Great on the palate and on the wallet
Whoever says that you have to spend a ton on each bottle to have a great evening is wrong. However, moving out of the “cheap and cheerful” under $10 category when you have guests over certainly does pay rewards. We had some non-wine friends over a couple of weeks ago here for a late afternoon/evening meal at the Dr. Vino World Headquarters and assembled this line-up:
Domaine de Baumard, Clos du Papillon, Savennieres, 2002. $25 (find this wine) Importer: Ex-Cellars, Solvang, CA.
What a wine to lead off with. Delicate yet intense, floral and almost sweet with an invigorating minerality and a long finish. Everyone was blown away. It was gone quickly.
Vignoble Guillaume, Pinot Noir, vin de pays Franche Comte, 2004. $17 (find this wine) Importer: Fleet Street, Moorestown, NJ
A clean pinot that is Burgundian in style with a great balance of acidity and fruit. One pinot lover with an admitted preference for new world styling admitted to disappointment. But I found it a great transition wine to the reds. It was still light out at this point, so I didn’t really want anything too heavy.
Clos Roche Blanche, Cabernet, AOC Touraine, 2004. $15 (find this wine) Importer: Louis/Dressner.
Mmm, terroir. This Cabernet (Franc and Sauvignon) from the Loire has great balance between acid and tannin, mineral and fruit. Some people were scratching their heads at first but paired with quince and manchego they attacked it with gusto.
Honig, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2002. $27 (find this wine)
A more familiar style for some with a lush, rich mouthfeel of tobacco, leather, dark fruits, and vanilla. It’s like a 700 thread count of California Cab.
Macallan, 18 year old whisky. (find this whisky)
Going out in style. This bottle had done some additional aging in our cabinet because we drink whisky at a slower drip than any IV. I think this bottle had been with us for three moves in fact. One friend who loves whisky saw it and insisted on a round. I’m glad he did. Once I got over the straw aromas and the burning in my throat the finish was very smooth. Much more smooth than the Knockando 12 year that we had to try in comparison apparently.
Who knows, we might even get some whisky glasses? Otherwise everything we had was in Tritan Forte stemware. Unbreakable! And like the wines here, they were easy on the wallet.
tags: wine | food and drink | wines for a dinner party
