Enjoying Live Music on The Patio – With a Perfect Pair
Background
Verona18 during the summer and fall provides live music on the patio. You can attend by having dinner or just having cocktails. This week it was James Michael Day, former organist for the San Jose Sharks on a keyboard and singing a variety of songs. The weather was a calm and delightful 82 degrees.
Photo © Michael Kelly
The Wines – “Wine if bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo © Michael Kelly
First up this evening was the award winning 2020 LXV Cabernet Franc from Paso Robles, California. This win has been a favorite since winning the overall International Cabernet Franc Competition a couple years ago. They consistently win Gold or Double Gold Medals each year. This year in April they won Double Gold from the People’s Choice Judges. Here are a couple of past stories on LXV Wines.
One of the most intriguing facets of LXV Wines is their tasting room which was voted Top 10 in the United States by USA Today with their Bordeaux varieties.
A unique experience from a unique culture to the wine industry. Neeta Mittal is the owner of LXV Wines. It started in India in a village south of Mumbai, where her mother lives and frequently visits the spice market to find fragrant herbs for Tandoori Masala. The goal of Neeta is unconventional in that her goal is to reveal as she states “the restrained jargon of pH and acidity” to flavors and senses. The end goal is to create at their tasting room “a movement that inspires and heightens moments, and that transcends the personal, business and community”. Lofty goals for sure and she is obtaining them often. I was privileged to enjoy a home cooked meal last December with various Cabernet Franc wines, and the creativity and uniqueness was so far beyond any typical food and wine pairing.
The tasting room just off the main square in downtown Paso Robles has three separate areas to taste their exquisite wines- the main tasting lounge, the Cellar room and the outdoor patio. At each location, besides the wine, flavor samples are available with simply exotic spices and aromas. For example, Irish Monk – dulse flakes, miso, pink peppers, amchur, cardamom and black vanilla. Another is Chai Garm Chai – black tea, Tulsi, green & black cardamom, star anise, cloves, fennel, rose petals. Currently seven other tastings are available with various wines.
Next up while enjoying the evening with friends, was the Daou Winery 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon. I have not done a story on Daou Winery but attended a kickoff dinner at the lovely Daou winery for the 2nd Annual Cabernet Franc Day Symposium. This wine was a smooth and enjoyable wine while listening to music on the patio. Will need to obtain and review this wine soon.
Photo © Michael Kelly
The night before the 2nd Annual Cab Franc Day, Paso Robles, the six sponsoring wineries provided a spectacular dinner event at Daou Vineyards. Those wineries were: LXV Wines, Daou Vineyards, J. Lohr Vineyards and Winery, Brecon Estate, Hope Family Wines and Continental Vineyards. The event was also co-sponsored by several industry companies, The Somm Journal, The Tasting Panel Magazine, Parker Sanpei Marketing & Media and Riedel.
Photo © Michael Kelly
The event emcee was Maeve Pesquera, Sr. VP of Strategy Business Development at Daou who spoke eloquently welcoming everyone to Daou Winery.
Photo © Michael Kelly
To read more about the Paso Robles Cabernet Franc event here is the link:
https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2023/12/26/lxv-wines-presented-cab-franc-day-paso-robles/
These two wines from Paso Robles made for such a comfortable evening with music and friends.
Sláinte,
Michael