It was one of those days that was going to be fun.  We were going to have dinner later while we were in Downtown Detroit, and the restaurant had a dress code of proper business attire, which is fine with us as that is our normal attire.  We had to take care of some boring paperwork with our county administration, so we decided to park near the restaurant and then do all of our errands and some site-seeing as well.  Even though I had spent three years attending high school in Detroit, the city has changed dramatically since I had graduated, and I hope the prosperity continues after the new city elections.  Everywhere we wandered, not to brag, but people, even in cars, would tell us how great we looked and while our attire had not changed, most of the people that we encountered had changed.  I thought of Rhett’s lament of the world of gentility was gone.

We had walked by “Greektown” that is undergoing another change and we discussed the days of when it was really “Greek” and not a tourist trap.  We also walked past the “new” Hudson building, which is only a faint reminder of one of the greatest department stores in the country, it was the tallest, and the second largest and covered an entire city block, and as a kid, I still marveled that they maintained a Doorman at the back entrance left over from the carriage trade.   We decided to spend some time at Kamper’s until it was time to have dinner. The Book Tower was built by the Book brothers, who at the time were the wealthiest two men in Detroit and they had a desire to make Washington Boulevard competition to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.  They built the Book Cadillac Hotel, and the Book Tower and both became instant Detroit Landmarks with their Roman-influenced designs and embellishments.  Both buildings along with others were designed by the architect Louis Kamper and they were built during the heyday of Detroit, before the Great Depression.  They also have a great view of Downtown Detroit from above.

The Book Tower has a Japanese restaurant, a French Bistro, while Kamper’s has the charm of the Iberian Peninsula.  We had to go through the security desk in the building; to get permission to get to Kamper’s and then security preceded us into the elevator car to punch in a code, as the elevator does not go to that floor by appearance.  We didn’t have any tapas from the menu, but my Bride had a glass of Llopart Reserva Brut Rose Corpinnat Metode Tradicional Penedes, Spain 2021.  The Llopart family has had vineyards at their estate since 1385, and by 1887 the estate only had vineyards.  Located in the municipality of Subirats, this mountainous estate had five-hundred hectares of vineyards at a medium altitude with shallow soil and a large root extension.  Corpinnat is the registered brand name of a group of Penedes wineries that broke away from the Cava DO, besides the traditional Cava grapes and organic farming, the new designation also allows Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  This wine is a blend of sixty percent Monastrell, twenty percent Grenache and twenty percent Pinot Noir.  The grapes are hand-harvested and whole-pressed, and fermented at low temperature, the base wines are then bottled at the beginning of the year and allowed to rest for eighteen months prior to riddling and the Brut dosage, the wine is aged totally for a minimum of twenty-four months.  The pale salmon colored wine with small bubbles offered notes of cherries, pomegranates, cranberries and custard.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine with good acidity displayed tones of red fruits and ended with a medium-count finish of fruit with a creamy texture.

As for me I went and relaxed with Bodegas Agro de Bazan Granbazan Etiqueta Verde Albarino Salnés Valley Rias Baixas 2023.  Bodegas Granbazan is considered a crown jewel of the region with its pronounced French chateau influence.  Albarino has been praised in the area since the days of the Galician kingdom.  The wine is pure Albarino from vines that are over thirty-five years of age, grown on high granite soils on the banks of an estuary with strong Atlantic influence.  The fruit is de-stemmed and undergoes cold maceration for six to eight hours, with controlled fermentation in Stainless Steel tanks.  The wine rests on fine lees without batonage and then bottled four to five months after fermentation is complete.  A bright yellow wine offering notes of stone fruit, tropical fruits and white floral flowers.  On the palate there were tones displayed of white stone fruit, mandarin, touches of marzipan with refreshing acidity and a good medium count finish of salty air (salinity).