Saturday Night – That’s Amore!

Our favourite newly weds, Chris and Jan, had Mick, Amy, Kathy and myself over for dinner last Saturday. They went with an Italian theme for the evening with the food and the wine.

"Bresaola with cheese and arugula"

The starter was cheese and arugula wrapped in Bresaola (which is like prosciutto but made with beef) and fresh bread with a dip of Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Jan had picked up the Balsamic vinegar on her last Italy trip; it had been aged for 18 years and had an amazing flavour to it. They paired a 2005 Farnese Sangiovese to go with the starter. The wine was a touch acidic, which I find is common with Italian wines, but it did make a very nice pairing.

"A little bottle of pure happiness!"

"Simple yet so good"

"Sangiovese"

The next course was Gnocchi with a Gorgonzola and walnut cream sauce. The pairing for this course was a 2003 Luciano Bruni Brunello di Montalcino. The Gnocchi were very good and the sauce was excellent. The Brunello was deep and complex and stood up well to the richness of the sauce.

"Loved the table settings"

"An action shot of Chris pouring out the wine!"

"Still drooling over this"

"A stunning wine"

The main course was pork cutlets with a tomato, garlic and herb sauce paired with a 2003 Christian Moueix Merlot from Bordeaux. The tomato, garlic and herb sauce was a nice compliment to the lean pork and gave the dish a wide flavour profile that I enjoyed. The Merlot was a bit thin and could have used a touch more fruit but was still a decent pairing.

"Pork with a tomato, garlic and herb sauce"

"French Merlot"

For dessert we were treated to a homemade Tiramisu paired with a bottle of 2008 L’Orpailleur semi-sweet gray wine from Quebec. The Tiramisu was yummy and I was impressed that they went to the trouble of making dessert from scratch which is something Mick or myself hardly ever do. The wine was different, very lemony, so much so that I almost wondered if it was made from lemon rather than grapes. I wasn’t a huge fan of this wine on its own but it was OK with the dessert.

"Homemade dessert...wow!"

"Very lemony"

To sum up the evening, it was a wonderful night with very good food, good wines and great company. Thanks to Jan and Chris for all their hard work and for putting together such an amazing evening.

Cheers!

Mark