It really felt odd this Christmas season, as we were not doing our normal hosting duties.  One of my Bride’s sisters wanted to hold the dinner at their house.  Which was a nice change of pace, though my Bride did seem just as hectic with all of her preparations.  My Bride was also like a military general plotting out the events for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, so she was always having her brain go in a million directions.   I just kind of stay out of the way and let her do her thing.

There was plenty of food being prepared when we got there early, so that my Bride could assist.  One of the dishes that they were preparing that was new was a turkey done in a hot-air non-grease fryer which actually greeted us on the front porch, when we arrived, as I thought it was one of the deep-fryers that you see on Social Media that ignite and causes major fires.  It gave the turkey a different flavor, which was fine, but I guess I am just used to the classic stuffed and roasted bird.  There was also Prime Rib being prepared, so the house was very fragrant with great aromas.  There were all sorts of appetizers and side dishes and desserts that were brought in by some of the other attendees.  My Bride brought a big pot of Armenian Pilaf and a big pot of her Brussel Sprouts done with Bacon and drizzled with Aged Balsamic.  There was plenty to eat, in fact there was an over abundance and most left with doggie bags of food.

While there was plenty to eat, there was also plenty to drink.  We brought several bottles of wine that are my Bride’s favorites, but I can’t keep writing about the same wines, even as good as they are.  I brought a special bottle that I wanted to see how it was doing and it has been one of our favorite wineries since our first trip to California to taste wines.  The wine was St. Supery Merlot Napa Valley 2001 and this wine was still one of their main offering, before they really got into the single vineyard wines.  St. Supery was one of the first wineries that we visited and they are located in Rutherford where they have an estate and they also own another much larger estate in Napa Valley as well.  The original proprietor Robert Skalli came to Napa Valley from Corsica, where his grandparents founded the winery Terra Vecchi. In 1982, he purchased the Dollarhide estate, a 1500-acre cattle ranch in the northeast corner of Napa Valley. He also purchased 56 acres in Rutherford, where the winery was built and still stands today. The first vintage of wine was produced in 1989 and the wines began to gain acclaim.  The Skalli family sold the winery to the large fashion corporation Chanel in 2015, which makes me wonder if my “Lifetime Pass” will still be honored.  I am glad to report to all the Merlot fans, that this wine was far from being over the hill, it was very mellow and drank like a Grand Cru, so no complaints from my Bride or myself or anyone else that tried the wine.