Devotion: The Monthly Wine Writing Challenge

Posted on February 11, 2014 by thewineraconteur

“Hopelessly devoted to you” was the lead in for the newest Monthly Wine Writing Challenge and hopefully, no one will ask me to sing the song, or what ever potential readers I have will run away in droves.  The theme is “devotion” and I had to ponder how I was going to write about this subject.  Am I devoted to wines?  Perhaps, but that does not sound well, am I devoted to my Bride?  Of course I am, and I write about my wine adventures, and she is a major part of most of the stories.  Usually I remember a place or a wine and then I write about the event, which is what a Raconteur worth his Merlot should do.  Devotion can have many nuances as I bantered the subject around in my head, and then it finally came to me.

 wine-stain Monthly Wine Challenge

My “devotion” for wine, is in the context of the moment.  My Bride and I do get away for vacations and mini-vacations as well.  I have been a subscriber to the periodical Wine Spectator for years, and I keep the annual Restaurant list on a book rack at my desk, that I use as a handy reference tool, but I am also a rather chatty person, so I like to talk about restaurants with friends, customers, clients and I also enjoy talking to people that work the concierge desk at hotels as well.  One never knows when a restaurant will be mentioned that otherwise may have been missed.  All of this exposition is leading me to the discovery of two restaurants that are situated in former churches, or places of “devotion” and now I can tie the “theme” with food and wine.

 Domaine Mireille & Vincent Cotes du Rhone

The first restaurant I talked about some time ago, and it is in the quaint city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada which is home for some spectacular theatrical productions during the summer months and can feature cinematic stars of Canada.  It is a city that we should go to more often, but you know how things can be, not even free time for all of the best intentions.  One of our favorite restaurants there is the Church Restaurant and Belfry.  The belfry is actually a very small dining room as well, as the larger room in the church.  I will not go into the meal as such, as I have discussed it before, but I will mention the wine again.  At that particular juncture of time, I was not that well versed in Canadian wines, not that I am so literate now, so I opted for a French wine.  I will always choose a Cotes du Rhone wine, whether I know the firm or not, as I have never encountered a bad wine yet from this area and it is one of my “go to wines.”  Domaine Mireille & Vincent is a blended Cotes du Rhone wine.  So the odds are that it will have Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre varietals, and potentially there maybe some or all of the following varietals blended in as well; Carignan, Cinsault, Clairette, Counoise, Muscardin, Terret Noir and/or Vacarese.  We have enjoyed many wines from the Cotes du Rhone over the years and there is no doubt that we will continue with a “devotion” to wines of this area.

 OH The Refectory MB

The other renovated house of “devotion” we found on a trip to Columbus, Ohio during a national hobby conference for me, which my Bride puts up with, actually she really puts up with a lot from me, but that is for another time.  The restaurant is The Refectory and I thought it was a grand name for its present incarnation.  We dined on Escargot, Duck and Scallops in this Continental/French restaurant, and we were not disappointed.  I had gotten this restaurant from the Wine Spectator list, and the concierge at our hotel, also seconded my selection, which made me happy, even before we got there.  We also enjoyed a bottle of the bubbly for the evening, as we had a bottle of Moet et Chandon White Star Champagne from Epernay.  The White Star designation means non-vintage and most of the Champagne houses strive to make their wine as consistent year after year, because that is what their customer expects.  The varietals found in Champagne are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.

 Moet & Chandon White Star NV

When I was telling my Bride about this article and the theme, I asked her if she could remember the two restaurants from my wording and she did, and that made me smile.  Sometimes she mentions that she had forgotten a restaurant, until I wrote about it.  So I guess I have one “devoted” reader for sure, as well.

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Bijou in Southfield, Michigan

Posted on February 9, 2014 by thewineraconteur

I must be in the “way back machine” from my childhood, as I have been thinking of some of the old restaurants that used to cater to “foodies” before there was “foodies.”  I guess I just happened to discover wine and food at the right time, before it became an arm and a leg to go out on a date, even though it was still expensive as a student, but I guess a good time was worth an extravagance now and then.  There used to be a restaurant called Bijou and it was rather campy even then.  There was a neon nude depicted over the bar, and there were move star portraits on the walls.  After all, when you are called the Bijou what else would the theme be?

 Ruinart Pere & Fils Brut NV

I remember having an avocado and crabmeat appetizer, and this may have been the start of my favoring this, at the time, exotic green plant, which was far out of the realm of my customary dishes.  The other dish I remember having there was a chicken dish, but it was served with a Champagne Sauce with grapes.  Now up to that time, I had been raised on roasted chicken, barbequed chicken and even boiled chicken (when there was chicken soup being made);  so when I saw this dish, it intrigued me and I had to forgo my customary red meat entrée that I was so accustomed to.  Even though I thought I was adventurous, I discovered afterwards that I thought this dish was a little sweeter then I had anticipated, but when I had limited knowledge of food that is to be expected at times.

 MI Bijou MB

I also had a bottle of Champagne for dinner, as I thought it was the proper wine to go with the entrée.  The bottle that I had was a non-vintage Ruinart Pere & Fils from Reims in the Champagne district.  Legend has it, that it was the first actual Champagne house though it was originally in Epernay and then they moved to Reims.  Their classic brut wine is a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes.  I have often read and heard that the public likes a “Brut” designation, but the houses make it a little sweeter especially for their classic non-vintage wines that they try to maintain a “taste” year after year after year.  Whether this is true or not, it makes a great conversation while having a flute of Champagne, or maybe more.

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Pontchartrain Wine Cellars

Posted on February 7, 2014 by thewineraconteur

As I was looking at my collection of matchbooks, I looked at a place that was legendary when I was a kid.  Most of the fine restaurants were still located in Downtown Detroit, and since I went to school Downtown, I thought of myself as rather cosmopolitan.  The Pontchartrain Wine Cellars was across the street from the Pontchartrain Hotel and across from the original Cobo Hall.  It was one of the fancy French restaurants of the era, and it was a very popular place for business men and big dates.  It was one of the original bistros in the area and while they had a great wine list, they had no hard liquors, which was unique in that time and era.  This was where I was introduced to my Vermouth Cocktail for a before dinner drink, much to the consternation of most of today’s bartenders, as they always have to ask what it is, usually through the waiter.  It is a very easy drink as it is equal parts dry and sweet vermouth with a splash of bitters, but it does awake the taste buds for a fine meal.  Legend has it, that Cold Duck originated at the bistro in 1937 and that it was a mixture of a Mosel wine, a Rhine wine and Champagne.  Tradition has it, that it was done with left over wines that were opened and not finished.

 Aloxe-Corton (Bolter) 1970

I remember going there and starting off with Escargot, which was not a common offering back in the day, followed by another curiosity back then a bowl of French Onion soup.  I also had one of my favorite dishes of my youth, which is no longer in vogue, a plate of Frog Legs Provencal.  I finished the meal with my introduction to Peach Melba and of course a glass of Cold Duck.  I cannot remember what my date had, but I do remember that she was shocked that I was dining on frog legs, as that was a creature that one dissected in a Biology class in High School.

 MI Pontchartrain Wine Cellars MB

It was also one of the first bottles of Pinot Noir that I had, but under a different name. It was a Negociants bottle of Burgundy wine, from one of the famed villages of the Cote de Beaune, namely an Aloxe-Corton 1970.  Aloxe-Corton has one Grands Cru and several Premiers Crus, but this was a village blend, as if there is anything prosaic about a wine from this village.  After looking at what I dined on that evening, you and probably the waiter both think I was a heretic, but that was early in my wine days, and I could not pass up on a chance to try the wine, and I really did not like to order steaks back then in a restaurant.  Suffice it to say that this wine was wonderful to me, and I sometimes wish that I could find, let alone afford to buy wines of this nature anymore.  I mean when you start out trying some of the greatest Pinot Noir wines, as I did back then, is it any wonder that I can still wax poetic about it.

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Gaucho Steak House

Posted on February 5, 2014 by thewineraconteur

I recently had dinner with some friends at Gaucho Steak House.  I believe that they were the first of the South American style eateries, in the Detroit area, where they bring the food on skewers and carve the meat off as you request it.  My Bride and I had dined there years ago, and now I was there again with some friends, and the structure of the meal was the same as before.   If you have never been to this type of restaurant be prepared to go there hungry and to be bombarded with men with skewers all trying to please your hunger.   First you go to a very large Salad Bar with around forty different offerings for you to choose from, and not all of the items are salad items, as there was soup, risotto and even a couple of Sushi items, and how they relate to South America was beyond my reasoning.  After your trip or trips to the Salad Bar, they give you a clean plate, and there is a small oval card, that is red on one side and green on the other; when you want another choice of meat of which there are fifteen types for you to try, you have the green side showing, if you want to pause, you show the red side (as in stop).  Sometimes this works and sometimes it didn’t, and there would be times when there would be three or more attendants with different skewers of meat showing up at the table all at the same time.  While most of the cuts of meat were very well prepared and tasty, the onslaught of service could be almost overpowering at times and one almost felt that one could not enjoy the meat as fully as one would want to.  I am sure that there were several cuts of meat that I missed, as I had to decline some of the cuts on the initial offerings as I was trying to pace myself, and then some of the offerings never seemed to reappear.  That is not to say, that I did not enjoy the meal, only that I felt a bit rushed, and that is not good when one is dining on meats.

 Gascon Malbec 2012

I was looking at the wine list, which was quite ample and there were some very interesting reds from South America.  When our host appeared, he asked to look at the wine list and was going to order Cabernet Sauvignon, but he asked me my opinion as the other man only drank soft drinks.  I suggested that since the theme of the restaurant was Argentine, with the name of Gaucho, I suggested a Malbec from Argentina or a Carmenere which originally was one of the grapes used in blending in the Medoc, but has flourished and excelled in Chile.  Our host selected a Gascon Malbec 2012 from the Mendoza region, which accounts for about 80% of the wines from Argentina.  This was a good wine, made for immediate consumption, but I do think that perhaps a more robust wine would have been a better compliment to all of the meats, but that is a minor aside and the wine worked well for the evening.

 Licor 43

The other beverage that I have to mention was an after dinner drink that we had from Spain called Licor 43.  The bottle came out with a round block of ice surrounding it, and it was poured into these small chocolate cups.  The after dinner drink was citric and had flavors of vanilla and I guess another 41 other ingredients that were steeped in this beverage.  To me, orange was the strongest flavor that I noticed, and since it was so cold, some of the other trace flavors eluded me, especially in the chocolate cup.  We were touted that this drink aided in the digestion of our meal and who was I to argue.  All in all, we all left sated and happy from the meal, the drinks and the conversations.

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Bigalora Cucina

Posted on February 3, 2014 by thewineraconteur

The other night we met with our Son and his Fiancé for dinner at Bigalora Cucina.  If the restaurant sounds familiar, I have mentioned it before as Pizzeria Biga, which was the name of the restaurant when they had two locations.  When the third location in Ann Arbor opened up, it as well as the other two locations opened up under the new name.  This operation is the creation of a great chef that we have followed for the last twenty years, namely Luciano Del Signore.  We first met him at Fonte de Amore, and then at Bacco as well as his casual restaurants now known as Bigalora Cucina.

 Gran Sasso Trebbiano D'Abruzzo 2012

We met and ordered our dinners, my Bride and our soon to be Daughter-in-Law had a special Chicken and Avocado Salad, while I and our Son each had a specialized individual pizza, which is the specialty of the house.  Since everyone knows that my Bride and I enjoy wine, we do not proselytize wine to the non wine drinkers, and they were drinking either a craft beer or a Tequila cocktail.

 MI Bigalora Cucina BC

As for my Bride and I we enjoyed a white wine that I had not had that was actually on a special, written on a chalkboard.  The wine was a Gran Sasso Trebbiano D’Abruzzo “La Bella Addornmentata” 2012.  This is the only D.O.C. white wine from the Montepulciano D’Abruzzo region and I was willing to give this wine a chance, as I know that Luciano Del Signore has a passion for Italian wines and I have had some wonderful new wines (to me) while dining at his restaurants.  The unique thing about this wine that I discovered is that by law, the wine has to be 85% Trebbiano (Ugni Blanc) though it could also be Bombino Blanco which was routinely considered the same varietal, but now through DNA testing has been found to be different grapes.  The other 15% of the wine can be a blend of Cococciola, Passerina and Malavasia Blanco.  Whether or not this particular wine was Trebbiano or Bombino Blanco it was very crisp and refreshing and paired very well both with my pizza as well as my Bride’s salad.  I thought this wine was a winner especially since it was priced at Twenty Dollars in a restaurant, so I shall look for it at a wine shop near by.

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Windows in Traverse City

Posted on February 1, 2014 by thewineraconteur

As I was looking at some of the mementos that I keep, there was a generic blank white matchbook that I had inscribed Windows/Traverse City 6/7/95.  I smiled because I remembered the dinner we had there.  We had gone on a trip to Traverse City, firstly because my Bride had business up there, and then we decided to spend a couple of more days there on our own, rather then hurry up and go home as the area is quite lovely.  This was before the explosion of new restaurants that changed the appearance of this resort town.  I had some customers that had a summer home in Traverse City and Windows was one of the restaurants that they had touted me on, so we decided to check it out.

 Bolla Chardonnay Puglia 1993

The restaurant was on the water, and I do believe that it was called Windows, because the entire waterside of the restaurant was encased in windows, so there was a lovely panoramic view to enhance the dining experience.  We started with a couple of different pate dishes made from fish, which is proper for a waterfront Michigan restaurant.  Then we each enjoyed a salad, my Bride had a “Michigan” salad that had nuts and cherries in it, while I had a classic Spinach salad with hot bacon dressing (a classic dish found everywhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  My Bride then had a dish of Whitefish, while I had a plate of Perch.  Two very simple but perfect dishes when you think of dining off of Lake Michigan.

 MI Windows MB

For our wine selection that evening we had a charming Bolla Chardonnay 1993 from the Puglia district of Italy.  This wine was a crisp Chardonnay from a very larger wine shipper of Italy.  I describe it as crisp, because it was not the buttery, oakey Chardonnay that was the rage out of California at the time and I found it to be a nice change of pace and paired very well with the fish dishes.  Alas this restaurant is no longer in business, and from what I gather the owner/chef has found a new location in the city.

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Aureole in Las Vegas

Posted on January 30, 2014 by thewineraconteur

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere and then when you got there, you were so disappointed?  Thankfully this does not occur too often, but when it does it, at least my brain likes to bury the memory.  The other day was going through a collection of clutter that seems to accumulate, and I find that it sometimes arouses my Muse for writing.  This was indeed the case, but alas not for the best.

NV Aureole MB

Aureole is a famed steakhouse by the chef Charlie Palmer and is located in the Mandalay Bay Resort and we were really looking forward to it.  One of the big draws for this restaurant at least to me was there wine list and to see their four story wine tower and the rappelling wine angels that go up and down this tower to secure your wine selection.  Only in Las Vegas, could someone come up with a concept to make a theatrical show from the simple task of getting your wine.

NV Aureole Band

We had made our reservations and really had looked forward to this dinner.  When we were escorted to our table, I was disappointed at the location, as to me part of the dinner was to observe the tower and I asked if we could have a table with a better view, and we were informed that all of those tables were reserved.  They gave us our menus and a computer pad, which contained the wine list.  It was the first time I had seen this and it was fun, and I could program it to show different offerings, so that the wines would be perfectly suited for the dinner.  I was looking for a couple of half bottles, one white and one red to accompany our dinner.  Then the wine steward came over and treated us with such disdain, when I discussed what I had planned on doing for dinner, and he had no desire to discuss wines or anything else.  Since this was a steakhouse, we ordered a nice classic dinner accordingly.  A seafood appetizer, a Caesar salad and then a filet for each of us, and a sharing of some sides dishes was our dinner plan.  We placed the order and watched the tower for any movements, but from our table, we did not observe anything.  We also noticed that none of the reserved tables were filling up with diners.  The wines arrived as I had requested and our dishes were served without a problem.  The only problem was that we were so dismayed at our initial treatments, that we could not really enjoy the dinner; thankfully we had ourselves to keep a conversation going.  Normally, I can relate the entire dinner and the wines that we had, but from the indifferent service, I had almost forgotten about this dinner, and I had qualms about writing about this dinner.  I should mention that the quality of the food was excellent and worthy of a great steakhouse, it was just the indifference of the staff that had spoiled the evening.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought, yes after writing about all of the good times that my Bride and I have had in our culinary pursuits, I should mention a clunker periodically.  After we had paid our bill, and we were getting ready to go see a show, we noticed all the “reserved” tables were still empty and I mentioned it to the man who had seated us.

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My 500’TH Article as a Wine Blogger

Posted on January 28, 2014 by thewineraconteur

According to my publisher WordPress, this is my 500’Th article that I have written about wines.  In the world of Blogging, I am sure that this may not be much of a milestone, but I am proud of the fact that I have gotten this far and still having fun with it.  I call myself The Wine Raconteur because that is what I am, a story teller, I relate stories to the wines that I have enjoyed over the decades.  I am a self taught wine devotee, and I have no degrees or certificates from the industry.  I enjoy good wine and good food, and sometimes to the chagrin of my Bride, I can be a real pain in the arse about both.

Side Panel in Wine Cellar

Through out the decades, we have had some great dinners, some stellar wines; we have visited wineries and done tastings.  We have also had some mediocre dinners, undrinkable to good wines, and some trips to wineries that are not that memorable.  We have been to tastings where we were treated like royalty and we have been to some tastings where we felt like we were intruding, even though I bought a bottle of wine from them, that was about a hundred and fifty dollars (I wanted to try the wine and to own a bottle of it, we should have bought more, but because of the poor treatment we didn’t and I still have not opened the bottle, because of the treatment).  Wine is fun, and through the course of writing The Wine Raconteur, I have had the pleasure of corresponding with other writers and I have even had the good fortune to have met another Blogger and his wife.

Far Wall in Wine Cellar

People presume that one writes a Blog for monetary benefit, and this is far from the truth.  I have not had to worry about a code of ethics, as I have not received a single bottle of wine gratis, from any concern wishing for a review.  Then again, my writing style is not one of glowing verbiage trying to neither convey the nose and taste of any wine; nor do I write detailed notes about the intricacies of a particular winery’s production.  I feel that all of the technical jargon can be found on the websites of the winery or producer.  I enjoy the moment of having the wine, which is the memory for me.  There are the occasions where I have had such a great wine that somewhere in a back alley of my brain, when I try a wine, I will be told by that part of the brain, that it is not as good as another bottle that I have had.  I do try to keep that part of the brain, hidden only for my own recollections.

MI Vince's BC

My publisher has a grand report that they have furnished me; suffice it to say that I will mention only a few highlights.  The first year of writing, I maintained a regime of an article a day, just so that I would get used to doing it, and to prove to myself that I could.  After a year of writing, I tapered off to an article every other day.  From the report that I will highlight some numbers and facts, bear in mind that it is only for one current year and not a grand total.  Last year I had over 17,000 viewers and they came from many different areas, as I had readers from 96 different countries.  The readers found me from my publisher, other Bloggers, Facebook, Google as well as other search engines.  Not surprising to me that my two biggest articles relate to growing up in Southwest Detroit.  One day I had 220 views of an article about Vince’s in Detroit, Michigan and my second best article for viewers was about Joey’s Stables, which is also in Detroit.

Joey's Stables

I am very pleased with my work, and I do hope those that take the time to read my prose appreciate it as well.  It is amazing what a hobby can do to a person, not to mention that I had to teach myself some skills in carpentry to build my wine cellar, as I am just a working man, who had a grandiose wish to have his own cellar.  I look forward to more writings and remembrances, as well as discovering new wines and new restaurants to visit.  I wish you all could join me.

Bottle of J Champagne

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Shaw’s Crab House

Posted on January 26, 2014 by thewineraconteur

I am getting ready to go for an overnight trip to Chicago, and I thought of the first time I went to the “Windy City” on a business trip as a buyer.  I was traveling with the owner and we were staying at the Inter-Continental Hotel on the “Magnificent Mile” better known in Detroit as Michigan Avenue, the same street that I worked at.  The clothing show was being held at the McCormick Place and it would be a huge show, and it was quite a heady experience for me as a young kid.  One of the things that I remembered was that the Playboy Club was handing out their magazine and passes for the club at the show.  There used to be a Playboy Club in Detroit, but it had closed by the time I could venture into it, so I knew that I would have to go see it, just because, but I was there on business so that would be later on, on my own time, if I had a chance.

Pouilly-Fuisse Latour

The first night that we were there after the show ended, we ended up going to Shaw’s Crab House for dinner, along with some business acquaintances of my boss as well.  Shaw’s was a famed restaurant even then and I had heard of it, back in Detroit.  My boss was very partial to seafood, so this was a given and there we were.  After the glamour of the hotel, and the trade show, I felt at home in the comfortable setting of the restaurant; but since I had been to a couple special restaurants in Detroit, I could accept the idea that the food was more important, rather than the appointments of an establishment.   I remember having a shrimp cocktail, and a house salad.  I was not a big fish eater at that time, so I remember ordering a perch dinner that others at the table were going to get as well.  I finished the meal with a slice of Key Lime Pie and that was the first time I had ever tried this dessert.  I was a very happy camper and felt like a “big man” who had arrived.

IL Shaws Crab House

I was still early in my learning curve about wine, but my boss announced that I was a “maven” on wine and that I should select the wine for dinner.  I had a certain amount of trepidation about this, as I did not want to make a mistake.  Since everyone at the table was ordering seafood or fish, I knew enough to select a white wine.  There were many white wines to choose from, and I knew that I should select a medium price wine from the list, and not try to gouge my boss.  Then I saw a wine, that I had read about, but had never had, an affordable white Burgundy.  I ordered a Pouilly-Fuisse Latour, which is a Negociants blended wine from a famous house.  Pouilly-Fuisse is a wine made from Chardonnay, and is from the Maconnais district of Burgundy and it has its own Appellation Controlee.  It was crisp and dry and everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I felt that I had passed the test for the evening.

IL Playboy Club MB

As an epilogue to the evening, I did venture off to the Playboy Mansion with my pass and had a drink.  How could I not go, when I was there and I had the chance to see it?  This is just another memory for a young kid with the belief that he felt like he had arrived in his chosen field of work.

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The Chambertin

Posted on January 24, 2014 by thewineraconteur

I have mentioned this restaurant in passing several times in the past, and how can you not love a restaurant with the name of The Chambertin.  To name a restaurant after a stellar district, you better be serving stellar food, and they did that in Aces.  When I was a kid, the restaurant was located in East Dearborn, and then when they had a chance they moved into a brand new Holiday Inn that was being constructed in West Dearborn.  This particular Holiday Inn was built with a separate tower for long term residence, because of the automotive industry, and The Chambertin was there for them.  I may got out on a limb, but I will state that this was the only Holiday Inn that I knew of, that had a four star restaurant.  There was a coffee shop and diner, they had a tavern and they had a white tablecloth restaurant as well as catering facilities, but they only had the one kitchen, so all of the food was great.

Ch La Conseillante 1970

I had a long history with the family as customers of mine years ago, and I also enjoyed going to the restaurant, though I usually dined in the tavern, and alas I cannot believe that I did not save a single matchbook from The Chambertin.  The matchbooks were very elegant and they had your name printed on the outside of the book, and used them as your place setting when you reserved a table.  They were famous for the creamy garlic salad dressing that they made in house, and when the son opened up his own restaurant, he maintained the dressing at his new location.  Some of the dishes that were always popular were; Prime Rib, Canadian Pickerel with a Cardinal Sauce, Rack of Lamb ala Grecque, and Shrimp Helene.  By and far the Shrimp Helene was my favorite dish, as it was spiced jumbo shrimp wrapped in Phyllo dough and served with Béarnaise Sauce, in fact this was another dish that his son carried over to his restaurant, as there were so many people that enjoyed this dish.  The restaurant also had one of the best wine lists, back in the day, when most restaurants only had perhaps a choice of five wines, they had a real book to present, including several different Burgundy wines, and there was always, as I recall a bottle or two of a Chambertin wine.

MI Chambertin Restaurant Menu

One night I remember I was home, and I received a phone call from the proprietor of the restaurant and he had forgotten to stop by the store to pick up his clothing order, and the store was closed, and he was leaving on a trip the next day.  I remember calling my boss, to tell him what had happened, and to let him know that I was going back to the store to pick up the altered clothes and deliver them to the restaurant.  This is what is now called “customer service,” but it was just part of the job as I saw it.  He and his wife were so pleased with what I had done, and they knew that was I was a fledgling wine devotee, that rather than offer me a gratuity or a gift certificate, they gave me a bottle of wine.  I kept that wine for several years before opening it, as I cherished the choice of the selection.  Some people would have just grabbed a bottle of one of the house wines, but they gave me a bottle of Chateau La Conseillante Pomerol 1970.  Even though Pomerol at the time had not been classified as the Medoc had been, this wine was considered one of the finer wines from the district, and I felt honored, I think that is why I held the wine for so long before opening it and it when I did, it was a most enjoyable evening.  The restaurant is no longer around, neither is the hotel for that matter, but when you talk to people in the know in Dearborn, they still speak of it, in a reverent manner.

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