Hello again, everyone, and welcome to Cépage et Cuisine, Mary’s
and Brian’s wine and food blog. This is
our second post about our brief visit to the Berkshire Mountains to behold the
beauty of the landscape during autumn, the friendly people, fine local cuisine,
and wine, of course.
Our base of operations is the Chambery Inn in the small town of Lee,
Mass. I mentioned in the previous blog
entry that the Chambery Inn is a former school, moved to its present location
and re-opened as a lovely bed and breakfast.
Here is today’s breakfast, delivered in a basket to our
room, arranged before the fireplace, with a pot of fresh Green Mountain coffee
and today’s newspaper. Not bad! We both had warm oatmeal and fresh fruit. Mary had a freshly baked scone.
While I read the news, Mary went for a stroll around
town. Take a look at these beautiful
images. She’s really quite a fine
photographer. The foliage varies from
trees that haven’t yet turned, through trees of various vivid colors, all the
way to some that are completely bare.
The air was chilly, in the low 40s.
The grass is still a deep green.
Interestingly, as I write this blog post, the area has been hit by an
early snowfall!
Lunch was at the Starving Artist Café in Lee, a delightfully hippiefied
lunch spot attached to an art gallery. I
must say those artists are going to starve, though, if they expect people to
pay the prices they are asking for those paintings! The food was not so expensive, fortunately,
and it was delicious and healthful. The
house specialty was crepes. Mary had a
crepe with fresh sliced pears and goat cheese called “pearfection.” 
I had a salad of mesclun, fresh apples, feta cheese,
walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette. They
were both delicious!
We spent the afternoon in Stockbridge, a picture postcard of a small New
England town. Stockbridge was the home
of Norman Rockwell from 1953 until his death.
We visited the Normal Rockwell museum and his studio, which is a converted
carriage barn that was in his back yard.
Perhaps you recognize this famous image from his work, which he called
simply "Stockbridge at Christmas."
Mary took photos of some of the buildings that appear in the painting,
which look largely the same today as when he finished the painting in 1963. 
Cameras were not allowed in the galleries at the museum, but
it is an American treasure…all those original Rockwell paintings, sketches,
possessions, photos, Saturday Evening Post covers, Boys’ Life…wonderful and
moving.
Dinner that evening was at Alta Restaurant and Wine Bar,
definitely the nicest dining experience of our trip. The owner, Aurelien Telle, a Frenchman from
Évian, and his attentive staff provide a refined, relaxing experience with
creative expressions of local and classic dishes. The restaurant is small, intimate, with large
windows onto Church Street in Lenox. The
wine list is compact, but offers an excellent balance of domestic and Old World
wines to suit diverse tastes.
Importantly to me, the wines are properly stored, the service is
elegant, and Aurelien is readily available to discuss pairings and choices.
Mary and I shared a first course of quinoa salad, a cool
grain dish not unlike couscous, accented with golden raisins, garbanzos,
carrots, hazelnuts, feta cheese, and served over fresh arugula. The integration of various textures,
sweetness of the raisins, and tanginess of the cheese was delicious. Mary enjoyed fresh bread and butter.
Mary’s main course was pan-seared duck breast with a salty
caramel sauce (who knew?), mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables. The cut of the breast was different than what
we usually see, but Mary said it was more tender than the duck breast we
prepare at home by scoring the skin to render the fat, crisping the skin side,
then searing the flesh side. The flavor
of the Alta version was the typical savory, earthy quality of excellent duck
breast, but the tenderness was more like a good roast beef. Mary said the caramel sauce was not sugary sweet, like
the caramel topping on an ice cream dessert.
She said it was more like a sauce or gravy and provided an interesting
twist to the duck and side dishes.
My main course was pan-seared salmon. I was curious to see how this would turn out
and whether a substantial cut of salmon could be properly cooked through by
searing without overcooking the outside.
Somehow, the chef produced a fish that was perfectly cooked, flaky,
still moist throughout. The salmon was
accompanied by mashed potatoes, sautéed spinach, topped with goat cheese crumbles
and slices of fresh local apples. Red
pepper coulis completed the plate. It
was a delicious, memorable main course.
Monsieur Telle indulged me by
allowing me to practice my limited French language skill. “Avez-vous
une assiette de fromage?” To my delight,
it was close enough to correct that he didn’t laugh and, in fact, he prepared a
wonderful cheese plate of local cheeses called Maggie’s Round, Tabasi, and
Berkshire Blue. Aurelien knows the cheese
makers personally, visits their farms, and selects the cheeses to serve at
Alta. The cheese course includes a jam
of fig and berries, sliced apples, nuts and raisins drizzled with honey, and
crostini crisps. We haven’t seen such a
nice cheese course since we left France.
Now, to the wine. We
needed a wine that had the structure to stand up to a hearty dish like duck
breast, but the balance and elegance to match the salmon without overwhelming
it. Readers of the blog know that Mary
and I are unabashed Francophiles, so I went straight to Burgundy and Pinot
Noir. Like most restaurant wine lists,
the choices were almost all recent vintages, so I knew the wine would be
young. My approach is to use a trusted
producer whenever I can. Domaine
Faiveley is exactly such a producer and I was delighted to see it on Aurelien’s
list, another indication that he really understands how food, wine, and the
dining experience work together.
Mercurey is a village in the Côte Chalonnaise, just south of the more
famous, and expensive, Côte d’Or. Wines
of Mercurey are often just as delicious, elegant, and structured as more
expensive wines. I was optimistic about
the choice and when Aurelien came to our table to personally perform the wine
service, he complimented us on the choice.
Here are my notes on the wine.
Domaine Faiveley
Mercurey 2008. It is a very young
wine, but has delicious aromas and flavors.
A pretty medium ruby out of the bottle, the nose reveals bright red
cherry, earth, and fresh mineral notes.
The palate is smooth, medium-bodied, with bright acidity, providing an
edgy quality at this early juncture.
Flavors were similar to aromas, bright red fruit, plus a nice spiciness
throughout. Beautifully balanced,
moderately complex, medium length, I expect this wine will improve much more with
time. Very nice. The pairings with the duck and the salmon were
both excellent. 13.0% alcohol. The restaurant price was $46.
Our evening at Alta was delightful. The ambience, the service, the
innovativeness, attention to detail, an excellent wine list, a dessert course
of local cheeses add up to a memorable experience. If you travel to the region, we recommend you
visit Aurelien Telle at Alta in Lenox, Mass.
That’s our post for today.
We hope you enjoyed coming along with us on our trip to the
Berkshires. Check back at Cépage
et Cuisine for more wine, food, and cultural experiences. Don’t forget, you can follow our nightly
tweets on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cepageetcuisine. Until next time …
Cheers,
Mary♥Brian
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