Bougie start to NYE. Andrea and I are homebodies so we’re definitely just staying in. So we decided to try some caviars and champagne that w we’ve never had the privilege of trying. The champagne was 2013 Cristal which we picked up from Costco yesterday (gotta love the Costco in SF. They always have an amazing wine selection). It was literally the last bottle they had.

Caviar was the Petrossian special reserve Osetra and the Gold reserve Osetra from Marshallberg Farms in North Carolina. However, the caviar from Marshallberg doesn’t look anything like golden caviar or like the amber color they show on their website (email inquiry sent to them. update: they just replied and did send the wrong one and they ended up refunding. glad I can tell the difference…).

The box and presentation of the Cristal was nice but we didn’t find it to be anything special…we also prefer yeastier champagne. The Petrossian caviar was more subtle of the two and tasted of the sea. The Marshallberg had a much stronger flavor and was much saltier. So tasting them off the back of my hand (this is the best way to get the pure flavor of the caviar), the Petrossian was more refined. However, with the brioche, crème fraiche, and chives, the more flavorful Marshallberg stood up better to all of the other flavors (this paralleled our experience last weekend with Plaza Osetra and Tsar Nicolina caviars). So we mostly ended up tasting the Petrossian off the back of our hands and the Marshallberg on the brioche. In any case, cheers and Happy New Years to you!