Christmas: A Family Celebration

It really doesn't matter how big your family is, there's nothing better than celebrating Christmas with family. Over the last few years I've visited with various family members for Christmas.  

Since I no longer have any children living at home with me, Christmas isn't like it used to be. No excited children hoping that I'll get out of bed so they can get to their presents. That's why visiting with my brothers is always a treat. They still have children at home.

With four children and two dogs, my younger brother's house can be quite exciting. This year, we visited them after Christmas, so this Christmas was a lot quieter. There were just five of us.  Now I never want to run out of food, but perhaps 4 ribs of a standing rib roast might be a little bit too much.

With our horseradish encrusted standing rib roast we had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, brussel sprouts with a cheese sauce and some fresh bakery rolls. I wasn't sure what to serve with dinner so I tweeted out a couple of selections in hopes of getting some feedback.

My friends at Pine Ridge Winery suggested their 2009 Fortis.  Now I don't pay a lot of attention to how wines are rated. Mostly I pay attention to whether I like the wine or not.  I've had a lot of unrated wines that I really enjoy. But the 2009 Fortis was rated 93 by Wine Spectator and 92 by Robert Parker. 

I'm not sure what number I'd rate the wine but it was a perfect pairing for the standing rib roast. This Cabernet was selected from the very best vineyard blocks from the 2009 vintage. 

This is what Pine Ridge says about the wine:  

The 2009 Fortis presents an intense nose of cassis jam, black mission fig and blackberry fruit, supported by balancing aromas of rich caramel, dried rose petal and French vanilla. The black garnet color hints at the extraction of this gorgeously complex wine, confirmed by the intensity of flavors of sweet juicy blueberry and stewed black fruits beneath a harmony of chocolate ganache, dark espresso bean, brown butter and toast. Creamy tannins follow through the smooth and lasting finish of this rich and full-bodied wine.

As I've said before, I can't always pick up the aromas and flavors outlined but I did pick up on the blackberry, caramel and the vanilla. It's inky dark color hints at its bold, robust taste. The only thing bad I can say about the wine is that I only had one bottle.

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging in the man cave with a fire in the fireplace and enjoying what I'm sure will be a new Chistmas tradition: watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We did open a bottle of the Onyx and a bottle of Seghesio's Chianti Station to go with some cheese, salumi and crudites.

But most of all, it was a day full of family, food and fun. As the fire died down and the Christmas lights dimmed, we went to bed content. It's hard to imagine a better day.

A Charming Little Wine

Sometimes it's a little something special that makes an ordinary evening extraordinary. That certainly happened the other night.

It had been a hard day.  I picked up some take-out Chinese and came home and got into my "give up" clothes.  You know them, sweats or something comfortable when you're not expecting anyone to arrive. 

While setting up the Christmas lights, I threw out my back so it was still a little tender.  I wasn't looking for something in particular when I went to the wine cabinet.  I pulled out a bottle of the Pine Ridge Charmstone 2008 vintage.

Charmstone is a Bordeaux blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with some Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.  Charmstones, which gets its name from the native cultures of California and the American southwest, are thought to have mystical powers.

I'm pretty sure that this wine does have mystical powers.  I wouldn't have thought that a wine that leans heavily on the Cabernet Sauvignon would work so well with the cashew chicken but it worked perfectly.
I wanted to find out what made this blend so mystical.  It's a limited edition blend available to wine club members only. I did a little searching on the internet and found that it comes from wines in some of Napa's very best appellations like Rutherford, Oakville and the Stags Leap district.

You can tell the high concentration of Cabernet Sauvignon right from the first pour. It's deep garnet color signals something special. While I'm not so good at picking out the various flavors, I did experience the sweet red cherry and hint of cinnamon spice.

A great place to visit when you're in Napa!

All the while I was enjoying the wine and a quiet evening, the phone rang.  No it wasn't an annoying telemarketer.  It was my first entry into the Mark Loux Alzheimer's book.  It was my cousin calling to see where we were and why we weren't at her house.

Then it all came back to me.  I had made plans for the night.  Deeply embarrassed, I apologized profusely.  After hanging up, I poured another glass of the Charmstone and amazingly forgot the whole thing.

I'm Thankful for My Friends -- Old and New

Last Thanksgiving was a bit crazy.  Not only was I getting ready to celebrate my 50th birthday (and my twin brother's) we found out on the Monday of Thanksgiving our Thanksgiving Day restaurant reservations had fallen through.

That meant that I ended up hosting two pretty big celebrations in three days.  I won't go into details here (you can read about it in my post The Unexpected Party. This Thanksgiving was a lot more low key.

This Thanksgiving I spent celebrating with family. There were just five of us.  Ok seven if you count the little dog and the 20 lb turkey! Pretty small considering the crowd that was there for last Thanksgiving but it was no less rewarding.

It was nice because it gave me an opportunity to reflect on a year of friends both old and new.  This past August (as you can note from my series on my trip to Sonoma, I had the real privilege to meet and work alongside three BBQ masters, Chris Lilly (from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ), Dr. BBQ (a mainstay on the professional BBQ circuit) and Pete Seghesio.

Not only did I learn a lot about the BBQ, I really had a chance to get to know more folks in the wine business.  Here's what I'm discovering -- I really like these folks.  The Seghesio team are incredible people.  From Pete and Cathy to Dave Meserli, Brandye Alexander, Dana Macaulay, Tony in the tasting room and so many others.

I'm really honored to call them friends not just acquaintances.

This fall I had the unexpected opportunity to not only meet some new friends but visit the great folks at Seghesio's sister vineyard in San Luis Obispo, Chamisal Vineyards.  You can read about the visit in my post A Special Day at Chamisal Vineyards. They're part of the reason for my reflections on my friends.  Our Thanksgiving meal featured the Chamisal's Morrito Pinot Noir.

This incredible wine was the perfect pairing for our turkey dinner.  Because of Michael's gracious tour, I can still see the view to the ocean from this little morro.  The particular terroir of this particular part of the vineyard is distinct.

It's more volcanic type rock than other parts of the vineyard and the hill is steeper.  This produced a wine that begins with a hint of strawberries and then ends with full on cranberry and the Chamisal spice. But more than the perfect pairing, it reminded me again of that special day with my new friends Michael, Alyssa and Andrea (who came in special even though she was recovering from an early fall cold).

So as we enter the holiday season, I just want to say thanks to my old friends and my new friends.  So to all those mentioned and to Bill Frick (Frick Winery), Nicole and Katey Bacigalupi (John Tyler Wines), Brooke at Chamisal and Nancy Santiago and Chistine Kyle from Pine Ridge Winery, a Giant Thank YOU.

You have made this a special year. Not only do you all make fabulous wines but you're some of the best people I know.