At Friday nights dinner thanks to Tom, a wine importer we work with, all the wines were stellar. Tom looks at each Home Restaurant menu and helps us pair wines that complement the food. He imports wines from small vineyards, lots from France and some from Italy and Spain. His contribution to our dinners is enormous. We share the belief that wine should highlight food and food should highlight wine– the combinations should work in concert.

The final savory course on Friday night was lamb shoulder with canellini beans, a sauce of girasol and salsify puree, wilted spinach and shaved black oregon truffles. We poured Domaine des Hauts Chassis, Crozes Hermitage "Les Chassis" 2007 to go with that and the Winnimere cheese course that followed. The wine was a stand out. I asked Tom if he had any additional information to share about the wine, this is what I got from him–

Frank Faugier of Domaine des Hauts Chassis in Crozes Hermitage took over the family's 12 hectare domaine in 1998 and made the decision to leave the local co-operative and go it on his own. His first official vintage was in 2003, and luckily for us, all of his hard work has paid off. On predominantly large galets size stones over coarse sand and red clay, Frank produces 3 deliciously distinct wines. Last spring I was fortunate enough to meet and taste with Frank at the domaine located in the commune of La Roche de Glun. Although I was most impressed by the purity of fruit throughout the range , my hands down favorite was the 2007 "Les Chassis". This 100% syrah hails from vines that are more than 50 years old. Deep and intense with beautiful structure (i.e. rich fruit, ripe medium tannins and excellent underlying acidity) this is a syrah that in my estimation could only come from the northern Rhone.