We finally got the living and dining room in some semblance of order and we were going to have our first Christmas Dinner to celebrate.  It may be a while before we get all the chachkas back on the shelves, along with the China and Crystal pieces (I know that all the fluff pieces written by fifteen-year-old on the home page on my computer poo-poos it; and I guess that they think we should use paper plates and Dixie cups).  The other day my Bride and I were getting ready to go out for our morning 5K walk and as I was locking the front door, she went down the driveway and was going to pick up some twigs, hit a small patch of ice and down she went.  At first, she thought it might have been a sprain, but she decided to call our physician and it was a break, small but a break.  As her consolation prize from the Orthopedic Physicians, she gets to wear a boot that looks like something designed by NASA for the space program.  So, if you didn’t get the Chester clue, you are young and you never saw an episode of Gunsmoke; and I only say it in jest, because after all of these years I still love her, but don’t tell her.  The other two honorees are The Wine Raconteur (Sr.) and The Wine Raconteur Jr. (who also brought his Bride and his two children) for dinner.

We began the evening in the living room where we had appetizers and just to catch up with everything, as they are always on the go.  We also were marveling at how well their two teenagers are doing in school and in their social life.  Even though my Bride was a bit hindered with her stylish foot apparel, she still made a nice table of munchies.  There was a tray of assorted fruits to accommodate the assorted cheese and crackers, though I think the Smoke Horseradish Cheddar may have cleared out the sinuses of the teenagers, as they were not expecting it. There was also Baked Brie with Caramelized Onion Jam topping and Baguette slices.  We also had Armenian Lahmajoon , which for an easy description is a personal size pizza with finely ground lamb, onions, parsley, garlic and crushed pepper flakes.

The Wine Raconteur Jr. also belongs to the same local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, but he and his Bride missed a special wine tasting with Korbin Ming, of Korbin Kameron and Moonridge Vineyards.  So, we decided to give them a modified tasting dinner featuring some great wines that they missed out on. We started off with Korbin Kameron Semillon Moon Mountain District 2018 and is an Estate Grown wine. Semillon is probably one of the least known, major varietals in the wine industry.  It makes some of the greatest sweet wines and it also makes some of the greatest dry wines.  Its home is Bordeaux, though it is done extremely well in parts of Australia and among a few wineries in California.  A wine that starts in Stainless Steel and finishes in oak.  There was only one barrel made of this wine or twenty-five cases or three-hundred bottles, so I am glad that we got some, and I consider it a rare coup for us.  I actually had a chance to try this wine ahead of time before the actual tasting and I reserved some of the wine for my cellar, and I knew that my Bride would love it.  She did. This organically made wine used native yeasts and had a nose that I would call plush floral and citrus, and it brought notes of citrus and ripe pear with a nice lingering long count finish.  In fact, we were having so much fun, that I forgot to take a photo of this first wine, and luckily I have a backup photo in my collection.