). I was lucky enough to receive SIX wines from the Hart winery. (Yes, anyone is invited to drop by and I will share.) In exchange, Howie and Larry each received a fresh loaf of Jeannette's homemade bread. It was meant to be whole wheat, but some boneheaded husband bought the wrong flour! (Why are the embarassed emoticons suddenly a theme?)
We began the day with a little Cremant de Bourgogne, Louis Bouillot, "Perle d' Aurore" a lovely rose I picked up for about $12 a bottle on sale at a local place. We repaired to the deck with some cheeses and sat in the beautiful April sunshine soaking in the lovely creamy yeastiness of this wine along with the strawberry and zesty lemon flavors. The lialacs were in bloom. The trees were all that delicate green and my labrador retriever insisted on having us throw the ball for her. All in all, a perfect way to start the afternoon. (Larry, a non-drinker, had a wonderful Sierra Mist, April 2007. This had lovely bubbles and great lemon-lime flavors. He seemed very pleased with this choice. At .$99 for two liters, I would definitely buy this again!
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Jeannette, a great cook, prepared steak with a teriaki marinade, potato salad, and fresh asparagus. The thought still makes my mouth water a little! To accompany the dinner I opened a red table wine from the Manousakis winery in Crete called Alexandra's Notos from the 2004 vintage. This is a blend of 40% syrah, 40% mouvedre, and 20% grenache. The nose was very Rhone-like. There was a lot of funk. In fact there was more barnyardy smells on this wine than on many Rhones I've had. It was very pleasant and earthy. There was also a lot of fresh fruit coming through on the nose. This wine really delivered. The palate lived up to everything on the nose. Lots of fruit and earthy flavors balanced with great tannins. I got this for under $15 on sale. I think it regularly sells for just south of $20 and I would say it was worth that price and maybe a little more. I enjoyed it a lot. It paired well with the steak.
We couldn't finish without pulling the cork on one of Howie's wines. We opened up the cabernet franc 2005. This was marvelous. It was similar to many of the good Virginia cab. francs I've had. This was a little more balanced with acidity which makes it better to drink with food. It definitely rocked with the steak and especially the potato salad.
Rhubarb cake was for dessert, but we were all pretty worn out by that time. It would have been perfect with the cremant. Jeannette did a fabulous job, as always. Howie and Larry drove off to BWI airport and I toddled off to chat where I ended up falling asleep at the keyboard!
It was a great day. Howie and Larry are always welcome at the Roscoe house, without the wine, (Although....it can't hurt with the chef.) Thanks again to Howie for the wine and to Larry for being a great guy![/b]
