When my Bride and her friend were planning to go see “A Beautiful Noise” they were also deciding where to go for dinner.  Her friend had said a couple of times that she would like to try Le Supreme, since my Bride and I have gone there a couple of times.  And once we had a confirmed reservation we were “In Like Flynn” or “In Like Flint” depending on your era.  What wasn’t considered during all of this time, is that there was a team called the Lions who were on fire, and there was another game that evening, and as we got closer from Uptown to Downtown, we could see the price of parking escalating.

When we got to the restaurant, we saw that they had valet parking and it was only twenty dollars, which was a bargain compared to the signs that had one hundred dollars posted.  I always like to mention to the wait staff about my early memories, when I was a student as I would walk past this building when it housed the booking offices for the airlines that were available in Detroit.  I guess I am one of the old geezers that likes to remember the days gone past.  Our friend ordered the Soupe a L’oignon Gratinee or the French Onion Soup, rustic croutons, and Gruyere cheese.   My Bride and I shared the Foie Gras Torchon with pickled blueberries, mustard frills and toasted brioche.  We also shared a glass of Domaine de L’Alliance Sauternes 2020.  Daniel Alibrand was a fisherman and his wife inherited a few hectares in the region of Fargues, already planted in different plots and different soils.  So, in 2005 they established their winery using organic farming techniques.  This is considered an artisanal Sauternes, picked berry by berry during seven passes.  The wine is a blend of eighty-five percent Semillon, twelve percent Sauvignon Blanc and Gris, and three percent Muscadelle; the vines average about fifty years of age and planted on a mix of gravel, clay and sand.  The fruit is pneumatically pressed, they use indigenous yeasts, and the wine is aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which twenty percent is new.  A nice deep yellow in color, the wine offered notes of tropical fruits, saffron, and almonds.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine showed  tones of candied fruit, especially pineapple, papaya, mango, and melon, good acidity with sweetness, but not cloying and a medium count finish of layered fruit.

We had a rather intriguing mix of dishes for the dinner course.  Our friend had the Omelet Francaise with local farm eggs, fine herbs and Gruyere cheese.  My Bride surprised me and had the Gnocchi a La Parisienne with Autumn Squash and Maitake mushrooms.  While I had the Mediterranean Sea Bass fillet with Saffron-braised potatoes and Sauce Vierge (or Virgin Sauce of olive oil, tomatoes, herbs, lemon and anchovies).  We shared a bottle of Domaine Regis Minet Pouilly-Fume Vieilles Vignes Loire 2023.  The estate is family-owned since Pierre Minet in 1627, and in 2022 Lucia took over from her father and she is the first woman in the field.  The estate is a twelve-hectare winery with sixteen plots and vines aged up to eighty years, and on average thirty-five years.  Sauvignon Blanc is planted in plots of clay and limestone.  The fruit is gently pressed pneumatically, and Initial Fermentation is done in Stainless-Steel tanks, with no Malolactic Fermentation, and is aged in the tanks on fine lees for eight months with batonage.  The pale-yellow gold wine offered notes of white fruit, while florals, chamomile and minerals.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine offered tones of pears, peaches, grapefruit, lemon zest; a crisp dry wine that ends with a long-count finish of subtle fruit and chalky terroir. 

The ladies finished sharing an order of Profiteroles, coffee, and I went with a glass of dessert wine, and yes, I am enjoying then more and more.  I had a glass of Arnaud de Villeneuve Tresmontaine “Tabacal Dos” Rancio IGP Cotes Catalanes NV, The Arnaud de Villeneuve Cooperative was established in 2007 in Rivesaltes, when the Caves de Salses (1909) and Cellars de Rivesaltes (1932) merged, with a membership of over three hundred vignerons.   This is the last wine produced by the legendary Roussillon winemaker Fernand Baixas, who claimed it was the perfect foil to enjoy with a cigar.   Rancio wines are a Catalan tradition as it predates modern wine viticulture.  The wine is made with Grenache Blanc and is initially fermented in glass demijohns for eighteen months often in sunlight, then returned to the cellars to rest in old foudres (very large barrels) and barriques for an additional ten years.  This is an oxidative wine with plenty of foxiness expressions, similar to some wines from the Jura and Sherry styles.  A coppery-amber colored wine that offers a mixed bag of notes like dried figs and fruits, apricots, caramel, smoke, mushrooms and sous-bois.  On the palate, with the sweet nose, one is surprised to encounter a rather bone-dry wine with dried stone fruits, cinnamon, and a rich nutty taste, high acidity, saline and a long count finish of dried fruit and sous-bois.  It didn’t appeal to the women, but I know that my Bride is not partial to oxidated wines.