A new Hotel, a trendy restaurant and a great wine

The stage for a great wine must be the right thing. Well, what can go wrong when you go to Tel Aviv's trendiest restaurant - Montefiore - to celebrate 13 years with my wife? Nothing went wrong. The company was great, the food was very good and the service was excellent. This is a fusion restaurant, which means a selection of Korean, Vietnamese and French dishes - all are very good to excellent. The ambiance is informal colonial decor and the service is upscale Israeli. Our first dishes were were leaning towards the far eastern side and didn't go to well with the wine (not a surprise). The main dishes were selected to match the wine: White grouper on Okra & tomato sauce for my wife and sirloin steak with mushroom sauce for me. Both were excellent, I like fusion restaurants that don't try to be too creative. We will get to the wine in a second. The evening ended by "climbing" to floors to our room in the Hotel just above the restaurant. The Hotel shares the same design as the restaurant and provides a very comfortable place to sleep. One major disadvantage is the noise: both from the restaurant and the street.

Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cépages C.S. 1997 is the best Californian wine I've had and a great wine by any standard.
This is a very rich and elegant wine. Deep purple/brick color, full bodied wine, showing a very distinct blueberries and black fruit aromas. This is accompanied by tobacco, a bit caramel, chocolate and a touch of smoky and herbal flavors. Very balanced and smooth. Very long finish. Extraordinary 95