Tank Garage Winery sent me some four bottles to sample and to review, and some people would have just enjoyed them when they received them.  I remember doing a virtual wine tasting and at least one of the reviewers admitted to drinking the wine before the event.  I don’t want to sound boastful, but I think that I could find a few bottles of wine to drink, between the moment that I receive the wine, to the moment that we actually taste the wines.  We decided to share and get some other viewpoints, which are always interesting to hear.  It also gave us some time to ponder a menu and tweak it towards the wines.  I also didn’t want my Bride to be in the kitchen the entire time of the tasting, so that was another concern.

When we shifted to the Dining Room, it was now time for the second half of the dinner.  We started off with an imposter, my Bride did a commercial Caesar Salad, and may I say “never again.”  It is alright to try a Brand X when one is out and about, but not at home.  We had a marinated Pork Tenderloin using Garlic, Rosemary and aged Balsamic and a side of sauteed diced fennel and onions as a side.  We paired this dish with Tank Garage Winery Dopamine Red Wine Sierra Foothills 2019.  Dopamine is a medication form of a substance that occurs naturally in the body, and it improves the pumping strength of the heart and improves blood flow to the kidneys, and I thought that was a unique name for a wine.  This wine was sixty-one percent Tempranillo, twenty-six percent Graciano and thirteen percent Syrah and it had a nice blood color to it, if I can interpolate.  The wine was aged for fifteen months in neutral oak and there were three-hundred-fifty cases produced.  This wine got everyone’s attention with a nose of strawberry and huckleberry mentioned by almost all.  It had a fruit forward offering of red fruits, mostly dry with a nice finish.  It paired very with the pork, but it also was delightful with the fennel and the onions. 

For the last course of the meal with had a classic version of Lamb Chops with Italian Herbs and Garlic and a course of baked potato slices with Parmesan Cheese.  Our last bottle of wine was Tank Garage Winery Wild Eyes Red Blend Napa Valley 2017, and just to clarify, I may be a mediocre photographer, but the label is printed to make it look like I had one too many.  This wine was a blend of fifty-one percent Malbec, forty-seven percent Cabernet Sauvignon and two percent Merlot.  It was aged for nineteen months in French Oak, a mix of new and once or twice used.  There were seven-hundred-forty-four cases made of this wine.  If the last wine was greeted with kudos, this wine was over the top for the evening.  The nose of dark fruits coupled with a taste of dark fruits, tinged with Blackberries, some notes of Chocolate and Vanilla.  I would definitely say that this group was more partial to big in-your-face wines, which the last two wines demonstrated.  In case, you think it ended, my Bride went and made Bananas Foster for dessert, and once again a thank you to Tank Garage Winery for their generosity.  They may be a bit more avant-garde, and we are a bit Old School, but the two worlds meshed very well for a couple hours of good food, wonderful wines and great friends.