I'm back in the land of the living, just, and I give thanks, as a devout Pastafarian, to the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I'm back off the wagon. It was truly the driest weekend in living memory.
Anyhoo, we having a little soirette this Saturday, to celebrate a variety of milestones, mine not the least, but especially my old friend Edwaf returning home for the weekend from Chicago (Thanks Jess!!). JK while not yet "there" will also be a guest of honour.
As the winebore in residence it would ill behoove me to serve anything other than various fine wines. I have in stock, a Monbazillac (to go with the Fois Gras) and some Bererac Sec (fish course) from May, along with some nice bubbly as an aperitif. I wanted some nice red for the main, so I went to O'Brien's with Little Bill on Saturday in the midst of the aforementioned drought.
I had thought Bordeaux or Italian, and as usual any decent Bordeaux was out of my price range given the volume I needed to buy. So Italian it was. The helpful chap recommended this Sangiovese or this Valpolicella Ripasso based on my specifications.
I went back tonight to buy both to taste them but they only had 2 bottles of the Tuscan in stock and won't get any more of it in time for the big event. The suggested alternative, a Rosso di Montalcino, along with the Valpolicello Ripasso were duly purchased, see picture above.
I decided, rather than try them on consecutive nights to open both tonight, and do a direct comparison. The Valpolicella Ripasso tasted quite sharp initially but after 30 minutes or so in the glass it evolved into a big, tannic beast, delicious but maybe not a party wine.
The Rosso di Montalcino however was a much more balanced if lighter wine, perfectly balanced and wonderful - we have a winner.
That's it for now, I'll let you know on Sunday how it all went.
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