We went out and celebrated one of my Bride’s best friends who is not a relative, but they are perfect together.  They were in the same industry forever, and they kind of worked together in the same companies; but it is how they act together that is great.  She always gets up and helps clean up after a party, as if she is a hostess, and she doesn’t stop, until everything is cleaned and put away.  They get worked up about the bill at a restaurant, as to who will pay the bill, or they also claim that there should be no gifts given for birthdays, but they both find loopholes around that rule, as if they are Philadelphia lawyers. It is fun to watch them, and I sometimes feel like I am a third wheel.

They are always saying that this restaurant is too expensive, or there is something wrong with a different restaurant; as they lose sight of the fact that one or the other is celebrating and treating.  We were going out to her city, as she lives out in the country, or it was country a few years back.  Originally it was planned for an afternoon of shopping and then a late lunch, and we would have cake and coffee at her house.  It was on a day that turned out to have a terrible snowstorm, and we were trying to change the reservations to an earlier hour, in fact, it turned out that it was when the restaurant was opening, and they were answering the phone, until about fifteen minutes before the doors opened.  We cautiously traveled on the highway and allowed all of the clowns to pass us in the storm at the same speed, if it was a summer afternoon, as we marveled at all the cars that have swerved and were in snow banks in the far left or far right lanes.  We got there, just as the doors were being opened and the guest of honor showed up, just a minute or two later, and she suggested that perhaps we could have a cake in the restaurant, as her subdivision was very treacherous for driving.  My twin dates both decided to start with Butternut Squash soup and a Caesar Salad with Salmon.  I was the deviant and had Scallops with a side order of Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce.  The restaurant allowed us to have the cake that my Bride had brought with us, thinking that we would have it at her house, and we all had Spanish Coffees with the cake.

 My Bride was trying to handicap my selection of wines, as if I was a rookie.  I knew it was early and the Birthday Girl is not a big drinker, so I went with something easy and fun.  I selected a bottle of Santa Margherita Brut Rose Vino Spumante NV.  Santa Margherita is located in northern Italy.  It was founded in 1935 by Gaetano Marzotto and they are famed for their Pinot Grigio wines.  In 1965, he applied traditional white winemaking methods to the Pink Grigio and created the signature light, crisp wine that they are known for, and they are the international market leader for the last fifty years.  In doing some research the winery website on two different platforms, list the three grapes differently; one page it is listed as Glera, Chardonnay and Malbech (Malbec) and on the other as Glera, Chardonnay and Pinot Nero (Noire).  The Pinot Nero or Noire is the more traditional grape found in the sparkling wines.  The base grape is Glera, as it is not from the appellation-controlled regions of Prosecco.  Whichever three grape combination that is used, the fruit comes from the Valle dell ’Adige and eastern Vento and from basically alluvial soils common to the region. The wine is a blend of a base white wine with a rosé produced from a brief maceration of red grapes with their skins.  Second Fermentation takes place in horizontal pressurized tanks for about a month and then the wine is cooled to halt additional fermentation and then aged on the lees in the tank for about three months.  A pinkish-coppery colored wine with decent amount of smaller bubbles offered notes of red fruit and pink florals.  On the palate a crisp delicate wine that would be best described as berries and cream, and very easy drinking with a short finish of fresh fruit and flowers.  As I was attempting to be a pain, taking a photo, the waitress started to remove the cage, cork and muselet; and I asked her to leave the muselet and she knew what I was talking about.  All in all, it was a great lunch and birthday celebration.