Special Occassion wine with SoftShell Crabs

docsconz · May 4, 2004

Ok, I'm having a special dinner with soft-shell crabs (pan-fried with butter, garlic, capers and lemon) and I was planning on opening a bottle of 1999 Joly Savennieres Coulee de Serrant, but have been accused of infanticide. I happen to know that as of a few months ago it was drinking superbly and yes, I do have a few more bottles. What are your thoughts and recommendations? Do it or go with something else? Unless I hear some compelling arguments that baby is gonna be in my and my wife's glasses tonight! :wink:

Marlene · May 4, 2004

What a lovely birthday dinner for you. But you mean you have to cook it yourself?

If you found the wine to your taste a few months ago, I'd go with your own instinct and drink it again :smile:

docsconz · May 4, 2004

My wife will be cooking the dinner while I'm at my son's baseball game. :smile:

May you have a lovely birthday dinner as well! What is on your menu?

rich · May 4, 2004

That's a great choice Doc!

I've had some luck with the Stags' Leap 2002-3 Chenin Blanc and softshell crabs. The fruit would be a great contrast with the caper/butter sauce. My other choice would be the Dr. Frank 1999-2000 Pinot Noir. Both are excellent vintages. Nice fruit with some backbone to stand up to the sauce.

Enjoy your birthday. My filly will be making her first start at Belmont within ten days and then (if she does as well as everyone thinks) it will be off to Saratoga in late July.

Mulcahy · May 4, 2004

Happy birthday to both of you!

I say if you like the wine, young or not, and it's your birthday -- drink it.

Rich, as an aside, what is your filly named? I will be both at Belmont and Saratoga a lot this summer.

rich · May 4, 2004

Happy birthday to both of you!
I say if you like the wine, young or not, and it's your birthday -- drink it.
Rich, as an aside, what is your filly named? I will be both at Belmont and Saratoga a lot this summer.

Rachel's Sister. She's three-year-old by Rodeo. She was injured last year just before her scheduled debut at Saratoga. She's training beautifully (Linda Rice is her trainer) and she'll probably be the favorite first time out, so you won't be able to make much money.

She'll be entered in the next 6-furlong NY-bred MSW race at Belmont. None scheduled in the condition book at this point, but it should come up as an "extra" in about ten days. She'll have her last 5-furlong breeze tomorrow morning at the Belmont Traning Track.

docsconz · May 4, 2004

That's a great choice Doc!
I've had some luck with the Stags' Leap 2002-3 Chenin Blanc and softshell crabs. The fruit would be a great contrast with the caper/butter sauce. My other choice would be the Dr. Frank 1999-2000 Pinot Noir. Both are excellent vintages. Nice fruit with some backbone to stand up to the sauce.
Enjoy your birthday. My filly will be making her first start at Belmont within ten days and then (if she does as well as everyone thinks) it will be off to Saratoga in late July.

Interesting recommendations, Rich.Thanks. The pinot is particularly intriguing. Pinot Noir is a great food grape-probably the most versatile red grape. It is great with a lot of seafood. PN is my goto wine with salmon and other flavorful, robust fish, but I haven't had it with shellfish. I will try it, but not today. I ought to be able to get the Dr. Frank around here.

docsconz · May 4, 2004

Thanks for the B-day wishes, Mulcahy and Rich. Looking forward to seeing Rachel's Sister in Saratoga. Let me know when she'll be racing. Hopefully, I'll get to see her and root her on. Maybe she'll even race during the eGullet Day at the Races!

Andre · May 4, 2004

I would go for a Riesling from Alsace if possible but then again what are Birthday wishes for.

Enjoy,

Happy Birthday and many happy returns

LOS · May 4, 2004

If you go with the Coulee, be sure and decant it as soon as you can. A few hours will help it. You can swish it back and forth between 2 carafes for added oxygenation.

Another nice alternative would be a rich champagne.

Mulcahy · May 4, 2004

Rachel's Sister. She's three-year-old by Rodeo. She was injured last year just before her scheduled debut at Saratoga. She's training beautifully (Linda Rice is her trainer) and she'll probably be the favorite first time out, so you won't be able to make much money.

I would have bet her anyway! Rachel is my first name, although I have no sister. I will bet her, whether I stand to win much or not. Good luck!

Edited for stupid quoting problems.

Edited May 4, 2004 by Mulcahy (log)

Brad Ballinger · May 4, 2004

All right. Since I'm the one who called it infanticide (for the rest of you -- in a PM), I should probably weigh in.

I like the Champagne idea, and I would go with something from an older vintage -- 1990 if you can find it in good shape. But the 1995s are drinking very well right now, too. This dish also calls out for a Chablis. But if your heart is set on chenin, it's hard to go wrong with a Huet Vouvray Sec or even Demi-Sec. If your heart is set on Nicolas Joly, I'd go with one of his other Savennieres wines and save the Coulee de Serrant. Other options would be the Baumard "regular" bottling or Domaine du Closel.

And if you want something that's always good young - a Condrieu from Villard.

Edited to add: But who am I kidding. You're going to open the Coulee de Serrant. :wink:

tanabutler · May 4, 2004

Happy birthday, y'all! Doc, ya little pup, you finally caught up to me (four whole days later)!

Taurus belly bump!!!

docsconz · May 5, 2004

Edited to add: But who am I kidding. You're going to open the Coulee de Serrant.

:biggrin: I did. All I can say is that if this wine is still going to improve, watch out. It is a stunning wine right now, It is voluptuous and full with layers of complexity. Thank you all for the suggestions and birthday wishes and a Taurus belly bump back to you Tana. We are certainly of a similar mindset on many things culinary - it must be the bull in us :biggrin:

Oh, by the way, the crabs werren't too shabby either. we also had roasted blue potatoes, sauteed sugar snap peas and sauteed fiddlehead ferns. I ws happy on my b-day :smile:

John W. · May 5, 2004

Doc;

Happy Birthday.

I read this after it was to late. I had a '89 last week that was still at least five years from being ready ('twas the consensus among the table, all wiser than I). After tasting that (and an '89 Boumard Tres Special for good measure), I hired an armed guard to keep me away from my 99's.

Good luck holding on to them...

docsconz · May 5, 2004

I better try an older Joly if that is the consensus :biggrin: Thanks, John.

Marlene · May 5, 2004

My wife will be cooking the dinner while I'm at my son's baseball game.
May you have a lovely birthday dinner as well! What is on your menu?

Ah well Taurus' will out :biggrin: Since I had no intention of cooking my own birthday dinner, we went out. However, I won't hijack your thread by posting about it. I hope you had a wonderful day and your dinner was awesome! :smile:

docsconz · May 5, 2004

My wife will be cooking the dinner while I'm at my son's baseball game.
May you have a lovely birthday dinner as well! What is on your menu?
Ah well Taurus' will out Since I had no intention of cooking my own birthday dinner, we went out. However, I won't hijack your thread by posting about it. I hope you had a wonderful day and your dinner was awesome!

No hijacking involved. I hope you had a day at least as great as mine. :smile:

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