I prepped what would be a miniature Wine & Cheese party with a homemade platter of cheeses, peperoni, salami, various types of crackers, bread, some dip, and of cour
I "settled" for staring with a 2006 Reserve bottle of Barnard Griffen Cab Sauv. I believe that Josh got this bottle for me when he was in the area a couple of months ago. I knew Aaron and Heather would like this one because I think actually might have given them one, perhaps just a different year. As expected, it was an enjoyable wine that the three of us wished there was more of, but sadly, there was not. At least not in my possession.
As we munched, drank, and conversed, I began to think about what I would open next, and I thought it was the time to open a very special bottle. You may recall that Josh made a post about the Best Wines of 2009. In that post, I wrote about a bottle of Pinot Noir I had from Westrey Estat
I was the first of the three to try it, wanting to make sure it was good. I couldn't get a good feel for the nose. It seemed like it might be okay because it was not completely pungent, nor was it void of any odor at all, but I still couldn't tell. I tried again, this time to get a deeper, stronger, fuller sense of the nose. Again, I still couldn't tell much of anything. The next real way to tell if a wine is good...d'uh, the taste. I could not believe what I was tasting. I immediately told Heather that she would enjoy it. She smiled. I didn't know if Aaron would like it as much, but I knew he wouldn't hate it.
"That's really good," said Heather. "I like that a lot" came out of Aaron's mouth after they both tasted this wine. We all agreed on a couple of things:
- The nose was not an accurate prediction of what you were about to consume (something I think could be that I just opened the bottled of wine and we began to drink it almost immediately)
- This was a Pinot that went down surprisingly smooth with not much of an aftertaste, and one that was the tiniest bit of sweet on the palate
- This was a great bottle of wine
The three of us thought that this was an excellent choice for the evening, especially since it was a week day and we all had to work the following day.
I have to say that I was really excited to have been able to host Aaron and Heather for a couple of hours during the evening. Anyone who knows me, knows that I enjoy hosting and providing an atmosphere for people to relax and enjoy themselves in a setting where they don't need to worry about much of anything. This was a fun evening that was honestly just what I needed. I am reinvigorated for my love of wine, and my sharing my wine experiences with you all.
Until next time...
I just sent my bottle of the 2006 BG Cab Sauv to air conditioning in anticipation of 100 degrees on Wednesday. Such a great wine!
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