My first meal at The Garrison in Yarmouth. This is a great new restaurant with a tiny, interesting, over-geeky wine list (over-geeky: Four reds by the glass, two of them Gamay, case closed).
My guest opened with the garden salad, which comes from the garden behind the kitchen. I tasted; it could not have been fresher. I had flatbread with two dips, one yogurt-mint (mint from the garden), the other celeriac. The flatbread was warm from the oven, the dips wonderful. I then had rabbit fettucine. The simple menu has small plates and large plates, we split four appetizers (after salad and bread, we both chose Thumper). We were full when we left. The space is in the ground floor of an old mill, simple and attractive. The service was outstanding. The bill came to $115 and I tipped well. This is, at two years, a destination restaurant.
The wines:
2020 Amity Pinot Blanc - Pleasant aromas featured Anjou pear, fresh hay and a touch of minerality. On the palate the wine had reasonable weight and plenty of zing, gaining pungency as it opened. This is a good wine, was appropriate with my flatbread and both the fresh yoghurt - mint and earthy celeriac dips. Rated 88, should hold at least a few years.
2019 Domaine Diochon Moulin-a-Vent - Served at cellar temp, this is a big-scale outstanding wine. The aromas are intense with black raspberry underpinned by violets. The palate is primary and rich; powerful and solid but also light on its feet, almost weightless, a hallmark of terrific wines. This evolved in the glass, gaining breadth. This is so young, but potentially great wine that should improve for a decade. Rated 93, up to 4 points of improvement likely.
2020 Astobiza Txakolina Rose - Medium pale pink color with a swirl of spritz at the top of the glass. The aromas are bright red and Rainier cherry, with a mineral note. The palate is impeccably fresh, light in body, nicely savory in the mid-palate, with a surprisingly long finish. In retrospect my companion’s red was a better match to the soulful, earthy rabbit dish, but this wasn’t a bad pairing and the wine offers far more intensity of flavor than most Roses. Rated 90.5, drink up.
If you are in mid-coast Maine, you owe it to yourself to book at The Garrison.
Dan Kravitz