With a Little Help From My Friends

I have some pretty damn good friends. Take Saturday for example. My wife and her friend went off to a festival being held at one of the wineries here in Northern Virginia.  I was working at Chrysalis Vineyards but because of a festival being held at another winery, our attendance was down a bit. I was afforded the opportunity to cut my day a bit short which I promptly took advantage of.

After several missed phone calls and other forms of botched communication, it was decided that I would get together with the husband of the wife Ms Cocktail was partying with and we’d all have dinner together. The women had suggested burgers and dogs on the grill, but Lucas and I came up with a slightly more complicated plan. Grilled salmon with a green goddess dressing, grilled asparagus in a balsamic reduction and baked rice.

Now, the dinner was a huge success as both Lucas and myself can work our way around the kitchen fairly well. However, the real stars of the evening wasn’t the food but the wine that accompanied the meal and closed the evening after. Because sometimes, you just feel like the cellar needs to be raided.

The wines to accompany the meal were two Albariño wines from Spain.The first was a 2009 Pazo Serantellos Albariño from the Rias Baixas DOC. Lemon, violets and melon with a bit of acidity made this a hit at dinner. The other Albariño was also from Rias Baixas, it was a 2008 Salneval and as typical of the grape, this wine also displayed a nice bit of acidity to go with honey, melon and apple notes in the wine.

The reds after dinner were the real stars though. We started with a 2000 Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja) Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille. This is a beautiful wine made from the Sangiovese grape. The was some obvious age on this wine with a touch of browning on the edges. On the palate you got cherries with a touch of tobacco and chocolate and if you looked for it, a wisp of burnt toast. Just the barest hint of tannins left means this is ready to drink now. Overall a beautiful Brunello.

The next wine was something from here in the States, it was a 2006 Shane Syrah called the Unknown. This is a big wine typical of the Syrah grape, with lots of fruit, principally red raspberry. It is balanced with some nice earth tones and minerality and a touch of oak.  A very nice surprise.

The closer for the evening is something I had been holding on to for a while now, a 1994 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Porto. A warm, rich port with flavors of raspberry and blueberry, it didn’t carry a real fruity or jammy feel with it. It actually had a touch of a dry finish for all the sweetness associated with it. The alcohol and tannins are nicely integrated with the wine to make for something very ready to be consumed now.

Its not often that such a high powered wine lineup gets offered around here. I am very happy that I have some wonderful friends that I can share these great times with.