We had a lovely dinner with our good friends Pat and Susan at Bistro Unique on Union Street in San Francisco. Bistro Unique is a new quaint French restaurant in Cow Hollow with an authentic French menu and a nice selection of wines. We decided to bring the Mueller Emily’s Cuvee Pinot Noir Russian River 2002 from home and ordered the Schug Pinot Noir Carneros 2009 from the list. The Mueller “Emily Cuvee” (named after winemaker’s Robert Muller’s daughter) paired very nicely with our first course (Burgundy Escargot). The Escargots were great (yet I prefer L’Ardoise in the Castro) but the Muller pinot noir stood out in this course. The wine was stunning, still exhibiting great finesse and complexity and certianly retained its youthful fruitiness and vibrancy—with fresh raspberry, cherry and plum—and ended with a mineral and spicy attribute. This bottle provided ample evidence of how well Pinots from Sonoma’s Russian River appellation can age well beyond three years.

We then proceeded with our Bouillabaisse main course (monkfish, calamari, scallops in a saffron scented fish broth) which paired nicely with the Schug Pinot Noir Carneros 2009. The Schug had a bite of acidity and noticeable tannins with flavors of earth, herb and tobacco alongside a tart cherry candy flavor. It was much drier than the Mueller. Our host and waiter, Yannick, was very sweet and attentive. He comp’ed us a nice chocholate dessert as we lingered through the night. We hope to return to try their bottomless mimosa for brunch one day!