Happy New Year to one and all! I hope the holidays were a time of celebration, with a few days of relaxation for you. My December was full of celebratory meals, accompanied by some great wines.

The final dinner at Park Place before it closed for good was a bittersweet affair. The food was phenomenal, as always, and we were celebrating a friend’s 55^th birthday, yet it was hard to forget that this would be our last ever dinner at Park Place.

The first wine of the night was an NV Olivier Marteaux Blanc des Sables Champagne. Olivier Marteaux is a grower-producer. Unlike major champagne houses such as Moet & Chandon that purchase grapes from farmers and then make wine from them (negotiant-manipulant), Marteaux grows the grapes and makes the wine on his estate (recoltant-manipulant). RM Champagnes are small batch, farm-to-table, artisanal Champagnes.

The Blanc des Sables is a brut nature (zero dosage/very dry) champagne made from 100% Chardonnay grown in the Vallée de la Marne, near Azy-sur-Marne, a village located about an hour southwest of Reims. With notes of apricot, peach, tea, and brioche, fine bubbles, and a good balance of acidity, this was an elegant start to the evening. It paired wonderfully with the American Red Snapper Crudo with shaved wild mustard root and seeds, magic oil, and Atlantic Sea Salt. 12% ABV. I found it online for about $60.

The last wine of the evening was a 1970 Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes, the birthday boy’s birth year bottle. What can be said about Chateau d’Yquem that hasn’t already been said? It’s the nectar of the gods. 1970 was a good vintage, with aromas of toffee, apricot, honey, with a finish lasting minutes, not seconds. It is dessert in and of itself, but paired perfectly with a foie gras-filled crepe with New Jersey Red Maple Syrup. A spectacular way to finish a nine-year run of incredible meals. 13% ABV. I found it online from $300 to $1000.

We will sorely miss Park Place, but wish Chef Phil the best in his new endeavor, whatever it will be.

For Festivus, several of us met in Chinatown for an Omakase dinner at Nakama. In my mind, sushi means Champagne and Riesling. There were several delightful Champagnes opened during the 15-course tasting menu, but I brought a 2023 Schäfer-Frölich Monzinger Halenberg Grosses Gewächs (GG) from the Nahe region in Germany. The Nahe river flows through the Rhineland-Palatinate, and the village of Monzingen was mentioned as a wine village as early as 778.

Tim Schäfer-Frölich is an incredibly talented winemaker, one of the top ten in Germany. Tim’s wines are my favorite Rieslings, and I splurge for a couple of his Grosses Gewächs each year. A Grosses Gewächs is a classification for dry, single-vineyard wines of the highest quality of a region, similar to France’s Grand Cru designation.

While I should have aged this a bit longer, I couldn’t wait to share it. It had that classic Riesling flinty aroma, and on the palate, slate minerality and citrus notes, with great structure and tension. 12.5% ABV; I paid $89 for it, and found it in other vintages available online for about $80.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2026, full of good food paired with great wines! Cheers!