The Last Meal Of 2008

I’ve already told you about my New Year’s champagne, but there was wine involved long before midnight rolled around. In bidding farewell to 2008, I decided to prepare a feast (of which I’m savoring the leftovers as I type; I should probably get a keyboard cover).

My wife was in charge of the appetizers, and we had Melba toast wafers to dip in home made spinach/artichoke dip with tomato/basil bruschetta and some nice goat cheese. I sliced a couple of heirloom tomatoes and drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with sea salt; I also put out some Napa Kalamata olives.

Dinner itself included some great side dishes: some sweet peppers pan fried in olive oil, and green and white asparagus grilled with a brushing of olive oil. The main course was a sublime Chateaubriand with Bearnaise sauce that practically brought me to tears, and it’s so, so easy to make. It’s all about the cut of meat. We used the center cut of the tenderloin (fillet mignon) but it also works with a ’sirloin’ roast. Liberally apply olive oil and salt/pepper (or Montreal or Chicago seasoning) and it’s on. Here’s a simple recipe from Rachel Ray if you like.

So what bottle of wine did I choose to go with my premier cut of beef? The 2002 Spring Mountain Estate Cabernet of course. It handled the beef like a champ, this is a special, Napa Valley Cab (Wine Spectator gave it a 91). The nose was chock full o’ berries… The palate was lush with blackberries, chocolate and lots of tannins. The finish was silky smooth. The only thing that made me put a cork back into it was knowing that I needed to make it to midnight and pop the cork on that wonderful Soter bubbly.

2008 was escorted out in style…