Food, Wine & Friends 207
Our colleague Bob Gorman hosted an informal Sunday Barbecue to
celebrate summer.
Anybody who knows Bob, will appreciate that we found him in the kitchen working
on preparations for the afternoon's culinary festivities.
There was a nice table set up in Bob's garden and,
fortunately, the weather was perfect! (We just had a winter storm earlier
in the week, allowing ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area to remain open in early
July!).
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen...
Loin Lamb chops and Sweetbreads...
Kareasa took care of slicing some sausages for nibbles...
Bob's delectable Seafood Salad.
And it was embellished with the addition of some fabulous tomatoes.
The Tavel Rose was excellent and paired perfectly with the tomatoes and sweet
seafood...
We'd also enjoyed a Robert Weil "trocken" Riesling from 2009 and a
sweeter Von Simmern Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen. A Lawson's Gewurztraminer
from New Zealand was full of spice, though being a 2008, it had lost some of its
freshness.
Bob had fired up the grill and was ready to cook some veggies and meats.
Artichokes, Fennel, Leeks and Peppers.
Connie was especially delighted to see Bob tending the grill.
Meanwhile, planes were taking off from nearby SFO...
...and flight attendant Nathalie Neal was delighted to be able to relax and
enjoy an American barbecue.
Butter for basting, using a "rosemary brush."
Duck Sausages with Figs & Brandy, Sausages with Herbes de Provence and
Saucisse de Toulouse.
The Frick Carignane from Mendocino showed nicely with the grilled foods as it
had a woodsy element to it.
The lamb chops were beautifully grilled...
Sweetbreads, too!
Bob did a nice job on the salmon, too.
Charles managed to stay awake throughout the festivities!
Charles brought a magnum of 2001 Berthoumieu Madiran...and this wine was still
young, but showing marvelously.
And Bob brought out a cheese plate...
And we brought out a well-aged bottle of Bordeaux from a
favorite estate which Charles happens to import.
The 1997 was a bit brown in color and certainly fully
mature. It was probably better a few years ago, but interesting to see how
a 13+ year old bottle had aged.
Davoe had brought along a nice German Sekt from a bubbles specialist:
Anton Ohlig.
Bob disappeared momentarily and returned with a decanter of a
special, old California red wine...
It was a 1975 vintage of Norman Mini's Napa Valley Zinfandel.
Norman Mini was a legendary figure in the Napa Valley wine scene many years ago.
Today, only a precious few remember this guy.
Mini had worked at the Robert Mondavi Winery and some will tell you the credit
for the high quality of Mondavi's 1970 through 1974 vintages of Cabernet was due
to Norman's efforts.
At one point Mini produced a magnificent homemade Cabernet from a vineyard in
Calistoga which belonged to a fellow named Milton Eisele. Mini, we recall,
also had been affiliated in some capacity at Chateau Montelena in its early
days.
Bob had been friends with Mini and helped Norm during the vintage season and
this helped Bob in writing his lovely book on California wines.
Bob's book...
Brian and Ralph snoozed through some of the festivities, apparently.
Brian, after a brief snooze, woke up, happy to have eaten such
a splendid meal.
Kareasa and her Mom, Becky, took care of baking some awesome
fruit desserts...
And Ellen brought a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream.
Connie's bottle of Santa Barbara Winery Late Harvest Sauvignon
Blanc from the 2000 vintage was quickly dispatched...
Bob then brought out some of his post-prandial potations...
And after some schlucks of Vieille Prune, Dudognon Cognac,
etc., it was time to jet home!
We departed, leaving Bob with a few days' worth of clean-up.
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