I went to a wine dinner at Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge last night. That's their logo to the left, gotta love a wine drinking zebra. Every Wednesday night throughout the Winter, they are doing different wine dinners here, and last night the theme was merlot.
Lately, I've been drinking a lot of inexpensive wines, under $20, and even more so, under $10, and I've enjoyed many of them. But, one sip of the Frog's Leap 2002 Merlot, and I noticed such a HUGE difference in quality. As our host explained, with merlot you often do get what you pay for. Unlike many inexpensive Spanish and Australian wines that as he put it are 'insanely good' for the price, merlot is simply not good at mass produced low price points. The quality suffers, and gives the wine a bad name.
But, if you want a nice, special occasion red wine, check out this Frog's Leap merlot. It should retail in the low $30's. It is just silky smooth, and rich, full bodied and flavorful. They served it with the salad, which was frisee in a light olive oil vinaigraitte with a coddled egg on top.
The main course was a perfectly medium rare sliced steak with pureed potatoes and a red wine reduction sauce. Though we were served a bordeaux with this course, I wasn't crazy about it, and stuck with my merlot.
Dessert was outrageously delicious. A warm individual chocolate cake, with a drizzle of chocolate syrup on the side and a dollop of fresh whipped cream. The cake was tender and slightly fudgy inside, but still light. Or so I told myself, as I ate every last crumb.
I'd go back to this restaurant in a heart beat. The atmosphere was beautiful as well, it feels like a cozy city townhouse, with high ceilings, gorgeous moldings, several roaring fireplaces, and soft tapestries and thick linens. The kind of place you want to settle in for the evening, and enjoy a leisurely meal.
:) Pam
I'm not drinking any f#cking Merlot!
:P
Posted by: Miles from Sideways | February 17, 2005 at 04:37 PM
Ha! too funny
Posted by: Pam | February 17, 2005 at 05:11 PM