We had the daily double for the holiday, we were doing New Year’s Eve dinner and then everyone was coming back here the next day for a New Year’s Brunch.  I thin part of it was logistics, because it was the best location for the Louisville contingent.  We had to make room once again for a dog cage in the family room as they now travel with a pet, and only the pet thinks that it is a lap dog.  I don’t know what happened, but I was very sick for a day, it started in the morning and by a little after nine in the evening, I just snuck off in the shadows and went to sleep, I ate nothing for the day, but I did try some of the wines that we were pouring, before I called it a night; and left my Bride to be the perfect hostess.

Actually, she got off pretty easy as our son insisted that we have an homage to his late grandmother, so, we had an evening of Polish food; and he did all the cooking and catering basically for the evening.  He insisted that the real version of Pierogis is with pork and veal that have been pureed, instead of potatoes and cabbage.  He also made Stuffed Cabbage with beef and veal.  I did some consulting with other wine people to find what they thought would pair with cabbage, which has its own unique characteristics.  The consensus was to have a Rosé wine, and it did work very well, as I heard the next day.  So, besides having a couple of Chardonnay wines open, one of the main wines was Clarendelle Rosé Bordeaux 2021.  Clarendelle is part of the Clarence Dillon Wine Group, which was established in 2005 and they offer four wines; a red, white, rosé and a dessert wine with the fruits coming from Dillon estates across Bordeaux.  The selling point of this wine is that the Dillon family in 1935 bought Chateau Haute-Brion.  The wine is a blend of sixty-five percent Merlot, thirty-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon and three percent Cabernet Franc.  The fruit was harvested in the last two weeks of September and had direct pressing, and a short maceration and fermentation period, presumably in Stainless Steel, to maintain the crisp, fruit flavors.  The pale pink-salmon colored wine offered notes of tropical fruits like Pomegranates and Lychee.  On the palate, tones of fruit, a touch of menthol, pepper with very soft tannins, fresh with a medium finish of fruit. 

Now not only did he make all the main courses, he also did a traditional Polish dessert.  He made Nalesniki z Serem, or Crepes with Sweet Cheese and I understand that he did a yeoman’s job, since we don’t have a crepe pan.  Now you have to understand that we had people coming in from about five in the afternoon and a continuous influx up to the Midnight hour.  My Bride came up to check on me, but she said that I was totally out of it, even with the fireworks that were going off and everyone yelling Happy New Year, though I probably feel that it is safe to say that no one sang Auld Lang Syne.  Another consensus was that I have a lighter red, perhaps not as dry as what we usually serve, and a few recommended a Gamay, but I did have some lighter reds in the cellar.  We served Black Star Farms Vintners Select Red Table Wine Michigan NV.  The Vintners Select collection is a blend of different vintages of all small lots with unique characteristics.  The wine carries a Michigan appellation as eighty-three percent of the fruit is from the Leelanau Peninsula and seventeen percent is from Old Mission Peninsula.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Teroldego, Merlot and Petite Pearls.  The wine is aged in a blend of newer French, European and American Oak.  The wine was described by the winery as a full-bodied red, but I thought it was more of a medium bodied red wine.  It had a nice deep garnet color and offered notes of dark fruit and spices.  On the palate there was dark fruit flavors with some spices and a touch of cocoa.  Even though I didn’t eat, I did taste the wine, before I called it a night and I thought it should pair quite well.