We have a charming couple for dear friends, which are younger than we are, but delightful in their maturity, wisdom and their desire to keep growing in an acquisition of knowledge.  They have a great interest in the arts, in culinary pursuits and a wonderful appreciation for wine.  They also have a great deference for their parent’s generation and of a lifestyle that is different from today, but this is not to imply that they are not firmly a part of today’s generation; a graceful blending of two worlds.

We had dinner with them at their home and with some of best behaved children that you will ever encounter.  My Bride brought her Caesar Salad and I brought them a wine for them to enjoy at their leisure.  We were all in the kitchen enjoying a glass of Cava, a sparkling Spanish wine while final preparations were being made.  We sat down and had the salad, and then we were presented with a wonderful dish of pasta and meatballs.  After wards some homemade canolis and coffee cake with some wonderful coffee that would make any Barista envious.

We started out with a very mellow Chianti Classico Riserva from Monsanto, a 2007 vintage.  This was a wonderful wine with a great follow through with a taste that was not in your face for such a young wine.  Like I said it was very mellow even in its youth with the spice that is expected from classic Chianti.  Monsanto is one of the big houses for Chianti and this is a remarkable wine for one of their opening offerings from this region.  After dinner, two port glasses were brought out for our host and for me.  I tried a sip, looked at the bottle and informed our host that he better bring out another glass as my Bride would insist on trying this wine, even though for the most part she does not usually drink dessert wines.  The wine was from a Michigan winery Tabor Hill.  It was a Port style wine made from the Cabernet Franc grape and I knew that this would be an aphrodisiac and a wine my Bride could not resist trying as this is her favorite varietal.  She raved about it even on the way home.  All in all, I have to say it was a wonderful evening with good friends.