Food, Wine & Friends Page158
BIRTHDAY BOYS' CELEBRATION
February 2009
Hosted by Chef Alexia Moore
We celebrate the birthdays of Paul Obester and
Henry Moore every year and Alexia hosted a splendid little Sunday fest...
We had dolmas, olives, marinated beans and some prosciutto to go with the
bubbly...
The Mumm DVX was nice, but even more Champagne-like was the Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée
from the 2000 vintage. It was crisper, more yeasty and simply the finer of
the two.
Alexia was busy grating some nutmeg into the Colcannon....
Happily, no blood was shed in this process...
We sat down at the table and began with a salad featuring chanterelles
"caught" locally by Henry! on his afternoon forays...
In honor of our dear friend who just passed away, Donn Reisen (head honcho at
Ridge Vineyards), Alexia paired the starter with two Ridge Chardonnays.
The 2005 Santa Cruz Mountains bottling is a smoky, leesy, classic
bottling. I've tasted the Home Ranch a couple of times now and find it to
have a nice fragrance, but it's oxidized on the palate and not as attractive.
The main course was braised short ribs...
We decanted two bottles of 1989 vintage Cabernets...both Santa Cruz Mountains'
grown wines:
1989 Kathryn Kennedy and 1989 Ridge "Monte Bello".
The Kathryn Kennedy was a ripe, mildly jammy red...sort of Zinfandel-like.
The Ridge was the more elegant and complex of the pair and dynamite with the
short-ribs.
Everyone hoisted a glass and toasted Donn...
A cheese tray made the rounds, along with two lovely Pinot Noirs...
These were from the 2000 vintage.
The Dehlinger was nicely cherryish and showed some earthy notes. It was
over-shadowed by the more Burgundian Morgan bottling from the Garys' Vineyard.
Dessert featured Alexia's Ginger Cake...
...and a fortified wine from Bonny Doon.
Then it was time for some birthday gifts...
Both Henry and Paul received bacon-scented "air
fresheners" for their cars...
And a kitchen apron....
Paul especially appreciated the book "Geezerhood"....
It was a lovely meal and a memorable evening....
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