<a target="_blank" href="http://www.petitlouis.com/">Petit Louis Bistro</a>

Petit Louis,

4800 Roland Ave,

Baltimore, MD 21210
tel

(410) 366-9393

February 2010

This informal lunch with Robert Parker was a great way to
spend an afternoon during what turned out to be a brutal winter for the
Northeastern United States replete with multiple record-breaking snowstorms.
Petit Louis, part of the empire of Baltimore restaurateurs Cindy Wolf and Tony
Foreman, serves up classic bistro fare in an informal and relaxed setting. The
food was delicious, and a perfect foil for a number of breathtaking wines.

We started with Lafon’s
1985 Meursault Charmes. This was an especially ripe, almost tropical
Charmes full of exotic fruit, honey and flowers that flowed through to a lush,
oily finish. Readers still holding on to their bottles will want to drink this
sooner rather than later, as the 1985 Charmes is fully mature, if not slightly
past peak.

A bottle of Bruno Giacosa’s
1989 Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, from my cellar, was pretty, but not
as magical as it can be. Perhaps disturbed by the trip down from New York, the
wine showed gorgeous layers of fruit and fine, silky tannins, but not the
explosive concentration of the finest examples. The 1990 Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, from Bob’s cellar, had been
opened for a few hours, and it was spectacular. Rich, powerful and impressively
endowed, the 1990 Santo Stefano Riserva was utterly spectacular in its length
and round, enveloping personality. What a bottle! The 1989 Barolo Riserva Collina Rionda, also from Bob’s cellar, was off
the charts. Sweet, perfumed and impeccably elegant, the aristocratic 1989
Collina Rionda showed why it is considered one of the greatest Barolos ever
made. I think the two us drank the whole bottle over several hours, which was a
real treat, to say the least. This was a particularly youthful, virile example
of the 1989 Rionda. Roberto Voerzio’s
2000 Barolo Cerequio, from my cellar, more than held its own with the
Giacosas, which is the highest compliment I can pay it. I have always adored
this Barolo and was thrilled to see it show so well. The tell-tale Cerequio
berries, flowers, spices and minerals came through in grand style. The oak,
while slightly present, was impeccably balanced. This, too, was a great, great
bottle. With that, it was time to get back on the train to New York, but the
memory of these fabulous wines was more than enough to last a lifetime.&nbsp;

Food:

Frisée Salad, Poached Egg, Lardons, Blue Cheese

Roasted Chicken with French Fries&nbsp;

Wine:

<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>
 1985
 </td>
 <td>
 Comtes Lafon Meursault Charmes
 </td>
 <td>
 89
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1989
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano
 </td>
 <td>
 94
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1990
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano
 </td>
 <td>
 97
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1989
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Collina Rionda
 </td>
 <td>
 100
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 2000
 </td>
 <td>
 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Cerequio 
 </td>
 <td>
 &nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>Photo and Credit:&nbsp;Petit Louis Bistro, Baltimore &nbsp;--Antonio Galloni

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