Saturday Night – It’s been too long – Part 1

Thanks to birthday dinners, Easter and a generally busy April schedule, our normal Saturday night dinners with Mick and Amy haven’t been happening.  Thankfully that all changed last night when we actually managed to head over to Mick and Amy’s for a Saturday night dinner.

Mick had a couple of new recipes on tap as well as a new favourite recipe and three new wines to try.

The first course was Baba Ganoush with grilled pitas which I asked for earlier in the week when he asked if I had any menu suggestions.  He paired this with a 2007 Amayna Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc.

The nose the Amayna was an interesting mix of vanilla, gooseberry and toast.  Tasting the wine you will find pineapple, mango and caramel flavours running the length of the wine.  The structure on the wine was nicely balance which created a very smooth and easy drinking wine.  Quite frankly this was one of the better Chardonnays I have had in a while – too bad it is a Sauvignon Blanc! The oak on this wine was subtly done and it was a great pairing for the Baba Ganoush but I really had trouble getting my head around the fact that this was a Sauvignon Blanc and not a Chardonnay.  If you are looking for a big crisp Sauvignon Blanc then this isn’t the wine for you.  On the other hand, if you are just looking for a very nice white/Chardonnay like wine that is easy to drink and super smooth then this just might be your wine.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 88, Mark - 87, Kathy – 87, Amy – 88, Overall – 87.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

GARCÉS SILVA AMAYNA BARREL FERMENTED SAUVIGNON BLANC 2007

VINTAGES 143511
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 29.00
Made in: Leyda Valley, Chile
By: Vina Garces Silva Ltda.
Release Date: N/A
Wine, White Wine

The Baba Ganoush was excellent.  Mick grills the eggplant for this recipe and adds Sun-dried Tomatoes to it which I think are the keys to it being as good as it is.

Click here for Part 2