Camembert fondue with red Burgundy

Under the rubric of inspired pairings comes another awesome combo from last night's dinner at 1-star Michelin restaurant in Saratoga - Plumed Horse. Though they feature a cellar full of 20,000 precious bottles, I brought my own - a 1990 Chassagne-Montrachet by Leroy - a wine I had not had, and boy-o-boy this is the type of wine that makes one a believer!

The wine at nearly 20 years of age was absolutely young and fresh, with no signs of brown/orange tint, still with plenty of tannic grip, zingy acidity, and amazing concentration of fruit to stand up to that acidity, and with secondary flavors in full swing, gorgeous now, but easily, in my opinion, lasting another decade in the cellar. Sometimes people wonder what "secondary" flavors in aged wines mean. Think of it like this - normally one tastes cherry, cranberry type flavors in Pinot Noir. But yesterday - I kept asking myself what is that fruit or berry that I am tasting? - and I couldn't quite describe it - the fruit had developed into something greater and more amazing - a pretty butterfly into a magical fairy - that's not just complexity, it's the legend that is Burgundy. Paired with an incredibly decadent fingerling potatoes fried in duck fat, topped with shaved black truffles, with a side of Camembert fondue. How do they come up with this stuff!!!