We were celebrating Easter dinner at our house and my Bride was up early getting the dinner started, and we also had some surprise guests as our son from Las Vegas came in with his family.  He also came in for his wife’s side, for a night of music and to see some of his friends from school.  We set up a bar in the library and I kind of stayed low and out of the way, because once she is in full blown catering mode, I tend to get in the way.

She started it of making appetizers plates of fruits, vegetables, and cheeses, while the whole house was filled with the aromas from the kitchen.  This Easter she baked a Brie with an Onion Jam, and served a Horseradish Cheddar and some Lemon Ricotta; this time the Lemon Ricotta was the favorite.  Our one daughter-in-law brought in a platter of Deviled Eggs.  My Bride and I always play a game as we try to figure out, who would be first to arrive and we were both wrong this time.  I thought I would make my Bride happy and open one of her favorite wines Famille Sichel Sirius Bordeaux Blanc 2019.  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 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.    

She was roasting a leg of lamb with carrots, mushrooms, rutabaga, parsnips, and completely stuffed with lamb.  She also had a ham (next week there will be some great soup made from the bone). She made garlic stuffed roasted cauliflower, Armenian Pilaf, roasted potatoes, and mashed potatoes.  After, there were all sorts of desserts and of course the obligatory birthday celebration with the addition of the family from Las Vegas.  We had a bottle of Podere Ciona Semifonte Gaiole in Chianti Toscana IGT 2018 that I tried at a tasting that I have not even wrote about yet, which will be soon.  Franca and Franco Gatteschi were looking for a place in the countryside to retire to, after many years of working in Italy and abroad, when they came across a small, beautiful, albeit run down property: 100 acres of land, mostly wooded with 10 acres set aside for cultivation, of which 2.5 acres already had vineyards; a house from the 18th Century, abandoned for more than 40 years; and, above all, a view without equal on the Chianti hills, with Siena in the distance.”  It really sounds idyllic and makes one ponder how this property was neglected and ignored for years.  “They purchased the estate at the beginning of 1990 and they immediately started the reconstruction work on the main house (it took nearly three years). They also set up a small but well- equipped wine cellar for making wine. In 1996 they permanently moved to live on the estate and the following year, the great 1997 vintage, saw the birth of the first “official” wine of Podere Ciona: A Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva.  I will include the production and tasting notes when I discuss the latest tasting of the winery’s offerings.  Suffice, it to say, that tomorrow, I have to go to the Fine Wine Source and pick up a couple of cases of wines for some of the people that enjoyed the wine.