Saturday Night – COM-B-Q Light

We usually do a COM-B-Q with four couples and this one we did with three couples, hence the "light". Mick and Amy were one of the two visiting couples and Chris and his fiancé Jan were the other couple. I was excited about the dinner as this gave us a chance to meet Jan before the wedding, we had tried earlier in the year to do this but unfortunately Jan was ill so it ended up being just Chris attending that dinner.

"Amy's plate"

"Some Tomato with that Feta"

"Way too long since we last had this wine!"

The menu for the evening was as follows –

Mark and Kathy – Hummus with Pita + Tomato and Feta Salad paired with a 2007 d’Arenberg Viognier.

Mick and Amy – Grilled Prosciutto wrapped Shrimp paired with a 2006 Hogue Riesling

Chris and Jan – Grilled Beef and Vegetable Skewers paired with a 2005 Durbanville Hills Shiraz

Dessert – Raspberry Mango Cheesecake paired with a 2005 Perrin & Fils Muscat Beaumes de Venise

"Spicy but very good"

Some quick notes about the wines -

The d’Arenberg Viognier was the deciding factor in the food choice as I found a couple bottles on the rack a few weeks ago and hadn’t had this in awhile and decided to base my food pairing on the wine vs. the other way round. This wine is really fun to have with hummus as the wine on its own is very dry and somewhat sharp but pair it with hummus and it becomes a very fruit forward and soft wine.

"Nice pairing with the shrimp"

The Hogue Riesling caught me a touch off guard as it was on the drier side; I have gotten too used to Kabinett Riesling and their off dry style. Once I adjusted my preconceived notions I found that I enjoyed this wine with the shrimp.

"Chris proudly displaying his meat"

The Durbanville Hills Shiraz was nice; good fruit with a nice hit of pepper made this a very good pairing with the grilled beef skewers.

"Plated Grilled Beef Skewers"

The Muscat Beames de Venise was interesting, much higher in alcohol that I expected in the dessert wine (15%) but it had this honey lemon flavour going for it that I enjoyed.

"Very easy drinking"

"Raspberry Mango Cheesecake"

"Different but good"

The food and wines were all very good (though I ate and drank way too much!). I enjoyed chatting with Jan on a wide range of topics and getting to know her a little better. I always enjoy the leisurely format of these Com-B-Qs, an evening with good people and good food always equals a very good time.

Cheers!

Mark