Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classe with Waygu Beef at Entourage DG
We’ve featured Entourage numerous times in these pages, most notably our Pour Boys Wine Group dinner at Entourage last fall. This is the same restaurant group that has a sister restaurant in Naperville, also featured in these pages in Plumpjack Reserve Napa Chardonnay at Entourage Restaurant Naperville.
After dinner, we enjoyed the live band performing on the fountain square at the train station, immediately across the street. This is a bonus for those dining outside at Entourage!
Prior to dinner we enjoyed two favorite features … taking advantage of the Social Hour, ‘early bird’ specials, we ordered the Rosemary Focaccia Bread - “Made Fresh Daily”, served with Mediterranean Olives and Sea Salt Butter. While it may be easy to discount this as a simple bread plate, it’s delicious!
Additionally, prior to our main course, we enjoyed the Roasted Beets and Whipped Goat Cheese Salad - Arugula, Baby Gem with Spicy Pecans, Fennel, Hot Honey and Grapefruit Citrus Vinaigrette. As always, this was delicious - a wonderful pairing of flavors.
For dinner, I had one of my favorite dishes that I look forward to, but can only take occasionally, which is understandable when you see the sensational presentation!
This signature entree continues to be amazing! It’s enough for two dinners, tonight, and then a follow on with the take-home leftovers. On occasion, we’ve actually ordered a second one for carry out to take home.
Entourage Signature Wagyu Meatloaf Sundae - Truffle + Parmesan Whipped Potatoes, Brioche, Wild Mushroom Gravy, Vegetable Succotash topped with Crispy Onions.
This was delicious and with ample portions - enough for a follow on take home meal with two large slices of meatloaf, but not enough of the delectable pomme puree’! But where would you put it in that tower, or what they call a ‘Sundae’!
Linda ordered what has become one of her favorite entree’s, Entourage classic signature Shrimp and Grits - Spicy Shrimp & Jalapeno Grits - Blackened Wild Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, Charred Jalapeno, Charred Corn, Baby Peppers and Creole Cream. Richard also ordered this dish on her recommendation and loved it as well.
Adessa ordered the Waygu Beef sliders and loved them.
To pair with my Waygu beef meatloaf, I brought BYOB from our home cellar this aged vintage Right Bank Bordeaux for a perfect food-wine pairing.
Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005
Grand Cru Classe’ producer Château Larmande lies north of the town of St. Emilion, close to Soutard and Cadet-Piola. It consists of 25 hectares of vineyards planted with Merlot (65%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%). Larmande was sold to the French insurance conglomerate, La Mondiale in 1991.
Looking back at our CellarTracker tasting notes, and blogposts in these pages, this is the fourth bottle of this label we’ve enjoyed over the recent past, as we consume our remaining holdings of this label in its twentieth year, arguably at the prime, or reaching the end of its prime drinking window. We have one more remaining bottle from this vintage and I’ll miss this enjoyable label. (Records show we acquired no less than twenty bottles upon release - a great QPR - quality price ratio selection.)
At twenty years the fill level was still fine but the cork was beginning to lose integrity as it pulled apart using a traditional corkscrew. I took my Ahso two pronged cork puller which would’ve most likely removed the cork in-tact, but I was too late and the cork disintegrated on the server who did his best to save it.
Our server, Jason, is a Sommelier and relished the challenge and handled it well. In the end, feeble efforts to use a coffee filter, to remove the crumbled cork in the bottle, I managed to pour the wine slowly, carefully into a decanter for serving.
I wrote back in 2020, “It's hard to believe its been five years since I last tasted this label when I wrote,' at eleven years of age, I sense this is approaching the end of its prime drinking window as the fruits seem to have given way slightly to the emergence of the non-fruit flavors based on earlier tasting notes from three and five years ago'.
“We still hold three bottles of the case we acquired upon release. We'll need to consume these in the intermediate term, but it still has several years to go, yet.”
My published tasting report notes for this label show nine postings with one a year ago when my notes were consistent with earlier tastings and project life still left in this release.
This vintage release was a blend of Merlot (65%), Cabernet Franc (30%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (5%).
Consistent with earlier notes … Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, aromatic blackberry and black cherry fruits accented by tones of tar, smoke, earthy leather, hints of cedar and spice, (earlier reports of mocha were not apparent), on a firm lingering tongue puckering tannin finish - fruits slightly diminished from earlier tastings with seemingly increased acidity.
RM 89 points.*
*PS. A postscript to an earlier tasting, after a couple days open in the bottle, chilled, this wine returned to its earlier elegance, structured balance and fruit, regaining earlier rating of 89 points. Once again, I shouldn't P-n-P, pop and pour these complex aged wines, rather, give them respect, open them and allow them to breathe at least a couple hours before diving in!
“We still hold three bottles of the case we acquired upon release. We'll need to consume these in the intermediate term, but it still has several years to go, yet.”
My published tasting report notes for this label show nine postings with one a year ago when my notes were consistent with earlier tastings and project life still left in this release.
This vintage release was a blend of Merlot (65%), Cabernet Franc (30%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (5%).
Consistent with earlier notes … Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, aromatic blackberry and black cherry fruits accented by tones of tar, smoke, earthy leather, hints of cedar and spice, (earlier reports of mocha were not apparent), on a firm lingering tongue puckering tannin finish - fruits slightly diminished from earlier tastings with seemingly increased acidity.
RM 89 points.*
*PS. A postscript to an earlier tasting, after a couple days open in the bottle, chilled, this wine returned to its earlier elegance, structured balance and fruit, regaining earlier rating of 89 points. Once again, I shouldn't P-n-P, pop and pour these complex aged wines, rather, give them respect, open them and allow them to breathe at least a couple hours before diving in!
**PPS: And of course, pay attention to the cork condition and use appropriate instrument for extraction!
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=351693
http://www.chateau-soutard.com/chateau-larmande-.aspx
https://entouragerestaurant.com/downers-grove/
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=351693
http://www.chateau-soutard.com/chateau-larmande-.aspx
https://entouragerestaurant.com/downers-grove/
