Last night we had an early dinner before going to see the first cartoon I've ventured to see in many many years, "Ratatouille." Betsy made the bluefish rilletes recipe from Wednesday's NYT, but used mackerel. The recipe was in an article as a pairing with Blanc de Blancs Champagne, but I used a regular Brut, the NV Gosset "Excellence" Brut Champagne. Ripe apple fruit edged with citrus rind, some yeasty notes, fuller styled. Certainly noting wrong with this wine, but I had trouble getting excited (I also found the match not so great, sorry Ms. Fabricant). This is probably more to style than quality, loves of more full-bodied styles would like more, but for me this is not a buy- again. B
Betsy poached the fish in the 2006 Arca Nova Vinho Verde, I had a small glass before dinner and another after movie. A bit spritzy at first, clean, saline, with nice if light green apple and lemon fruit. Not a lot here, but fine for $6 or $7. B-/B
I enjoyed the movie a lot. Great Paris scenes, good food detail. As I've seen noted, Ego orders the '47 Cheval Blanc but the bottle shown at table was Lafite. The bad guy does serve '61 Latour, so he's not all bad. Best part is the scene where a bite sends the critic back to his childhood. If you can't appreciate that, you're no foodie.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. 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