overall, the naans at both Shalimar and Pakwan were superior. I did love the spicing of the food in general and I am certain to go back for curry dishes! Thu Nov 20 20:38:45 -0800 2003 108598 0 Victoria Libin 2 108645 The Nihari tasted like just a regular beef curry, the meat didn't seem to have been braised. I found this dish very disappointing. The Naans were competent, with my favorite being the plain ones. I really like that they also have other non-tandoor breads on offer. In addition to the naans, we tried the paratha, which is made of whole wheat flour, and is layered using butter and cooked on a griddle. We also had the Makki Ki Roti, which is made from corn, and is also griddle cooked. The Paratha was probably my favorite bread of the night. Thu Nov 20 20:52:23 -0800 2003 108643 0 Malik 3 108649 Never go to try the Paratha so I cannot comment and now I feel like I missed out. The naans arriving on our side of the table were competent but not addictive like the ones we had at Shalimar. Too doughy for my taste. I agree with you on the lack of gelatin or lack of being braised as you call it on the Nihari. Thu Nov 20 21:32:58 -0800 2003 108645 0 Victoria Libin 4 108918 I liked the flavor of the nihari but was disappointed in the texture after the meltingly soft tenderness of the version at Shalimar. I also found the naans disappointing, whereas, I'd loved the bread on my previous visit. The owner had said he'd make and serve them one at a time, but I think that didn't happen and maybe doing a bunch of them at once caused the inconsistency. I did like the garlic naan - very fresh and aromatic chopped garlic and parsley on top - tasted when piping hot out of the tandoor. The paratha was quite nice. I had ordered them stuffed with potatoes, but I think the plain ones which we were served might have showed off the style better. Lots of flaky layers. Mon Nov 24 03:51:38 -0800 2003 108649 0 Melanie Wong 1 108671 Tandoori Chicken - Overall the tandoori chicken was quite disappointing. Melanie had specifically requested chicken legs as the breast can tend to dry out in the tandoor but the owner decided to go with the white meat anyway. The larger pieces were somewhat acceptable but the smaller pieces had become quite dehydrated. (C+ or D-) Other than that Darbar did present some fantastic dishes - the highlight being the traditional Punjabi Makkae Ki Roti and Sarson Ka Saag. The Makkae Ki Roti was much thicker than I am used to but quite delicious anyway. The Nargisi Kofta was delicately spices and presented interesting textures and the Achar Gosht was superb. The owner was very considerate and accommodating and the decor was a cut above the Tandoorloin places. I would go back in a heartbeat. Shreesh Fri Nov 21 01:11:12 -0800 2003 108598 0 Shreesh Taskar 2 108919 Let me clarify that. The owner suggested Murgh boti for the appetizer round because the boneless pieces would be easier to share. I told him that I preferred chicken legs because every tandoori chicken breast meat I'd ever tasted was dried out. He said that Darbar's was not and then brought the tandoor chef out to meet me and made him promise that the chicken would not be dry! He fibbed. (g) I'll certainly be back, choosing Darbar over Shalimar across the street. It was certainly blind beginner's luck on my part ordering the Sarson ka saag and the Achar gosht on my first visit. I had hoped that all the dishes would rise to that level, but those are still my favorites, plus the chapli kebab. Mon Nov 24 03:59:17 -0800 2003 108671 0 Melanie Wong 1 108672 Thanks to the organizers for putting togther a fun and memorable event. It's not often that you sit down for a meal and waiting for you are two packets of printed information (complete with maps) detailing everything you ever wanted to know about Vouvray wines and Mughlai cuisine. I had a great time. Overall, I'd rate the food a solid B. The hosts were very friendly and attentive and the chef, per request, had a heavy hand with the spices. Daal Makhani - this was pretty much a standard lentils in cream-sauce offering. No sparks were flying here. However, with all the bold flavors in many of the other dishes, the daal hit a nice neutral note. Buried within the cream sauce were a few stray red kidney beans - I'd never seen them in daal before. Boondi Raita - This was the most pleasant surprise of the evening. This was more than just a heat reducer/palate cleanser. The traditional yogurt base was accented by lemon/lime notes, fried chick peas that crunched and crunched, and, as expertly and confidently identified by Shreesh, a bit of saltpeter, called kala-namak in Hindi. Together, the creaminess of the yogurt and crunch of the chick peas made a perfect textural marriage and the flavors brought all that was going on in the mouth to a complete halt. Most interesting raita I've ever had. As always, it was a pleasure dining with the hounds. Can't wait for the next event. Marc (ChewToy) Fri Nov 21 01:33:37 -0800 2003 108598 0 ChewToy 2 108921 Cynthia told me on Friday that she had nearly finished reading all the reference materials in the packets. Now you too can know everything there is to know about Vouvray! It wasn't easy convincing the owner that we wanted our food to be aggressively spiced. I actually put it in writing, marking the spice level next to each dish we ordered and executing a copy for each of us! Our dishes were ordered "medium", "spicy hot", and "hot hot". He used the first two dishes - achar gosht and karahi chicken - to gauge our reaction to the heat. Since no one fainted, he continued that heat level. Mon Nov 24 04:10:40 -0800 2003 108672 0 Melanie Wong 1 108678 Yesterday's meal at Darbar was my first chowhound dinner and I really loved it. Of course, it was a dinner on steroids, with an amazing array of Vouvrays and a large variety of dishes. We had been able to convince the owner to make a few dishes outside the menu, and although he was not able to accommodate our highly unusual request for paan, he was able to put together a grand meal. I would rate Darbar a B. Some dishes, like the Chaplin kebab and Nargisi kofta were really good. Others like the tandoori chicken were C-. But most others were somewhere in the middle. I did find the food a bit too spicy, which in some cases can kill the inherent taste of the meat/vegetables, but since we had requested the food very spicy, I would not hold it against the owner. Here are some of the dishes. Karai Chicken: Karai chicken is supposed to be cooked in a karai, or an Indian wok. It is also supposed to be dry, (no curry) with typically some veggies. Like the chicken dishes yesterday, the meat was not optimally cooked; I like my chicken a bit more moist. The dish was well spiced; however, I was expecting more veggies and a simpler tasting dish. I would rate it a B. Gulab jamun: Gulab jamun are fired balls of milk solids immersed in sugar syrup. These were moist but not flavorful; I like fuller, denser texture (The density is offset by the sugary syrup seeping in). The rose essence completely masked the cardamom and I could not detect any saffron in them. I would rate this dish a C. Rice kheer. My personal preference being payasam, I believe that basmati rice just does not go well in kheer. The milk should have been more evaporated, resulting in a denser texture. Cardamom was low, (Although I am a high cardamom user). I did not like it; it was too one-dimensional for me. I would rate this dish as a C also. I liked the other dished much more, other than the ones I mentioned above; the saag had mustard leaves in it (instead of just spinach) and went with the makke ki roti very well. I also liked the kheema matar, the boondi raita (the boondi was nice and crisp, unlike some places where it has become soggy sitting in the yogurt), the tandoori prawns and achar gosht. I loved the parathas, they were really rustic. I was very disappointed in the aloo gobi methi, I had asked for fresh fenugreek not the dried kind which has been used. It’s a wholly different experience. I really liked the dal makhani, which was really “ma ki dal” (or “mother’s dal” with black lentils), although it is not to everyone’s taste, being a bit bland. Overall a great experience. After tasting all the wines I would say that the sweeter Vouvrays would go much better with Indian food, the drier ones were being completely overwhelmed. Although at yesterdays’ spice levels, I would have had a port or an oloroso sherry instead! Fri Nov 21 03:48:07 -0800 2003 108598 0 Neena Taskar 1 108721 The Achar ghost was probably my favorite dish of the evening. It consisted of goat cubes and peppers cooked in a curry sauce. The description says that it also has mango pickle in it. I did taste a couple of bites of mango pickle on my plate, but I couldn't at the time figure out where it came from (as I had a few different curries at the same time). The peppers were tasty and not too hot. My only complaint was that the goat was not very gamey, it tasted more like lamb to me. But overall, a very strong dish. Other dishes I enjoyed were - Nargisi Kofta: first time I've tried this dish of boiled egg wraped in ground meat. - Keema Mater: ground beef curry with peas, very tasty. - Tandoori Prawns: unlike a lot of Indian restaurants, these prawns were not overcooked, so they were still moist and tender rather than rubbery. - Biryani: I prefer the biryanis at Naan-n-Curry, but this one was still pretty good. - Kheer: very different from other kheers I've had, this one had whole long basmati rice grains that were still chewy, and the milk was very light in consistency and not too sweet. It was a very refreshing end to the meal. The only dishes I didn't enjoy much were the Tandoori Chicken which was really dry, the Nihari which was much too thin and not particularly flavorful, and the Aloo Gobi which I found rather bland. Fri Nov 21 14:17:13 -0800 2003 108598 0 Malik 2 109173 It's been really great to hear the diversity of opinions on the food from a meal that we all shared together. Like you, I thought the keema mater was very tasty, whereas Nick thought it was tasteless. There's no right or wrong on this. The seasonings were milder on this one (ordered "spicy hot"), and really let the flavor of the ground beef and the sweet peas come through. I had a less positive reaction to the kheer, being accustomed to a thicker and richer style. But now that you mention it, this one could be considered refreshing, almost the sorbet of kheers. Thu Nov 27 02:40:25 -0800 2003 108721 0 Melanie Wong 1 108911 * Makke Ki Roti. I had never tried something like this in an Indian restaurant. Described as "Traditional Punjabi roti, similiar to corn tortillas", it was a dense corn flat bread, similar in shape to a tortilla. Others at the table were calling it a gordita or pupusa. The corn flavor was delicious and a perfect item to have with the Sarson Ka Saag. I believe I heard Shreesh say that this is not on the regular menu, and that it had to be specially requested. * Sarson Ka Saag, a "traditional mustard spinach pureed with spices". This was a spicy, strong flavored dish. The mustard greens strong enough to stand up to the chili spices in the dish. The consistency was like a puree. I would go back for this dish in a minute. I have been trying to figure out why the Makke Ki Roti traditionally goes with this dish, and why it seemed so much more suited for it than the naan. Does anyone have any guesses? The only thing that I can venture is that the recipes I have read for Sarson Ka Saag require "Maize flour". Maybe that bit of corn flour in the Sarson ka Saag really marries with the corn flat bread more than a naan. I thoroughly enjoyed this dinner - thanks, Shreesh, Neena and Melanie for working so hard to put it together! Shreesh and Neena act like old pros at this - it was hard to believe that this was their first Chowhound event. (photo below is NOT from our dinner, but it gives you an idea of this dish) Image: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/05/27/images/2002052700950201.jpg Mon Nov 24 01:57:48 -0800 2003 108598 0 jen maiser 2 108948 Great photo. One thing I really liked about the Sarson Ka Saag was that--even though it was of the cook-down variety as opposed to fresher greens--it had an airy, fluffy texture. The owner told me that they whip it with whisk. Mon Nov 24 14:45:15 -0800 2003 108911 0 nja 3 108958 lol - thanks for the reminder. i have a note here next to the sarson ka saag that says "seemed whopped" -- i think that was my wine-induced way of trying to write about what you wrote here about the whipped texture. Mon Nov 24 15:42:08 -0800 2003 108948 0 jen maiser 4 108963 I don't know about the greens, but something obviously got whopped that night. :) Mon Nov 24 16:31:52 -0800 2003 108958 0 nja 2 109087 Yes, the makke ki roti is a special order. It's so different from the other breads, it is indeed very special! The owner referred it as "corn bread" when he brought it out. I'll share that when I asked that it be part of the menu, he did agree that it was traditional with the sarson ka saag, but tried to discourage me. Apparently, he's not that fond of this bread himself. I asked Neena how widespread the use of corn for human food was in South Asia, and the only popular use she could think of was this one. I loved it when Victoria called out in Spanish that this was like a gordita! Wed Nov 26 05:02:57 -0800 2003 108911 0 Melanie Wong 2 2880838 Punjab is known for being the "granary" of India/Pakistan, and grows a lot of wheat, barley and I imagine, corn. Typically, the land and climate are not suitable for rice growing, so breads are much more common and more diverse here than other rice growing regions to the south and east. Mustard is also an important crop in Punjab. So, as is true for most regional cuisine, things that grow together, go together. My blog: ilikewhatieat.typepad.com Sat Aug 25 12:12:20 -0700 2007 108911 44538 mielemaiale 1 109071 Vouvray Wines and Mughlai Cuisine Darbar Restaurant, San Francisco November 19, 2003 We tasted twelve wines, all Chenin Blanc, in four flights: NV France Vouvray AOC E.A.R.L. Champalou Petillant Brut methode traditionnelle 12% $14.95 2001 France Vouvray AOC Marc Bredif sec $10.00 2002 France Vouvray AOC E.A.R.L. Champalou sec 12.50% $12.50 2002 France Vouvray AOC Dom. Pichot Dom. Le Peu de la Mariette $9.00 2002 India Sula sec $10.00 1997 France Vouvray AOC Dom. de la Fontainerie Coteau la Fontainerie $26.00 2000 France Vouvray AOC E.A.R.L. Champalou Le Clos de Portail 12.50% $21.95 2002 France Vouvray AOC E.A.R.L. Champalou Cuvee Fondreaux 12.50% $14.95 1989 France Vouvray AOC E.A.R.L. Champalou Cuvee Catherine Moelleux 12% $72 1989 France Vouvray AOC Huet Le Mont, Premier Trie Moelleux $60.00 1995 France Vouvray AOC Bourillon-D'Orleans La Coulee d'Or-Tris de Nobles Grains Moelleux $33.00 2001 France Vouvray AOC E.A.R.L. Champalou Cuvee Moelleuse 12% $19.95 All but the first flight of Vouvray Petillant were poured with delicious Mughlai cuisine on the table. It was felt that only the sweet Vouvray Moelleux paired well with the spicy cuisine. Two wines showed poorly: the 2002 Sula Chenin Blanc from India (weak, acidic; not a lot of flavor) and the 1989 Champalou Cuvee Catherine Moelleux. In a strange unfolding of events, instigatged by differing comments about this wine, it was discovered that the Cuvee Catherine was not corked as initially expeced, but rather was intereacting poorly with the residue of the 1997 Domaine de la Fontainerie in the glasses most of us used for both wines. The one pour of Cuvee Catherine poured in another glass demonstrated the true beauty of this wine. These notes are from my tasting alone. I tasted the first two flights (petillant and sec) before eating anything; my ability to taste the last two flights was mitigated by the wonderfully hot and spicy food. NV Champalou Petillant N(ose) lemon acidity; honey M(outh) light; a wisp of cellar air; light clean minerality; icy clean mouth feel (like Chignin); touch of sweetness 2001 Marc Bredif N full, round nose; scent of bleeding hearts, irises, narcissi M smooth; acid present 2002 Champalou Sec N banana, pineapple upside-down cake; artificial banana; w/ time bay laurel, black pepper; w/ time fresh cake baking M soft and round; banana and pineapple; sweet 2002 Domain Pichot, Domaine Le Peu de la Mariette N lean; shrimp shell; w/ time quiet floral: lilac M sweet; drying flower buds 2002 Sula Sec N weak M hint of terroir of incense (or was that the incense burning in the restaurant kitchen?) 1997 Domaine de la Fontainerie, Coteau la Fontainerie N quiet; touch of oak M dry; sour; no finish 2000 Champalou, Le Clos de Portail N butter; pineapple; fresh sea shore breeze M smooth, full; tempering finish into sweet; mild oak 2002 Champalou, Cuvee Fondreaux N citric acid M great flavor; sweet; full body 1989 Champalou, Cuvee Catherine Moelleuz N sweet, clean fresh brine M balance; meaty minerality; clean mineral finish 1989 Huet, Premier Trie Meolleux N candy caramel; Juicy Juice; artificial fruit; artichoke butter; plastic rug M full citric candy mouth; heavy + full; overwhelming, cheap 1995 Bourillon-Dorleans, La Coulee d’Or de Tris de Nobles Grains Moelleux N candied pears, canned pears; honey; orange juice concentrate; w/ time fried fish sticks oil M sweet mouth; balance; acidic evolving into sweet viscous blanket 2001 Champalou, Cuvee Moelleuse N clean, minerally lighter, metallic M thin (compared to other Moelleux); sweet with dry flavors; would have paired well with spicy foods Disclaimer: I sell Champalou wines but derive no financial benefit from increased sales of these wines. Tue Nov 25 21:33:42 -0800 2003 108598 0 Spencer 2 2879213 Adding the place marker -- was hunting for this old post. Fri Aug 24 16:35:19 -0700 2007 109071 10922 Fig Newton