Layne’s Wine Gig Presents
THE LAST DANCE
By Layne V. Witherell
Institution- A person or thing long established in a place.
Petite Jacqueline started in our neighborhood at Longfellow Square in 2011. They moved to the Old Port in 2016. You make the call as to your favorite location.
Judy and I were there for the last dinner service in a place that we regarded as a great Portland institution. Nothing about the evening was somber. There was an evening long crackle of laughter among longtime Portland friends and an energy from the longtime restaurant staff. We went so far as to have the entire staff sign our menu (including the dishwasher).
Since we are collectors (actually, just a tiny step away from hoarders), I thought it fun to share memories from some of the dinners and wines over the years.
PETITE JACQUELINE
46 Market St., Portland, ME
September 30, 2023, Last dinner service “The last dance.”
To start: Four Roses small batch Old Fashioned for Judy and Joseph Drouhin Macon by the glass for myself. I always start with Macon – the classic mineral refreshment of Chardonnay. Burgundy, ahhhh, Burgundy.
Duck Rillettes, shredded, with Armagnac and spices. Lovely little duck fat. Bread, more bread.
Boeuf Bourguignon for Judy (the last order). Thank you, Julia Child, for the idea of that one.
Duck Confit for Layne. Can’t have too much duck, especially with a delirious Port reduction. Please, some restaurant needs to take up this dish. If you’re Jonesin’ go to Chaval for their Coq a Vin. It will get you through.
A bottle of Bichot Mercurey 1er cru Burgundy. Pinot Noir, glorious Pinot Noir, from Mercurey, a small town in the south of the famed Burgundy region of France. It provides mouthwateringly delicious fruit and acidity to accompany the duck and sauce.
Chocolate pot de crème for dessert. Goes well with Pinot Noir, too.
You can’t blame us for not eating well in Portland. But wait, there are archives galore…
LOBSTER WEEK 2021 – 3 course pairing
All lobster, all the time. Lobster Bisque. Beef Tartare topped with a tempura battered lobster claw. Lobster Gnocchi. Lobster love.
Thoroughly enjoyed and irrigated it with a bottle of Jean Luc Colombo Cotes du Rhone Blanc. The white of the Rhone region is rare, the grapes are Clarette and Roussanne. Dry, delicious, mouth filling.
TASTE OF THE RHONE 2017- 3 course pairing
Whitefish Quenelle with white fish cream sauce. Cervelas de Lyon, pork sausage and black truffles. Next, Parfait de Poire, a custard, red wine, spiced pears. Accompanied by three splendid Rhone wines from Guigal – the master of the region: Cotes du Rhone Blanc, Cotes du Rhone Rouge, and Crozes-Hermitage.
RACLETTE: A glorious Swiss dish of melted cheese and potatoes to be shared with friends. My favorite wines are from Alsace in France – Trimbach Riesling. Mineral, dry, delicious, it livens up dishes.
Happy Hour at the bar was 4:30 to 6 daily except for Wednesday. A couple of glasses of house wine, French of course, from the south of France – the Pays d’Oc. Or, if you just hit the lottery, you could luxuriate while savoring the mussels in white wine (moules in French) or some oysters with a bottle of Batard Montrachet, Grand Cru white, Burgundy for the tidy sum of $600.00 a bottle.
Their wine list was ever changing. I probably snagged a couple of dozen copies over the years.
Favorites from Taste of the Rhone wine list:
- Domaine Les Fines Graves Moulin a Vent. From the best Beaujolais village in full bodied Gamay flavor.
- Chateau Greysac, Medoc, Bordeaux. An old standby. Steak frites best friend.
- Chateau D’Aqueria Tavel Rose. Full, rich, life beyond Provence.
- Cottat Sancerre. The original Sauvignon Blanc. Like a basket full of luscious minerals. As you are reading this, the price is going up.
Oh, we will miss this place with their multi-course themed dinners, ever changing wine list, and their Foie Gras, Duck Confit, and Boeuf Bourguignon. Most of all, we will miss their warmth and hospitality.
HUBERT TRIMBACH (1938-2023)
Hubert was the face and front of the house person for the venerable Trimbach Estate in Alsace, France for fifty years. He was their road warrior, traveling from market to market, carrying on the family tradition that spans twelve generations going back to 1626. Hubert joined the family winery in 1963, when Alsatian wines were less than a blip in America.
The obits and Microsoft Bing AI give a formal, cold, PR look at their remarkable wines, as well as their family traditions. I knew Hubert as a kind, caring ambassador not only of their wines, but all of Alsace. In Oregon in the 1980’s, I was Vice President of their largest distributor in sales in the United States. Not New York, LA, or San Francisco, but Oregon. We took their wines to heart and had every restaurant in our seafood wonderland paired up with one or several of their remarkable white wines. (In honor of Hubert, here are a list of my Thanksgiving wine picks from Trimbach Estates.)
We saw Hubert frequently. Yes, he didn’t check his luggage, but prepared to depart the flight and immediately connect with his long-time customers and friends. Hubert wasted no time. We did a zillion tastings and events together and after one memorable tasting sat down and had a heart-to-heart chat about European history.
Alsace is small and surrounded by neighbors who have been constantly at war. Hubert spoke French, German, and English (and who knows how many others). He related that when the Germans ruled, their wines were shipped in bulk to anonymously wind up in German wine blends. When the French won the war, they went back to who they were with the name of the individual grape on each label together with the quality that made them famous.
A Bucket List Wine
Hubert and I met often with our dear friend and my mentor John Fraunfelder. There wasn’t a restaurant in Portland, Oregon that we went into that didn’t serve their wine. Those Trimbach wines were the inspiration for a group of Oregon winemakers to make the pilgrimage to Alsace in search of the Pinot Gris vines to bring back and plant for the state’s now acclaimed white.
But there is a wine that they grow and make that you will have to search for on your bucket list – the rare and astonishingly small production three-acre Trimbach Clos St Hune Riesling, $340 to $900 for a bottle. The last bottle I had was for our 1999 “End of the World New Years Dinner” in Richmond, Virginia. It is a rare experience. “Great wine makes you feel like a genius,” according to Matt Kramer. Fortunately, the world didn’t end.
During one of our relaxing moments after a wine event, Hubert put his feet up and smiled, “Someday I want my ashes scattered in the Clos St. Hune Vineyard.”
I hope he got his wish. Farewell old friend.
