Buen Provecho!
It’s not super focused on wine, but I watched The Menu last weekend. You want to go into this cold (as it were) and not know too much about it. I can tell you it stars Ralph Fiennes as a famous Gordon Ramsey-type chef, who holds court at a super exclusive and pricey island restaurant. It is wickedly dark and hilarious, and I’m definitely going to watch again.
Among many terrific performances is Peter Grosz as the restaurant’s unnamed Sommelier. Regardless of whatever is going on around him, the sommelier swoops in, cheerfully weaving a tale of sun-dappled vineyards.
I decided to pair this with something a little schmancy, 2016 Chateau Moncets. It’s from Lalande-de-Pomerol, in the Right Bank of the Bordeaux region in southwestern France. You may have heard of Pomerol? This is just north of that more famous and prestigious appellation. It’s 86% merlot and 14% cabernet franc.
The color is a deep garnet, and I get blackberry on the nose. On the palate, lots more blackberry, and a whole bunch of tight tannins. For 14.1% alcohol, it feels nicely subdued. I’m glad I had more tastes after the bottle had been open for a while, to let the tannins calm down. This would go great with beef or venison. It’s nice now, but I’m going to put my other bottles aside for a few years and let those tannins do their magic.
The Menu is streaming in the U.S. on HBO Max. Enjoy!