A Party for a Newborn Infant

Posted on August 3, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Recently some good friends of our, decided to forgo a traditional Baby Shower and waited for the infant to be born, so that they could invite all of their friends to see their new grandchild.  I thought this was an excellent way to get friends and family together and not preclude all of the men.  It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and to celebrate a new member of their family.  My Bride and the Grandmother, that was the hostess, have been friends since Elementary School, and have maintained contact through out the years, with a close bond.

 Inniskillin Pinot Noir Montague Vineyard 2010

Our hosts for the afternoon, decided on a very nice barbeque dinner for all of the guests.  The food was more than ample for all the attendees and started with munchies and appetizers, and went on from there.  Even though our Hostess has dietary restraints, all of the food was excellent, and one would not even realize that there were special requirements, if one didn’t know about them ahead of time.  Some of the guests also brought dishes for the dinner to be shared with everyone, including my Bride, who altered her oft requested Caesar Salad for the benefit of our Hostess.  One surprise to me, as I had never seen it before was that the Chicken Kebabs that were on skewers as they were being cooked were all perfectly cubed and equal in size, which amazed me.  Our host went on to tell me that he purchases these from one of the major “club” stores, and they are prepared this way, to facilitate even cooking time as well as presentation.  After I though about it, I was impressed not only with the concept, but also with the ease of prep work involved for a crowd of this size.

 Oak Grove Sauvignon Blanc 2012

As for the beverages for the day, our Hosts had several stations set up in their yard for different types of drinks.  There was a soft drink area, a beer area and a wine area.  Each location had a respective cooler with plenty of ice to keep everyone comfortable in this setting.  My Bride and I brought two bottles of wine to add to the stock of wines available as well.  One of the wines that we brought was our current go-to white wine, namely a Sterling Chardonnay 2011 that I written about several times, and has always received rave reviews, which I put into the wine cooler as soon as I got there.  As we were one of the earlier guests to arrive, I had the choice of selecting the first white wine to open and I chose an Oak Grove Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2012 that I thought would be perfect on this sunny afternoon.  This is a California wine, made with grapes from the Coastal area, which is as specific as the winery details on their information sheet.  Suffice it to say, that the wine was most enjoyable in the mid-day sun, during all of the revelry.  The second bottle of wine that we brought was a wine that we had bought while we were up in the Niagara district of Ontario, and I wanted to see how it was faring from storage.  As we were not aware of the menu, I had brought a bottle of Inniskillin Pinot Noir “Montague Vineyard” 2010, as I figured this softer red should work with almost any dish that we had to pair it with.  I am happy to say, that I was still pleased with the wine even after the fun of tasting it at the winery and it may have even better after aging in our cellar.  It seemed to be popular with others, as well and that made us both happy.

Good food, good wine and a happy event to celebrate, what more is there in life?

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More Notes about the Reunion

Posted on August 1, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Since I covered the basis for the Reunion, now I shall discuss some of the fun moments of the affair as well. Through the initial opening of the doors and right through the dinner period there was classic music playing of our era, with special emphasis on the sounds of Motown and rightfully so.  So when I got a moment to listen to music while I was at the registration table and ably assisted I could here some old standards of my youth.  By the time dinner had ended, the live music portion of the evening was preparing and the party really started to heat up.  I even tried to walk around the tables to see some people that I only had a chance to say hello to, while doing the paper work.  Though I have to admit that of the three teachers that attended, I somehow missed one of the teachers that showed up, and I admired him then as well as to this day, and I feel badly that I did miss him.

 Ch Grand Marceaux Medoc 2005

As a gesture towards my reputation as “The Wine Raconteur” the committee got me a bottle of wine.  As I said in the last article I tried several of the wines that we were serving and I was very happy.  I happily went out to my car to get my waiter’s corkscrew and opened up a bottle of Chateau Grand Marceaux Medoc 2005.  The Medoc is a smaller section of the Bordeaux region, and the Medoc itself is divided into two parts; Haut-Medoc and Bas-Medoc, and these designations refer to the elevation of the land.  The Haut-Medoc is where the famed Communes of Bordeaux reside, hence you will see that term on a bottle, whereas the growers of the Bas-Medoc feel that the term appears in a negative tone, so consequently the wines are usually listed as Medoc.  The major wine varietals for the Medoc is the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot plus small quantities of Malbec and Petit-Verdot and the mix is determined by the individual winery or by the Negociants, as there is no legal standard for the mix.  This wine had a deep color that one expects from Bordeaux, and the tannins were heavy, especially after drinking some wines that were made for immediate consumption, and there was a decent aftertaste as well.

 Wine Glasses Painting

Another surprise for me that evening was from an old neighbor of mine, actually her brother was more of my contemporary, but we became good friends through social media.  She has been going to art classes and parties and she presented me with a painting of numerous wine glasses filled with red wine.  I was overwhelmed with her generosity and her thoughtfulness.  She and her husband came up from Kentucky and her husband was one of the members of the band, even though he himself was not an alumni, his charming wife was an alumna.  It would not be right of me, not to mention this fine gift, and to give me another chance to say “thank you.”

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The Reunion

Posted on July 30, 2013 by thewineraconteur

The day finally arrived, for ages it seemed like it was never going to arrive and then it happened.  A reunion for a group of alumni from a Junior High School from Southwest Detroit is what I am talking about.  Most people attend their High School reunion for a given year, but this was an open year party for the former students.  Most people tend to go to school from elementary to high school with the same students; because that is how most school systems function, and I am sure that a percentage of the attendees to the reunion may have fit this classic concept.  For the majority of the attendees that was not the case, as I will explain; in Detroit five elementary schools merged their children into one junior high school, and then from the one junior high school the graduates had the potential of attending four or more high schools, just in the city, so everyone gets splintered, and old friendships may disappear.  With the appearance of “social media” old friendships are rekindled and three years ago, the first open year reunion began.  Word of mouth led to the second reunion.  Finally there was discussion of a third reunion, but while everyone was positive on the concept, there was inertia for the genesis of a new committee.  I may have had one too many glasses of wine, and I started the basis of a planning meeting.  The next thing I knew, I was the chairman of this reunion and I had some volunteers to round out my staff and a lot of people that came to the meetings for the camaraderie and fellowship.

 Black Box Wines

I was the administrator and from day one, I stressed that I did not want to handle finances, just the over all picture.  We had another man that had great plans, and we decided that 200 attendees would be our goal and a break even point to cover food and drinks and a disc jockey to play the music from our era.  Eventually a big surprise was that there were enough alumni that were professional or semi-professional musicians and they created a band, even with some of the musicians located in other states, but the band leader handled all of the logistics, in fact later on we learned that the music teacher that also conducted the school band was going to come with his saxophone and that created much more interested, as if the band was not enough interest in their own right.

There was a buffet dinner picked out for all of the attendees which featured Chicken, Kielbasa and Kraut and Mostaciolli as well as salads and sides and then there were cakes as well.  Everyone came up to me, to tell me how much they enjoyed the work of the catering company, though it was a good thing that I stopped and got something to eat before I got to the hall, as I ended up working the registration table with another person, and at least I was able to greet and see most of the people that had bought tickets.  I was so frazzled trying to get everything accomplished, that by the time I had finished there was just a small amount of food left, and I passed on dinner.  I was just in kind of in overdrive, because with the natural procrastination of most people, we did not have the count achieved until a couple of weeks before the event, and when we were done, the count was about 260 and the hall had capacity for 300, so it was a success.  We had centerpieces created by some of the volunteers and helium filled balloons, special banners were made, and one member took it upon herself to do group photos by year of the attendees.  What a heady affair it was.

 MI Wilson Jr High School Banner

For beverages, we originally planned on beer and wine for the price of admission, and there was going to be a cash bar for cocktails, as this was a cost that would have skewed the admission price and perhaps deterred attendance.  We had a couple of kegs of beer, after taking a survey via social media of the brands that were most popular among the people coming.  We were so successful in ticket sales, that we even had even funds to cover the first $500.00 of cocktails for those that wished to have a drink.  For the wines, which was part of my domain I did a survey as well, as what wines were the most popular for those coming.  To maintain quality and price, we ended up going with a “box” wine, and we found a wine company that offered quality and at a good price.  We went with Black Box Wines and the company was dedicated to offering a quality wine for immediate consumption and the wines that we picked out were from different countries as well.  With a California designation there was Merlot, Pinot Grigio and Riesling wines.  Also from California, but with a Monterey County designation was a Chardonnay.  From Argentina we had two other wines that offered; a Malbec and a Moscato.  Our third country that was represented was Chile, which was a Cabernet Sauvignon.  While I did not try every wine that evening, I attempted to try several of them, just to make sure that the wines lived up to their claims and I am pleased to say that the wines were all better then I had hoped for.

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A Conference Dinner

Posted on July 28, 2013 by thewineraconteur

This was a night, which I had originally blocked on my calendar to help go and help decorate a hall for an upcoming reunion that I have been working on.  About a week prior the date was changed, and the night it was changed to I had made a prior commitment for, but it opened up a night for me to have dinner with my Bride and a group of her professional associates.  The conference this time was held at The Dearborn Inn, a hotel complex that I have written about before and is noted as the first “Airport Hotel” in the United States of America, though the airport has long since disappeared from the area.

 Rawsons Retreat Cab and Chardonnay

As I walking through the complex, I passed a public tavern where I saw a group of the people that I would be having dinner with that evening in a little impromptu meeting, so I continued on to the room where the dinner was being held and met up with my Bride.  The majority of the attendees were already there and enjoying the hospitality of the evening, having a drink and enjoying the appetizers that were being proffered by the wait staff.  The appetizers were mini-Bruschetta, which were very tasty just a little messy to eat while standing, especially with a glass of wine in one hand, while talking to people.  The other dish was very delicious and I felt it was novel, bacon wrapped scallops, as opposed to the usual water chestnuts that are usually encountered.  When the staff quietly and efficiently got everyone seated for dinner in the room, they brought out the first course which was a salad with a Maple Balsamic dressing that was very subtle and not sweet, like I had mentally presumed it to be.  The entrée dish that we all enjoyed was a combination of grilled Salmon and a Filet Mignon with a side of a rice presentation, both were properly prepared and it was a nice alternative to “Surf and Turf.”  For dessert we enjoyed a very light, almost Mousse like Strawberry Cheesecake that was excellent, as I am not partial to most Cheesecakes as they tend to be so heavy.

MI The Dearborn Inn BC2

At the bar set up in the room besides the mix drinks and beer, they were serving wine.  It was the same wine that I had, the last time I was at The Dearborn Inn, as it must be there basic staple wine for the catering department, but it gave me a chance to revisit the wines in a different milieu.  The wines were Rawson’s Retreat Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, both of the 2012 vintage.  As I mentioned before, this wine series is from the Penfolds wine group of Australia and has been created for “immediate” use, and I got a chance to try it again.  This time I tried the Chardonnay first, and since I was coming from the outdoors which was hot and humid, I found it the wine to be very inviting and enjoyable, but then how can one not enjoy an easy Chardonnay on a summer evening.  When it came time for the entrée, I switched over to the Cabernet Sauvignon, and I had recalled that I did not like the first taste of this wine, when I first tried it, but this second time that I had the wine, perhaps because it has been opened earlier, was a much better glass of wine, than the first encounter.  So, now I feel that I would not be as hesitant if I were offered these wines again.

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The Masters Restaurant in Madison Heights, Michigan

Posted on July 26, 2013 by thewineraconteur

There is a rather curious sight when one is at the corner of Dequinder and Thirteen Mile Road in Madison Heights, a Northern suburb of Detroit.  If one is even remotely familiar with the game of golf there is a building that evokes the fabled clubhouse that becomes famous at least once a year in Augusta, Georgia.  Not only does this building resemble the clubhouse it is called The Masters Restaurant and when one enters it, they are surrounded by all sorts of golf memorabilia from antiques to present day.  My Bride and all of her female relatives frequent this location for their monthly “Cousins” get-together and I have had the good fortune to go there a couple of times a year with my dinner group.

Ferrari Carano Siena 2010

The other night I met my group for dinner and it was a very fine evening to be with the guys.  Our hosts that evening started the dinner off with hot and cold appetizers of cocoanut shrimp, chicken wings, assorted cheeses, crackers, fruits and vegetables.  This followed by a house salad, which was beyond the norm of just iceberg lettuce and dressing, which some restaurants call a house salad.  Our hosts that evening chose three different dishes for us to choose as our entrée; Prime Rib, Whitefish and Chicken Marsala.  The dinner ended with a chocolate sundae and coffee, and then we began our meeting.  I took advantage of the Prime Rib with fresh horseradish and potatoes, as it is a dish that one seldom sees anymore being offered, and at one time it was a standard dish offered by most restaurants.

 MI The Masters Restaurant BC

After having a cold cocktail to fight off the humidity of the day and early evening, I asked to see the wine list.  I had no intention of ordering a bottle of wine as this was a dinner where I was not a host and that would be too presumptuous on my part, but I did wish to see what was being offered by the glass, instead of just asking for a “Cabernet Sauvignon” or just a “Red Wine.”  As I looked at the list, I saw a wine that was a red blend from a winery that I have enjoyed several of their wines in the past, namely Ferrari-Carano Vineyards & Winery of Healdsburg, California in the Sonoma County.  The wine that caught my eye was Siena 2010 which is from their “Spirit of Italy” collection.  This wine is a blend of the following varietals; Sangiovese, Malbec, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.  As soon as I ordered a glass of this wine, another man did as well, telling our server, that he knows his wines.  Since this wine is predominately made from the Sangiovese grape, it has that mellow Italian flavor, a good color, a soft nose and I enjoyed it with my Prime Rib dinner.  The other gentleman at my table also enjoyed the wine and made it point to tell me that I had made a good selection as he was having the same dinner as I was.

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Another Planning Meeting for my Reunion

Posted on July 24, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Periodically I bring you up to date on the plans for my open year Junior High School Reunion and we just had the last planning meeting, as it is one week away, actually by the time you read this the Reunion will have taken place and I can relax from the duties of Chairman of the Committee.  We met at an Italian restaurant not far from the venue where the Reunion will take place, and yes there will be an article about the Reunion as there were wines selected for the occasion.  I called for the meeting at a restaurant that I have gone to a couple of times before, Baldo’s in Brownstown, Michigan.

 Sartori Valpolicella 2007

Everyone ordered the dishes that they were comfortable with, and several of the members were even ordering additional orders of food to take home to spouses that were not in attendance.   They gave us a nice table in the back, so that we could conduct the meeting while I was enjoying a plate of home made Gnocchi with a meat sauce.  This is a dish when made properly is a great plate of pasta, and when it is not, or is a frozen prepared pasta can be very heavy and unappetizing, suffice it to say that this was not the case, and I was happy with my selection, as I have been every time I have ventured to this restaurant.

 MI Baldo's Menu

I also had a bottle of Valpolicella wine with my meal.  It was a bottle of Sartori Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2007, from the Montegradella vineyard.  The Classico in the name means that it is from the classified section near Verona to be entitled to be called Valpolicella, and the Superiore designation refers to the fact that it has been aged for at least a year and the alcohol proof must be 12%.  This Valpolicella wine is made from the following varietals; Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, Rondinella and Croatina.  It was a very smooth wine and complimented my meat sauce; in fact I would say that it would be a good choice for almost any red meat dish that one could pair it with, as I was very happy with the selection.

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A Couple of Dessert Wines

Posted on July 22, 2013 by thewineraconteur

After having dinner at one restaurant during the Plymouth Art Fair, we ventured off for dessert at another restaurant, as I was telling them about a great dessert that I have had there before.  Alas in the time lag between visits, the restaurant acquired a new chef and he ceased offering the dessert that I was talking about, because of the high costs of part of the preparation.

 Chaeau Chantal Cerise NV

A couple of us decided on trying some dessert wines while we were there.   They had several wines in this category to select from, but three of them were Port wines and these were voted down, in anticipation that they might be too sweet, even after my assurance.  That was fine, as there were two other wines that I thought sounded too good to pass up.  The first wine was by a favored winery of mine in the Traverse City area and it was Chateau Chantal Cerise and it was non-vintage, which is understandable as this wine is a Cherry wine with a special taste and richness, with just a subtle cherry taste.  It was neither sweet nor cloying; I would venture to say very satisfying and showed a nuance that I have not found offered by some other dessert wines.  The other wine we tried was from a famed area noted for desert wines in Italy, using one of the oldest of grape varietals recorded in history and lore.  We tried a glass of Brogo Maraliano “La Caliera” Moscato di Asti also a non-vintage wine.  This varietal is known as Moscatel in Spain and Portugal, and here in the New World as Muscat.   For a dessert wine this is a very crisp wine with a slight sparkle, or as they say in Italian “frizzante,” also not overpowering, but subtle and a very clean taste.   Both of these wines, I feel could be appreciated by anyone, even those that claim that they do not like sweet wines, and it was a wonderful way to end the evening as we all departed on our ways.

La Caliera Moscato NV

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The Sardine Room in Plymouth, Michigan

Posted on July 20, 2013 by thewineraconteur

During the recent Plymouth Art Fair, I went with some friends along with many thousands others to walk the downtown area to look at the arts and crafts offered at each booth on both sides of several of the streets that were barricaded from vehicular traffic.  This is a big art fair for the state and people were all over doing exactly what we were doing.  There was a large group of people partaking of the many food carts and such, and all of the sidewalk café areas of the many restaurants were packed with diners that were looking for more substantial food.

 Ch Haut Monplaisir Malbec Cahoors 2009

There are three restaurants in a row right in the center of the downtown area overlooking the park, all three of these restaurants are owned by the same man, and each restaurant has a different feel as well as cuisine offering.  As we were getting hungry, we decided to see if we could get a table at the newest of the three restaurants called The Sardine Room, as it is the smallest of the three.  There was at least an hour wait for the outside dining area, but we were immediately seated inside, and that was fine by me as it was extremely hot and humid outside.  The restaurant has a more casual attitude in ambience, but not in the presentation and preparation of food.  The concept of small plates is the basis of The Sardine Room, and there are additional small plates that are brought out, with the emphasis on sharing the different dishes.  Some of the plates that were shared among us were fresh oysters with an assortment of condiments, salads, Portuguese Sardines done in herbed brown butter and capers, a large plate of shrimp and grits with white cheddar, andouille sausage and Fresno chilies.  It was fun to nibble and try the different dishes.

 MI The Sardine Room BC

We also enjoyed a wine from an area of France that is being rediscovered, that area being Cahors.  This area was producing wine prior to the Bordeaux region, but it has fallen in reputation to Bordeaux.  The grape varietal that has been grown here for ages is locally called Cot, but it is the Malbec varietal and it is usually blended with about 30% of other grapes.  The wine we were enjoying Chateau Haut-Monplaisir 2009 was all Malbec and quite deep and robust.  It was a great wine to enjoy though a bit overpowering for some of the dishes, it was a pleasure to drink it, just on its own merits.

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Cowley & Sons Irish Pub in Farmington, Michigan

Posted on July 18, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Sometimes one goes into a restaurant by happenstance and gets a new pleasure.   One night my Bride finally got home, a bit frazzled from a day at the office, because she had so many projects to complete.  Upon her arrival, she discovered that she had forgotten something that she would need very shortly and because of her itinerary, we had to change our dinner plans that evening and go back to her office to get what she needed.

 Segura Viudas Brut Reserva NV

On the way back home, we were taking a more leisurely route back home with the intention of finding someplace to eat, and it was during the middle time after first seating at most restaurants, so we knew it would be a bit more difficult to find a restaurant, and the area that we driving from is know to have a high probability of diners out that evening, so we were planned on having a more casual dinner.  We ended up stopping at an Irish Pub in Farmington, Michigan that has a large seating capacity, because they have a main floor, an upstairs and some tables outside as well, so we figured that we would go there.  Cowley & Sons were doing a good business that evening, but as luck would have it, we were able to get seated immediately.  My Bride ordered a Whiskey infused Clover Honey drizzled Salmon salad, that also had some flash-fried goat cheese as well, and she raved about it the entire time we were there.  I ordered a Carolina Barbequed Chicken with shaved Parmesan covered Asparagus spears and Irish Boxty, which if you are like me had never heard of this term and it was a form of a Potato Pancake.

 MI Cowley & Sons Coaster

Since my Bride was a bit more relaxed since she had retrieved what she had forgotten to bring home, she felt like being a bit festive about the wine that evening.  We had a bottle of sparkling wine from Spain for dinner.  Segura Viudas Brut is a charming sparkling wine from the Penedes region of Spain, near Barcelona and these wines are called Cava wines as they are made in the Methode Champenoise or in the Champagne method.  This wine is primarily made from the Macebeo varietal, for those of you who are attempting to join the Century Club and need a new varietal for your list.  This wine, while not expensive was just a pleasure to have during dinner, especially since we came in from a very hot and humid outdoors.  I must say we have always had good fortune with the Cava wines of Spain, a moment of festivity, they are refreshing and do not break the bank as so many other sparkling wines seem to be able to do.

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The Enjoyment of “Splits”

Posted on July 16, 2013 by thewineraconteur

One of the best laws that came down the pike in Michigan was the allowing of one to take an unfinished bottle of wine home from a dinner at a restaurant.  I am sure that there have been plenty of times when diners may have over indulged in the pleasures of wine in the old days, by having to finish that bottle, since they had paid for it, and did not want to waste the money.  I mean one can take the uneaten portion of your dinner, if that happens, and now one can the unfinished wine home as well.  Bravo.

 Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay Russian River Ranches 2011

All this is leading up to a night when my Bride came home from having a dinner with one of her friends, and the friend is not a drinker per se.  My wife scanned the list of available wines that were being poured by the glass, and then she looked at the wine carte as well.  She saw that the restaurant carried a few splits or half bottles of wine.  So she ordered one of the splits that were being offered.  In the past, we have ordered sometimes two or three splits during a dinner to pair with different courses if we were really into a fine dining experience.  Now a lot of restaurants have circumvented the necessity of offering splits, because the equipment that is now out there, can maintain the quality of an opened bottle of wine, much better then was possible years ago.  That is one reason that there seems to be in some venues such a wide range of wines by the glass, though more expensive if you interpolate the price of a glass to the number of pours from a wine bottle from a fresh bottle.  I am also a bit old fashioned and I guess I do like the idea of a freshly opened bottle of wine, especially in a finer establishment, though there are often times, due to today’s more hectic lifestyle and time necessities that a glass of wine with an entrée works just as well.  Nowadays I may ask the server to bring me the bottle so that I may photograph it, just for an article that I may write.

 More splits

We even maintain a small collection of splits in our own cellar, for the moments when we are dining in, and feel that a glass of wine each is just perfect for the meal that my Bride has created.  That is the one of the best reasons for maintaining a cellar, and this is an article that I actually get to thank the legislature for a law that actually makes sense.

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