Bottles, Conversation & Friends

Sunday is a great day for bottles of wine & good friends. Just recently we had our friends Rusty, Glenda, Elizabeth & Steven over for a nice meal.



I tried my hand at making some fresh pasta as you can see from the picture above. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out quite so well so I had to ask Kelly to run to the store to pick up some Barilla linguini. It was perfectly delicious with my braised lamb.

I did make some fresh pasty dough & that turned out wonderful!



I baked the pastry & filled it with a vanilla mascarpone cream & blueberry-kirsch compote.



Elizabeth poached pears & stuffed them with cranberries, walnuts & blue cheese & served them over arugula. So incredibly delicious.



I tossed the braised lamb with linguini, roasted garlic, mushroom duxelle, caramelized onions, tomatoes & truffle butter.



Rusty & Glenda brought along some bubbles to start us off.



Oregon makes some of my most favorite wines. This Argyle bubbly was crisp, nutty, creamy & delicious.



Elizabeth brought along a delightful Domaine Carneros Brut 2005 that was bright, full of fruit & had a luscious texture.



She also popped open a super yummy Logan Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard 2006. It was rich but not heavy & had a perfect balance of acidity & a creaminess that didn't weigh down my palate. Delicious.



Sam, I thought of you when we opened this bottle. Your beloved Burgundy. I think I get why you love them so. Thank goodness I hung to this as long as I did because it was magically delicious & I imagine that it wouldn't have been this good if we drank it when it was young. It was earthy, brooding & very sensual.



This gorgeous Bordeaux was fantastic. All kinds of clove, tart dried cherry, leather & a dried meat element.



Rusty & Glenda had another surprise for us. A Lost Highway 2002 from Barossa Valley. It had a port-like aroma & a rich concentrated blueberry note on the palate. I imagine that this bottle was difficult to drink when it was young but with a little age it had calmed down. Quite a powerhouse.



Lastly, we finished ourselves off with a Seven HIlls Merlot 2007 Seven Hills Vineyard. What a beautiful bottle. Merlot in Washington State is something so different than I've had from elsewhere. This was bold, dark & laden with plum & baking spices with a nice earthy note on the finish. I can't wait for the Seven Hills dinner at Napa Cafe on Feb 11!