Last night I did another raid in the wine storage unit. We did a simple dinner with friends and started the evening with Diebolt Vallois Brut champagne. This is my favorite NV champagne with the creaminess of an aged vintage champagne but enough fresh fruit to keep it lively. I also opened a 1996 Parusso Mariondino Barolo. I love Barolo with about 10 years of aging - leather, tar and mushrooms framing ripe red cherry... Delish!
This was paired with a Tuscan bean dip on homemade lavosh and a simple cracker pizza with Vacche Rose Parmigiano-Reggiano, smoked mozzarella and Mushroom cream (a white truffle infused white mushroom tapenade). We proceeded to a Middle Eastern themed dinner with Beef Kefta (ground beef with herbs stuffed with a sauteed veggie mixture) with an Israeli couscous and a pressured cooked lamb stew with traditional Moroccan couscous. We also had mixed greens with fresh mozzarella and toasted pine nuts and a smoked duck breast (I saved the drippings for popcorn making... mmm, smoked duck fat cooked popcorn).
I opened a 2004 Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot Noir and a 2002 Numanthia. The Kosta Browne was delicious (also very good with the salad) with concentrated red berry, cola and Asian spice - what initial jump out in the nose also carried through on the palate. Definitely one the better California Pinots I've had this year (a little reminiscent of Brewer Clifton's Clos Pepe). While the Pinot wasn't the best partner for the entrees, the Numanthia adequately filled that niche with spicy concentrated fruit, nice minerality and a long finish.
We finished the evening with mixed berry turnovers and fresh strawberries. To round out the wines, I opened a 2001 Recioto della Valpolicella. Think Amarone with sweetness because it's made in the same fashion with Corvina Veronese, Rondinella and Molinari grapes dried on straw mats for several weeks then vinified. In the case of this wine, vinification was stopped earlier to preserve some of the residual sugar. This wine made a raisin taste like a fresh grape! Though it overwhelmed the dessert, the Mrs was very happy with it.
This was paired with a Tuscan bean dip on homemade lavosh and a simple cracker pizza with Vacche Rose Parmigiano-Reggiano, smoked mozzarella and Mushroom cream (a white truffle infused white mushroom tapenade). We proceeded to a Middle Eastern themed dinner with Beef Kefta (ground beef with herbs stuffed with a sauteed veggie mixture) with an Israeli couscous and a pressured cooked lamb stew with traditional Moroccan couscous. We also had mixed greens with fresh mozzarella and toasted pine nuts and a smoked duck breast (I saved the drippings for popcorn making... mmm, smoked duck fat cooked popcorn).
I opened a 2004 Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot Noir and a 2002 Numanthia. The Kosta Browne was delicious (also very good with the salad) with concentrated red berry, cola and Asian spice - what initial jump out in the nose also carried through on the palate. Definitely one the better California Pinots I've had this year (a little reminiscent of Brewer Clifton's Clos Pepe). While the Pinot wasn't the best partner for the entrees, the Numanthia adequately filled that niche with spicy concentrated fruit, nice minerality and a long finish. We finished the evening with mixed berry turnovers and fresh strawberries. To round out the wines, I opened a 2001 Recioto della Valpolicella. Think Amarone with sweetness because it's made in the same fashion with Corvina Veronese, Rondinella and Molinari grapes dried on straw mats for several weeks then vinified. In the case of this wine, vinification was stopped earlier to preserve some of the residual sugar. This wine made a raisin taste like a fresh grape! Though it overwhelmed the dessert, the Mrs was very happy with it.This past weekend's dinner should charge my batteries for another work week of the same old..... A voitre sante!
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