Yesterday, I was in the mood for sausage and mushroom risotto for dinner. It wasn't my usual warm weather cooking, but I didn't mind the heat in the kitchen. Our wine was a 1998 Einaudi Barolo - some went in the pot and the rest in our glasses. The wine had a pronounced nose of licorice and flowers, with the licorice following through on the palate along with dark plums. Some noticeable drying tannins on the finish, a pleasure to drink now and just perfect with the risotto.
Today, I met a friend for lunch at a local BYO. I brought along what I consider an insignificant wine, 2000 Larose Trintadon, but it impressed us. Beautiful aromatics showing a bouquet of roses, flavors of dark summer fruits, with very soft tannins at the very end. A very nice showing for this lesser chateau and a reminder of the beauty of the vintage. Not a terribly good match for my lunch of summer vegetable soup with chicken ravioli starter or my entree of sauteed red snapper over a chick pea salad. My friend's entree of salmon and red cabbage seemed to match better. It didn't matter as it was a perfect lunch wine.