Ogier Wines at Fourth & Olive Bistro

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Fourth and  Olive Bistro in Long Beach hosted a wine dinner with Ogier wines from Chateauneuf-Du-Pape.     4thandolive.com,   The restaurant is owned by two disabled veterans who also employee veterans.  They have been written up numerous times in the press for  not only for their employment practices but for their good food. Only negative is there is no parking. Located in a high density area with nothing but street parking.They are working with another retail business to use their parking facilities after hours. Hope it comes quickly as I would frequent the restaurant more often.

Francois Miguel, the director general of Maison Ogier was in attendance.  Personable person but I have no ear for accents and it was difficult for me to understand most of what he said.  So you just smile and nod in agreement. Same method I use in very noisy establishments.

Premier Cours:  Baked oysters with bacon and cream. These were excellent and I could have eaten a dozen easily. The pairing was spot on, a 2016 Ogier Cotes du Rhone Blanc "Artesis". Not to sharp but nice mineralality and a soft mouthfeel.  Grenache Blanc, Clairette. Bourboulenc, Rossanne, Marssane and Viognier.

Deuxieme Cours:  Broccoli soup, sourdough toast and microgreens.  Looking at this I had doubts but the flavors were terrific. Roasted broccoli which gave a nutty taste along with a toasted broccoli on top. The toast had a cream style cheese topped with dressed microgreens. Good flavors. I would have the soup again in a heartbeat.  A 2016 Ogier Cotes du Rhone Rouge "Artesis" was the wine. Light and paired perfectly. Greanache, Mouvedre, Syrah.

Troisieme Cours:  Seared duck breast on top of a farro salad. Duck was cooked correctly and the farro salad was dressing very lightly.. Paired with a 2016 Ogier, Lirac Rouge. Syrah, Grenache.  Again an excellent pairing.

Quatrieme Cours:  Lamb lollipops, fairytale squash, olive and almond relish. Again the meat was cooked perfectly. The "fairytale" squash is similar to a butternut but seemed a bit lighter in flavor. Wine poured is a 2015 Ogier, Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Blend of grenache, syrah, cinsult. 

Cinquiemj cours:  Deconstructed Pots de Creme. A  nice light sweet touch for the end of the meal.

This is the first wine dinner that I have done at 4 th and Olive. Have eaten there numerous times before. Their tomahawk porkchop is a real winner. They make their own sausages, smoked their bacon. A lot of house made items. An Alsatian style restaurant with a very nice wine list that pairs well with their food.

The real negatives is the parking situation and sometimes the service is slow. At times the food from the kitchen comes out slow. But nothing that would stop me from coming back. Just learn to roll with it. This is a "relaxed" style restaurant, nothing pretentious. Nice bar area. Tables and bar were all hand made by the owners.