A Champagne Dinner

Oakland's waterfront

I have lived in Napa for nearly two years now, and, despite having visited San Francisco on a regular basis, on Wednesday I ventured with my wife for the first time to Oakland, San Francisco's neighbouring, down-to-earth city where boats come in from around the world to supply the Bay Area and beyond with food and wine. We did so to attend a champagne tasting on the waterfront, staying in a rather sketchy airbnb. Oakland's diverse range of residents were more occupied with the local basketball team's record-breaking progress than a champagne tasting, but I was able to discover a city that's edgy, awkward, and proudly different. And, just as exciting, I got to taste some great champagne in the company of very good food.

the restaurant

The tasting was held at Lungomare, a seafood restaurant located near Oakland's docks, surrounded by passing honking trains, angry trucks, and sleeping yachts. There were quite a few food and drink places in this industrial location, huddled together on Jack London Square. The restaurant was large, spacious, and airy, our tasting taking place in a small, enclosed, bright room. I have to confess to some snobbery: one guest was wearing a large Golden State Warriors cap (of the newly dominant basketball team) slightly askew, with a Stephen Curry shirt (the Lionel Messi of the Warriors), and a heavily tattoed arm. I wondered how she had got into an $85 tasting. I later learnt that she owned the restaurant. This is Oakland, and she turned out to be an awesome sabrer. 

 

the champagne

Gosset are the oldest existing house of the Champagne region, from long before champagne was sparkling, and the meal centred around their wines. One of the most notable features of the wines is that most of them do not undergo malolactic fermentation - of the major houses, only Krug and Louis Roederer equally refuse to soften the acidity of the wines from this cool, extreme climate. The acidity of the Chardonnay-only Blanc de Blancs NV ($90; ✪✪✪✪✪✪) was especially sharp, a wine for those who have acidity fetishses - one in which all should indulge from time to time. The 2006 Millésime ($100; ✪✪✪✪✪) had a softer acidity, tamed with some age, and rounded out with bready, nutty aromas. In contrast, the Brut Excellence NV ($45; ✪✪✪✪) is the one wine that does go through MLF, and felt much fruitier and forwarder as a result.

the pairings

The Brut Excellence was served with charcuterie and cheese, and had enough bold aromas to stand up to the meat and strong cheeses. The Blanc de Blancs was paired with an interesting avocado, crab, and peach dish, described by Gosset's assistant winemaker Hermine de Clermont Tonnerre (can there be a more French name?) as a battle between salty and sweet aromas. I found the sweetness and richness of the avocado and peach too much, but the piercing acidity of the Blanc de Blancs was well matched by the salty crab. That was followed by the perfect, if somewhat unethical pairing of foie gras (recovering from a two-year period of illegality in California) and quail with the rich, mature 2006 vintage wine. The final pairing matched Gosset's biggest seller, Grand Réserve Brut NV ($60; ✪✪✪✪✪), with a sweet berry-based dish. Despite the often overlooked sweetness of champagne, this was a bit of a mismatch between the sweet berries and the acidic wine.  

the sabring

Sabring a bottle of champagne - that is opening a bottle with a sword - is something I had not seen in person until this evening. Our Stephen Curry-loving owner gave a masterclass in how to sabre a bottle: using the blunt side of the sword, strike clean through the lip.

the bar

After all that champagne, one needed a beer. The nearby Merchant's Saloon was dirty, dingy, exciting, and everything I miss about living in a city. There was a giant screen showing the Golden State Warriors while the local fans cheered the team on. Even if a sport is a little tedious to watch, there's nothing like being in the presence of local fans who truly care. 

the market 

Our car was parked by the local market, which was active and awake before midnight. Having had some champagne and beer, we sensibly left the car to return via uber to our airbnb (we are so modern and immersed in Bay Area habits), where we found an Indian gentleman conversing in the hallway on his Mac, a one-sided conversation he was still engaged in when we awoke the next morning. We returned to our car to find it surrounded by palettes of fruit. We were let out by the morning market folk, with the kindly proviso that we shouldn't have parked there overnight. Seeing the city alive and slightly perilous in the morning was a reminder of how it lives and breathes twenty-four hours a day - helped, at some point of that day, by some champagne.