Saturday Night – Not the usual band of malcontents

This past Saturday we added three more guests to our usual Saturday night dinner with Mick and Amy – Chris and Jan and Sheian.

We didn’t review the wines as we usually do, so this blog is more just a quick recap of the evening.

"Menu for the evening"

"Crab Dip with Crackers"

The starter was Crab Dip and Crackers paired with 2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.  The grapefruit flavour and crispness of the wine made a good contrast to the sweetness of the Crab dip.

"2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc"

"Homemade Croutons with Caesar :)"

  

The second course was Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons paired with 2008 Louis Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay.  We have done this pairing a number of times and it is always a beautiful match.

"Louis Jay-DOT as Mick would say"

"Beef Tenderloin being carved up"

"Port and Shallot Sauce"

"The final plate" 

For the main course I did Beef Tenderloin with Port & Shallot Sauce and Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and a side of Green Beans paired with Joseph Phelps 2003 Insignia.  The 1999 Insignia is the highest rated red wine on the Top 10 Red wines list.  The 2003 Insignia isn’t quite as good as the 1999 but it wasn’t far off.   I would guess that we would have rated in the 91-92 point range; wonderful nose and incredibly smooth taste it wasn’t hard to kill this bottle.  

"2003 Insignia"

"Cork from 2003 Insignia"

"Table shot (from left to right) Mick, Sheian, Chris and Jan... Amy is taking the picture and I'm cooking... so where is my lovely wife?"

"Oh there she is raiding the wine fridge!"

We opened a 2005 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon as the Insignia was gone before we finish the tenderloin.  The Cab paled in comparison to the Insignia but it is a quarter of the price of the Insignia as well.  The Cab was more fruit forward than the Insignia and didn’t have the rich earthiness that the Insignia did but it was a decent pairing with the course.

"Not Insignia"

"Three to Dream dessert by Sheian"

Sheian made her “Three to Dream” Dessert and we paired it with a 2006 Inniskillin Vidal Ice Wine that Chris and Jan brought.  The dessert was quite good and the Ice Wine was a stellar pairing.  I’m usually not a huge Ice Wine fan as I prefer the less expensive and less sweet Late Harvest wines instead, but this Ice wine was very good; the huge sweetness was there but there was big acidity to nicely balance it out.

"2006 Inniskillin Vidal Ice Wine"

"White Chocolate Raspberry Tart by Chris and Jan"

Chris and Jan made a White Chocolate Raspberry Tart paired with Southbrook Framboise which they also provided.  The tart was very good.  I liked the Raspberry based dessert wine though it was a little sharp at times with the dessert.

"Southbrook Framboise"

The evening was a blast and I like to thank everyone for coming. I especially like to thank Chris and Jan for the dessert and the dessert wines and Sheian for her dessert.

Cheers!

Mark