Château Sociando-Mallet (Haut-Médoc) 1986 with rack of lamb and cauliflower "rice"

Stuffed Rack of Lamb

• 1 rack of lamb, frenched
• ~ ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and minced (I like Bella Sun Luci)
• 1 tablespoon basil pesto (I like Seggiano)
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Hold a very sharp paring knife (I use a Calphalon Contemporary 4-1/2-Inch blade, which I sharpen using a Chef's Choice sharpener) horizontally parallel to the lamb meat and insert it to the hilt. Spin the blade to make a tunnel through the meat. Turn the rack around, insert the knife into the other end, and repeat. Push a wooden spoon handle through one end until it comes out the other and spin to widen the tunnel. Combine the tomatoes, pesto, and garlic, and push into the cavity you've created in the lamb. Make sure that your stuffing fills the entire cavity and then sort of press the meat to even out lumps. Season the surface of the meat (top and bottom) with salt and pepper and let rest at room temperature while you make the crust.

• ¼ cup @ raw cashews and slivered almonds
• ~ ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and minced

Combine the nuts in a Cuisinart Mini-Prep and process until they are the size of bread crumbs. Add the tomatoes and process briefly. Smear the top side of the lamb with about a tablespoon of pesto and press the nut mixture into the meat to form a crust. (You may not need all of the nuts).

Preheat the oven to 425° and roast the rack of lamb for 23 minutes for medium-rare. Allow the lamb to rest while preparing the cauliflower, carve into double rib chops, and serve.

Curried Cauliflower "Rice"

I am on something of a Paleo kick these days, so in lieu of the risotto I would usually serve with rack of lamb, I made some cauliflower rice in my new KitchenAid Food Processor Attachment. Take 1 head of cauliflower, trim off any leaves, and cut the florets off the inner core. Discard the core or save it for stock. Chop the florets roughly and put half in the processor. Using pulses, process the cauliflower until it has broken down into rice-size pieces. Repeat with the other half. I reserved half the resulting product for use tomorrow night and used half for tonight's side dish.

• 6 green onions
• ⅓ cup slivered almonds
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon chili paste
• ½ to 1 teaspoon garam masala (depending on taste)
• 1 teaspoon red curry paste
• ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
• 1 ounce raisins
• 1 teaspoon dry parsley
• 1-½ teaspoon fish sauce (I have become addicted to Red Boat)
• olive oil
• kosher or sea salt and fresh ground pepper

I did not want the side dish to be really spicy because I planned on serving it with a 30 year old Bordeaux and didn't want the spice to blow the wine out of the water. If you went with a younger, more assertive wine, you could ramp up the spice (a lot). But I wanted warm and mellow, which is what I got.

Chop the green onions, dividing the white (and white-ish) parts from the green. Heat a Calphalon Contemporary 12-Inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and then add enough olive oil ("pure" not EVOO) to coat. Add the white part of the green onions and sauté for about a minute. Add the almonds and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, chili paste, garam masala, and curry paste and sauté for about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium and add the tomatoes, raisins, parsley, and processed cauliflower. Season with salt (just a pinch) and pepper. Cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add fish sauce and cook another minute. Stir in green parts of green onions, taste to see if it needs more salt (it probably won't), and serve immediately.

The Wine

I have two prior notes on this wine. One from 2007 and one from 2013. In 2007, I wrote in part that:

This cru bourgeois from one of Bordeaux's lesser regions could blow a lot of classed growths out of the water. It's the same age as Lindsay Lohan and just about as immature, although not as blowsy, as Ms Lohan. Of course, immaturity at age 21 is a much more desirable characteristic in wine than people. ...

Given the Sociando-Mallet's youthfulness, intense fruit, richness, and over-the-top intensity, in a blind tasting I likely would have said it was a 10-year old Napa cabernet. Fans of the austere style of claret likely would regard all that as a fault, but I find this wine to be very fine.

In 2013, I wrote in part that:

Ms. Lohan seemingly has not matured, but the 1986 Chateau Sociando-Mallet has. This bottle's cork was stained almost to the top and the bottle was showing ulllage down to the very bottom of the neck, which was quite worrisome. But all was well. Although it still had dark fruit in plenty (and remained a deep garnet color), this bottle offered many more maturity markers such as smoke, leather, dried fruits, and so on. 

With two bottles left in my cellar, I will not be looking for more at auction. Instead, I'll probably open the next in 2016 and see where we go from there with respect to the last bottle.

It's 2016 and so I opened the penultimate bottle. It showed ullage down to very high shoulder. The deeply stained cork crumbled on opening, which necessitated showing the remanent through into the bottle and then decanting it through a funnel lined with unbleached coffee filters (2 sufficed). Given the considerable sediment, decanting would have been required even if the cork had not disintegrated.

Sadly, this bottle had not rewarded additional aging. It was still healthy, with a surprising amount of tannin and good acidity. It had no faults but it also had few merits. It was pretty one dimensional. Some dark fruit and a dash of cedar, but that was about it. Drinkable. Enjoyable. But not memorable. So I think the final bottle gets drunk in the next year or so. Seemingly, there is nothing to be gained by waiting.

Grade: 85