FOOD, WINE & FRIENDS PAGE 300
A few years ago we began what is now a
tradition:
A home-cooked meal for friends who come to the Bay Area for the San Francisco
International Wine Competition.
Some of the guests have participated at each of these, while others have had
scheduling issues so the guest list has varied from year to year.
This year we were delighted to learn New Zealand's Kate Radburnd would be able
to, once again, join us. And we'd heard that her daughter Penelope was an
intern a Goosecross
Cellars in the Napa Valley, so we reached out to "the kid"
and asked if she could join us on the sly without alerting her Mom. This
was a wonderful surprise for Kate who didn't expect to meet her daughter until a
few days in to her US visit.
Also joining us this year were Tim and Lisa McDonald from Napa. Tim has
been a "regular" at the judging for years and was the Director of
Judges for a few years. We'd invited him previously but he'd been unable
to join us. This year he accepted the invitation.
Another fellow we've invited in the past is our pal Ron Washam from
Sonoma. Ron is a brilliant satirist and has a wicked sense of humor.
He wrote fabulous parodies and satirical postings as the HoseMaster
of Wine.
We've routinely invited Dr. Rowald Hepp, Managing Director and winemaker
at Germany's famous Schloss
Vollrads winery.
Dr. Valery Uhl, a Bay Area oncologist and
inveterate wine judge (she travels extensively to various competitions around
the world as well as organizing a
few judgings locally) has also been a "regular" at these
wine extravaganzas.
The table was set and we had much to do to
coordinate such a dinner.
Our little "surprise" for Kate
worked beautifully!
She had no idea that her daughter Penelope
would be invited and able to join us.
Kate had seen Valery last year in New Zealand.
And Kate had not seen Tim the past few
years.
Penelope Radburnd, Lisa and Tim McDonald.
We soon got down to "business" and
Rowald took care of pouring the magnum of Roederer Estate's 2009 L'Ermitage
bubbly.
We had a few "nibbles" on the table to pair with the
bubbly.
Time for a Toast.
Tim for a Toast, too.
The 2009 L'Ermitage was typically crisp and acidic.
We didn't find it to be quite as toasty as other vintages...perhaps it needs
more aging?
We had prepared some prawns to pair with the L'Ermitage...
These were boiled for a few minutes and then marinated in a mix of herbs,
mustard, lemon juice and olive oil.
It was then time to gather everyone at the table...
Penelope took care of pouring the first bottles...
Another tradition has been to provide a special apron for
this event...
We got busy in the kitchen...
We had two bottlings of Sauvignon Blanc by the Shared Notes winery.
Both wines are brilliant renditions.
The Les
Leçons des Maîtres
is styled along the lines of a Pessac-Léognan white from
Bordeaux.
The Les
Pierres Qui Décident
is reminiscent of top Loire Valley Sauvignons and we suspect it would
get a thumbs up from the late Didier Dagueneau.
Crab Cakes came next...
We had two splendid bottles of Pewsey Vales "The
Contours" Riesling from Australia.
The 2006 was complete and nicely evolved.
The 2012 is excellent and may eventually eclipse the 2006.
Both wines showed the classic "petrol" notes of mature Riesling.
Kate was especially delighted to have these wines on the table saying the
Contours is an all-time favorite.
A little sorbet next to cleanse the palate...
Meanwhile, in the oven we had Yorkshire Pudding to pair
with the Prime Rib...
...coming along nicely!
Penelope Radburnd and her Mom, Kate.
We had a 5 pound Prime Rib Roast.
Okra and Mushrooms
Oven-roasted Potatoes
Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts
The dishes sailed around the table...
A toast!
A refill!
The 1996 Spottswoode from Napa was showing beautifully and
pretty much at its peak.
Medium-bodied and quite elegant, as always...
Sporting darker fruit and a bit more body was the Araujo "Eisele
Vineyard" Cabernet from Calistoga in Napa.
This was seriously good.
For fun we opened a 1996 Leonetti Cabernet which was made in Washington's Walla
Walla Valley.
The wine carries an "American" appellation as close to one-third of
the wine was made with fruit from the Napa Valley.
The vintage in Washington was quite small and Leonetti looked to other sources
to make its usual quantity of wine.
And they did a good job...this was quite enjoyable, showing classic Cabernet
aromas and flavors with a nice touch of oak.
Kate, who enjoyed the West Coast reds, pulled out a bottle of her 2006
vintage Cabernet blend under the CJ Pask label.
Kate's wine comes from New Zealand's North Island in the Hawkes Bay region.
The soil type is called Gimblett Gravels and it's well-suited to red wine
production (as evidenced by the wine).
The wine is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Malbec with maturation in a variety
of woods.
Though the Gimblett Road region is a few degrees warmed than the rest of Hawkes
Bay, it's still not as high-octane as California wines.
This was an elegant and nicely complex red, by the way.
Earlier in the afternoon we assembled an Apple Pie for dessert...
To accompany the pie we made a Cinnamon-Vanilla Gelato.
Lisa lent a hand in serving dessert.
2014 Joseph Phelps Eisrebe...a Scheurebe dessert wine from Napa.
It was delicious and a nice, crisp match for the sweets.
We then put another sweet wine on the table...
2005 Doisy-Daëne, a Barsac from France's Bordeaux region.
That was quite a good example of a Semillon-based sweet wine. Lots of
honey and nicely rich...
As most of us had to be ready to judge wine the following
more in San Francisco, we stood up from the table around 10:30...
It was great to find the leftovers stashed in the 'fridge and the dishwasher was
humming along in cleaning the plates, glasses and silverware.
Everyone made tracks, then and we all headed for a good snooze in preparation
for the start of the 2018 San Francisco International Wine Competition.
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