For our celebration of 32 years together my wife and I went to one of our few, fine, eating establishments. The Apollo Bistro is a quaint setting in the upper floor of an old New England house with seating for a relative few. The menu is select, intentional and unique; the service attentive; the wine list lacking but affordable.
We kept going back and forth between wine list and menu before making each of our selections. It would be challenging to get a bottle of wine that would be a decent pairing for my wife’s Caribbean spiced grouper and shrimp and my coffee encrusted pork tenderloins with balsamic and roasted figs. We settled on the Mark West Pinot Noir listed above.
It was classic California Pinot in both color and Pinot bouquet that borders on a little stinky. It had a bouquet of raisins and fruit. In the mouth it was nicely balanced with good structure and ready to drink on opening. Though served a little on the warm side, it wasn't disturbingly so. It was a perfect pairing for my tenderloin. I really can’t say how it was for my wife but she didn’t complain and seemed to enjoy it as well.
Had I wanted to spend a bit more on the wine, I would have probably ordered one of the two (maybe three) selections of Zinfandel on the list but at $22 (remember that’s restaurant price)(about $12 retail) I went with the Central Coast Pinot and was glad I did.
Dessert was equalliy unique and wonderful.
We raised a glass and the staff even brought us out a split of Mumm’s–on the house–for our anniversary. This is the kind of extra touch that will bring us, and others back. If you’re ever in the central Maine region vacationing, don’t pass up this easily overlooked establishment of fine food!
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