Food, Wine & Friends Page 230
Kareasa was excited at having been able to source a "Porchetta" roast
and so she and Ralph fired up the oven on a Summer Sunday afternoon and cooked
that thing to perfection!
Had there been some agnello or agneau in the over, these tools
would be described as suitable for "lambasting," but they were for
pork-basting on this occasion.
Chef Kareasa, marvelously color-coordinated with the fresh stargazers...
We opened a beautiful bottle of Eric Rodez Cuvee de Crayeres Champagne.
This was nicely toasty, but also quite dry and crisp.
Kareasa regaled us with the story of stubbing her toe and nearly fainting as she
was in the opening moments of teaching an "English as a Second
Language" class this week, with virtually all of the students aware of her
predicament.
There was a pesky fly hovering around the assorted nibbles and Ralph got out his
Louisville Slugger (he's an Oakland A's fan) and proceeded to show off his
Sultan-of-Swat skills.
Finally...success! He hit a fly and then like many batters knowing they've
knocked it out of the park, Ralph does a bit of grand-standing.
Kareasa then began singing "Take Me Out to The Ballgame."
Having gotten a standing ovation, instead of the umpire tossing out the manager,
Mark began tossing a salad.
Well, so far everything had been grate! And that's key...
Having read a number of favorable reviews, we purchased a bottle of Abacela's
Albarino from Oregon.
This was a 2011 vintage and while it was certainly a well-made white wine, it
didn't have quite the fruit and spice notes we enjoy in other renditions of this
Iberian grape variety.
Ralph took care of slicing the Porchetta.
There was a nice little Corn Salad to accompany it...
We had a bottle of a Bouchard Burgundy in the cellar bag and
this turned out to be most pleasantly surprising.
It was from the 2006 vintage and I have to say I've not been much-impressed with
so many young bottles of Bouchard's wines...so this bottle was a bit of a shock!
The perfume was beautifully that of cherries and red fruits and clearly Pinot
Noir. But more than that, it was a Burgundian Pinot enhanced by a woodsy
spice note.
On the palate the wine showed beautifully...lightly tannic, but bright red fruit
with that oak spice.
This was delightful and served lightly cooled to cellar temp, it was a beautiful
red wine for the Porchetta, which was simply seasoned.
There were some oven-roasted carrots for the main course, as well.
The crispy 'skin' of the Porchetta was perfect!
Glasses of Volnay were raised as we toasted the farmers, winemakers and chefs.
Another delightful wine was from our friends the Iby's of Austria's
Burgenland (or Blaufränkischland).
Their Chevalier bottling blossomed to show a vanillin, woodsy character which
took the wine towards the style of a good French Burgundy...
It was a bit fuller in body than the Volnay, as one might expect, but as I noted
the fragrances of this wine, I kept thinking one might peg it as a Pinot Noir of
sorts if offered this "blind."
Connie didn't think we'd notice her sneaking some another morsel of the
Porchetta...
...but we did!
Dessert featured a nice Muscat de Beaumes de Venise from the Grand-Montmirail
stable.
Kareasa baked a fruit "crisp" and Mark prepared a
Cognac Ice Cream!
Some additional Post-Prandial Potations were brought to the
table, including a Plantation Panama Rum which was quite good...
I was nearly face-down in the ice cream, fatigued from a busy week at the
shop...and so with that, we made tracks up the Bayshore Freeway, for a nice
snooze!
Thanks to Ralph and Kareasa for hosting a delicious, last-minute meal!
*********************************************
BACK TO THE
FIRST FOOD, WINE & FRIENDS PAGE
BACK
TO THE PREVIOUS PAGE
ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
