lobster & wine

"Marc Butler" wrote in news:UNm6d.139829$ snipped-for-privacy@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

I would recommend a Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume or Montee du Tonerre or Grand Cru such as Grenouilles For producers I would avoid Fevre and look for Drouhin, Laroche or Long Depaquit as excellent producers available in N. America

Marc,

A bit depends on how you prepare and serve them. If boiled with drawn butter, then a big Chard usually pairs well. I'd grab a handful of CA Chards, or a white Burg, also toward the "big" side.

Champagne works well with that preperation too, though I'd go with a lesser NV, rather than a trophy bubbly.

If you go the thermador route, Chard, maybe with less oak and more acid, a crips SB (maybe St Helier's Palliser Estate Sauvignon Blanc [Martinborough, NZ], though I have not tried it. I could see a Cloudy Bay, a Nautilus, something good from Kim Crawford, or maybe even a fruity CA SB from the Central Coast, or even Napa.

A Pinot Gris/Grigeo might work well, if you just drizzle a bit of lemon on the lobster.

I'm sure that there are some reds that would work too, but I just can't seem to bring myself to rec a PN, regardless of origin - maybe a fruit Syrah/ Shiraz, but I'm not keen on most red profiles with lobster.

Hunt

The classic combination from the late 1800s or early 1900s was lobster, Champagne, and a chorus girl date in a fancy restaurant. Drinking the Champagne from a shoe of the chorus girl was optional. Those Victorians could be a bit naughty when they were well hidden from public view.

If you are having lobster fairly plain without a sauce, then any number of members of the Chardonnay family would work well. Some Sauvignon Blancs might work fairly well also. If the lobster is served with an elaborate sauce, then the sauce may determine the match. Sauces served with lobster sometimes include tomatoes, garlic,cheese, Sherry, hot pepper, or other things that could be more difficult to match in some cases.

My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net from my email address. Then add snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response.

"Marc Butler" wrote in news:UNm6d.139829$ snipped-for-privacy@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

I am thinking I smell spam.

I am sure you are. Why would anybody posting from a "ns.ca" (Nova Scotia) domain order lobster online from a company in Halifax? They'd just go pick some up at the store.

As a Nova Scotian expat I'm embarassed.

I'd suggest that the original poster try CROW instead of lobster, and serve it with Old Sailor.

Marc, why don't you email yourself at snipped-for-privacy@lobsterdirect.ca with your own recommendation.

Despite the presence of a certain canned meat it was interesting to hear the various wine pairings for lobster. Spamming aside, does anyone else have any other suggestions? For my own part I have a few of bottles of the'94 Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon that might benefit from being introduced to a crayfish.

wn

For my part, I prefer my crayfish (OK! lobster!) simply straight out of the ocean (I can dive off the rocks anywhere around the northern coastline and get them myself!) - boiled; cooled; shelled and eaten with fresh salad - at the risk of sounding like a broken record - with Marlborough Sauvignon lanc - although that '94 MP Semillon sounds just great.

I would even go for one of those bone dry Clare Valley Rieslings (Orlando Steingarten comes to mind!)

As previously noted, if a creamy or buttery sauce was used, then I would lean towards Chardonnay.

Damn it - now I am feeling hungry!!!

Salut/Hi Marc Butler,

I have already said my say about your motives for asking this question.

le/on Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:51:16 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

However the question itself has some merit.

So here's my take.

There's a certain rich sweetness in the flavour of lobsters, and this means that unlike many molluscs, in my opinion they don't go so well with the sharper dry whites (sorry my lord St H) such as Marlborough Sauvignon blancs, that others here have recommended. I agree that a top 1st growth or a Grand Cru Chablis will go, but I'd definitely avoid a lesser one. Again, I'd be happy to try a rounder Hawkes Bay Sauvignon, especialy one with some oak. An Alsace Grand Cru Riesling could also go well.

So what I'm getting at, is that you DON'T want a light slightly lemony white, you want a big old blockbuster white not necessarily oak soup, either, but one with loads of fruit and extract. Corton-Charlemagne, one of the -Montrachets maybe even a Meursault, though I find the hazelnut taste of these less good with lobster. If you can find a moderately oaked Oz or Californian Chardonnay this would be fine, but I'd avoid the non oaked ones

- too sharp - and the over oaked ones - disgusting.

From MY cellar, I'd go for a white Bergerac Moulin des Dames 1999. This is on the edge of being over oaked, and is getting quite long in the tooth, so has loads of complexity.

Beware Marc,

le/on Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:51:16 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

I note that you have also asked in alt.food.asian about ordering lobsters from the same company. I do hope your two questions are genuine, because we get very suspicious about such tactics.

I quote from your question there together with headers, in case anyone else shares my suspicious mind.

||From: "Marc Butler" ||Newsgroups: alt.food.asian ||Subject: lobster ||Lines: 10 ||X-Priority: 3 ||X-MSMail-Priority: Normal ||X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1437 ||X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1441 ||Message-ID: ||Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:52:40 GMT ||NNTP-Posting-Host: 142.177.234.254 ||X-Complaints-To: snipped-for-privacy@aliant.net ||X-Trace: ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca 1096415560 142.177.234.254 (Tue, 28 Sep 2004

20:52:40 ADT) ||NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 20:52:40 ADT ||Organization: MPowered-Subscriber ||X-Old-Xref: news.titannews.com alt.food.asian:14037

||has anyone tried www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx || ||I am wondering if they have a good reputation || || ||Thanks, || ||marc

I think I shall probably go to the web site you mentioned and warn them that spam here is very counterproductive. I hope you don't get sacked for it.

Yes! "Boiled and cooled" is the way I learned to enjoy lobster when I was a kid growing up in Nova Scotia. I've never heard of anybody else (other than "down home") eating it that way until now.

I used to like Tahbilk (Aussie) Marsanne with lobster, but haven't seen it around here in a few years.

First of all, I commend the OP for being gentleman enough to apologize (and clearly unlike most spammers he was at least reading the newsgroup).

jcoulter, a couple of comments/questions:

A few years ago I would have agreed with the idea of avoiding Fevre, but under new administration the heavy oak use has been somewhat curbed, and some good quality Chablis has come out. Have you tried a recent vintage?

Drouhin is probably my favorite negociant, but I'm not usually that impressed by their Chablis. But I've never tried a GC in my memory. Will keep eye out, thanks.

Don't know Long Depaquit, but on this suggestion will keep eye out. Again, thanks. Agree with Laroche. Would add Brocard, Picq, Louis Michel as widely available and good.

A hefty Chablis would be a good match with a very simple steamed lobster. With more elaborate sauces, I'd start thinking Cote d'Or.

best, Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comdamnspam (Dale Williams) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m03.aol.com:

No, thanks for the tip.

Long Depaquit has had some of the nicer Chablis that I have had in recent years. Louis Michel makes a nice one (dinner last night with a petit, simple but with the overall character that one expects from a lower end Chablis)

And that is exactly how I eat lobster, light on the lemon and light on the butter.

I just had steamed lobster and seared diver scallops this weekend with a 2000 Laroche Les Blanchots and a 2000 Laroche Le Clos. I also opened a 1999 Henri Biollot Meursault Les Charmes and a 1995 Verget Meursault Les Charmes. The scallops were better with the Chablis and the lobster was better with the Meursault. Bi!!

Good Chablis is great with lobster. However how about a Didier Dagenau Silex? I love these wines; to me they are the epitome of S.Blanc. Regarding great Chablis - Ravenau has definitely made a comeback.

Ron Lel

Be careful here, Steingarten is not in Clare. It is in the Barossa.

Ron Lel

Agree with everything

Mike

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

At an all d'Yquem dinner years ago, we paired a lobster dish with Chateau Ygrec and the 1967, I must say the '67 married better.

I recall a meal I had with broiled lobster and drawn butter and the latest vintage of Chalone Chardonnay that was to die for and a meal at Boston's Ritz Carlton where we had lobster thermion with Chablis(I think it was from L.Latour).

On another occasion I had a Bertelli Chardonnay from Piemonte with lobster and found the Bertelli too austere but delving into Italy brings to mind another great combo, shrimp scampi with arneis.

Later.

Advertisement aside, does other US residents here have experience with ordering food from outside the country? Although Canada is a neighbor, I wonder what types of inspection that foods (and wine) might go through as they cross the border. Are the boxes ever opened? Are they subject to any radiation (like in an airport checkpoint)? If I brought a lobster from Maine (or Canada) in my carry on bag (packed in ice, of course), along with a 30 year-old bottle of wine, is it safe to put the bag through that machine? tia

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