I am always preaching to my Bride that we can’t keep going to the same restaurant or to continue drinking the same wines; I tell her that my blog can be boring enough to some without all the repetition.  Then there is the caveat that some locations require repeats, either the food is so wonderful, or the wine carte is wonderful, or the restaurant in question has no competition.  Butch’s Dry Dock in Holland, Michigan gets a yes vote for each point in the caveat.  I learned about the restaurant years before we ever got to Holland, and it is because they have been a recipient of the Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence, since I can remember.

Alas, we no longer dine like we used to, but there are times when indulge, either by overeating, eating food that we know we shouldn’t or creating a menu, that wasn’t how the restaurant had envisioned; yes, again to this threesome as well.  We started by sharing a plate of La Belle Farms Foie Gras, seared with Fig Marmalade, Pickled Fennel, an Onion Herb Salad, and Crostini. The bar was open about an hour before the restaurant begins, so I went and asked the bartender what the restaurant usually pours for Foie Gras, and she asked me, if I would like to try a sample, to which I consented (someone has to).  We enjoyed Chateau Rieussec “Les Carmes de Rieussec” Sauternes 2018, the second label of Chateau Rieussec, a First Growth Sauternes. “Carmes” is in deference to the Carmelite monks that owned the estate, until the French Revolution, and today is now owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild.  The soil is gravel layered over alluvial deposits.  The wine is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, and the berries are hand picked in the field as there is no sorting table used.  This wine is aged for eighteen months in oak.  A golden yellow wine that offered notes of tropical fruits and florals, honey, and orange zest.  On the palate an uncomplicated wine offering peaches and honey, a tropical fruit salad with soft acidity and a finish of fruit and a trace of terroir. 

Our dinner was rather unique I guess as we shared the Black Garlic Caesar Salad with Grana Padana, Red Onions, Anchovies, and Breadcrumbs; a sidenote that my Bride was ecstatic over this salad, that had a blend of Romaine and field greens, and a chef-driven dressing that she is going to try to duplicate.  For her “protein” she had an appetizer plate of Seared Scallops with Roasted Asparagus, Foie Gras Butter, Shallots, and Beurre Blanc.  While my “protein” was Prime Tartare with Remoulade, Capers, Cornichons, Cured Egg Yolk, and Crostini.  We shared each other’s “protein” choice.  After we decided on our menu, I went and shopped for our wine, as Butch’s Dry Dock is a wine shop and a restaurant, they have some wines that are recommended on the menu, but most are sold by the bottle at retail and a corkage fee is added on.  We had a bottle of Domaine Tollot-Beaut Chorey-Les-Beaune 2019.  Domaine Tollot-Beaut has bottled their own wines since 1921, and one of the first domaine-bottled Burgundies imported into the United States.  The estate has twenty-four hectares in four communes from Bourgogne level to Grand Cru and they are known for their high proportion of old vines from Pinot Fin (the original clone of Pinot Noir) and they have their own nursery to develop clones, and this is attributed to the high quality of their Chorey-Les-Beaune that is grown in heavy clay soil.  The estate does not use fertilizers, they use green harvests to limit yields, and manually harvest on a plot-by-plot basis.  Red fruit is mostly destemmed to avoid crushing, before going into the fermentation tanks, with pump-overs for the first couple of days, followed by twice-daily punch-downs for about ten days.  The wine is aged for about eighteen months in untoasted oak barrels, of which twenty percent is new.  Chorey-Les-Beaune is basically Pinot Noir with a small amount of Chardonnay also produced there and is located in the plains under the Cote d’Or escarpment, so there are no Premier Cru vineyards.  A nice deep burgundy colored wine offering notes of black fruit, rose petals, smoke, and sous bois.  On the palate a moderate-bodied wine with tones of black cherries, soft tannins, and a nice medium count finish of fruit and terroir.  I didn’t want anything too overpowering for the scallops, and it worked.

My Bride wanted a dessert and coffee and chose the Dark Chocolate Mousse with Raspberries, Amaretto Cream, and Caramel Crumble.  She liked the coffee so much, that our waitress got her the name of the coffee, and it comes only in beans.  Actually, she liked the dessert so well, as the first one disappeared and we had to get a second one to share.  I treated myself to a glass of Bodegas Yuste “Aurora” Pedro Ximenez Sherry Andalucia, Spain NV.  Pedro Ximenez is a white wine grape known for the production of Sherry wines as it has very low acidity and works best in fortified wines.  While the grape is associated with Jerez, most is grown in Montilla-Moriles.  The method is to sun-dry the grapes to the point where the juices concentrate and the skins begin to raisin.  The small amount of liquid is extracted and then partially fermented, the fermentation is arrested by the addition of neutral grape spirit and then aged in a solera system of continual fractional blending.  Bodegas Yuste began their wine heritage in the 1920’s, and they have since become known for their restoration and care of historic wineries. They continue to warehouse and store centuries-old soleras for themselves and others, and they believe that American Oak exerts a wise influence to the wines.  This dark mahogany colored wine offers notes of raisins, figs and dates, honey, and fruit compotes with secondary notes of baking spices. On the palate a full-flavored wine with tones of velvety fruits with good acidity to prevent the wine from being cloying; and hence ideal for accompanying desserts, especially dark chocolates.