A Pair From 1991 - July 9th, 2009

Today is our son's 18th birthday, his last at home before he goes off to college. To celebrate, we opened a bottle of 1991 Dominus. The wine was beautiful, even though it was still big and bold with a lot of oak and fruit, a Parker special (yes, I'm talking to you, Gerry Dawes!) There are times I enjoy a big, bold, Parker wine and there are times I enjoy something else. After 18 years, this wine is drinking very, very nicely. The tannins are soft, the fruit is intact and the finish is long.

The wine went quite nicely with a dinner of Lewis-Waite Farm filet mignon with shiitake-parmesan cream sauce*, sautéed Sheldon Farms green beans with mint and chopped pine nuts and baked Sheldon Farm potatoes. For dessert, my wife baked a birthday cake.

*Recipe: 10oz. of shiitakes, destemmed and sliced, cook over a low heat without fat. Add one chopped scallion then a little butter before adding enough cream to provide liquid and body. Finish it with S&P and about 4oz of freshly grated Parmesan. Drape over the filet mignon, which has been topped with additional Parm and some balsamico tradizionale di Modena and broiled. I initially cooked the filets in a CVap to a temp of 118ºF then placed them in a hot pan with melted butter. The pan was placed under a broiler for about 4 minutes to sear the exterior and caramelize the parmesan. If cooking conventiomnally under a broiler turn once then apply the Parm to the top of the steaks.