Lobster Fest Chez Pelz With a Quartet of Fine Wines

Lobster is in season right now, and our local grocery store had Maine lobster on sale for a laughable price, so I decided to invite friends over for dinner to cook up some lobster and enjoy it with some good wine. So I ventured out 30 minutes before dinner and got a hold of 6 nice lobsters and prepared them three ways.

With Appetizers

- Sheep's Cheese Puffs (Thanks Shannon and Dave - delicious)
- Lobster Salad

• N.V. Jacques Selosse Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne
  Lovely Champagne. Started the evening with this gem. Elegant, finesse Champagne that shows a certain airy-ness. Super fine mousse, apple, blanched almonds, brioche, and raw dough. Only thing that detracts ever so slightly from its greatness is that is seems very sweet on the finish, so I wonder what the dosage levels of this wine are. But I am not complaining.

• N.V. Pierre Peters Champagne Blanc de Blancs - France, Champagne, Le Mesnil Sur Oger, Champagne
  L012007. Best bottle yet. Diametrically opposed in style to the Selosse we enjoyed 30 minutes earlier. Seemingly big and brawny with lemon zest and massive minerality. Fresh and structured and with lots of bubbles. This particular bottle is showing the first signs of mellowing out though as the fruit is sweeter than I remember it, and the wine isn't as angry as it used to be. Quite good and in its price class, this has to be one of the leaders for folks like me who like their Champagne super-low dosage.

With Main Courses

- Lobster in the Rough
- Lobster Broiled

• 2004 Vincent Girardin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
  As usual, this was very reliable. Fairly ripe, it shows apple, a touch of lemon rind, limestone rock, and some buttered popcorn. The oak stands out just a touch. I might be wrong, but this seems ready to drink and I'm not sure I'd want to hold these too long...I don't know if this has enough acidity to go the distance.

With Dessert

- Chocolate cream pie (Thanks Shannon and Dave)

• 2004 Eddie Feraud Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  This wine continues to impress me. It's all about the wonderful Grenache fruit. In my opinion, this is a clean version (less bretty) of Pegau. Similarly traditional texture and fruit profile. Dark plum and blackberry fruit with some meat juice, provencal herbs, and licorice. Doesn't get much better than this for cuvee tradition in CdP.