The next day after the graduation ceremony, we talked about getting together for dinner, and my Bride thought that it would be an all-day affair, and I said that they were out having a good time, and they would barely meet us for dinner.  So, I suggested that the two of us go to Marche Bacchus, where we had taken two of the earlier graduates out for a private dinner.  I have fallen in love with the shop and the locale, as it is on one of the man-made lakes in North Las Vegas called the Dessert Shores, and the shop is actually a wine store and tasting bar, with a restaurant that is built on the water’s edge.  The first time we were there, there were black swans, later replaced with white swans, and now geese and ducks.  We started off with a classic interpretation of Foie Gras, and we share one plate of this, as it is so rich and not good for us, but once in a while we make exceptions. 

They didn’t have any Sauternes featured so, I tried some two different options.  The first was the RRoyal Tokaji Company Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Aszu Hungary 2017 and is a newcomer to the region.  The winery was founded in 1990 in the village of Mad by the English wine writer Hugh Johnson, along with the English wine trader Ben Hawkins and Anglo-Danish winemaker Peter Vinding-Diers.  The wine is a blend of Furmint, Harslevelu and Muscat and these varietals have been famous for the dessert wine since the classification at the end of the 17^th Century.  The vineyards are at the convergence of two rivers, that encourage morning mists and the perfect environment for botrytis to flourish.  The vines are approximately twenty years in age and have such low yield, that during some vintages one vine may only produce one glass of wine.  The Aszu grapes are picked berry by berry and placed in small baskets, where they are crushed and then fermented in large Hungarian Oak barrels with natural yeasts. A 5 Puttonyos basket is about 24kgs of Aszu berries added to each Gonci (136L cask). The wine is aged for twenty-four months in used oak barrels, and then an additional ten months of bottle ageing.   A soft amber colored wine that offers notes of peaches, plums, apricots, freesia and jasmine.  On the palate this full-bodied wine displayed tones of ripe fruit, crisp acidity, well-balanced and ending with a medium-to-long finish of candied fruit, botrytised fruit and a touch of oxidation.  A curiosity about labeling is that wine for the USA still has red borders, while the rest of the world gets a blue border; this is left over from the old Soviet Monimpex days.

I also tried a second wine as a taste pairing with the Foie Gras, Robert Biale Vineyards Petit Sirah Dessert Wine Napa Valley 2921.  Robert Biale Vineyards was founded in 1937 by Pietro Biale and planted with Zinfandel. Aldo Biale took over the estate when his father passed away in 1942 and with strict wartime restrictions he sold the family’s wine at “Gallina Nera” or Black Chicken; loosely adapted from Chianti’s Gallo Nero.  In 1991 Robert Biale took over the estate and changed the name to Robert Biale Vineyards, and yes, they still produce their flagship Gallina Nera.  As well as their extensive Zinfandel portfolio they have since added Petite Sirah, Grenache and Syrah in both Napa Valley and Sonoma County.  The fruit for this wine is from their Obershulte Vineyard in Chiles Valley, Napa Valley and is the thirteenth bottling of this Old-World Port Style red wine.  The fruit is hand-harvested, sorted in the field and then once again in the winery.  The fruit is then destemmed, gently crushed and then fermented in small bins, where they are gently foot-treaded a couple of times a day.  Then high-proof grape brandy is added to stop fermentation to capture the wine’s natural flavor and sweetness. The fruit is then gently pressed and aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which a third is new; and 173 cases were produced.  This inky-dark purple wine offered notes of dried figs, brambleberry preserves, mocha, cloves and dark chocolate.  On the palate this full-bodied wine displayed tones of medium sweet dark fruits, good acidity and like a vintage Port, instead of a Tawny with a nice long finish of dark fruit and chocolate.  We both enjoyed this wine with the Foie Gras. 

We also teased our cholesterol by splitting an order of a classic interpretation of Escargot.  We had this with Alban Vineyards Viognier Central Coast 2023.  Alban Vineyards has a global recognition for its Rhone inspired wines.  The winery is located in the Edna Valley and they have sixty-six acres around the estate. John Alban bought the land in 1990, as he felt the land resembled the Rhone Valley.  They make two distinct Viognier wine, one aged in Stainless-Steel, while the estate Viognier is barrel fermented with indigenous yeast and bottled unfined and unfiltered.  We had Stainless-Steel fermented wine.  A soft golden-yellow wine that offered notes of white stone fruit, white florals and minerals.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine displayed tones of white stone fruit and apricots in a well-balanced wine that had a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir.