TN: Birthday wine, plus BTG at Blue Hill Stone Barns (LONG)

It was my birthday, but we both had long days, and our big night out was scheduled for following day. But I wanted to have some wine on my birthday, so Betsy invited one other couple. They made and brought a chicken liver mousse, we did sous vide strip steak and some D?Artagnan sausages (wild boar and duck/armagnac) , greens, and potatoes

2010 Francois Carillon ?Referts? Puligny-Montrachet 1er Great showing, full and rich but with lively acidic backbone. Pearl, hazelnut, and wet stones. A-

1988 Gruaud-Larose I?ve had a bunch of these, but this didn?t have Zachys (where I bought mine) barcode sticker, and I think might have been a gift at some point. Pretty saturated cork. Doesn?t explicitly taste cookedbut softer and less dense than used to, the usual Cordier funk is more pronounced. Maybe seen some warmth at some point? B- for this bottle

2007 Chandon de Briailles ?Ile de Vergelesses?Pernand-Vergelesses Tart red fruits (raspberry and cranberry), blood orange, bright. B+/B

Wednesday we did the big splurge and went to Blue Hill at Stone Barns for first time in more than a decade (and first since they went to all tasting menu format). I considered carrying a bottle ($90 corkage!), but with varied menu no bottle was going to be perfect. So we shared some BTG (nice pours, in Zaltos)

2018 Claudio Vio Pigato (Riviera Ligure di Ponente) Light crisp and saline with pit fruit and citrus. Very versatile. B+ 2016 Domaine de la Borde 'Veneon' Arbois Pupillin (Jura) Who knew there was white Poulsard? Fuller, stony, not an oxidative style (I asked before ordering), though there is a hint of nuttiness on fihish. B 2016 Abbatucci 'Faustine? ( Corsica) Taut rose, herby/piney, good mineral. B/B+ 2017 Rootdown 'Dry Bone Ranch' Mourvedre (Amador County) Light, blackberry and cherry, anise. Don?t think I?d have guessed Mouvedre if blind but very good, in a Gamayesque style. B

Great night. The wines were in the background, but they gave us nice choices with the 20 or so courses, and all were fun. And new producers to me except for the Abbatucci.

And the food We walked around the property a bit (Betsy loved seeing the guard dog laying down with his sheep) then returned to lounge, where we were offered pear kombucha (actually tasty, I?m not a kombucha guy). Then to table. And the parade of dishes started. While there is a good bit of theater involved, the quality of the ingredients was astounding, as what the cooking. (dish names from menu presented at end- every table gets a somewhat different rotation) VEGETABLES FROM THE FARM Charming display (board with pins sticking up) of baby radish, turnip, sweet pepper, lettices, each with a delicate appropriate dressing FLOWER DELIVERY Baby fennel with a light dressing KOHLRABI, NASTURTIUM AND PEACH Baby kohlrabi with 2 sauces ZUCCHINI FLOWERS, SUNFLOWER SEED AND BLUEBERRY In a flower vase, the blueberry puree inside the flowers PEACH AND POPPY SEEDS Grilled slice, with abundant seeds scattered TOMATOES ON THE VINE With a couple of sauces (I particularly liked the tarragon) (6 courses so far, with only the peach cooked!) TOMATO PIZZA Totally delicious, thin crust/flatbread NEEDLES IN A HAYSTACK They brought out a big basket of hay, hidden within were several very thin long cheese straws- don?t eat the hay! CORN BURGER The best slider of my life had no meat. PEPPER SUSHI Fun and funky, veggie ?Nigiri?, a slice of roasted red pepper over crunchy rice with a touch of wasabi, ginger on the side LIVER AND CHOCOLATE Who knew? Very thin wafer of dark chocolate next to chicken liver bloc. Wow WHOLE WHEAT EINKORN BREAD WHITE BREAD WHOLE BARBER WHEAT BREAD A server came up and asked if we were ready for a ?field trip? and took us to the experimental bakery, where they mill grains and try new things. My favorite was the dense Einkorn (an ancient wheat with very low yield, often with only one kernel per plant) . A crafty way to get us from table to change the tablecloth from earlier sauces. Servers brought out cloth packets with assorted silverwear and chopsticks (all previous dishes were finger food) SUNFLOWER MARROW AND SUNFLOWER A big stalk, the marrow (seemed to be mixed with yogurt) was delicious on the sunflower bread SUNFLOWER HEAD AND TROUT Yum! Delicate and tasty LAST CHANCE TOMATOES Little clumps of end of season tomato- each different, I think one had pickled green tomato- with a fermented tomato broth, roasted garlic, and bread

STONE BARNS LETTUCE AND HAY CHEESE They let us choose cheese aged in first cut hay vs third cut, they were different but not sure I had preference. CHICKEN MUSHROOM NUGGETS AND HABANADA Nuggets of chicken mushroom, and well as actual chicken nuggets, nestled in some chicken mushrooms (raw, for decoration). A honey mustard sauce and habanada sauce (Habaneros bred without heat), as well as seasoned salt. My favorite nuggets ever (by a long shot, not a heavily contested category) RED PEPPER EGG AND MUSHROOM They had earlier brought 2 eggs, we each chose one (initialed), only one had been fed red pepper. And yes it was a red yolk! Both eggs were great, but the star was the intense sauteed mushrooms (mostly chanterelle with some matsutake) WHOLE BARBER WHEAT LEVAIN WITH BLUE HILL BUTTER A little break, I even liked the accompanying buttermilk STONE BARNS WASTE-FED PORK, ARTICHOKE & TRUMPET MUSHROOM

3 perfect pork medallions, this was actually kind of huge considering it was about 20th course CENTERCUT SQUASH AND BADGER FLAME BEET BARBECUE Both beet and squash were intensely smoky with bbq sauce flavors, served with a grilled kielbasa-ish sausage and all the BBQ sides- quirky takes on cole slaw, baked beans, corn, greens, and potato salad CHEESE TASTING PAW PAW TASTING They brought Betsy a pawpaw dessert (only fruit native to Northeast) , since I don?t eat dessert they gave me a nice cheese plate- goat, sheep, and cow with fig paste and great crackers STONE BARNS HONEYCOMB AND FALL FRUIT Actual honeycomb frame with figs, apples, grapes, and more Really great evening. Lovely space, great for conversation (quiet, no close tables), attentive and friendly service, super cool tableware (changing every course), fun presentations, and most of all great company.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.