Our favorite Cellar-Raider, Bob Dickinson, has found the 95+ pointers in our cellar that are at their peak ready to drink. This will be a spectacular evening for 25 lucky members. Wines like these are why we have a deep and full cellar and this menu represents some never-before and perhaps never-again opportunities. Every wine garnered 95 points or more from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.
We’ll start with the King of Champagnes: Krug Grand Cuvee. Most experts agree that if you only drink one champagne, it should be Krug, and it will pair beautifully with Tarpon Bend’s passed hors d’oeurves.
A refreshing Gazpacho will start your palate pleasure and lead into Chef Wayne Eldred’s famous Lobster & Crab Cake. The incredible 2001 Louis Latour Chevalier Montrachet Les Demoiselles (95 pts.) is big, dense, rich and full bodied chardonnay with minerals, spices and pear aromas and at its absolute peak.
If you didn’t get any for the Holidays now is your chance for Roasted Goose, succulent, moist and full-flavored. It will be paired with an amazing Hermitage from Chave, the 1995 (97 pts.) Showing cassis, blackberry and wild herb notes along with minerality, it is medium bodied and a great pairing.
Course four will be a braised short rib, tender and meaty to go with the 1999 Ermitage Le Meal from Chapoutier. It is smoky with hints of coffee and black fruits and another ready-to-enjoy 16 year old wine. Those who attended last season’s event will recall the duel between two Australian shiraz…reprised now with their French counterpart, syrah.
As if those beauties weren’t enough, the highlight of the night will be a 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild (96 pts). The 1990’s are drinking beautifully right now, jumping out of the glass with silky smooth mouthfeel, juicy fruits and spicy aromas. Think classic cedar, tobacco, and lead pencil aromas backed by strong fleshy blackberry and cassis. To showcase this almost stand-alone wine, Wayne will prepare a beautiful cheese soufflé and let the Lafite shine.
Finally, Wayne’s Florida Custard will be paired with the 2002 Zind Humbrecht Gewurtztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim, a Grand Cru vineyard in Alsace showing spicy aromas of poached pear and lychee nuts and a lovely long finish.
It doesn’t get better than this!