We were finally on our way to see Bernadette Peters and her one woman show at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor.  I think we were both looking forward to seeing the show, perhaps me, a bit more, but my Bride does enjoy theatrical performances, and I think that I truly do as well.  In elementary school we were taught to project our voice using our diaphragm, and we I hear singers that have weak voices, I get disappointed.  An entertainer needs to be able to “work” the room, and to project.    I had seen her years ago, before she became famous, and I was impressed, and I was sure that she still had that quality.   My generation may be the last to have seen all-around entertainers, because I did get to see the last of the vaudeville stars, the dinner club stars, and the elites of show business who enjoyed years, no decades of rave reviews.

We started our evening off at Taste Kitchen, which is conveniently only several doors down on the same side of the block of the theater.  My Bride immediately got excited, because she saw the man who she claims makes the best Spanish Coffee drinks ever.  They also seated us in the adjacent room, that I thought was only used for parties, and we had a wonderful table for people watching as they strolled by, and many paused to peruse the menu that was posted as well.  My Bride was very pleased as she started off with Butternut Squash Soup with fried carrots, coconut milk, apple, red curry, and ginger.  While I had the Tuna Carpaccio with paté, chives, truffle oil, wasabi-soy aioli, and crostini.  For her entrée, my Bride had the Seared Diver Scallops with shitake, apple, fennel, arugula, miso-butternut squash purée, and coconut curry.  While I had the Sakura Pork Loin with Brussels sprouts, carrots, daikon, butternut squash polenta, and demi-glace.  We also had a bottle of Ottella Le Creete Lugana DOC 2022 from Azienda Agricola Otella.  Lugana is a white wine specific region that straddles Lombardy and Veneto but is considered part of Lombardy.  There are a couple of different designations for Lugano, but it seems that the wine has to be ninety percent of a locally known varietal known as Turbiana.  I have seen this wine listed as being Verdicchio, and I have seen it listed as Trebbiano di Lugano.  I have also seen where some that study the grapes scientifically have crossed off the possibility of Verdicchio, so I will call it Turbiana.  The Montresor family has been running Ottella for four generation, and it has been attested that the Montresor family was the only ones to produce Lugana in the province of Verona in 1905.  In 1964 the family began delineating the lands and they began working to get a DOC designation.  This wine is pure Turbiana (Trebbiano di Lugana) and from the vineyard owned by Le Creete, twelve hectares on the southern end of Lake Garda on limestone and clay soils.  The fruit is hand-harvested using small crates.  The majority of the fruit is pressed whole cluster and a small amount with light destemming.  Slow fermentation and then aging for about eight months on fine lees in Stainless-Steel tanks.  A soft yellow-golden wine that offers notes of pineapple, guava, lemons, and white florals.  On the palate tart tones of passion fruit, pineapple, lemon zest in a crisp, well-balanced wine that ends  with a good medium count of fruit and chalk (limestone).  

As the countdown for the show was getting closer, we decided to share a Coconut Rice Pudding with coconut-orange cake, toasted coconut, coconut sorbet, and pineapple-rum caramel.  It may sound excessively sweet, but it was actually very subtle and delightful.  She told the waiter that she wanted to make sure that the beverage manager made her Spanish Coffee, while I just had a coffee…and a glass of Vin de Liqueur by R. Navarre Pineau des Charentes Cuvee de Renclos Rosé NV.  Vin de Liqueur, also known in France as Mistelle, is a term for an alcoholic beverage produced by adding a high proof spirit, in this case Cognac, to an unfermented or slightly fermented fruit juice. It is made by adding the last year’s Cognac to fresh grape must of the current vintage, and last year’s Cognac must still be in a barrel.  Red and Rosé Pineau need only spend eight months in oak barrels and leave the winery after twelve months.  The Navarre estate, which is located entirely within the Grande Champagne district of Cognac was founded in 1811, and they are family owned.  They have eleven hectares, and one hectare is reserved exclusively for the production of Pineau des Charentes.  They have a 10hl Copper still to produce this special wine.  The AVA was established in 1945.  The grapes grown on the estate and used for this wine are: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Folle Blanche, Jurancon Blanc, and Montils (aka Aucarot and Chalosse).  The amber colored wine offers notes of red cherries, apricots, and nuts.  On the palate there were tones of red fruits, toasted and honeyed nuts, and ending with a nice medium count finish of marzipan, spices, and terroir.