The Blog has been a little quiet recently as our usual Saturday dinners with Mick and Amy haven’t been so usual. Health matters, schedules and holidays were to blame but on the upside we did get together with Mick and Amy on Saturday with four extra guests as Steve, Melanie, Zdenka and Alex joined us. The original plan was Mick, Steve and myself were going to hit the drag-strip and spend the afternoon laying down some rubber on the track and then the eight of us were going to get together for a Combique style dinner. Unfortunately due to the weather the only thing getting laid down on the track was lots of rain water.
Normally for a Combique each couple brings an appetizer sized course and a bottle of wine to pair with it. For this one, as we were supposed to be at the track most of the day, we changed so I would provide the meat for a mixed grill, Mick/Amy and Melanie/Steve were making sides to go with the mixed and Zdenka/Alex were bringing dessert
As the weather cancelled the event and I had free time I made a Blue Cheese and Bacon dip as a starter and we kicked the evening off with this and a bottle of Roederer Champagne (which turned into two bottles as the first went down so well). I won’t review the Champagne as we have had it a number of times and it is always very good.
The main course was a mixed grill of Beef Tenderloin, Chicken and Wild Boar Sausage which Mick was kind enough to grill on the BBQ. Mick made a corn and bean salad which was very good and Melanie made cheese stuff potatoes (two types – Blue Cheese and Cheddar) and a tomato and feta salad. The potatoes were awesome looking and tasted just as good as they looked.
I opened a bottle of 2005 Decoy as the pairing to go with the main course. Decoy is a red wine blend (45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot 11% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot.) from California.
Nosing the wine, you will find a nice mix of black licorice, eucalyptus, pine, black berry and black pepper. Tasting the wine, flavours of raspberry, mint, pepper and green pepper are to be found. The wine came across as very dry due to the tannin being a little out of balance when drinking it on its own. Having the wine with the food though is where it really shined; the tannin was toned down thanks to the food and the wine came across as very smooth. I was impressed that the wine was easily big enough to handle all the different flavours of the main course without an issue and worked as a great pairing for all of those food flavours. The other thing of note was the finish – big, beautiful and lingered around forever. All in all, a very solid and nicely crafted red blend.
Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 90, Mark – 90, Kathy – 88, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.25.
There was no LCBO information on the wine but a quick web search puts it at $29 US per bottle so between $40 and $50 Canadian. At that price, it is a heck of a wine for the money and I would recommend if you happen to come across some to pick it up.
For Dessert, Alex and Zdenka brought a La Rocca Chocolate Truffle Royale cake which happens to be a favourite of Amy’s. It was a nice finish to a great evening.
It was great seeing Alex, Zdenka, Melanie and Steve again. Too much time passes between our get-togethers but it is amazing how quickly we get comfortable around one another as if no time at all has passed.
Thanks to everyone for making it a great night!
Cheers!
Mark
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