The whole Domaine LA gang headed over to our new neighbor The Hart and The Hunter a few nights ago. The two fellas you see below are executive chefs Kris Tominaga and Brian Dunsmoor, who began cooking together in a buzzed about pop-up in Venice called Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. They now have a permanent location in the Palihotel in West Hollywood and we are SO excited about it.
They are in the final stages of getting their wine list together, so we brought along some new bottles to recently hit our shelves. We also got to test drive these crazy Riedel Sommelier Series black stemless glasses. They are borderline Darth Vader, but are actually great for blind tasting. You really can’t see a thing in your glass.
The H&H staff decanted our H. Billiot Brut Reserve Champagne into this handy Kerr jar. There’s a first for everything. This Pinot Noir-heavy blend is based on the 2009 vintage and aged in a solera style system of barrels.
It was delicious with the chicken skin cracklings and vinegar. Not pictured, sadly. This Champagne has some richness but is tempered with mouth-watering acidity. Really great and perfect for the winter months and holidays ahead.
Venison carpaccio, anyone?
Or how about some flaky, warm biscuits with your choice of pimento cheese, honey butter or persimmon preserves? Yeah.
All of the Southern-inflected food was stellar; smoky boiled peanuts, shredded brussels sprout salad with bacon sherry vinaigrette, cheese grits…and the list goes on.
Christina Turley, daughter of famed California Zinfadel winemaker Larry Turley, visited our store recently. She told us about a new project she is working on called The Label. She wanted to make “a modern reinterpretation of the ‘classic’ Napa Cabernet from the 60’s & 70’s,” before high alcohol and tons of new oak became the style for much of Napa Valley and beyond. She sources fruit from an organically farmed 20 year old vineyard on the Turley estate in St Helena. A few weeks after her visit, it’s now on our shelves!
Wines:
NV H. Billiot Brut Reserve Champagne, $57
2010 The Label Cabernet Sauvignon, $43
