Boston! 2005 Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail

First off... Boston was awesome! : )

We had a great time on all fronts and I can't wait to go back!

But, the big decision for our wine at Aquitaine didn't get any easier once we were there! : )

We got there and loved it at first sight! It was such a cute, quaint, dimly lit little restaurant and we knew there was great potential from the moment we walked in! And, since I had already memorized the menu and decided what we'd order from appetizer to dessert (minus the wine decision of course), we had plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere and have a romantic evening!

I knew that I wanted to go ahead and order our bottle right when we got there so that it would have time to breathe while we had our appetizer, etc., so I really had to get with it! So, I discussed with our waiter some of the top choices I had made prior to getting there and we decided on the Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine du Galet des Papes (2004)... and I was pumped about it! Well, the waiter came back a couple minutes later and said that someone had just ordered the last bottle! Of course they did! Had these people known how much time went in to choosing that exact bottle, they may have given it up to me! : ) So, we moved to plan B. Our waiter was very patient with me (but also obviously annoyed) and helped us decide on our perfect bottle! We ended up with the 2005 Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail. I was really hopeful about this one because it's a GSM and I've had some really great GSM's. This particular one is 55% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 20% Mourvedre (G=Grenache, S= Syrah, M= Mourvedre). The waiter thought that the peppery notes would really go well with our Filet au Poivre and that we'd be pleased with the flavors and weight of the wine.

We LOVED it!!! It was so perfect with our filets and it just completed an already perfect meal!

(We had the Mussels en Cassoulette for an appetizer and were basically licking the cassoulette when the mussels were gone! SOOO good!!! Then, we both had the Filet au Poivre for our entree. It was the best au Poivre sauce I've ever had!!! The filet was cooked to perfection and had the best pepper crust... YUM! I'm salivating now just thinking about it! And then we split a Creme Brulee for dessert. It was huge and amazingly delicious!)

This picture is from Aquitaine's website, but it has a picture of the Mussels en Cassoulette, so I included it! : )

Here's our steak (with the stupid good potatoes) and yummy wine! : )

Ok, concentrating on the wine again! : )

So, I didn't take too many notes because I was way too busy eating and drinking, but I'll list what I have!

Smells: slightly smoky smells (cigar)

Tastes: full-bodied, jammy fruit flavors, peppery finish

Rating: Clay gave it a 8.5-9 and I gave it a 9-9.5

These pictures were taken with my iPhone, so they're not great!

It really was a delicious wine and went perfectly with our amazing meal! Next time we're in Boston, we'll definitely be stopping back in to Aquitaine for another great experience!