On to the dinner...
APPETIZERS:
To start we had some intense, sun dried tomato, pine nut, and basil paste, olive oil - toasted bruschetta, topped with parmigiano reggiano cheese.
Steve and Kathy brought an appertivo plate featuring artichoke hearts, mushrooms in oil, olive and pepper Italian mix in oil and vinegar, and salami. They also brought bottles and bottles of San Pellegrino sparkling water to keep us hydrated.
David and Kathy supplied the wines, Dakaro's Shasta County Obsidian Blanc 2012 white wine, and a 2012 California Sangiovese. The Obsidian Blanc was a complimentary taste with the bruschetta, and paired well with the mushrooms but not the pepperoni. David felt it was still a little young, as in "...give another month or two..." and Nels, who is not a great white wine fan, picked up an interesting Saké note to it which he really enjoyed.
Then we opened the Sangiovese which everyone agreed was an excellent wine, especially with the intense taste of the bruschetta. Everyone was very impressed with the light fresh drinkability, the crisp fruit taste which had a smooth, lingering finish.
I screwed up the pour amounts; hey, eight people, one bottle, and so I ripped Steve off with a too-small sip. I topped his pour with some of my glass and we both suffered silently, staring longingly as our glasses emptied all too soon.
Anyway, that was the last pour I was allowed to do for the evening; turns out Nels is an excellent wine host and was able to give us double pours the rest of the evening.
Kathy noted, "I just love saying the name, Sangiovese..." that, along with bruschetta, and they should be ready to take a trip to Italy next year!
The main course was hand made venison, bacon and sauteed mushroom ravioli, in a pureed roast pepper sauce. The roast pepper sauce was made using four roasted peppers, one chopped onion, and six garlic cloves chopped fine and browned in butter. This was all blended together, then the resulting puree was heated in a buttered skillet, as one cup of red wine, pine nuts, salt and pepper were stirred in.
After the sauce was added to the ravioli, the plate was garnished with fresh thyme, oregano, parsley, rosemary flowers and fresh cut cheese.
Gail, who is vegetarian, made an excellent eggplant parmesan in tomato sauce, which took three hours to bake in the oven.
Kathy brought caesar salad as a side, and the other Kathy contributed fresh bread with dipping oil and balsamic vinegar.
Nels treated us all to a vertical tasting of the Albireo Malbec, supplying a 2011, 2010, 2012 and 2009 vintage (listed in order of tasting, lightest to most full bodied).
The interplay of the wines with the sweeter pepper sauce and smokey tasting venison, verses the acidic savory taste of the eggplant with tomato sauce was pretty interesting. So we all tasted through the wines with the ravioli, then back through them a second time with the eggplant.
The 2011 Malbec is a good, solid wine, but it was my least favorite of the four. It was the lightest wine of the four, and though it had great nose and good taste, for me it just did not stand up to the meal as well as the other three. It was almost bitter with the eggplant, good but a little overpowered by the ravioli. It is 97% Malbec, 3% Cab Franc.
The 2010 Malbec is about a 19 to 81 percent blend of Cabernet with Malbec, and thus it has been my favorite in tastings so far. This is the one we have been drinking at home.
Well, it was good with the venison, but spectacular with the eggplant. It just popped as a counterpoint to the tomato sauce. I remember back when we had it with venison ravioli before and it was really great, but theat time I was also using a tomato sauce. So, in my judgement it was better with an acidic tomato sauce, rather than with a sweeter roasted pepper sauce. Great bold nose slams you up front, huge taste and a very long finish. At 15.7% alcohol, the legs lasted minutes on the glass.
Next up was the 2012 vintage, and it was a hit! Pure, 100% Malbec, like the 2009, it was much darker, with a richer, more full and rounded taste. Great smells, long lasting taste, it stood up well with both main courses. It did not POP with the eggplant, but was very smooth and velvety. David felt it was the most complex of the four Malbecs; with many layers, not all developed so far, he thinks in three years this will be even better than the 2009.
Last, we were treated to the 2009 Reserve Malbec, saved for friends and special occasions. We all agreed this was the best one: mature, very fruit forward, dark and complex, filling the mouth and lingering long after the actual drink. It was wonderful with the ravioli, not good with the eggplant (the acid was just too overwhelming) and excellent to just sip and linger with after finishing dinner. It is 100% Malbec, with no sulfites added.
OK, I am buying the 2012 next trip up to Manton. I think we will all be fighting over it!
Our first dessert course was Kathy Roth's homemade orange peel biscotti, served with the Dakaro Shasta County 2011 Graciano. What an excellent pairing. The wine perfectly complemented the sweet, slightly citrus and pepper taste of the biscotti.
David mentioned that there are only about 25 acres of Graciano planted in the entire state of California. What a treat to have it here, let alone be able to drink it. According to one on-line article, Graciano has acheived "Mini-cult status... near Lodi."
Huh. Graciano Cult? Oh yea, I am all over having a cult! Sounds like a wine event at Dakaro for next year: we can light a huge bonfire, smear leftover grape crushings on our faces and dance to drums, naked during a full-moon midnight while we drink. Now that would make for some interesting photos and a great blog entry! In fact, while I am at it, I will just go ahead an make a note that we are going to copyright and trademark the Graciano Cult ©™ on behalf of Dakaro's future use.
You are welcome, David and Kathy. Think of the cool labels...
We ended the night with our second dessert, Rogue Creamery Blue Cheese and Huckleberry Preserves, paired with Au Contraire, a white California Dessert Wine (white port). Oh, it was just a wonderful contrast, the salty, sharp cheese with the smooth, sweet wine. And the huckleberries on top just added another layer to it all. I had to refill the cheese plate as David poured another bottle of Au Contraire and we all just relaxed with that warm feeling at the close of a great evening.