OK guys, you gotta see this, Nils has a place on the Promenade des Anglais and from the balcony you can see all the way to Corsica... ;-)
So when we get there, Cathy is torn between the vertigo-inducing spiral staircase or the Samsonite luggage sized elevator to reach the penthouse floor where Monsieur et Madame Lindgren have taken up summer residence.
We are greeted with a glass of white wine poured from an Alsacian style bottle, and asked to guess the varietal. I make a complete fool of myself by going through sylvaner, pinot gris, pinot blanc, bloody hell, riesling it ain't, gewurz for sure not, muscat for sure not. I ask if it is AOC, it is. Stumped. PINOT NOIR vinified as white by Dirler, OF COURSE! Nice one Nils.
I try to stump him by bringing an Alsace shaped bottle of white, but it's far too amber to fool him, he blurts out Chenin right away, geez he's gotten good. Coteaux du Loir by Domaine de Belliviere from ancient vines, a hint of botrytis ans a feeling of sucrosity but it is a dry wine, with a powerful waxy quincy honeyed aroma.
Nils and Xina are great cooks, the smoked eel on eggs royale with a very hip roe and cauliflower puree served in this tiny cylindrical glass, roll over Alain Ducasse! And Gravelax to follow with more white that Nils picked up on the obligatory stop in Alsace, a riesling (yes) from Baur if memory serves me well, very fine.
To conclude on a chocolate cake, a Beerenauslese of Welschriesling and Chardonnay from Burgenland, forgot the name, Sch**l*er or some anagram of that. Nils? Good stuff, fine acidity, melon honey and apricot.
See you on sunday Nils, after the Bouillabaisse we all go to my place as usual, probably a frugal spaghetti with EEVO garlic and chili pepper, and Luk from IHV has promised some top vermentino from his area (liguria).
Bye
Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link