Food, Wine & Friends Page 190
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
with
CONSTANCE, MARK, KAREASA
and The Home Kitchen Advantage
Kareasa's friend Ralph was on hand and so was Ellen.
Kareasa had a hankering to "open some Rhone wines" and so we all
convened in Burlingame at the Poon-O'Toole Residence.
Connie showed off the "plan" for the meal...
When we arrived, we found Kareasa laboring over a smoking cutting board and,
amazingly, she was in possession of all ten fingers.
Some interesting bottles of wine were out on the counter...
...as Kareasa had raided her cellar.
Clape Cornas from 2000...Voge Cornas from 2004, a 2001 Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape
and a Big Basin 2005 Syrah.
Kareasa anointed a pan full of potatoes with olive oil and freshly chopped
rosemary and this was summarily placed in the hot oven.
It was fairly warm on this summer afternoon and some chilled bubbly hit the
spot...
We began with a bottle of Tony Soter's Oregon Brut Rose...
Nice and dry...mildly Pinot-like.
Meanwhile, Pulsar The Cat kept and eye on the proceedings, looking for
comestibles such as interesting People Food or fish.
Connie was assembling a remarkably tasty Ceviche...
The other creature in this household is Chewbacca...
And he was hoping Aunt Kareasa might offer him a morsel of something.
Mark, meanwhile, was busy with a bit of Salmon in Foil...
...as he took the Home Kitchen Advantage to the fullest.
The second bottle of bubbly was more remarkable than the first...
Alfred Gratien's Cuvee Paradis in Rose format...mighty good.
Nicely yeasty and mildly cherryish...beautifully balanced with crisp acidity and
some "snap" on the palate.
And then Connie set about plating her Ceviche.
Sea Scallops and some lime and spice...very nice!
We enjoyed the Ceviche & Champagne and then Connie brought out a Garnacha
Blanca from Spain.
Kareasa prepared some Shrimp which were "drunk" on Pastis...
Some fresh cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs seasoned these drunken Shrimp.
A Viñas del Vero white wine, made of Garnacha Blanca, was labeled as La Miranda
de Secastilla...thoroughly delicious and remarkably complete.
The wine spent a few months in wood, but oak, happily, is not a major feature of
this wine. This was every bit as delicious a white wine as you'll find
from France's Rhone Valley...we need to look into bringing this into the shop!
And then it was time for some hearty reds...
Mark braised a leg of lamb in the oven and Kareasa brought out a Big Basin
Vineyards Syrah from the Santa Lucia Highlands. The wine displayed cool
climate Syrah spice and bacon notes. Curiously, I found a salty,
"tangy" character to this wine and others encountered it, too.
Legolamb.
Taters!
Connie got down to business.
Pulsar kept an eye on things...
Ralph dealt with the Cornas from Clape...
Kareasa is known to be a voracious eater.
Chewie was impressed and mentioned he'd have applauded if he
had hands.
He'd never seen a human with such behavior.
Later he was interested in some bread.
"I'm a big fan of baguettes."
Dessert came in two formats.
The liquid format was Kareasa's bottle of Emrich-Schönleber's Auslese Riesling.
Wow...amazingly fresh and fruity, with zingy acidity and a fabulous balance
between the sugar and acid.
Kareasa's homemade peach pie and some vanilla ice cream...
The two co-conspirators after a successful meal.
It was a "school night" for me, so I made tracks for home...
Thanks to everyone for a lovely evening and some terrific vittles and wine.
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