Wine Lunch at Je Suis Gourmand

When N told me he was planning a lunch in Gourmand I knew it was going to be good. After several messages back and forth regarding what wines he/we would bring, we set the lunch for Monday December 22. It was Chef Marcs rest day but he still came to prepare for us a special menu to match the wine we were bringing...Where else will you get this kind of service?? for he 4 of us, we brought 6 bottles of wine.

For starters, we had Fin de Claire Oysters Cooked 3 Ways. This dish was paired with my bottle of 2006 Domaine Raimbault-Pineau Pouilly-Fumé. I had fist tried this white in R's birthday dinner and bought a few bottles to stock up at home. The oysters were imported from France and my favorite was the top right which had smoked Salmon. It was really a perfect way to start a meal specially with the Pouilly Fumé. A perfect match and as N said, Cant get any better than that..


Next was the Pan-Fried Foie Gras w/Foie Gras Gâteau and Scallops. The meal would not have been a meal if it did not have sinful Foie Gras. R brought a half bottle of 2002 Château Rieussec Sauternes. A perfect wine for this dish. It cut right through the richness of the Foie Gras. Although a bit too sweet for me, still a great wine to have with this dish. The Gateau was a made with Foie, seemed very light but as pointed out by Chef Marc, its quite heavy as it had lots of cream, butter and Foie of course..

For the main course, we had Roasted Venison Rack with Bacon-Laced French Beans, Braised Endive in Truffle Oil Sauce. The venison was very tender, although it had too much sauce, still a great dish. The Bacon gave the dish the contrast it needed. This dish was paired by N with 2 reds: 1989 Château Lagrange -from St-Julien and a 2000 Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron Clos Vougeot Grand Cru. Both wines were superb. The Burgundy, as pointed out by S, was a good match with the Venison but didn't drink well alone.



The 1989 Château Lagrange, a third Growth Bordeaux from St. Julien was a very mature wine. It went very well with the Venison but we enjoyed it mostly on its own after the meal.

For Dessert, we had a special Chestnut Souffle paired by N with a 1988 Domaine Hugel et Fils Gewürztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles. For me this was the best paring of the lunch. I would really never pair wines with Dessert before but this pairing was just fantastic. The Chestnut Souffle perfectly done, not too sweet, went perfectly well with this wine. I think this is the reason N enjoyed this lunch so much...and for me this was the highlight of the lunch...

Thank you N for organizing this lunch and thank you Chef Marc for taking time in preparing this special menu for us. I hope we can repeat this lunch and do this more regularly, say once a month :) ....