Enjoyed Guests Saturday Evening With Foods and Some Exquisite Wines – Napa Valley, Livermore Valley, New Zealand, Sonoma and Germany
Photo ©Michael Kelly
With temperatures hitting 113 degrees in the afternoon, three refreshing white wines were opened and one Rosé to match some of the first rounds of foods. The three white wines chosen were a 2023 Oyster Bay (New Zealand) Sauvignon Blanc, 2024 Dr. Heideidmanns-Bergweiler Riesling (Germany) and a surprisingly solid Kirkland Sonoma County Chardonnay.
Photos ©Michael Kelly
The Rosé was a 2023 Wood Family Vineyards “The Pearl” Rosé. These were the best wine pairing with the first round of foods being marina and puffy bread cheese with Marinara sauce, pot stickers with Gyoza sauce, garlic toast, corn chips with a mango, jalapeño sauce, deviled eggs and a few other delights.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Those wines once exhausted the gathering wanted to go with red wines. Managed to find a few nice red wines such as the 2010 Husic Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa, the 2011 Dunn Vineyards from Howell Mountain in Napa Valley and the paramount wine being the 2006 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.
Those wines went especially well with Castelvetrano olives, a charcuterie plater of cheeses and salami, a jalapeño dip, and a few other dishes. The dessert was a prepared small bowl of freshly cut peaches, Burrata cheese, fresh basil, prosciutto and drizzled with Balsamic glaze. Picture below was from a previous dish I had prepared as I forgot to take a picture of it last evening.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Those wines only lasted just so long and back to the cellar to pick up a few more including a 2023 Cuda Ridge Wines Carmenere from Livermore Valley. As the evening slowed down the group went with one more white wine: 2024 Wood Family Vineyards Chardonnay (Livermore Valley). More nibbles came out of crackers and assorted treats but again no pictures.
It was great to see friends we hadn’t seen for over a year. Lots of laughs and comradery between all of us. Towards the end of the evening, our eldest daughter/son-in-law stopped by and we continued the conversations around a myriad of subjects. When they left and we cleaned up, we hopped into bed just after midnight. Not bad for the gathering that started at 4 pm!
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwines.com
https://woodfamilyvineyards.com
https://www.cudaridgewines.com
https://www.husicvineyards.com/
https://robertmondaviwinery.com
https://www.oysterbaywines.com/us