To quote the Arrogant Worms, yesterday I celebrated ‘another trip around the sun.’  Being a self-professed ‘Wine Guy’, people always assume that I have all these great wines lined up for my birthday, but truth be told, I really have never liked ‘celebrating’ my birthday that much. It is not a ‘holy crap, I am getting old’ kind of thing, I guess it is more of a not wanting to be the center of attention type of thing (as hard as that may be for some of you to believe).  My wife understands this at least, so she lets me keep it rather low key.  We ‘celebrated’ by going out for lunch and to play a round of miniature golf with the boys.  I dropped my wife off as I looked for a place to park, and told her to go ahead and order for me–saying that she would know what I’d want.  She ordered me a plain hamburger.  Plain.  No cheese.  No pickle, onion, mustard.  Nothing.  Just a bun.  It actually was not all that bad.  But it was plain.

We had not planned anything at all for the evening, I was just going to go to the store and cook something–nice quiet night at home.  At the last minute, however, my lovely wife scored us a reservation at our favorite restaurant, Bibou, where last minute reservations are hard to come by.  Our good friends, who had been in the the Dordogne with us last month, were able to join us and we even found a new babysitter at the very last minute.  Since the restaurant is BYOB, and all the stars seemed to align, I figured I needed to pull out at least a couple of wines I have been sitting on for a while.  Our friends also brought a couple of bottles, so here is what we ended up with:

1997 L. Aubry Fils Champagne Aubry de Humbert 1er Cru: Retail ~$50.  Champagne served as my gateway to the world of obsessing about collecting wine. Better quality champagnes can age as well as the best Bourdeaux, in my opinion.  I would have to say that the best wine I have ever had was a 1978 Dom Pérignon, that we popped just last year.  This wine was no ’78 Dom, but it was right in my wheelhouse.  I have been holding on to this for a few years, hoping it would take on the secondary flavors of caramel and a hint of oxidation. It had, though I doubt it was going to progress much further.  It was a great way to start off the meal. Excellent to Outstanding. 90 points.

Speaking of the meal, we realized that this was the first time we had been at Bibou on a Sunday when they offer a five course tasting menu for only $45.  The restaurant is normally not all that expensive, but the Sunday evening meal is beyond a bargain.

For the first course, our friends brought a Sancerre that they brought back from our recent trip (a wine that I also brought back). I had the escargots that I get just about every time since they are always spectacular (and I can never eat enough snails).  My wife got the fois gras.  She won, and it was not even close, the fois was unbelievably good.

2009 Henri Bourgeois Sancerre La Bourgeois: Retail ~$25-30.  This wine sees a little bit of oak, which is relatively rare for Sancerre since the focus is usually on the characteristic flinty-ness and minerality.  2009 in Sancerre produced rather ripe fruit, and the oak seems to mute that power, just a bit, and it works fabulously here.  The fruit is still present, as is the acidity and mineral aspects that made Sancerre famous.  Excellent to Outstanding. 91 points.

For the next course, I ordered the quail with a cherry reduction sauce, and my wife got some sort of fish.  I really did not pay all that much attention to her dish since mine was so flipping fantastic.  I easily won this round (not that I ever keep score–but I also crushed her at mini-golf earlier).

2005 Domaine Bernard Morey et Fils Santenay 1er Cru Gravières: Retail ~$35. With the quail, we moved on to the Burgundies.  Santenay, on the southern end of the Côte d’Or (the home of the more famous vineyards in the region), happens to be one of my favorite Burgundy wines since it is one of the few I can afford.  They are also known for being more rustic than their more northerly brethren.  This wine was from one of the better vintages in recent history and it had very nice fruit and plenty of acidity, all focused and balanced.  The pairing with the quail was spot on.  Excellent to Outstanding. 90 points.

1999 Le Duo de Bourgogne Beaune 1er Cru Bressandes: Retail ~$45-50. I bought this over ten years ago from the winery just outside of Beaune, from the wife of the vigneron, who was just the nicest person you could ever meet.  I have been here a few times, and their 15 year old son is often the one conducting the tastings.  Yeah, that would happen in Sonoma.  As for the wine, surprisingly, even though it was six years older, this wine seemed to have more fruit both on the nose and the palate.  As expected, it was not as rustic as the Santenay, but it was clear that the two were certainly from the same family.  Outstanding.  92 points.

We next had a cheese plate, with which we finished of the Burgundies.  The restaurant also poured us some very nice vintage port to go along with the blue cheese.

We ended with dessert (sorry no photos) when they dimmed the lights and sang that most popular (and perhaps obnoxious) song.  So that was it.  A great night.

Here is some inadvertent art.  I am not artistic at all, so to you it could appear like a bunch of corks.  Trash even.  Who am i to argue since it was quickly thrown away after I took the picture: