One of my recurring characters is paying us a visit, actually she is in town for business, but her command center will be in at our house.  Ms. Yoga and my Bride go back long before I was on the scene, but I did meet them both on the same event and we have been having fun ever since.  A long-convoluted story of how the two of them met, which makes them both crack up, is for another time or maybe never, depending on how reminiscences go.  Let us say that it is always a good time. 

My Bride went to the airport to pick up Ms. Yoga, and then she called me, as we worked out a carryout order of Lebanese food.  Even though Ms. Yoga was originally from Dearborn, her family moved out from there years before Dearborn became an emirate.  She was a little hesitant about the food, as the Arabic cuisine is not that good, where she is from, but we know that where we were going to order the food from, it is rather Armenian without the proper zing, but it is much better compared to other Middle Eastern restaurants; and Armenia is considered a European nation.  We ended up ordering Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves, Sautéed Chicken with Hummus, Fattoush Salad, Lamb Sautee with Rice Pilaf and a House Salad as well.  Of course, we ordered way more food, but then I guess we were all hungrier than we thought, and the food was delicious.  Ms. Yoga was amazed at the quality and the amount of food that was packaged in the different containers. 

Well with all that food we had to have some beverages to wash it down, and both of the ladies enjoy white wines, see what I learn over the years?  We started off with a killer bottle of wine Young Inglewood Michael Mara Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast 2014.  This is the one wine that is not estate grown from Young Inglewood which is in Napa Valley, and in fact if you noticed, it is not even from Napa Valley, but from the Sonoma Coast. Steve Mathieson of Michael Mara Vineyards is the wine mentor for Young Inglewood and he has a dedicated area that his fruit is harvested from each year, because of the friendship.  The hand-harvested clusters were gently pressed whole overnight and two-thirds of the juice was aged in French Oak, and one-third in Stainless Steel. The juice was aged Sur Lie for sixteen months without racking, fining or filtering. Only twenty-five cases of this wine were produced. This wine had a great nose, too bad that every Chardonnay wine does not, a beautiful light gold color, decent legs and a long finish.  After that wine we had another Chardonnay, Scott Family Estates Arroyo Seco Chardonnay 2016 and another excellent bottle of wine.  Scott Family Estates are actually located in St. Helena in Napa Valley and are under the larger umbrella of Rutherford Wine Company.  Arroyo Seco, which means Dry Creek is in the middle of the Salinas Valley which is located in Monterey County.  Arroyo Seco is known for having heavy fog cover which means that the vines are slow to ripen under the cooler temperatures and harvests have been known to take place in November.  While Arroyo Seco is well regarded and received its AVA in 1983, it is not seen that often, and the largest crop there is Chardonnay.  This particular wine is made entirely from Dijon Clones and was aged Sur Lies in a combination of Stainless Steel and French Oak.  There were seven-hundred-sixty cases produced and the aging potential for this wine is for five to six years, though truthfully most Chardonnay wines in this house do not last that long.  You know that I am not one for descriptors, but this wine delivered great citrus flavors and a nice long finish with just enough buttery oak to make everyone happy.  There will be more adventures and more wine to come.