Can a whole dinner revolve around a single wine? Most definitely. I love working in reverse. On Friday, the whole pretext of the dinner was to crack open my friend Melissa’s ’97 bottle of Beaulieu Tapestry . She sent me the Cellar Tracker ) notes for planning. It seemed like now was the time to drink. Was I game? Duh, of course!

Working backwords from the notes, I figured a big Napa Cabernet would need something meaty and simple yet with complex, layered flavors. I was imagining some sort of braised meat and then bleep, a vision of Osso Buco appeared. Yes…

The dinner rapidly pulled together from there—a Jarvis ’06 Chardonnay would pair beautifully with a curried butternut squash soup and help to use up the small mountain of them accumulated in a corner of the kitchen.

In the market, I came across Jerusalem artichokes, which are prolific at this time of year. Instead of boring old mashed potatoes, I thought, “why not do a mashed Jerusalem artichoke purée?” Yeah! And for dessert, well with the whole California theme, I decided to generously use my last (sob) package of Scharffenberger’s 70% dark chocolate for molten cakes with ice cream. The ice cream, however, was not home made. I have the best ice cream in Santiago on my corner, Emporio la Rosa. That was easy.

(Drum roll)….Ladies and Gentlemen, the menu…

Butternut squash soup with crunchy pepitas

Jarvis 2006 Chardonnay

Notes: this soup is heavenly simplicity. Creamy and rich in flavor and texture, since there is no cream, it is does not feel heavy. We had tried this wine at Jarvis in July and it reminded us of one our all all-time favorite Chardonnays, Sol de Sol, from Aquitania. Beautiful acidity with hazelnut scents, minerals, and tropical fruit with just the right balance of barrel. The pepitas played with this toasty note and the silky mouth feel of the soup was just loving the Chardonnay.

Osso Buco with Pine Nut Gremolata and Mashed Jerusalém Artichokes

Beaulieu 1997 Tapestry Reserve

Notes: This was my first time making Osso Buco in years. I have no explanation for the vision because it could have just as easily been beef short ribs. Maybe it was after seeing Mario Batali on Iconoclasts last week…

Anyway, the Osso buco simmered away all morning and perfumed the house for the rest of the day. Jerusalem artichokes, called topinambur potatoes in Chile, are part of the older classic Chilean recipes, normally grown in small home gardens and eaten as a “crema”. I decided to innovate with a thicker texture to mimmick mashed potatoes. The combination was dynamite—nutty, subtle, and creamy which was a counter point for the richness of the meat.

The wine was totally not what any of us had expected. This is what is so fun about wine—you never know what you will find. It’s like a treasure hunt, I swear!!

Since the wine was 12 years old and counting, we aired it through my favorite wine gizmoo, an aereator, with the screen since there was quite a bit of sediment. Decanted for about an hour.
First impression: power. Is that really a 1997? Really? It still has serious grip and that “nervous” young wine personality, considering it’s age. I started wondering about who said they should be drinking this now. Had it truly reached it Peak? Or was it on it’s way up? (note: this is why you buy a case of the good stuff, to test this point out).

Very interesting sip. Great structure which worked well with the food. It was elegant and intense; nice dried fruit flavors with coffee notes but not overpowering. I thought if this bottle had a motto it would be “forever young”. I really think had I tried this in a blind tasting, I would have categorized it as much younger.

Scharffenberger molten cakes with Emporio la Rosa pistachio ice cream

Malbec O’Porto Domaine St. Diego, Mendoza

Notes: Well, I will confess to a culinary “booboo” here. Between passionate conversation and all the wine, I had put the cakes in the oven and forgotten to set the timer. In one of those “flashes”, I suddenly remembered THE CAKES!!!. I got lucky. Instead of being molten, they were more like insanely intense, moist brownies. By the look of the clean plates, nobody seemed to mind the impromptu change in texture.

Wine wise, I selected a sweet, Port-style wine made from Malbec. This dessert wine came from a tiny, garage winery in Mendoza made by the adorable Angel Mendoza. It paired well with the chocolate—although after about 2 bites, I was officially in a food coma.