on wine (9) throwbacks in Maine

Calvin Trillin tends to refer to the less sophisticated foodies of the past as the "beef Stroganov types." When it comes to wine I think back to the "Matteus days" of the 1960s when the flat bottles made very good candle holders. But Colette and I were recently reminded that there then were other choices, her former husband preferring California jug wines and several of our friends drinking Almaden because the bottles could do long service as wine carafes. The occasion occurred on our birding trip to Maine at the end of last May and I was reminded of our poor to middling eating experiences when I checked my diary for the precise date of seeing the Spruce grouse (which for me was a "lifer").

I hesitate to name the restaurant, at the entrance to a former Down East sardine harbor, because the owner who served us was a kindhearted elderly woman who told us with some pride that she and her husband, the cook, had started the restaurant in their 20s when an uncle gave them a loan (actually a gift as it turned out). Anyway, the menu and (unfortunately) the cooking apparently had remained the same all these years. Colette had a boiled lobster which  can't  be easily spoiled unless it's overcooked, which it was. Maybe it had something to do with the time it took to prepare my frozen (and thin) pork cutlets. The veggies come from cans or frozen packages. Even the blueberry pie wasn't made from scratch, which we find (after decades of Maine summers) a rare find. The wine "list" had "red, rose, white from 3 California growers in 2 "carafe" sizes. One of these growers was Almaden and the "carafe was a recycled Almaden bottle. On the whole it was a typical 1960s "family restaurant" experience. The only other eating out event was at a Chinese place that turned out to be equally behind the times, but fortunately they had bottled beer.

We decided to have all our other meals in our rooms with food from the local Hannefords. What has surprised us about that chain, even those in upscale tourist places, is their very large selection of California and other US wines and there relatively poor selection of French and Italian wines. But at least they have usually something drinkable. And we have found the occasional boutique delicatessen with a fine wine selection. This trip was no exception and Colette discovered a wine boutique when we were rained out in Machias and in need of something uplifting. It was also the 33d anniversary of our "non-marriage." Among the choices available the owner, a retired "gentleman" whose hobby was wine and that he now maintained to supplement his investment income, were several unfamiliar Champagnes  of which one in particular was his own favorite. Colette brought if back, and a good choice it turned out to be. The notes in my diary read: "A remarkable non-vintage from Jean Vesselle in Bouzy. A Brut that was light, effervescent & without yeast. A "trouvaille, a donna nubile." At $44 it was better than any non-vintage in that range we occasional buy to celebrate. The bottle turned out   the highlight of our trip even though we had a truly outstanding dinner at  "Joseph by the Sea" in Old Orchard beach (which is otherwise a remarkably honky-tong place). We had Colette's favorite white, a Sancerre from the Chateau de Sancerre, a 2011 that turned out to be a very good year in several places in France. This bottle got marked in my diary, with the entire meal, as "up there with the best of our experiences."



Actually, when we returned for our customary "August in Maine" (on Southport Island) we found that some of the better (and expensive) restaurants had significantly improved their menu, including the preparation and well as presentation and their wine list. Thus the "Thistle Inn" in Boothbay Harbor featured several whites and reds from France and Italy (as well as better American ones), that included even a Cotes de Provence rose which Colette, with her Provencal background, appreciated.
The Inn is comparable to "Joseph by the Sea," but it lacks the view.



2011 was also a good year in Beaujolais and the Savoie (an area from which I have seen few, or any wines in the USA). But, as one of the hazards of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's choices, our local outlet featured as a "Manager's Choice" a "Savoie" 2011 from Aspremont. It's a light golden wine, which I used to buy from the local grower in St. Jean d'Arvey, above Chambery, when I lived there one summer when I was 21 or 2. I actually tended some vines for the old lady whose garden I kept and whose goats I retrieved every night before milking them. I first bought one bottle for old times' sake, but not only the memories made me go back to the store and by the remaining bottles (7).
What a pleasant drink it had remained and the stuff that the grower drank (see On Wine(8). By the way, our birding trip in Maine, netted, in spite of the persistent lousy weather, 129 species with 27 "first of year" birds and 4 "lifers." Good enough to overlook to forgettable meals.