Wine Epiphany

Each of us wine lovers has had at least one "Wine Epiphany," where you suddenly "get" what wine is all about. For me, it was on Thursday, March 9, 1989, at Jean-Louis at the Watergate in Washington, DC. It was the "Graves Tasting Tour & Dinner with Jean-Louis" sponsored by Les Amis du Vin (the storied wine tasting group that warrants a post all its own!).

For those of you who don't know Jean-Louis Palladin, here's a little background from the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation:

"In 1974, at 28 yrs old, Jean-Louis won 2 Michelin stars for his restaurant Tables Des Cordeliers in Gascony, France. At the time he was the youngest chef to have won 2 stars.

Always seeking a new challenge, in 1979 he came to America to open Jean-Louis at The Watergate, in the Watergate Hotel, Washington, DC.

He found little that was similar to the ingredients he knew in France and certainly few well trained cooks and servers. He plowed ahead with passion and fortitude."

The dinner was eight courses, paired with sixteen wines, all from the Graves region. My memory tells me they were all white wines, but it was so long ago and I was so new to wine that I am probably mistaken (if anybody reading this was at the dinner, please let me know). I have the menu and the actual fax registration form for the dinner, but of course there is no mention of the style of the wines, red or white.

The price was $160! A king's ransom for me at the time (and still rather pricey). But if the dinner were held today, I would guess it would cost at least $350. At the time I was a young database administrator, working at Coopers & Lybrand at an annual salary of $18K. The suggested attire was formal, and the dinner was limited to 60 people. We sat at round tables for 8, as I recall, and seated at each table was a representative from one of the chateaux. I was seated next to the representative of Domaine de Chevalier. He was about 60 years old and spoke no English, and my French was and is limited. But he was charming and was charmed, I think, by me.

The entire meal was sublime. Anybody who had the pleasure of tasting Jean-Louis' culinary creations will understand what I mean when I say that it was the best meal I had ever had up until that time, and even now it ranks in my memory among my top ten best meals.

But the one course that I still remember to this day is the sixth course:

Milk-fed Leg of Lamb in essence of Black Olives, Celery Root Mousseline
paired with Domaine de Chevalier 1976 and Chateau Haut-Bailly 1979

It's not the Leg of Lamb that I recall. No, when I tasted the silky, earthy, rich celery root puree paired with the herbaceous, flinty Domaine de Chevalier, it was truly an epiphany for me. It was at that moment that I truly understood what wine is all about. It's not about having an alcoholic beverage, it's not about having something to wash down your meal with, it's not even about how good a wine can be on its own. No, at that moment I understood that wine is meant to enhance a meal, and no matter how good a meal is, it's not complete without wine.

I believe that one experience has to this day influenced my approach to selecting from a restaurant menu. Before I even look at the menu, I study the wine list and see if there's anything interesting that I want to try. Then I look at the menu to find something that will go well with the wine. But I'm not really interested in whether there is steak or fish or lamb or chicken on the menu. No, for me the most interesting part of the menu is the side dishes, sauces and accompaniments. I look for polenta, mushrooms, grits, lentils, sweet potato, scalloped potatoes, risotto, barley, turnips, parsnips, beets...or celery root puree. I go back and forth from the wine list to the menu, until I find the "perfect" pairing.

So, that's my Wine Epiphany. Do you want to share yours?