<a target="_blank" href="http://www.meadowood.com/dining/the-restaurant">The Restaurant at
Meadowood</a>

900 Meadowood Lane

St. Helena, CA 94574

Tel 707 967-1205

March 2008

Meadowood is the posh resort located just off the Silverado
Trail in Napa Valley. We arrived for dinner just as the sun was setting but did
manage to get a few glimpses of the stunning property. The Restaurant at
Meadowood had been closed for over three years, but was recently re-opened to
much acclaim. The dining room itself is spacious and airy in design, adding to
a relaxed country feel that will probably be most appreciated by readers who
are accustomed to the frantic pace of city life, as I am. We opted for the
Chef’s Tasting Menu, as I am always intrigued by trying to understand what
makes a chef tick, and this menu seemed absolutely perfect for the wines we had
chosen beforehand. Everything about this dinner was perfect. Chef Christopher
Kostow’s menu was brilliant and consistent from course to course. The service
was highly professional but never intrusive.

We started with Philipponat’s&nbsp; 1961 Clos de Goisses. It revealed
delicate notes of mint, roasted coffee beans, caramel and candied apricots,
with a delicate and highly nuanced personality. Though a beautiful wine, its
best days seemed to be behind it. Still, it was a privilege to enjoy this
deeply fascinating Champagne before dinner. Raveneau’s 1990 Chablis Les Clos was stunning. Smoke, minerals and
citrus peel all flowed from the glass as this surprisingly opulent, rich
Chablis continued to evolve throughout the night. It was an ideal match to the
full-flavored, rich fish and seafood dishes on the menu, in particular the
citrus cured Spanish mackerel, which was sublime. The foie gras and apple was
incredibly delicious on its own, but even more so alongside a glass of the 1990 Chateau Climens, which offered
an irresistibly sensual expression of exotic coconut, passion fruit, tangerine
and mint. I loved the wine’s purity, understated elegance and sheer class.

I hadn’t tasted Rousseau’s
1993s in over a year, so it was great to get a progress report, although
things haven’t changed much. These remain two exquisite Burgundies with another
20 years ahead of them, if not more. The 1993
Chambertin was a regal, aristocratic wine in every way. Still extremely
primary, it offered up plenty of compellingly ripe, plummy fruit along with
phenomenal length and beautifully well-integrated tannins. Though less
extroverted and opulent than the Clos de Bèze, it offered greater elegance and
polish. The 1993 Chambertin - Clos de
Bèze presented a dark and more concentrated profile dominated by earthy and
tarry notes that complemented its lush, generous fruit. This full-bodied, youthful
wine came across as needing another decade of cellaring, but it was still
magnificent on this night. Needless to say, it was great fun spending several
hours watching these stunning wines develop in the glass.&nbsp;

Food:&nbsp;

Cold smoked toro and Osetra caviar

Foie gras and apple

Citrus cured Spanish mackerel

Lobster and sweetbread

Crispy confit of suckling pig

Poached grass fed beef

Herve Mons Fourme d’Ambert

Wine:

<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>
 1961
 </td>
 <td>
 Philipponnat Clos de Goisses
 </td>
 <td>
 89
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1990
 </td>
 <td>
 Raveneau Chablis Les Clos
 </td>
 <td>
 95
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1990
 </td>
 <td>
 Chateau Climens
 </td>
 <td>
 95
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1993
 </td>
 <td>
 Rousseau Chambertin
 </td>
 <td>
 95
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1993
 </td>
 <td>
 Rousseau Chambertin - Clos de Bèze
 </td>
 <td>
 94</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Photo and credit:&nbsp;The Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena, CA]--Antonio Galloni

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