Not your ordinary St. Patrick's Day....Schramsberg sparkling wine dinner at Flemings.

I love wine dinners. I find them a great way to try new food and wine and to have dinner with a different cast of characters from the usual suspects.

Bob was wrapped up in basketball and not very interested in the wine dinner, so I made a date with my friend Melissa and we attended this dinner together. I came prepared with cab fare in hand and the cabbie's number in my iPhone and settled in for the evening. The dinner started at 6:30 and at about 6:15 John gathered all of us strays from the bar and we sat in our appointed places (I have a fondness for place cards) at one of the two large tables set up for the event. As we were seated, our first glass of bubbly for the evening, Schramsberg Blanc De Blancs 2005, was served and was followed by the first course fried oysters with a citrus remoulade and Brie beggar's purse with bing cherry gelee.

Now, I am a sucker for all things sparkling and am a sucker for Fried Oysters and loved this course. I told John they need to put these fried oysters on the menu. Lightly breaded and crispy these were wonderful. The brie and cherries were a nice contrast and both dishes went well with the light bubbly.

Meanwhile the wine representative, Comanche (a lovely blond woman who is the product of hippie parents) explained to us the history of Schramsberg most notably it was the first sparkling produced in the United States. She was outgoing and funny and being from out of town we gave her the 411 on where to go, what to see and what to do during here visit.

The second course was sunburst squash bisque with creme fraiche and candied praline bacon and served with Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs 2005.

Jay (Flemings Chef Partner) had me at 'candied praline bacon ' but the bisque itself was clearly the star and the bacon topped it off perfectly. This bubbly was my favorite of the evening, very rich, not too sweet or too dry and went down very easily.

Our third course was filet tournedos with fois gras butter and lobster and dungeness crab en cocotte served with Schramsberg Brut Rose 2005. This course was incredibly rich and indulgent and well worth every calorie. The filet was perfect medium rare and when I cut through the pastry surrounding the seafood and combined all of the components it was heavenly. The rose was a good pairing for this course and stood up to the richness of the dishes.

Our final course was strawberry mascapone cream filled pistachio tuile. I loved this selection because I prefer non-chocolate desserts as a rule. The tuile (crepe meets cookie) was crispy and light and not too sweet and had a nice crunch from the pistachios also. The filling was creamy and not too heavy and the two together made for a very nice ending to the meal. This was served with a sweet bubbly Schramsberg Cremant 2004. I love a nice dessert wine and generally only have it when someone else chooses it because I know just enough to be dangerous. This was slightly sweet but not cloying at all.

This was a nice evening and well worth the price of $79.95 (plus gratuity and tax). Jay outdid himself with both the selection and execution of the menu. Michelle and John did an outstanding job of setting up the room and coordinating the evening. Wesley kept the wine flowing. Service was top notch.

And Melissa was a fine date also. All in all a very nice grown up St. Patrick's Day.