Layne’s Wine Gig Presents
TWO DINNERS
By Layne V. Witherell
For us, there are two types of prix fixe dinners. The best experience possible or the “You are a captive here” scenario. At its best it can be reasonable in price, well-orchestrated, and a delightful culinary experience. At its worst, it can strangle your credit card to within an inch of its life and significantly add to the sommelier’s retirement fund. This article is about the good kind.
MAINE OYSTER COMPANY
38 Portland St., just down from Bubba’s Sulky Lounge, Thu.-Sat. 5-9 p.m.
They have a large coastal Maine map on the wall as you walk in with a list of around forty different Maine oyster farms and a list of what’s currently available in the restaurant. The people at The Maine Oyster Company know their oysters.
What we had: a $75.00 per person prix fixe three course dinner (add beverage, tax, and gratuity).
OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER
Eight large Damariscotta oysters baked with spinach, bacon, parmesan – “Mom’s recipe.”
SPANISH MUSSELS
Bangs Island Mussels (a local treat) served in a smokey tomato broth with chorizo, shishito peppers, and sourdough toasts.
LOBSTER THERMIDOR
Maine Lobster (so fresh it crunches), sherry bechamel, parsnip and gruyere. Truffle Dutch creamer potatoes.
Now comes the exciting part, after the glass of obligatory Prosecco paired with a few raw oysters. The wine list for this locally sourced, limited time, high quality extravaganza is achingly small with no producers listed. This is why food writers never mention a wine accompaniment; they just sit there wringing their hands. I don’t like the term “foodie,” but I know what wines work to create an experience.
Sancerre $70.00 a bottle. At this price, please, God, just kill me now! The wine of greed. My heartfelt thanks to all you mindless Tik Tok devotees for bringing this humble village wine to the masses.
Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa, $44.00. A must for a vegan dinner. Poor South Africa has suffered a long-standing bad rap but there are emerging stars.
Muscadet $45.00. Will work with the mussels, it always does. A simple wine that hasn’t suffered the kneejerk popularity of Sancerre.
Zweigelt (Rose), Austria $49.00. A far-out miniature pairing.
Chardonnay, Sonoma Valley, $75.00. NO NAME. Had to wait to see the bottle. This is your prix fixe scary moment.
TERRIEN SONOMA CHARDONNAY, 2014 (!!!). $75.00.
OMG. Michael Terrien is one of my all-time favorite winemakers. This is old-school California, not the overpriced pancake syrup butter concoctions that are featured on far too many wine lists and store shelves. Michael works with old chardonnay vine plantings on trusted sites with minimal oak treatments, preferring low yields and extended bottle age instead. This is complexity we just aren’t used to.
To quote Matt Kramer on the world famed white Burgundy from the French town of Meursault, “What it offers is a combination of flavors found in few chardonnays anywhere. Honey, coffee, hazelnuts, and spices.”
What made our prix fixe dinner great is that a similar flavor combination of fresh from the ocean local dishes when accompanying it with a Meursault would run upwards of $300 plus (and climbing in price by the minute) per bottle. We could have had a very good dinner paired with their other wines, but this is a sheer magnification of flavors.
“Great wine makes you feel like a genius.”
-Matt Kramer.
It was a meal reminiscent of Paris or Beaune, the capital of Burgundy, at its best, in a cozy little local centric place in emerging West Bayside.
CHAVAL
58 Pine Street, in Portland’s West End, Tue.-Sat. 4:30-9 p.m.
Yeah, I know, everybody and their dog has written about this place, but our most recent meal was what I call a “build your own prix fixe.” Specials pop up and are not to be missed. Chaval‘s staff are wine list savvy, making it an adventure for the culinary explorer.
FRESH WHITE TRUFFLES ON SCRAMBLED EGGS
BOLET BRUT ROSE CAVA, SPAIN, $13.00 glass/$49.00 bottle.
Spanish Cava, that Barcelona sparkler that got stomped by Prosecco, is usually a yawner. Even though it is bottle fermented for tiny bubbles, the grapes (macabeo, parellada, and Xarel-lo) are ho-hum at best. But this is a pinot noir-based Cava to be reckoned with. The color is dark rose, and the fragrance is pure pinot noir. Wild with truffles. It not only looks brilliant but tastes brilliant as well.
KOEHLER-RUPHRECHT PINOT BLANC, PFALZ, GERMANY, $15.00 glass
The goal of fresh truffles is to take a fairly neutral good wine, as is the case with pinot blanc, and elevate it in flavor. Truffles act as a magnifying glass for both the dish and the wine. The Cava and pinot blanc are great as opposites in flavor.
ROASTED BONE MARROW WITH SHRIMP
You sip your Cava while enjoying and finishing the beef bone when Ilma Lopez, the co-proprietor, comes over and recommends a Sherry luge pouring through the bone with you slurping as the deliriously happy recipient. I know my Spanish Sherry, but she REALLY knows her Sherry.
GONZALES BYASS, PALO CORTADO “LEONOR,” $7.00 glass
The Spanish Sherry master identifies this rare find barrel by barrel with a little chalk mark. Your “one stop shop” Sherry lesson would be at their bar with a copy of Talia Baiocchi’s classic book “Sherry” in hand with a glass each of:
- Fino Tio Pepe (very dry, austere, almonds and apples);
- A glass of Gonzales Byass Amontillado Seco (an older fino, mellower and more relaxed, like chestnuts);
- Gonzales Byass Oloroso Seco (dry, full bodied, raisins and nuts).
Now, blend away to make your own rare Palo Cortado. I call this “become your own winemaker and #mendoblendo to your friends’ amazement.
And try not to spill the bone marrow broth/Sherry situation on your shirt. Judy is much better at it than I am. After you have recovered from this serious restaurant happening called the Sherry Luge, it is time for the main event.
PYRENEES RABBIT FIDEOS
Rabbit is slightly gamey but in a multi-dimensional interesting way. I call it “the thinking person’s gamey.” It pairs well with a wide variety of wines, and for two or more people it is more fun to share glasses than a bottle. You want to experience variety as opposed to textbook pairing.
JP BRUN L’ANCIEN TERRE DORRES BEAUJOLAIS, FRANCE, $15.00 glass
Gamay fruit with lusciousness. This is a wash down with the rabbit dish as an accompaniment. Gamay as a grape is young, fresh, delicious… and if you close your eyes the red wine could be white. Just smile while you are drinking it and eating the rabbit.
BODEGAS LAN CRIANZA, RIOJA, SPAIN, $14.00 glass
Tempranillo, the grape of Rioja is the opposite of gamay, hence the fun pairing. It is fuller bodied and has an earthy, dusty character that engages you to think about the meal as opposed to just smiling and slurping. Crianza means oak aged which adds more weight to an otherwise full wine. Rioja as a region hasn’t changed in a hundred plus years, so this is a dish that you could have in Madrid in 1840. The rest of the world has just changed a lot.
These are but two of the world class dining experiences that you can find in Portland, Maine. Explore, ask questions, be fun, be courteous, and treat the staff well. They work hard for you.
