Bougogne Wine Tasting with Stevie Bobes of Wine Ambassadeur, Beaune France

For many years I have said that wine is all about relationships.  It is not always what you know but who you know and exploring the wine regions of the world you build lifelong relationships with many wonderful people in the wine world who only serve to enhance your life and love of wine.  One such gentleman is Stevie Bobes of Wine Ambassadeur from Beaune, France who I have introduced you to before.  Even with Covid-19 raging across the land Stevie traveled to Amelia Island as well as Greenville, SC to present to me and my La Chaine des Rotisseurs friends an evening of Bourgogne wines to taste and evaluate.  Having now known Stevie for many years I knew this was going to be a once in a lifetime event.  Stevie's knowledge of the Bourgogne region is second to none and you can never go wrong buying Stevies wines.  He travels the vineyards daily discovering new and exciting new vineyards that frankly are making some of the best and best value wines in the region.  For one thing, many of his wines are low production, and wines you will never see in the USA as few if any are exported.  Please enjoy reading about the wines Stevie presented to us and you may contact him at https://wineambassadeur.com/.  Also, he does organize upscale trips to the Bourgogne region arranging for lodging, meals at the top places, and vineyard visits where no one else goes.  Again feel free to contact him.  Interestingly all of these wines including the Reds come from the Cote de Beaune which is primarily a white wine production area.  In case I did not mention it these wines are available for purchase from Stevie in limited quantities or until gone and he ships directly to your door.

Sparkling Cremants

Crémant de Bourgogne ‘Terroirs', Louis Picamelot D91 

Winemaker Notes A lemon gold color, with a rich but discreet foam. Note the fine balance between the fruity aromas coming from the grape varieties and the toasty aromas following the aging in the bottle; a lovely alliance between vinosity and crispiness. Enjoy as an aperitif but also with butchery or shellfishes. Decanter 91 points Lovely complex almond, pistachio, peach, and fresh bread characters with a vivid and incisive freshness and an elegant finish. 

Crémant de Bourgogne 'Jeanne Thomas', Louis Picamelot 

Dedicated to Jeanne Thomas Picamelot, Louis' wife, this cuvée is said to combine a feminine elegance and strong personality. We can but smile and nod in complete and utter agreement. 'Happy wife, happy life' comes to mind. This is a vintage-dated sparkling wine, but we tend not to focus on that. Produce of mostly Chardonnay with a slight admixture of Aligoté, all hand-harvested from the Côte Chalonnaise, Côte de Beaune, and Côte de Nuits. Vivid green-gold in color with generous and persistent tiny bubbles and aromas ever so fresh and inviting, suggesting white flower, citrus zest, and fine wine-friendly limestone rich soils; full and round, powerful, yes, and eventually sumptuous on the palate, this wine both refreshes and satisfies. Picamelot themselves recommend it as a perfect Crémant pour le gastronome (it works especially well at the dinner table, that is). 

Crémant de Bourgogne ‘Reipes' blanc de blanc 2015, Louis Picamelot D91(2014) 

This wine from a well-tended single vineyard site above St Aubin in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune has a muted but enticing scent of plant sap and spring vegetation. The palate is a little bigger than the nose suggests with some appley wealth behind the sheer green notes: long, vivid, mouthwatering. Decanter 91 reviews of 2014 vintage. No review for 2015 

White Wines

Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru « Climat du Val » 2018, Domaine Roy

Auxey-Duresses is one of the best value wines area in Bourgogne.  This wine was on the dry side but with good acid structure making it food-friendly.  It was well balanced and had a good balance of mineral and fruit.   

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru « Hammeau de Blagny » 2018, Domaine Moissenet-Bonnard 

The Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru "Hameau de Blagny" is a rich wine with beautiful minerality, a pale yellow color, and luscious notes of almond paste, vanilla, hazelnuts, and white flowers. In the mouth, it is well-balanced, with a long, complex finish on notes of peppermint and citrus fruits. Its full personality will be developed in 2 to 3 years.  My wife and I particularly enjoyed this wine buying a case of it.  We like most Puligny wines as we do favor the mineral characteristics of Puligny though this wine had a strong presence of fruit, you have to ask yourself if you don't taste fruit what are you tasting as wine is at its basic grape juice.  So we found the wine a perfect balance of minerals and fruit.

Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru « Clos Saint Jean » 2013, Au Pied de Mont Chauve RP 90 

The 2013 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean, which sees 10% new wood, offers subtle tropical tones with hints of blackberry leaf on the linear bouquet that soon loses its inhibitions. The palate is well balanced with a fine line of acidity. This is a delicate and poised Clos Saint-Jean that tapers on the finish at the moment, but it should drink nicely over the next decade. The Picard family owns the beautiful Chateau de Chassagne-Montrachet and its magnificent vaulted 11th and 14th-century cellars. The Domaine is run by Francine Picard, who's grandfather, wine merchant Louis Felix, set the wheels in motion in the 1950s. Francine's father Michel started to buy vineyards in the 1970s and in 1997 he purchased the dilapidated chateau. 

Red Wines

Beaune 1er Cru « Clos du Roi » 2018, Domaine Giboulot 

From K&L On The Trail blog: "Jean-Michel Giboulot took over the family business in 1982 and has put together one of the best bang-for-your-buck portfolios in all of Burgundy over the last three-plus decades. His wines from Burgundy's Savigny-lès-Beaune appellation are known as great values, and both the reds and whites are equally strong. Giboulot's wines straddle the line between traditional and modern, with reds that have crunchier fruit and fine tannins, but plenty of ripeness and purity. 

Pommard 1er Cru « les Charmots » 2018, Domaine Parigot 

A palette of red and black fruits (blackberry, blueberry, gooseberry, cherry kernel, ripe plum). Leather, spicy and wild notes are also present. This was my favorite red but my preference from this rejoin for red has always been Pommard.  I found the wine very well balanced which is a plus for me.  Great acid and tannin balance.

Corton Grand Cru « Clos du Roi » 2018, Domaine Dubreil-Fontaine V 92 Antonio Galloni 

One of the great wines of the evening and how can you go wrong when it came from the "kings" vineyard which is what Clos du Roi.  Domaine Dubreuil-Fontaine was established in 1879; five generations later, it is managed by Christine Gruère-Dubreuil and her husband, Nicolas Gruère. Superb winemaking tradition and an intense love of their land have enabled the estate to rise to epic status, using the family motto, “Pleasure and passion carry on…” as a guideline for success. This family has spent over a century chasing perfection, and that fact is beautifully evident in each new vintage from this unforgettable estate. This 100% Pinot Noir pours a gorgeous ruby red into the glass. It possesses ripe fruit aromas of raspberry and currant on the nose. A wonderful mineral backbone runs throughout the wine, but its silky tannins glide over the palate and create its soft, delicate style. The mid-palate displays red fruit, earth, and light chocolate flavors with a great, intense structure to the body and a long, smooth finish. It is the epitome of Corton Clos du Roi!

Kistler Vineyards Tasting, Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, Montana October 2020

2018 Kistler, Sonoma Coast, Les Noisetiers, Chardonnay 

One of Clark's favorites this particular wine is only distributed to restaurants. It is made as a blend from the Russian River, Dutton, Laguna Ridge, and Trenton vineyards. . It opens with a perfumed nose with a variety of flowers and some sharp honeysuckle. The taste is a balance of fruit and earth with some vanilla and moderate acid and a low level of oak. 

From KL Wines 

Few names are synonymous with California Chardonnay the way Kistler is. This winery almost single-handedly raised the bar to heights not seen before. The Les Noisetiers is a combination of three Sonoma Coast sites (Vine Hill Vineyard, Dutton Ranch, and Trenton Roadhouse) and emphasizes the area’s sandy Gold Ridge soils. The vilification draws on techniques used in Burgundy. The result is one of the most luxurious and complex white wines made in this county, possessing a minerality rare in New World Chardonnay. 

2017 Kistler, Dutton Ranch, Russian River Valley, Chardonnay WS 94 RP 93+ 

The grapes are grown in sandy soil with rock that tends to be on the darker side of soil variations. It opens with a fruity nose with a hint of grapefruit. The taste is very smooth and velvety with a fruity buttery taste. There is some pear noted. It has somewhat higher acid content. It is tart with predominate apple taste but also some pear. The mouthfeel is smooth and pleasant and the finish is long. 

Wine Spectator 94 "Pure and precise, with a lithe blend of intense white fruit and minerality, backed by juicy acidity. The vibrant finish is filled with lemongrass notes and long, powerful hints of savory herb." 

Robert Parker 93+ "Scented of gunflint, toast, and petrichor to begin, the 2017 Chardonnay Dutton Ranch, grown in Goldridge soils, fleshes out slowly to savory notions of baked apple, pie-crust, spring honey, lemon curd, dried leaves, and quince peel. Medium-bodied, rounded, and textured with savory layers, it's lifted by juicy acidity and finishes long. I suspect this needs more time in bottle to flesh out and give all its got" 

2017 Kistler, Stone Flat Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Chardonnay JD 95 RP 95 

Starts with balanced fruit and mineral nose with limestone predominating. I detected some apple on the nose, a tart green apple. It has a very smooth mouthfeel and on the taste is an apple and pear flavor profile and the fruit flavors are again tart. I also tasted a hint of vanilla. 

95 points Jeb Dunnuck "The 2017 Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard comes from the Durell Vineyard as well but is from a selection of only 420a rootstock, which results in a slightly lower pH as well as slightly better yields. It’s not far off the Durell Vineyard and offers impressive caramelized citrus, white flowers, brioche, and pineapple. It’s fresh, vibrant, and ethereal, and has a great finish." 

95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate "The Stone Flat Chardonnay is planted on the same soil as Durell—they are separated by a few feet—and picked at the same time," says winemaker Jason Kesner. "They're fermented in the same room and with the same barrel program, so the only difference between these two wines is the rootstock." The 2017 Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard has an uber-inviting nose with scents of honeycomb, peach cobbler, toasted hazelnut, quince, guava, and a classy framing of baking spice with underlying mineral notions. It's medium-bodied with intense, savory-laced ripe fruits knit by rocky notions and tangy acidity, finishing long and layered." 

2017 Kistler, Hudson Vineyard, Carneros, Chardonnay RP 93 WS 93 

Opens with a fruity nose of pear and apple with somewhat less tartness, more subdued so to speak. The taste follows with a lighter taste of apple and pear. Acid seems higher than the others to me here. Overall pleasant wine which should be food-friendly and a long smooth finish. 

Robert Parker 93 "The 2017 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard offers dried white flowers, toast, gunflint, and rocky notions to begin, opening out to baked apple, white peach, yogurt, and lemon peel. Medium-bodied, rounded and toasty in the mouth with youthfully restrained fruit, it has seamlessly woven, bright acidity and finishes very long and minerally." 

Wine Spectator 93 "Well structured, featuring direct and focused white fruit flavors that offer hints of dried thyme. Finishes with vibrant minerality and rich acidity that linger on an elegant frame" 

2015, Kistler, Durell Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Chardonnay, served at dinner 

Many years ago I was able to present and lecture on the 1997 vintage of Kistler wines. During that presentation, I made the comment that Steve Kistler was making the great "American Montrachet" as I still to this day feel Kistler wines come the closest to having the same taste profile of the great Montrachet vineyards in France. "Catherine Cuvee" has always been Kistler marquee top Chardonnay and it is always a triumph. But for me, the Durell vineyard wines are parallel to the "Catherine Cuvee". It is a rich powerful wine with an exceptional balance of fruit and mineral tastes and has a hint of lime and greenish coloration which seems to be present in the greatest Chardonnay's. It is the wine I most likely will drink on my death bed. 

96 points Jeb Dunnuck "In the same ballpark, the 2017 Chardonnay Durell comes from a Sonoma Coast site and is a richer, fuller Chardonnay that offers lots of lemon curd, pineapple, and some orchard fruits as well as a kiss of smoky minerality. Medium-bodied, nicely textured, and beautifully balanced, the wine builds with time in the glass, displaying a beautiful mid-palate and a great finish. While it’s one of the richer wines in the lineup, it’s firmly in the new, racy, crisp style of the estate." 

95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate "The 2015 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard opens with alluring lemon curd, green guava and ripe apricot notes with suggestions of allspice, coriander seed, almond croissant, and orange blossom. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a seductive oiliness to the texture with loads of rich tropical fruit layers generously accented with baking spice notions, finishing very long." 

My overall impression with just these wines was that Kistler Chardonnays were changing into more of a California style with more fruit-forward wines. They still retain their mineral tastes and smells but for a moment seems to get away from the Burgundian styles I had always associated with them where the mineral nose and taste predominates more. They also are going in the direction of lower alcohol and oak but that is consistent with the rest of the world, especially in Burgundy where that is exactly what they are doing today.

Spottswoode Vineyard Tastings, Triple Creek Ranch, Darby Montana October 2020

The owner and CEO of Spottswoode, Beth Novak Milliken, presented all of these wines over the weekend. There is a small amount of duplication as I have included in this article the wines that were presented with the last dinner. I wanted to have all the wines in one article so you might compare them to each other. The Triple Creek Ranch sommelier, Matt, made a comment that when guests asked him what of many wines on his wine list to offer he always could rely on Spottswoode wines to be a hit with his guests and I would agree with that. If you look closely most of these wines are 100 points or damn close to it. To see that level of consistency year to year in any vineyard is frankly remarkable. It doesn't hurt however that California Cabernets have had over 10 years of stellar vintages with great weather year to year which cannot but help. 

2016 Spottswoode, Mary's Block, Sauvignon Blanc, St. Helena, Napa Valley V 92 

The nose and bouquet presented a tart apple and pear flavor profile that was bright. The taste was a little harsh but immediately dissipates presenting a predominate flavor of Granny Smith tart apple. Acid content is moderate and food-friendly. 

92 points Vinous "The 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Mary's Block emerges from a single parcel on the estate property right next to Spring Creek. Dense and surprisingly powerful, the 2016 is built to show off textural volume and intensity rather than the brighter aromas and flavors that are typical of Sauvignon. The 2016 was done entirely in oak, 8% new. More importantly, it is a wine of real personality and class." 

2018 Spottswoode, Sauvignon Blanc, Mary's Block, St. Helena, Napa Valley WE 91 

A tart fruity nose with a hint of jasmine, low acid, crisp, and light with a long pleasant finish. Very balanced will go well with food or by itself as an aperitif. 

WE "This wine opens in a nutty flourish of earthiness and floral apple blossom before exposing complex waves of Meyer lemon, green apple,and fig. Intensely high toned, it is crisp and dry, with plenty of bite and texture." 

2003 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley Served from Magnum RP 95 W&S 94 

A complex nose and bouquet of chalky, smoky, cedar chocolate, and cigar. I was impressed highly that this is still a young youthful puppy with no age on it continuing to evolve for years. On the taste was pucker up tannins with a flavor of licorice and chocolate. The finish was pleasant and long. Acid and tannin though extensive were moderate and balanced. I noticed a hint of color loss on the edges but you would have never known this was an aged wine based on the taste. To me it was a complex wine well made and well structured that should age for years but I admit with the color showing some loss, even though minimal, the wine might rapidly deteriorate quicker than expected. Reminds me of the 2003 French Bordeaux's who initially came out not that highly rated, after a few years developed extremely well and approached higher ratings than expected, then crashed and burned and rapidly matured so you had to go and drink them fast. 

95 points Robert Parker "In 2003, production jumped up to 3,700 cases, with the blend identical to so many other vintages with 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc. This was a year where there were some freaky heat spells, but this wine has come through nicely. Deep bluish purple with notes of blackberry and cassis and charcoal followed by a soft, velvety-textured, opulent, and full-bodied wine that seems to be approaching full maturity. It is interesting, this wine is far more evolved, and on a faster evolutionary track than the 2001 or 2002. Nevertheless, it is a beauty, loaded, layered, and impressive. It must be one of the top 2003s. Drink it over the next 20-some years. (RP)" 

94 points Wine & Spirits "The Spottswoode estate celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, and its latest release is a fitting tribute to the vineyard on the property first planted in 1916 by the Spotts family. The Novak family bought Spottswoode in 1972 and replanted the vines. Tony Soter made the first Spottswoode Cabernet in 1982; this current vintage was made by Rosemary Cakebread. Her '03 is lovely, a wine of tremendous richness packed with black currant flavor. It's smooth and lush, a sleek Napa Valley red, destined to be a classic." 

2010 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley RP100 V97 ST96

A super dark black color with no edge loss. Of all the wines this weekend this one had the darkest color. Opens up with a licorice nose and bouquet as well as Jasmine so a complex nose. Again a young wine with young tannins still even after 10 years. A nice smooth mouthfeel. A very well balanced wine with moderate acid integrated with the tannins well. A long pleasant finish. Clearly deserves the 100 point rating. I wrote this prior to reading the following reviews and was pleased to note that my comments regarding the smooth mouthfeel as well as the licorice taste were picked up by the professional tasters. Gives me faith in my tasting abilities. 

100 points Robert Parker Production in this cooler year than 2009 produced 2,586 cases and the blend was 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Consistently perfect from barrel and bottle multiple times, the 2010 is one of the recent blockbuster efforts from Spottswoode. Superb aromatics of spring flowers, blue and black fruits, forest floor, and a touch of toast, are followed by a wine of exceptional intensity, texture, purity, and a full-bodied finish with velvety, but noticeable tannins. This is still extremely young, but also remarkably impressive even though it is only six years of age. Expect this to hit its prime in about 10 years and last for at least 40. (RP)" 

97 points Vinous "A rich, exotic beauty, Spottswoode's 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is one the most representative wines from a cold vintage that was marked by heat spikes at the end of the growing season. That contrast makes for a viscerally thrilling wine endowed with magnificent complexity and pure class. Powerful and unctuous, with tremendous depth and tons of character, the 2010 is a total stunner. Dark plum, cherry, chocolate, spice, and new leather all flesh out in this vivid, utterly breathtaking wine. There is so much to love here. (AG)" 

96 points Stephen Tanzer "Good bright ruby. Huckleberry, blackberry, violet and licorice on the scented nose; became increasingly floral with air--a real essence of its St. Helena site. Enters the mouth suave, silky and floral; wonderfully pliant in spite of its acid-driven energy, precision and youthfulness. The wine's perfume and definition pique the taste buds in the middle palate and on the very long, rising finish, where the noble tannins play a supporting role without impinging. This wonderfully youthful, floral wine appears to be at the beginning of a long plane of peak drinkability. Really fills the mouth with perfume, but not at all weighty or overly fleshy. Finishes with great sappy, rising length and grip. My sample was even better after 72 hours. (ST, for Vinous)" 

2012 Spottswoode, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley RP 99 JS 98 

The nose opens with a rich, tobacco, chocolate nose, frankly a complex and elegant bouquet. The taste very approachable and chewy with licorice and chocolate. It is aging well, the tannins are still there but have dropped off somewhat. I also found it had some sweetness and residual sugar remaining which added to the complexity. 

99 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

"With the lowest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in of any of the wines from this vertical, the 2012 final blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. Production across the board in 2012 was high and reflected in the 3,977 cases made at Spottswoode. This is a dramatic, flamboyant, modern-day version of the 2002. Dramatic blueberry, black raspberry, and blackcurrant fruit, along with camphor, charcoal, white flowers, and forestry notes all emerge from the impressive aromatics that soar from the glass. The intense, explosively rich, full-bodied palate is layered with beautiful purity, stunningly sweet, silky tannins, and terrific presence and complexity. This is a gorgeous wine on a relatively fast evolutionary track, I suspect, but certainly, it has 30 years of upside left." 

98 points James Suckling 

"Incredible blueberry, blackberry, black walnut, mineral, black licorice, and flowers. Full-bodied, very tight, and structured with hints of hazelnut, fine chocolate, mineral, and spice. Layered and very fine. A solid and classic-styled Napa Valley Cab." 

2013 Spottswoode, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley JD 100 RP 99 

Opens with a tight, closed nose, with the taste of moderate tannins, come across as still a very young wine. I detected a hint of flint and a subdued taste. To me the wine needed some extra decanting to open up but it is obviously young and continuing to evolve. It also may have been in a temporary "dumb" phase like you see with some French Bordeaux's which Jeb Dunnuck mentions referring to other 2013's. Obviously, the professional taster's comments below are key to evaluating this particular year. It clearly is one to cellar and drink for years to come. 

100 points Jeb Dunnuck 

"One of the most classic examples of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon I could image is the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from Spottswoode and this blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot is a truly heavenly, classic wine built for the ages. Offering beautiful notes of black and blue fruits, graphite, exotic spices, violets, and spring flowers, with a touch of earthy, damp river rock-like minerality, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, stunning purity of fruit, perfect balance, building tannin, and a great, great finish. While a number of 2013s have closed down at this point, this still offers beautiful freshness and purity, yet will ideally be given another 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoyed over the following 3-4 decades. Do you want a sure bet in awesome, age-worthy Cabernet from northern California? Buy this wine." 

99 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

"The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet with a touch of purple and exudes pure black truffles on the nose to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal a core of black cherries, warm blackcurrants and plum preserves with suggestions of eucalyptus, tilled soil, chargrill and new leather. Medium-bodied with a great intensity of earth-tinged black fruits, it has a firm frame of grainy tannins and a long truffle-laced finish." 

2014 Spottswoode, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley RP 98 WE 98 

Opens with a floral nose with honeysuckle and charcoal. The taste is dark chocolate with a smooth silky mouthfeel. The structure of the wine is exemplary with integrated acid and tannin and great balance. It has a long finish. 

98 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

"Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon has a drop-dead gorgeous nose of Sichuan pepper, hoisin, peppered salami and fertile loam over a core of blackberry preserves and redcurrant jelly with touches of kirsch and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated yet still maintaining that wonderful purity and elegance that is the signature of this estate, it has layer upon layer of earthy nuances and a very long finish. Drink 2021-2050." 

98 points Wine Enthusiast 

"Nuanced, with 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, this is a quietly powerful wine, smooth and structured and immediate in its beauty, yet possessed of legs to cellar for 20-plus years. Crushed flowers and rocks open on the nose, providing a clutch of minerality, as grippy tannins support red currant, plum, and a freshness of persistent acidity. Try to wait on this one. Best 2024 through 2034." 

2015 Spottswoode, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley RP 100 JD 99 

The nose has a smoky nose with hints of cedar. With both the nose and taste it is somewhat closed, again a possible "dumb" time. The tannins were tart but balanced. I tasted again cedar as well as chocolate. Acid was moderate but well integrated with the tannins. Overall a very complex wine, still young, and will age well. 

100 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

"The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet-purple colored with a mind-blowingly gorgeous nose that defies words: warm cassis, red roses, sandalwood, Indian spices, crushed rocks, menthol and iron ore with wafts of lilacs and truffles. Medium to full-bodied with a rock-solid frame of super-ripe, grainy tannins and tons of freshness, it finishes incredibly long and remains incredibly provocative." 

99 points Jeb Dunnuck 

"A more exuberant, sexy wine than the 2014, yet still in the house style emphasizing elegance and purity, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate knocks it out of the park with its huge nose of crème de cassis, plums, Asian spices, scorched earth, tobacco leaf, and graphite. This flows to a full-bodied, opulent, incredibly concentrated wine reminiscent of the 2013 on steroids. Full-bodied, with building tannin, integrated acidity, a stacked mid-palate, and a great finish, this is a tour de force in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from one of the greats. It has three to four decades of life ahead of it." 

2016 Spottswoode, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley JD 100 RP 100 

A blockbuster wine. It had the darkest black color of most of the wines. The nose was tight but I could detect hints of fresh flowers as well as milk chocolate. The taste was smooth and silky and well balanced. Tannins were subdued and actually not tart. Acid was low and integrated well with the tannins. Everything about the wine was balanced and pleasant. It had a nice long finish. To me, it was very young and was holding back on its grandeur. It will be very interesting to see how it evolves over the years. My last thought was it was more of a feminine wine and a lady playing hard to get. 

100 points Jeb Dunnuck 

"The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate has shut down slightly since I tasted it last year, yet it’s still a magical, perfect wine. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot, it offers incredible notes of pure crème de cassis, blueberries, camphor, crushed rocks, and lead pencil shavings. This rich, full-bodied beauty always reminds me of a great vintage of Château Margaux with its beautiful complexity, power, and elegance." 

100 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

"Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is still very tight and youthful, slowly unfurling to reveal a multifaceted wine with tons of black, blue and red fruit sparks—plums, cherries, black currants, and red currants—with dark chocolate, cedar chest, black tea and red roses in the background plus wafts of pencil lead and prosciutto. Medium-bodied and firmly textured by superbly ripe, grainy tannins, it has a fantastic core of intense, complex layers, finishing on an edifying mineral note. Wow!"

Spottswoode & Kisltler Wine Pairing Dinner, Triple Creek Ranch, Montana October 24, 2020

The grand finale dinner was a culmination of culinary excellence along with spectacular wines from the two vineyards. Following two wine seminars, guests were able to enjoy the wines with special menu items selected especially for the wines presented. I have provided both my own as well as the professional reviews of the wines presented as well as my impressions on the wine and food pairings understanding we all taste both food and wine at times differently. I would say in general the food match-ups were what you might expect with one exception at the beginning that turned out to be a wonderful exception.

1st Course

Lemon Sole with fennel puree, toasted sourdough, lemon brown butter, chervil and apple

2016 Spottswoode, Mary's Block, Sauvignon Blanc, St. Helena, Napa Valley V 92 

The nose and bouquet presented a tart apple and pear flavor profile that was bright. The taste was a little harsh but immediately dissipates presenting a predominant flavor of Granny Smith tart apple. Acid content is moderate and food-friendly. 

92 points Vinous "The 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Mary's Block emerges from a single parcel on the estate property right next to Spring Creek. Dense and surprisingly powerful, the 2016 is built to show off textural volume and intensity rather than the brighter aromas and flavors that are typical of Sauvignon. The 2016 was done entirely in oak, 8% new. More importantly, it is a wine of real personality and class. (AG)" 

2017 Kistler, Lagune Ridge Vineyard, Russian River Valley, Chardonnay WS 97 RP 95 

I have this wine in my cellar in magnum. The nose presented with a flint, mineral profile making me think that Kistler was now back on track making Chardonnay in the French European style. It truly was closer to Burgundian than California style. There was a taste of tart pear with mild oak and vanilla overtones. The finish was slightly harsh but long. Again acid was moderate and food-friendly. 

97 points Wine Spectator "Rich and powerful, with an unctuous creaminess to the ripe apple and pear flavors, featuring notes of dried tropical fruits, backed by engaging fresh acidity. Hints of dried savory herbs show on the finish, revealing concentrated minerality and buttery nuances. 

95 Points Robert Parker "The 2017 Chardonnay Laguna Ridge Vineyard features scents of baclava, baked apple, quince paste, lime peel, and warm yellow peaches with notions of gunflint, hazelnut, citrus blossoms, and crushed stone. Medium-bodied with a lovely creamy texture, it has an intense flavor layers, uplifting tangy acidity, and a very long flavorful finish. 

Food match - A perfect example of how preconceived ideas regarding food and wine matching are frequently wrong. Both Clark and myself prior to any tasting predicted immediately the Kistler Chardonnay would match best in that it would be buttery and like a French Montrachet that "always" goes great with "sole" right? Not so fast. Not here. In fact, the Spottswoode was the better match. Even though it was a Sauvignon Blanc because of its balance and lighter presentation it matched the lemon sole perfectly. The Kistler seemed to clash somewhat and I suspect it was due to a little harshness to the wine. The delicacy of the fish matched with the softness and acid of the wine was a match made in heaven. 

2nd Course

Lobster and Quail salad with Belgium endive, red sorrel, celery root puree, toasted walnut roasted grape vinaigrette 

2016 Kistler Natalie Cuvee Silver Belt Vineyard Pinot Noir JD 97 RP 95 

The nose and bouquet was a heavy red cherry but also had some complexity with a rose perfume smell. A somewhat bitter cherry taste that was tart and tannic. Tannins were well developed and acid to me was somewhat high. Again there was a lot of tannin due to its youth and consistent with Kistler Pinots. 

97 points Jeb Dunnuck "The 2016 Pinot Noir Cuvée Natalie is a mix of Calera and Swan clones as well as cool, more iron oxide-driven soils. It offers more red fruits with sensational notes of strawberries, spice, and wet stone literally soaring from the glass. Perfectly balanced, with ultra-fine tannin and a seamless texture, drink this complex, layered, multi-dimensional Russian River Valley Pinot Noir anytime over the coming 10-15 years." 

95 points Robert Parker "Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2016 Pinot Noir Cuvee Natalie Silver Belt possesses quite an earthy nose of truffles, underbrush, tilled soil and mossy bark over a core of Black Forest cake, warm red and black plums and raspberry compote. Full-bodied and laden with black berry and earth layers, it has a velvety backbone and very long mineral-tinged finish." 

Food Match - I was a little disappointed with the food match here as the wine due to its tannic structure seemed to overwhelm the food at times. The Quail was one of the best I have ever had, truly enjoyable, and the wine clearly matched better with the Quail. The fat in the meat balanced out the tannins well in the wine. 

3rd Course

Carmen Ranch Beef Tenderloin with red creamer potatoes, baby kale, smoked vanilla-herb butter with a red wine reduction 

2003 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley Served from Magnum RP 95 W&S 94 

A complex nose and bouquet of chalky, smoky, cedar chocolate, and cigar. I was impressed highly that this is still a young youthful puppy with no age on it continuing to evolve for years. On the taste was pucker up tannins with a flavor of licorice and chocolate. The finish was pleasant and long. Acid and tannin through extensive were moderate and balanced. I noticed a hint of color loss on the edges but you would have never known this was an aged wine based on the taste. To me, it was a complex wine well made and well structured that should age for years but I admit with the color showing some loss, even though minimal, the wine might rapidly deteriorate quicker than expected. Reminds me of the 2003 French Bordeaux's who initially came out not that highly rated, after a few years developed extremely well and approached higher ratings than expected then crashed and burned and rapidly matured so you had to go and drink them fast. 

95 points Robert Parker "In 2003, production jumped up to 3,700 cases, with the blend identical to so many other vintages with 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc. This was a year where there were some freaky heat spells, but this wine has come through nicely. Deep bluish purple with notes of blackberry and cassis and charcoal followed by a soft, velvety-textured, opulent, and full-bodied wine that seems to be approaching full maturity. It is interesting, this wine is far more evolved, and on a faster evolutionary track than the 2001 or in 2002. Nevertheless, it is a beauty, loaded, layered, and impressive. It must be one of the top 2003s. Drink it over the next 20-some years. (RP)" 

94 points Wine & Spirits "The Spottswoode estate celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, and its latest release is a fitting tribute to the vineyard on the property first planted in 1916 by the Spotts family. The Novak family bought Spottswoode in 1972 and replanted the vines. Tony Soter made the first Spottswoode Cabernet in 1982; this current vintage was made by Rosemary Cakebread. Her '03 is lovely, a wine of tremendous richness packed with black currant flavor. It's smooth and lush, a sleek Napa Valley red, destined to be a classic."

2010 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley RP100 ST 97 

A super dark black color with no edge loss. Of all the wines this weekend this one had the darkest color. Opens up with a licorice nose and bouquet as well as Jasmine so a complex nose. Again a young wine with young tannins still even after 10 years. A nice smooth mouthfeel. A very well, balanced wine with moderate acid integrated with the tannins well. A long pleasant finish. Clearly deserves the 100 point rating. I wrote this prior to reading the following reviews and was pleased to note that my comments regarding the smooth mouthfeel as well as the licorice taste and floral characteristics were picked up by the professional tasters. Gives me faith in my tasting abilities. 

100 points Robert Parker "Production in this cooler year than 2009 produced 2,586 cases and the blend was 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Consistently perfect from barrel and bottle multiple times, the 2010 is one of the recent blockbuster efforts from Spottswoode. Superb aromatics of spring flowers, blue and black fruits, forest floor, and a touch of toast, are followed by a wine of exceptional intensity, texture, purity, and a full-bodied finish with velvety, but noticeable tannins. This is still extremely young, but also remarkably impressive even though it is only six years of age. Expect this to hit its prime in about 10 years and last for at least 40. (RP)" 

97 points Vinous "A rich, exotic beauty, Spottswoode's 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is one the most representative wines from a cold vintage that was marked by heat spikes at the end of the growing season. That contrast makes for a viscerally thrilling wine endowed with magnificent complexity and pure class. Powerful and unctuous, with tremendous depth and tons of character, the 2010 is a total stunner. Dark plum, cherry, chocolate, spice, and new leather all flesh out in this vivid, utterly breathtaking wine. There is so much to love here. (AG)" 

96 points Stephen Tanzer "Good bright ruby. Huckleberry, blackberry, violet, and licorice on the scented nose; became increasingly floral with air--a real essence of its St. Helena site. Enters the mouth suave, silky and floral; wonderfully pliant in spite of its acid-driven energy, precision, and youthfulness. The wine's perfume and definition pique the taste buds in the middle palate and on the very long, rising finish, where the noble tannins play a supporting role without impinging. This wonderfully youthful, floral wine appears to be at the beginning of a long plane of peak drinkability. Really fills the mouth with perfume, but not at all weighty or overly fleshy. Finishes with great sappy, rising length, and grip. My sample was even better after 72 hours. (ST, for Vinous)" 

Food Match - Both wines matched well with the food. Tasting as young as they both did the tannin structure was perfect for the fat of the meat and both to me were equal matches with nothing off or unbalanced. In summary, both wines were outstanding choices to have with beef and I would add with other meats as well including wild game. In general, I personally liked the 2003 best only because I was so impressed was how young it presented given its age. I only wish my body would perform the same at my age! 

4th Course

Milk Chocolate Mousse with roasted pecans, cranberry orange coulis, smoked dark chocolate powder, dried meringue chips, cranberry compote, caramelized cocoa nibs.

2015 Domain de Durban, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, France 

Alas, I could find no professional reviews of this wine so mine will have to do. Dominating the Southern Rhône Valley from the foothills of the Mont Ventoux, Domaine Durban enjoys stunning views of the area and is in the Gigondas region. I must confess I have a bias herein that the Vacqueyras wines of the Southern Rhone are my favorites. Muscat de Beaumes de Venise is considered by many one of the best of all the Muscat wines made in Southern France, and Durban is considered the best estate. The wines have distinctive Muscat flavors of flowers, tropical fruit, and honey. A basic dessert wine that goes with foie gras, melon, and Roquefort cheese. I found the wine to have a nice nose of honey but the taste was somewhat bitter and tannic which made me think it was fermented with stems in the must. On the taste, the honey taste continues. The wine went well with the dessert dish which I have included a photo of as it was an artistic presentation. 

Traveling with Covid-19

Having just returned from a trip to Montana it seems like a good time to address traveling risks associated with Covid-19.  Daily there is information put out by the media, some accurate, some not so much.  Who can you trust and what do you do to protect yourself and your family.  Clark and I traveled on American Airlines across the country, changing planes in Dallas going to the Triple Creek Ranch in Darby Montana outside Missoula, Montana airport.  In general, we felt safe and saw no overriding concerns.  There is no question it takes time to overcome ones phobia's and fears, and I am no different than anyone else.  Until I was 28 years old I had a phobia and fear of flying on an airplane.  My father was an aircrewman on a B-24 Liberator flying 30 combat missions over Nazi Germany and as a civilian had a private pilot's license.  When I was 6 years old he took to me to the St. Petersburg airport to fly on a demonstration flight.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  For some reason, I did not want to go and was afraid of the airplane and kicked and screamed until he took me home.  It haunted me for 22 years.  But as a scientist, I recognized that science and data and not perception should guide my decisions in life.  I went to Honolulu, Hawaii to do my internship in medicine for many reasons but one reason was to face down my fear of flying as the only way to get there was by plane.  To lessen my fears I flew first class and got fairly intoxicated on the way figuring if I was going to die might as well go happy and in style.  I enjoyed the trip immensely and now if a trip takes more than 4 hours in a car, I fly.  Today, even with its inconveniences I love to fly.  To me, it is a miracle to break the bonds of earth and soar in the heavens.  Even with the worst years and with the years that included terrorist attacks and 9/11 flying in a commercial airliner is one of the safest things you can do.  Driving in a car is one of the riskiest things you can do.  The majority of people killed in a car accident are 5 miles from home and going 45 MPH.  The chance of dying in a plane crash is in the millions.  Today with Covid, flying is in my opinion still safer.  Looking at the data since Covid the reported cases that were spread on an airplane occurred early in the pandemic before the airlines and the public started taking proper precautions.  Even then the number of cases transmitted was in the low hundreds compared to millions who flew on airplanes so the absolute risk was low even then.  Today as we speak the airlines have taken extreme precautions to prevent any transmission.  Everyone wears masks, filters on airplanes have been upgraded and changed frequently, boarding procedures are safer than before, so in general safety, protocols are working and in just the last month as an example, I have heard of no transmission of the virus on an airplane.  We have multiple friends who have traveled by airplane multiple times in the past month with no problems and no infections.  Clark and I for years now have disinfected our seats and area on a plane immediately when we get on.  We carry Clorox wipes and have been wiping everything down for years and to our knowledge never gotten sick from an airplane trip.  Even with the planes being spotless we still wiped everything down this trip to Montana.  Every passenger had a mask on and everyone seemed to watch out for everyone else.  I at least felt very safe, and again safer than if I was driving in a car.  At the airports, social distancing and masks were done as much as I could tell.  At our destination, the Triple Creek Ranch followed all protocols and we felt safe there.  So we have been home for a few days now, feel fine, felt safe on the trip, and will self-quarantine for at least a week at home.  The reality is that Covid is everywhere, at your home, and wherever you might choose to go.  It is spread with human to human contact through the air with coughing sneezing and talking.  Social distancing at least 6 feet and wearing a mask works.  Washing your hands' works.  If you and everyone around you are doing these things then your risk is less and mitigated.  It will not be 100% risk-free for a long time but nothing is 100% risk-free.  My opinion and comments for many years is if you don't like risk and don't want to take risks please don't get into a car and walk.  The reality is driving a car is one of the highest risk activities we do.  In my opinion, wearing a mask on an airplane is a lower risk than that so I am willing to travel under the current protocols and just did and so far so good.  I should also mention that the day before we left to drive back to the airport there was a huge blizzard that dumped one foot of snow covering the roads.  No one really saw it coming.  As a result, we had to drive down the twisty mountain and drive 80 miles back to the airport.  I assumed out west and in the past, the roads are quickly cleared.  Because this storm was not predicted we ended up driving 80 miles on top of approximately 2 inches of solid ice as the temperature dropped to 5 below zero and no they didn't clear the roads.  I know for sure driving 80 miles on top of fresh ice is the risky thing you could ever do.  Obviously, we did OK but it was an adventure.  We only spun out once.  

Triple Creek Ranch Darby Montana

 I have been remiss in posting new articles.  Covid-19 has cramped my style.  With no travel, I ran out of what I considered new ideas.  Fortunately, the travel bug would not let me go so I now have a series of articles to share with you.  We just returned from a wine seminar in Montana and I will have at least 4 articles out of that for you.  Here is the first one regarding our stay overall at the Triple Creek Ranch.  I hope you enjoy what is forthcoming and will keep you posted.

Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, Montana is a Relais & Chateaux property and as Tom Selleck says in his latest reverse mortgage ad this was not our first Rodeo.  We stayed at Les Pres d'Eugenie, Maison Guerard and had 3 meals a day at Michele Guerard's 3 Michelin star restaurants and went with high expectations Triple Creek would be close to the same experience.  It was not.  It is hard to review any place today due to COVID-19 as the virus has severely impacted everyone and I am sure made it difficult for even 3 star Michelin establishments to deliver consistent high-end services so I am willing to cut everyone some slack.  The highlight of our trip and the reason we went in the first place was to attend a Kistler and Spotswoode wine tasting and it was in fact the best part of the trip and all of the tastings and grand finale dinner were excellent and worth the trip.  The final dinner was a triumph and the peak experience of the weekend.  Our cabin was very comfortable and the wood-burning fireplace cleaned and ready daily was a treat.  The spa bathroom was one of the best we have seen.  When you arrive they tell you anything you need just ask and for the most part this was true.  The day we left unexpectedly the roads were covered in inches of ice and we had only rented a standard car so to get off their mountain requires about a one or two-mile drive down the mountain and they drove our car down to the base of the mountain which exceeded our expectations.  Housekeeping was excellent and met all of our requests the first time and every time.  After the weather turned we noticed they were able to give some guests winter coats for activities and I don't recall being told that in advance but if I had I might not have taken some of our winter clothing as we have been to the mountains yearly and know to be prepared which we were.  At the ranch, they have an extensive list of activities you can participate in at no additional cost but our time was limited by wine seminars but again the day we could have done something there was a sudden early season blizzard that dumped a foot of snow so we were cabin bound watching movies which were fine.  The one outdoor activity we did do was very over simple but was fun but brief.  Unfortunately, there were two or three issues that severely detracted our enjoyment of the trip.  The maintenance of our cabin was unsatisfactory.  It was almost as if nothing had been inspected prior to our arrival.  We were given a golf cart that was dirty, had not been cleaned, and even worse did not function properly.  The engine cut off causing us to spin out of control on a patch of ice.  We were given a new cart that worked and excuses that maybe it was not preparing the roads properly but the fact remained it should not have happened.  We had a coat/robe rack in the room that clearly was cheaply and incorrectly mounted that fell off the wall and maintenance came and mounted it back on the wall correctly, but upside down with the coat hooks pointing towards the floor.  The food was plentiful and good and the beef was excellent but it was not 3 star Michelin dining.  And of special concern evening service was poor, unprofessional, and unacceptable.  Every dinner our entree had to be sent back as it was not served as ordered.  At least one service staff was loud, overtly friendly to a fault, and unprofessional.  A simple request for coffee required this staff member to recite for over 5 minutes everything she had to do to bring a simple cup of coffee.  The staff was young and in our opinion poorly trained.  House wine choices were few and not the best.  To get a better bottle required a purchase and though their wine list was good prices, as usual, would be considered somewhat high.  Constantly we heard the words, "Sorry about that", awesome, and perfect.  It seemed that if they said the word "perfect" enough you would leave thinking everything was "perfect" and again it was not.  We had breakfast in our room daily and service there was excellent and lunch service was excellent and served by the same staff that covered lunch.  Breakfast and lunch service was one area we gave an additional gratuity to.  Sadly nothing for dinner staff.  The price we paid was significantly higher than other Relais & Chateau properties we have stayed at so understandably our expectations were high and only met in a few areas.  I might return but one incident at the end completely soured my impression.  My wife left an inexpensive pair of glasses and an electrical outlet extension behind and the staff found it and they contacted us on what address to return it.  They also requested a credit card to pay postage.  I'm sorry but again that is poor customer service.  For what we paid per day they could afford to cover the postage for two small items.  In addition, I doubt we would have used a different address than the one they had.  Good customer service would have been us receiving the items a few days later with no notification and a thank you card for staying and here are some items you left behind.  So our final impression is a facility that favors profit over people and staff does not seem to pay attention to detail.

This is an update on Monday, November 2, 2020.  I was contacted by the general manager, David Macilmraith after I posted this review after he read it on his own survey website.  He was very helpful and interested and reassured us that our concerns were valid and he had already made on the spot corrections to improve service.  He actively made amends and I was very impressed with everything he did to make things right.  Frankly, I have for years posted reviews to basically have them ignored and this is one of the first in memory where the facility immediately took us seriously and used our suggestions to improve and it speaks highly of them.  I would highly recommend anyone travel there as I can verify Triple Creek Ranch is dedicated to the best and will make it right.  I now firmly believe our experience was an isolated incident and won't happen again and feel good about returning next year.  I had a very similar experience close to 30 years ago with American Airlines that was handled in a similar positive manner and to this day I still fly American Airlines and in fact, this trip was on American Airlines.  Clark and I wish to thank David for his immediate attention to our concerns.

 

 

Super Simple and easy French Baguettes in 1 Hour

With the continued quarantine and pestilence I continue to be self-taught with cooking and baking and making bread.  I have experimented with a half dozen baguette recipes and promise this one is the easiest and quickest and made the absolutely best baguettes to date!  It is simple enough to do at home and while cooking and enjoying breakfast you could if you want to bake 2 baguettes daily for use later in the day and slice them lengthwise for great French baguettes jambon and fromage lunch sandwiches.

French Baguettes(From FoodNanny.com

Makes 2 Medium Sized Baguettes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm 105-115 degrees water, divided

1 1/2 tablespoons 2 packets active dry yeast

2 teaspoons sugar divided

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

Melted butter for brushing on loaves (optional)

Instructions

In a small bow, combine 1/2 cup of the water, the yeast, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Stir just to combine and cover with plastic wrap or a plate. Let the mixture stand about 5 minutes or until bubble or foamy.

In a heavy-duty mixer or food processor, blend the flour, salt, the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar, and the yeast mixture. Gradually add water, up to the remaining 1 cup, and mix until the dough forms a smooth ball that is not too sticky to handle. (If the dough ends up too sticky, add a little more Kamut flour.) It should be a fairly large ball inside the food processor which I fully recommend.  Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead briefly, until the dough is smooth and elastic.  You don't have to knead it forever, just enough to form a smooth ball.

Cut the dough in half and shape the halves into baguettes. This is a key shortcut.  A lot of the recipes call for letting the dough set in a bowl for the first rise and then form the baguette for a second rise.  It is simpler and turns out better to immediately form the baguette into two baguettes and then let it rise.  Grease a baguette pan (available at kitchen stores) or just shape them by hand and place the loaves in the pan. Score the loaves down the middle with a sharp knife and cover with a dish towel, and let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.  Outside in our hot humid climate works great!

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place a shallow pan of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam.  Bake the baguettes for 15 to 30 minutes or until they have a hollow sound when tapped with a knife.  For a softer crust, brush with melted butter when they have finished baking immediately out of the oven.  The butter wash really makes the crust much softer and a little tastier.  But if you like the crust crunchy just skip the butter wash.

Within an hour you will have nice fresh baguettes for the rest of the day.

Lyon, France, Culinary Capital of the World, Part III, Ancient Chefs and writers from the Past

A brief history and evolution of French Chef's and Food writers celebrating French Cuisine in date order: 

1310 Guillaume Tirel, known as Taillevent (French: "wind-cutter" i.e. an idle swaggerer) (born ca. 1310 in Pont-Audemer – 1395), was an important figure in the early history of French cuisine. He was cook to the Court of France at the time of the first Valois kings and the Hundred Years' War. His first position was enfant de cuisine (kitchen boy) to Queen Jeanne d'Évreux. From 1326 he was queux, head chef, to Philip VI. In 1347, he became squire to the Dauphin de Viennois and his queux in 1349. In 1355 he became squire to the Duke of Normandy, in 1359 his queux and in 1361 his serjeant-at-arms. The Duke of Normandy became Charles V in 1368 and Tirel continued in his service. From 1381 he was in service to Charles VI. He is generally considered one of the first truly "professional" master chefs. He died in 1395 at around 80 years of age. He expanded a collection of recipes as "Le Viandier", a famous book on cookery and cookery technique, thought to be one of the first professional treatises written in France and upon which the French gastronomic tradition was founded. It had an inestimable influence on subsequent books on French cuisine and is important to food historians as a detailed source on the medieval cuisine of northern France. During the reign of Philip VI Taillevent was a major influence in the rise of courtly favor for the strong red wines being produced in the south of France as well as those coming out of Burgundy. Many restaurants are named after him but the most famous is just off the Champs Elysees at 15 rue Lamennais. Taillevent is a restaurant in Paris, founded in 1946 by André Vrinat, and now owned by the Gardinier family and holds 2 Michelin stars. It used to be one of the hardest places to get into years ago but I was able to easily obtain a reservations last year and it is one of the best Michelin star restaurants in Paris I have eaten at and cannot wait to return. 

1615 Francois Pierre de La Varenne(1615-1678) was the foremost member of a group of French chefs, writing for a professional audience, who codified French cuisine in the age of King Louis XIV. Bugundian by birth he was the author of "Le Cuisinier Francois(1651), one of the most influential cookbooks in early modern French cuisine. La Varenne broke with the Italian traditions that had revolutionised medieval and Renaissance French cookery in the 16th and early 17th century. Other authors of the time were Nicolas Bonnefon, Le Jardinier françois (1651) and Les Délices de la campane (1654), and François Massialot, Le Cuisinier royal et bourgeois (1691), which was still being edited and modernised in the mid-18th century. The cookbook was still used in France until the French Revolution. The seventeenth century saw a culinary revolution which transported French gastronomy into the modern era. The heavily spiced flavours inherited from the cuisine of the Middle Ages were abandoned in favour of the natural flavours of foods. Exotic and costly spices (saffron, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, nigella, seeds of paradise) were, with the exception of pepper, replaced by local herbs (parsley, thyme, bayleaf, chervil, sage, tarragon). New vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, peas, cucumber and artichoke were introduced Special care was given to the cooking of meat in order to conserve maximum flavour. Vegetables had to be fresh and tender. Fish, with the improvement of transportation, had to be impeccably fresh. Preparation had to respect the gustatory and visual integrity of the ingredients instead of masking them as had been the practice previously. Finally, a rigorous separation between salted and sweet dishes was introduced, the former served before the latter, banishing the Italian Renaissance taste for mixing sweet and salted ingredients in the same dish or in the same part of the meal. 

Chef Francois Pierre de La Varenne

1739 Chef Menon is the pseudonym of an 18th-century French cookbook author; his true identity is unknown. His numerous works were originally printed, and often reprinted, anonymously and were written from 1739 to 1768 The best-known of his books is probably La Cuisinière bourgeoise, otherwise known as "The Household Cook" which was widely imitated and translated. 

1755 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin(1755-1826) author of "The Physiology of Taste" with the famous quote "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are" was a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome:[1] "Grimod and Brillat-Savarin. Between them, two writers effectively founded the whole genre of the gastronomic essay. He was born in the town of Belley, Ain, where the Rhône River then separated France from Savoy, He lived during the French Revolution and at one point lived in the USA where he stayed for three years in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Hartford, living on the proceeds of giving French and violin lessons. For a time, he was first violin in the Park Theater in New York City. His famous work, Physiologie du goût[1] (Physiology of Taste), was published in December 1825, two months before his death. The full title is Physiologie du Goût, ou Méditations de Gastronomie Transcendante; ouvrage théorique, historique et à l'ordre du jour, dédié aux Gastronomes parisiens, par un Professeur, membre de plusieurs sociétés littéraires et savantes.[5] The book has not been out of print since it first appeared, shortly before Brillat-Savarin's death.[6] Its most notable English translation was done by food writer and critic M. F. K. Fisher, who remarked, "I hold myself blessed among translators." Her translation was first published in 1949. The body of his work, though often wordy or excessively – and sometimes dubiously – aphoristic and axiomatic, has remained extremely important and has repeatedly been reanalyzed through the years since his death. In a series of meditations that owe something to Montaigne's Essays, and have the discursive rhythm of an age of leisured reading and a confident pursuit of educated pleasures, Brillat-Savarin discourses on the pleasures of the table, which he considers a science. Aside from Latin, he knew five modern languages well, and when the occasion suited, was not shy of parading them; he never hesitated to borrow a word, like the English "sip" when French seemed to him to fail, until he rediscovered the then-obsolete verb siroter. The philosophy of Epicurus lies at the back of every page; the simplest meal satisfied Brillat-Savarin, as long as it was executed with artistry: Those persons who suffer from indigestion, or who become drunk, are utterly ignorant of the true principles of eating and drinking. 

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

1784 Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême (1784 –1833) was a French chef and an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as grande cuisine, the "high art" of French cooking: a grandiose style of cookery favoured by both international royalty and by the newly rich of Paris. Carême is often considered one of the first internationally renowned celebrity chefs. Carême opened his own shop, the Pâtisserie de la rue de la Paix, which he maintained until 1813. Carême gained fame in Paris for his pièces montées, elaborate constructions used as centerpieces. He made these confections, which were sometimes several feet high, entirely out of foodstuffs such as sugar, marzipan, and pastry. He modeled them on temples, pyramids, and ancient ruins. Napoleon was famously indifferent to food, but he understood the importance of social relations in the world of diplomacy. In 1804, he gave money to Talleyrand to purchase Château de Valençay, a large estate outside Paris. The château was intended to act as a kind of diplomatic gathering place. When Talleyrand moved there, he took Carême with him. Carême's impact on culinary matters ranged from trivial to theoretical. He is credited with creating the standard chef's hat, the toque, he devised new sauces and dishes, and he published a classification of all sauces into groups based on four mother sauces. He is also frequently credited with replacing the practice of service à la française (serving all dishes at once) with service à la russe (serving each dish in the order printed on the menu) after he returned from service in the Russian court, but others say he was a diehard supporter of service à la française. Carême wrote several books on cookery, above all the encyclopedic L'Art de la Cuisine Française (5 vols, 1833–34, of which he had completed three before his death), which included, aside from hundreds of recipes, plans for menus and opulent table settings, a history of French cookery, and instructions for organizing kitchens. 

Chef Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême

1865 Françoise Fayolle , nicknamed mother Fillioux(1865-1925) Françoise was born in a small village in Auvergne. She is the oldest of ten daughters. She went to work, in Grenoble then in Lyon, in bourgeois houses, including that of Gaston Eymard, director of an insurance company and gastronome. This is where it is formed. She married Louis Fillioux. They create a bistro at 73, rue Duquesne 5 , in Lyon , in a room belonging to his father-in-law, called "Fillioux, wine merchant". Françoise is cooking. Regulars at the Grand Camp, the Villeurbanne racecourse, became their first regular customers. At that time, the snack cost 1.25 francs and the full pork menu cost 3.50 francs.  Little by little, his restaurant is also welcoming visiting cabaret and music hall stars. At the same time, the development of the railway allows a boom in tourism which benefits Mères Lyonnaises , in particular Mother Fillioux. Like 90% of the French population at the time, Françoise Fayolle spoke a regional language, but flourishing tourism pushed her to address her customers in the national language. This shop is later (late xix th century), a bistro t renowned Le Bistrot Fillioux . They served the same menu for thirty years: velouté soup with truffles, half-mourning poultry, gratin quenelle, artichoke base with foie gras, praline ice cream, accompanied by Beaujolais and châteauneuf-du-Pape. Many postcards circulate on this celebrity of the Lyon gastronomy. "La Reine des Poulards" would have prepared more than 500,000 using the same pair of knives. Legend also has it that "The Empress of Mères Lyonnaises" cooked her hens fortnightly, all in the same cooking broth. Its gourmet restaurant was, during the Belle Époque, one of the most famous in Lyon. "The Empress of Lyonnaise Mothers" was the patroness and formator of Eugénie Brazier (mother Brazier). Mother Filioux restored the coat of arms of restoration mothers in the capital of Gaul. The last Lyon mothers of the Trente Glorieuses owe him a lot. She is also considered to be the creator of the half-mourning chicken recipe. On December 2, 1965, a commemorative plaque paying tribute to Mother Fillioux was inaugurated on the site of her restaurant. 

 Chef Françoise Fayolle

1885 Mathieu Varille(1885-1963) was born in Lyon, at the same time he was a businessman, pioneer, aviation technician, collector, food writer, and historian. We own him many works on Lyon but in particular his book "La Cusine Lyonnaise published in 1928 and still available today. 

1895 Eugénie Brazier, known as "la mère Brazier" (1895-1977) was a French chef who, in 1933, became the first person to attain a total of six Michelin stars, three each at two restaurants: La Mère Brazier on Rue Royale, one of the main streets of Lyon, and a second, also called La Mère Brazier, in the Alpine foothills at Col de la Luère. This was unmatched until Alain Ducasse was awarded six stars with the publication of the 1998 Michelin Guide. She was also the first woman to earn three Michelin stars. Born in La Tranclière in the département of Ain near Lyon, she opened her first restaurant,La Mère Brazier, in 1921, obtaining help from the food critic Curnonsky. Brazier developed Lyonnaise cuisine, a tradition with which Paul Bocuse later found a worldwide success. In 1914 she started working for Mère Filloux, another of the Mères Lyonnaises, one whose kitchen employed only women. During her time at La Mère Fillioux she learned to make volaille demi-deuil, also called poularde de Bresse demi-deuil (chicken in half-mourning), her version of which would make her famous. The dish consisted of a Bresse chicken(blue foot) with slices of black truffle inserted under its skin that was then poached in bouillon. When it was cooked, the truffle showed through the white skin of the chicken so that the overall appearance was black-and white; hence the name half-mourning. She also learned how to cook various types of game such as larks, ortolans, and partridges. She was famously picky about ingredients; her chicken vendor once joked that soon he would be expected to give the birds manicures before she would accept them. She was equally demanding about cleanliness, emptying storage areas daily for cleaning. She avoided waste, creating staff dinners from trimmings and saving anything left on diners' plates to feed the pigs. Her menu changed as required by seasonal availability. When there were few vegetables, she served a macaroni gratin The menus at the La Mère Brazier restaurants were identical and changed little throughout her career. The menu that Bocuse called her "classic standby" and "the one on which her reputation rested" was quenelles de brochet (pike dumplings), poularde demi-deuil, and fonds d’artichauts au foie gras (artichoke hearts with foie gras), typically accompanied by a young Beaujolais. The chicken in half-mourning was the dish for which she was famous. The British food writer Elizabeth David called out the artichoke dish as "one of the most delicious salads I have ever eaten". Brazier's cookbook, Les secrets de la mère Brazier, was published posthumously in 1977. In 2014 it was translated into English under the title La Mere Brazier: The Mother of Modern French Cooking. Bocuse and Pacaud each wrote forewords. 

Chef Eugenie Brazier

Poularde de Bresse demi-deuil (chicken in half-mourning)

1897 Fernand Point (1897–1955) was a French chef and restaurateur and is considered by many to be the father of modern French cuisine. He founded the restaurant La Pyramide in Vienne near Lyon. He was born in Louhans, Saône-et-Loire, France. His family kept an inn where he started cooking when he was ten. He moved to Paris and worked at some of the capital's best restaurants before working with Paul Bocuse's father at the Hôtel Royal in Évian-les-Bains Point. He opened Restaurant de la Pyramide when he was 24. The restaurant was awarded three Michelin stars. His book Ma Gastronomie was first published in French in 1969. The book includes 200 recipes based on Point's notes. The chef Charlie Trotter described Point's Ma Gastronomie as the most important cookbook. His most famous comment was "Butter! Give me Butter! Always Butter". The current chef at La Pyramide is Patrick Henriroux 

Chef Fernand Point 

1920 Gaston Lenôtre (b. May 28, 1920 in Normandy, France – d. January 8, 2009) was a French pastry chef known as a possible creator of the opera cake (gâteau opéra), the founder of "Lenôtre" a culinary empire; whose brand includes restaurants, catering services, retail concerns and cooking schools, and one of the three founders with Paul Bocuse and Roger Verge of Les Chefs de France at EPCOT in Orlando, Florida. Lenôtre was born on a small farm in Normandy. Both of his parents eventually moved the family to Paris and became restaurant workers. Eventually his father's ill health forced them to move back to the province from which they came. Lenôtre then had to struggle to find a position in a kitchen in Normandy. Prior to the outbreak of World War II he sold his homemade chocolate creations in Paris from a bicycle. Following the war, Lenôtre opened a small bakery in Normandy. The venture was a success and in 1957 he came upon the opportunity to purchase a tiny bakery in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris. His new establishment did extremely well from the outset and is said to have presaged nouvelle cuisine. Lenôtre was renowned for concentrating on simple preparations and fresh ingredients, and for insisting on using the best butter in his pastries. The year 1964 saw Lenôtre enter the catering field. Due in large part to improvements in freezing food perishables, he was able to quickly expand the numbers of diners he was able to serve. The year 1971 saw Lenôtre open his first cooking school in Plaisir, Yvelines France. Among the chefs who studied under Lenôtre there was David Bouley and Jean-Paul Jeunet. The chef Pierre Hermé was an apprentice of his, as was the pastry chef Sébastien Canonne.[3] The chef Alain Ducasse also worked under him. In 1974 Lenôtre dispatched another then apprentice of his Michel Richard to open Chateau France a restaurant and patisserie on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City to spotlight the Lenôtre culinary style. It only stayed in business for a single year. Quickly bouncing back from this failed venture, in 1982 he opened les Chefs de France in the France Pavilion in Walt Disney World's Epcot Center together with Paul Bocuse and Roger Vergé. In 1985 the businesses under the banner head Lenôtre were taken over by the French Hotel firm Accor. 

Chef Gaston Lenôtre

1926 Paul Bocuse (1926 - 2018) was a French chef based in Lyon who was known for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. A student of Eugénie Brazier, she was one of the most prominent chefs associated with the nouvelle cuisine, which is less opulent and calorific than the traditional cuisine classique, and stresses the importance of fresh ingredients of the highest quality. Paul Bocuse claimed that Henri Gault first used the term, nouvelle cuisine, to describe food prepared by Bocuse and other top chefs for the maiden flight of the Concorde airliner in 1969. Bocuse made many contributions to French gastronomy both directly and indirectly, because he had numerous students, many of whom have become notable chefs themselves. One of his students was Austrian Eckart Witzigmann, one of four Chefs of the Century and chef at the first German restaurant to receive three Michelin stars. Since 1987, the Bocuse d'Or has been regarded as the most prestigious award for chefs in the world (at least when French food is considered), and is sometimes seen as the unofficial world championship for chefs. Bocuse received numerous awards throughout his career, including the medal of Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur. The Culinary Institute of America honoured Bocuse in their Leadership Awards Gala on 30 March 2011. He received the "Chef of the Century" award. In July 2012 the Culinary Institute of America announced in The New York Times that they would change the name of their Escoffier Restaurant to the Bocuse Restaurant, after a year-long renovation. In 1975, he created soupe aux truffes (truffle soup) for a presidential dinner at the Élysée Palace. Since then, the soup has been served in Bocuse's restaurant near Lyon as Soupe V.G.E., VGE being the initials of former president of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. 

Chef Paul Bocuse

soupe aux truffes

1937 Alain Chapel (30 December 1937 – 10 July 1990) was a French Michelin 3 starred chef, credited with being one of the originators of Nouvelle Cuisine. Chapel was born in Lyon, the son of Maître d' Charles and his wife Eva. At the outbreak of World War II, the family moved to the village of Mionnay 12 miles outside the city, where his father opened a bistro called La Mere Charles in an old coaching inn surrounded by lush gardens. There Alain Chapel received his first training. Alain Chapel eventually returned to the family bistro which was then upgraded to a restaurant. In 1967 it was awarded its first Michelin star. After taking over the restaurant in 1970 on the death of his father, he converted the inn to a hotel and renamed it in his own name. In 1973, Chapel gained his third Michelin star, then one of only 19 restaurants all in France which had ever then gained the honour. Chapel's signature dishes included stuffed calves' ears with fried parsley, truffle-stuffed chicken tightly enveloped in a pork bladder and cooked in a rich chicken broth. Food critic Craig Claiborne writing for The New York Times in 1977 described Chapel's gateau de foies blonds as "his ultimate triumph" and "one of the absolute cooking glories of this generation". According to the Gault Millau Guide to France: "A meal at Chapel's restaurant was like a symphony." Throughout the rest of his life, the establishment retained all three of its Michelin stars. The speed of transformation and the elaborate cuisine turned the village of Mionnay into a culinary landmark on any serious gastronomic tour of France. The attraction was also as great for young chefs, who sought the opportunity to work with Chapel – these included Michel Roux Jr.

Chef Alain Chapel