la.foodblogging

A Frenchy-food fixture in Studio City for several years, and situated right near the CBS Studio Center, is the Wine Bistro. Aficionados will already know about its luxe decor, friendly and efficient service and relaxed vibe paired with French cuisine at affordable prices. Owner JB Touchon (pictured) is a gracious host and a lively character with a precise memory for faces and names. He makes you feel like a regular even if you’ve only been there once beforehand.

Now the Wine Bistro is offering special event dinners for gourmands and lovers of fine spirits. In conjunction with Vendome Wine and Spirits Cellars and Pierre Ferrand, the makers of superb cognacs, the Wine Bistro hosted a marvelous evening of fascinating information and the opportunity to sample some of the most superlative cognacs available.

Last month we were treated to a delicious four course meal that was paired with six – that’s right, six – exceptional cognacs, each one better than the last.

Here’s a bit of background: Cognac is a type of brandy, specifically brandy distilled from wines from the Champagne region of France. The wines that are used to make Cognac can vary and some wines are actually somewhat inferior in quality until they are distilled into Cognac. That’s when the magic happens. Cognacs, like many other fine spirits, are aged in oak barrels in order to mellow the more fiery, harsh qualities in the young liquor and to impart the spirit with oak, tannins and various other characteristics of the barrel. The main reason that aged spirits are pricey is that there is annual loss through evaporation through the barrels, but it is through this carefully controlled loss of the volatile elements that the desired flavors are concentrated. All the factors of the process must be ideal in order to produce a stellar product, such as the grape, the soil of the region, the growing conditions, fermentation, distillation, barreling and aging.

Here’s where Pierre Ferrand comes into the picture. As we dined on caramelized pear stuffed with roquefort and over Belgian endive salad, enthusiastic and learned cellar master Fabien Levieux gave us all a mini-tutorial about cognac. The three qualities of cognac are elegance, complexity and finish. As the evening progressed we learned about each vintage. We started with a 10 year old “Ambre� cognac that was exclusively from the Grande Champagne Vineyards. Next was the 20 year “Cognac Reserve� – a hand distilled, complex and fully bodied spirit. As Fabian warned, cognac distilling is a nerve-racking enterprise. “You don’t know what you have until you actually get it.�

As we sampled lightly battered rock shrimps served on a bed of julienned fresh fruits and mandarin chutney, we tasted the “Selection des Anges� – a 30 year old cognac, followed by the “Abel� – a 45 year old aged cognac with an incomparable, subtle and delicate bouquet.

My favorite was actually our penultimate sample. Accompanying the roasted Muscovy duck breast medallions with honey mustard glaze was the Pierre Ferrand “Ancestral,� a blend of three vintages; 1927, 1928 and 1930. Rare and perfectly balanced, this cognac had delicate notes of prunes and chocolate. This was an exceptional cognac and, along with final one, were easily the most expensive spirits I’ve ever had the privilege to sample. Selling at $650 per bottle (diners could avail themselves of a 10% discount), the taste we enjoyed would normally cost around $200 in most restaurants.

Baked apple and Dandy Don’s vanilla ice cream was an unobtrusive partner for the final cognac; the Vintage 1914. Harvested in 1914 and bottled in 1989, this was an exceptional and rare treat. There are only 300 bottles of this cognac left in the world, which helps you understand its $1000 price tag. Wow.

Even without the cognac pairings, the four course dinner (while not substantial) was reasonably priced. Add to that the opportunity to sample and perhaps even buy some of the world’s most exceptional and rare cognacs, and you can have yourself a wonderful evening.

Owner JB explains the change in pace; “Besides our usual paired wine dinners, we are planning a series of out-of-the ordinary pairings, because not everybody is all about wine.� Working in conjunction with Vendome Cellars, the next event is planned for June. “Coming up is a Tequila dinner, then later a Beer one, also a Scotch one.�

Also on the horizon is a special cheese dinner, in partnership with the Artisan Cheese Store, where Sophia will design a cheese-focused menu that will be paired with dry whites, reds and dessert wines.

They also have live music on Thursday nights from 9pm-midnight, with no cover charge.

One caveat – to be perfectly honest, I am not crazy about the food here. It always sounds a lot better than it comes out. But events like these are more about the perks of sampling these rare spirits. At $35 for an okay 4-course meal, plus having the featured alcohol laid on, you can’t really complain.

Wine Bistro
( 818 ) 766 - 6233
11915 Ventura Blvd, (just East of Laurel Canyon, near Carpenter)
Studio City, CA, 91604

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.