Schramsberg, Dujac and Chave
 

We're in Marco Island for the week closing up our place for the
summer. After a day of tarpon fishing in the Ten Thousand Islands (2-
tarpon 85lb and 125lb and a host of bullsharks, hammerhead and lemon
sharks all well over 100 lbs) we headed up to Naples for dinner at a
newer restaurant named SeaSalt www.seasalt.com. I was too tired to
mess with menus so I asked the server to just feed us. The Chef , and
Italian named Farizio Aielli came out and was thrilled to oblige so he
took us through a series of small plates including Kampachi and Toro
shashimi, a frito misto platter, a tasting of oysters, two small pasta
dishes, roasted sea bass and finally beef cheeks in red wine and
polenta. I took advantage of a very accomodating corkage policy and
brought a bottle of 2001 Dujac Clos de la Roche and a 2004 Chave
Hermitage Blanc. Both were bottles that I needed to drink to to lack
of proper storage at my place in Florida over the summer. I bought a
bottle of 2005 Schramsberg Brut Rose off of their list for $55. Nice
bright cherry strawberry fruit with a fair amount of acidity and very
smooth ripe fruit flavors. A good match with food. Next we opened
the 2004 Chave Hermitage. Great nose of floral honey and citrus
peel. Rich and oily on the palate with really powerful flavors of
orange zest, minerals, apricots and honey. We ended with the 2001
Dujac Clos de la Roche. Effusive nose of earth and mushrooms. Very
sweet ripe up front fruit on the palate of black cherry and blackberry
followed by an espresso and cocoa note finishing with an earthy
minerality and sous bois. A great meal paired with fab wines.