One of the nice things for us to do in Las Vegas when we weren’t with our children and grandchildren was the chance to take some leisurely walks and have some casual lunches. I was also able to find another wine that I have only read about since I began writing these articles. I have been following the winery blog almost from their beginning, and I had my chance. Some wineries have limited production and due to the three-tiered archaic structure of the wine trade in Michigan, there is plenty of wine that is just not available here, and some of the wineries do not ship here as well.

On one of our daily walks we went to Tivoli Village, actually we haunt that area quite a bit, because of its convenience and its ambience. There is a spot that we really enjoy going to, the View Wine Bar & Kitchen and we have partaken of their services several times in the past. We will go and have a light lunch after walking around and we usually share a couple of different dishes, because the View offers small plate servings, as well as Charcuterie and Artisanal cheeses. We took the table that we enjoy the most, because it has a great view of Tivoli Village and it is very near to the bar. We shared three different dishes on that trip. There was Prosciutto wrapped Tiger Prawns on a bed of seaweed salad and drizzled with an aioli dressing. A Charred Caesar Salad with truffle croutons and the proper dressing, though not as good as my Bride’s recipe. The third dish was a plate of Brussel Sprouts with beets, carrots, browned butter, pumpkin seeds and almonds. The three dishes were ample enough to hold us until we had dinner later on with the family.

My Bride was not feeling very adventurous that day with her wine selection, as she went safe with a glass of Tisdale Vineyards California Chardonnay NV and it had that soft buttery flavor, but I could really not find very much about this wine. It was just an easy drinking wine and that is what she wanted. I on the other hand immediately knew the wine that I wanted to try, namely Naggiar Vineyards Sierra Foothills Barbera 2012. Since I have been writing there have been certain wines that I just really wanted to try and this was another one off of my bucket list. Naggiar Vineyards is in the Sierra Foothills, which is probably the largest AVA in the United States and it is known for having great success with classic Mediterranean varietals. Naggiar Vineyards has sixty acres of land and they are able to grow eighteen different grapes for their Estate Grown, Produced and Bottled wines and they still are able to supply some other winemakers with fruit as well. This particular vintage was aged for twenty months in French Oak, of which thirty percent were new barrels and a total production of one-hundred-ninety-five cases were made. It was a pleasure savoring this wine and I kind of nursed it along to enjoy all the richness and nuances that I could discover. I know that my Bride enjoyed my choice much more over hers, but I did share. I was as giddy as a teenager over this find, so much for my so-called maturity.