Last night we had a little birthday party for Ken; his birthday was Thursday, the 18th.
I asked everyone to bring a Pinot Noir (one of his favorite wines) in a brown paper bag. So, we had a blind tasting and it was really fun.
The Hahn, Montery, was the consensus winner. I liked the Beringer, Napa Valley the best myself–it seemed more complex and had a nice finish but I liked the Hahn, too. I had bought the Bethel Heights from Willamette, which I think was probably the most expensive at $30, but it didn’t show well. Maybe that was because we tasted it first–I’m not sure–but people just didn’t like it so much. The 2 least favorites were the Summerland, Montery County, which had a very light cherry color and flavor to match, and the Coppola. The last was the least expensive–we used to buy it for our “house” wine but we got tired of it.
We had lots of great food–a cheese platter which included the wonderful, local, Sweet Grass Dairy, soft cheese and others. I made pork tenderloins on the grill (Wow! they are so easy and delicious) which I rubbed with herbs and salt and pepper. And I bought little rolls and had mustards and fig chutney. Cecelia made her “signature” roasted tomato crostini and they were fantastic. We had lots of other stuff, too.
I made Ken a birthday cake–yellow cake with raspberries and whipped cream between the layers and chocolate ganche in the center of the 4 layers. I wish I remembered to take a picture.
And we watched Florida State in an ugly loss to Wake Forest.
It was really an enjoyable evening!