We got up bright and early to get ready for our trip, last minute stuff to pack, coffee, breakfast and to read the newspaper; and I sometimes feel that I am the last person that still enjoys the feel of the paper in one’s hand.  We were going to stop at the butcher counter and get filets for one of the dinners during the weekend, the dinner before we were planning to see our one nephew in a local theatrical production.  After about a six-hour drive with lighter than usual traffic we got to Louisville.  We were staying at an extended suite hotel, the kitchen galley was very nice, including pots and pans, dishes, glasses and utensils along with a dishwasher.  Of course, with me, I found a few faults with the suite.  Instead of having two beds, there should have been one, with a sofa and an easy chair, and there should also have been at least one desk chair, instead of all dining room table chairs for when working on the computer, but the worst sin was no wine glasses.  OK, minor complaints, but it had to be mentioned, if they really need my input. 

After we unpacked, at the hotel, we drove over to see my Bride’s sister and her husband and which ever of the children might be there for dinner.  It was kind of exciting and all the talk was about the one daughter away at college that had the lead in Little Women, the son that we were going to see on Sunday in his play, as well as the other two boys.  We all started off with munchies of cheese and crackers, after all, what is better with wine than that to start off the meal?  My Sister-in-Law was getting fancy and cutting parchment paper to make pouches as she was going to Salmon en papillote.  Fancy and delicious, but at home we basically just make the salmon and the vegetables separately, but all was good.

We brought some wine with us, because that was only the fair thing to do.  We brought a bottle for the suite and one for us to take of my Bride’s newest go-to wine that we discovered at our local wine club, and it was not a monthly offering.   Famille Sichel Sirius Bordeaux Blanc 2017 was the wine that was poured.  Famille Sichel is a family owned negocient firm from 1883 in Bordeaux, as they were in the procurement process for their locations in Mainz, London and New York.  In 1938 they even bought Chateau Palmer, which at the time had fallen on bad times and have since brought it back to all of its glory.  The family does not believe in resting on their laurels as in 2001 they even built a completely new bottling and storage facility in the Bordeaux region.  This particular bottle of wine is a blend of the two leading white grapes of Bordeaux, namely Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.  I don’t think that I would be amiss to opine that this wine was aged in Stainless Steel as there was plenty of fruit and very refreshing.  It starts off with a nose of citrus fruits and finishes with some terroir with a decent finish.  The wine kind of evaporated during the munchie part of the evening.  As we were getting ready for the salmon, I know that my Bride loves a good Pinot Noir, so I opened up a Big Sur Vineyards Reserve Pinot Noir 2013.  As we had all been to Carmel-by-the-Sea, Carmel Highlands, Ventana and Big Sur, not as a group, but we all had great memories of the region, the food and the wines. Big Sur Winery was originally an olive grove, which they still maintain and they offer many products made from olive oil.  They do not offer much information about their wines, but the fruit for this wine came from the Antle Vineyard in the Chalone AVA. They had produced one-hundred-seventy-cases of this wine and their original estimation was that the wine would age for another five to six years.  They were wrong, this wine was still rather feisty and big, for a Pinot Noir and it was totally delightful.  The winery alas, lost all of their buildings in the first couple of days of the Soberanes Fire of 2016 and are still rebuilding.  A great way for the weekend to begin.