I had some good friends over yesterday afternoon for a bit of food...fun & wine. In celebration of my retiring and just for the fun of it. To liven things up I passed out sleep masks for them to wear so we could have a "blind" wine taste. I had chosen 4 bottles of wine, wrapped each bottle with dark tissue paper and placed them in a bronze color organza gift bag. Then the fun began. Truly my friends must love me as they played right along with me. First I let them fill their plates with chicken salad filled croissants & sun dried tomato wrapped sandwiches, cheeses such as Gruyere, fresh buffalo mozzarella, extra sharp New York Cheddar & Swiss, hummus & crackers, spinach dip & veggies (brought by Nanc...thanks Nan).....eat a bit... then I barked orders at them to place their blindfolds on! In between each different wine we cleansed our palates with these tiny little wine crackers Leslie brought which were like little pellets of crunchy sweetness which truly did the job of absorbing the lingering taste of the previous wine from our palate. Thanks Les!
We started with the whites....it was a Pinot Grigio, Bella Sera from Italy. It was fresh, crisp & refreshing with hints of apple & pear with scent of citrus. They liked it! And the best part was it was only $7.99! Next was a Vouvray from France. I liken this to a White Burgundy I had recently, a close match, but I like the White Burgundy a bit better. But still this one was very satisfying. This one was flowery & citrusy. It's cost was $19.99. The next was a Redwood Creek Pinot Noir of California. Very good, I must say all my choices were very good and to the liking of my guests. Some liked certain ones better, but each wine had its pleasing qualities to each. This wine was medium bodies with cherry notes and was smooth on your palate. I think this one was somewhere between $5.99 and $7.99. And I finished up with a Pinotage from The Grinder, a wine of South Africa. This one stumped everyone as it has the smell and slight taste of coffee. They could not guess it! I do say I had just as much fun watching them with their blindfolds and listening to them guess as they did in guessing. This was a great way to do a taste!.This wine had hints of mocha & coffee along with berry and dark chocolate. Doesn't sound like it would make a good wine with the coffee and mocha...but it is truly now a favorite of mine. I had tried this at the wine taste last month my friend & I went to and I will buy this one over and over again. It's price is $14.99.
To end our time celebrating my "retiring" I put on a pot of Starbucks coffee and served up homemade cheesecake (made by me, cheesecakes are my specialty) This one was crushed up Oreo crust with chocolate chip filling, topped with fresh blackberries. Yum....Yum....Yum!
Six hours later I made my way up to bed. Tired. Ready to sleep. Thankful for good friends, good times & good wines!
My bottles from the wines are next to my bed so I could do my blogging upon waking up this morning. All I can say is .....thank God I did not pass away in the middle of the night or they would be saying I am an alcoholic with all the bottles by my bed! It is a good thing my friends and son know my habits of blogging about what I drink.....hopefully if this were to ever happen they would clear my name....and if not....after we leave this earth...people will say something about us so what does it matter anyhow!
Salute!...to retiring...good foods....good friends & good wines & good times!
