I was surprised when I realized I had this past Saturday evening off. Instead of just hanging out at home with Kelly, we decided to invite our good friends Becca & Lee over for dinner.
Here was the menu:
1st Course: Beef Carpaccio with truffle oil, maldon salt, shaved parmiggiano & fresh arugula tossed in blood orange juice. Paired with 2002 Au Bon Climat Le Bauge Au Dessus Pinot Noir
2nd Course: Steamer pot of clams, shrimp & chorizo (the spanish kind) with white wine, butter & basil
3rd Course: Puff pastry layered with gorgonzola & served over a blueberry-balsamic black pepper sauce. Paired with 2006 Adelsheim Deglace of Pinot Noir.
Kelly feels that the most successful pairing was the dessert. He mostly doesn't care for dessert wine at all so it must have been the best!
The special treat of the night was the exquisite bottle of wine that Becca brought. Get ready to drool because it is not available in the States. Chateau Golan Royal Reserve Syrah 2004 Golan Heights, Israel. Oh.....wow. The nose was straight up old world Northern Rhone. Blue-black fruits with hints of dried meat & herbs. I think I smelled it for about a minute or two before tasting it. The palate was rich but not heavy or overpowering. It was tight at first, Kelly even mentioned he thought it needed to open up. But it was obvious of the potential. After a few minutes, it blossomed into sweet blueberry, tarragon, bacon, subtle oak....absolutely delicious. I just recently tasted an Ambullneo Syrah which was super highly rated by certain critics. The Chateau Golan blew it away, without question . Thank you Becca!!!
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