Welcome to my new blog mini-series, "Dine n' Discussion" with host David Luttrell!
March 1, 2017 [published 3/2 due to technical difficulties]
A new month: cause for celebration!
My wife and I take nearly any excuse to share a bottle of wine over dinner. Tonight's menu, like many other young couples who have seen Blue Apron turn their kitchen into a gourmet chef studio, included Lamb, Beef & Mushroom Stew with parmesan potatoes & chives. With flavors inspired by the heartiness of shepherd's pie, but absent the patience to entirely wait until dinner is served to start our first sips of wine, I chose the 2014 Russian River Valley Garagistes Pinot Noir we picked up in Sebastopol earlier this year attending a friend's wedding.
As I uncorked the wine (with my saucy burgundy red Rabbit vertical corkscrew... I'm not as strong as el Jefe!), I reminisced about our lovely visit to Taft Street just a few short weeks ago. The unassuming tasting room is located next to the producers giant vinification facility where they sort-to-bottle their grapes into their own and other labels "custom crush" wines (another topic for another time). We had a lovely tasting, complete with my in-depth interview of our kind and knowledgeable hostess. Since 1979, the founders have moved from making wine in their Berkeley garage to a warehouse in Forestville to the present-day property, a re-purposed and licensed old apple processing plant. (For the full founding and growth story, including the impetus behind the garagistes name, see this link. Also, this cool chalkboard map greeted us during our $5! tasting and here's a picture of our delightful Garagistes wine the proud day we bought it)
As I poured the Pinot into two stemless glasses (our Palo Alto quad-plex boasts of a 3x3 foot dining space!), I recalled how much I had enjoyed this wine at the winery. I wondered if I could remember the taste. I've had several Russian River Valley (RRV) Pinots since, and have a great affinity for the varietal from that region -- the cool, fog-laden Sonoma hills not far from the Pacific Ocean produced some wonderful Pinots and Chardonnays. I took a sip: "Ahhh, oh Pinot, you just get me, man," I mused (internally, of course). Dark cherry and cola flavors with a nice spice but smooth finish...
I handed my wife her glass as she put our Lamb & Beef Stew on the table and we sat down together. "What do you taste in this wine, sweetie?" I asked. "Hmm..." she took a sniff and a polite sip, "I don't know, I'm never good at this. Maybe cherries and molasses, is molasses a thing you should taste in wine?" As several classes have reminded me recently, I'm not really sure how a wine should taste. Although it's no Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), everything about our wine, our dinner, our discussion tonight was more than good enough for me! 😊
I handed my wife her glass as she put our Lamb & Beef Stew on the table and we sat down together. "What do you taste in this wine, sweetie?" I asked. "Hmm..." she took a sniff and a polite sip, "I don't know, I'm never good at this. Maybe cherries and molasses, is molasses a thing you should taste in wine?" As several classes have reminded me recently, I'm not really sure how a wine should taste. Although it's no Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), everything about our wine, our dinner, our discussion tonight was more than good enough for me! 😊
David - I love getting this glimpse into your dinner ritual. It's amazing.
ReplyDeleteYour post and the mention of Blue Apron did make me think further about whether Blue Apron should diversify into offering wines as well. Do you think your experience would be as rich if the wine were suggested by Blue Apron instead of from your own stash? What if it had tasting notes with it?
Blue Apron does just this! We have not yet ordered what they suggest for the pairing, but we've discussed it several times! Perhaps when we are no longer on our half-our-partnership-is-unemployed budget we'll give it a shot!
ReplyDelete(Although, admittedly, I enjoy attempting to pair things... in retrospect we could have gone with a heavier red wine that evening, but we just love Pinot, I couldn't quite wait for the lamd/beef to be served in order to enjoy a glass)