It has become a tradition now for a number of years that Michele and I trade holiday meals with Tom Maresca and Diane Darrow. Tom is a wine and food writer and Diane is a food writer and they both have excellent blogs. We do Thanksgiving and they do Christmas.
As always we started with Champagne. Champagne Aubry Brut Premier Cru NV Aubry Fils made from 55% Pinot Meunier, 25% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir, 5% Arbanne and Petit Meslier ad Fromenteau. The assemblage is 50% base with 50% perpetual reserve dating back to 1998. The vineyard/ village: Jouy-les-Reims and Villadommange 1er Cru. It has hints of white flowers, green apple, lemon and a hint of toast.
With the Champagne we had two little pastries, gougeres flavored with prosciutto and cheese and pastry pinwheels filled with liver pate.
Coullee de Serrant 2003 Nicolas Joly made from 100% Chenin Blanc from a seven hectare vineyard from old vines located on very steep slopes dominating the Loire Valley. Cultivation is by horse or hand. The grape harvest is done 5 times over a 3 to 4 week period to obtain the most colored, mature and the most grapes marked by botrytis. The wine is aged in 500 liter barrels, with never more than 5% new wood. The winery is biodynamic. The wine is bottled with a light filtration, no fining and a low amount of sulfur. The wine was showing its age but very drinkable with hints of passion fruit and honey.
With the white wine we had baked crepes filled with bechamel, gruyere and ham. 
Domaine Henri Georges Nuits St Georges 2003 made from 100% Pinot Noir. This is a complex wine with hints of dark red fruit, plum and blueberries, it was drinking very well and showing no signs of decline.
With this wine we had a prime rib roast which was perfectly cooked.
The beef was accompanied by green beans with onions and a shiitake and potato gratin.
Barolo 1989 “ Cannubi” Prunotto made from 100% Nebbiolo. !989 was a exceptional vintage for Barolo. The legendary Beppe Cola made this wine before he sold the winery to Antinori. This is classic Barolo at its best with hints of cherry, blueberry, licorice, and a touch of spice. A great wine in a great year!
A variety of cheeses to finish the wine.
The Chocolate Grappa Cake Michele brought for our dessert was a recipe that she had developed for an article in Gourmet Magazine some years ago. Diane supplied the delicious cookies, peanut butter, chocolate chip and nut snowballs.
It was another wonderful holiday meal. I hope you all ate and drank as well as we did. Happy New Year!
Charles Scicolone on Wine 