February 5, 2013 Dinner Party with Cynthia, Ricardo and Mike

February 5, 2013  Dinner Party with Cynthia, Ricardo and Mike

We had planned to get together for a simple dinner for over one week.   Suzette and I offered to serve our PPI Black Bean Stew and bread and Cynthia and Ricardo then said they would bring an appetizer and dessert and Mike offered to bring wine.

So at 5:00 p.m. I took the PPI black bean stew out of the fridge and started heating it.  We added the rest of the bag of squash from our garden and I diced up and added an additional two carrots and Suzette added an additional 11/2 cups of chicken stock and ½ cup of the tomatillo sauce to loosen up the stew and a bit more ground coriander.  Suzette had brought home a bag of four fresh Hoggie rolls from the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery, so we were set.

At 7:00 Cynthia and Ricardo arrived with a plate of canapés and a box of chocolate chip cookies and two pints of ice cream.  Shortly thereafter Mike arrived with a wine box filled with 6 bottles of Spanish wine.

I noticed that Mike had brought a bottle of Campo Viejo 2007 Tempranillo Reserva from Logrono, the heart of the Malvesa (middle) region of the Rioja wine region along the Erbo River in Spain with 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, and 5% Muzuelo grapes, so I opened that bottle to allow it to open up a bit. 

Cynthia’s colorful and delicious appetizer made from things found in our neighborhood; canapé wedges of Bosque Bakery potato and leek bread topped with slices of smoked salmon and a dollop of lumpfish caviar from Lowe’s Market garnished with finely sliced chives.  The bread had a creamy texture, the salmon slices were thin and smoked rather than salt cured and they were firm in texture, so very different than gravad lax and a bright reddish orange, the caviar was black and soft and creamy, so the canapés included a wonderful combination of colors (reddish orange fish, black caviar and green chives on light brown bread), textures and fishy tastes.  A real hit; especially with the chilled vodka they brought to accompany their appetizer.  

Next we served soup bowls of bean stew garnished with diced avocado and a basket of heated hoagie rolls.  The PPI stew was a little more stewy and tasted even better than it had two nights before.   The hoagie rolls were wonderful fresh, warmed through in the oven, and flavored with flecks of cheese on top.  We poured the reserve tempranillo.  It was smooth and yet full bodied just the way you would expect a reserva tempranillo to taste.

We talked and nibbled bread and sipped wine and soup contentedly.  When we finished the Campo Viejo, I opened the bottle of Marqués de Cáceres 2008 Crianza, a combination of tempranillo, Grenache and graciano grapes grown in the Rioja Alta region at Cenicero and aged in French and American oak.  Here are the requirements for labeling wine from Spanish vineyards according to Wikipedia:

For the vintage year (vendimia or cosecha) to appear on the label, a minimum of 85% of the grapes must be from that year's harvest. The three most common aging designations on Spanish wine labels are Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva.^[5]

• Crianza red wines are aged for 2 years with at least 6 months in oak. Crianza whites and rosés must be aged for at least 1 year with at least 6 months in oak.^[5]
• Reserva red wines are aged for at least 3 years with at least 1 year in oak. Reserva whites and rosés must be aged for at least 2 years with at least 6 months in oak.^[5]
• Gran Reserva wines typically appear in above average vintages with the red wines requiring at least 5 years aging, 18 months of which in oak and a minimum of 36 months in the bottle. Gran Reserva whites and rosés must be aged for at least 4 years with at least 6 months in oak.^[5]

The Camp Viejo Reserva met the requirement to be labeled Tempranillo because it contained at least 85% tempranillo and it met the reserve requirement because it was aged in oak for 18 months and 18 months in the bottle. The crianza label did not say how long it had been aged in French and American oak casks, but one can assume that it met the six month requirement with at least another six months in the bottle.   Both wines’ labels contained the word Cosecha and a year, which I believe means that all the grapes were harvested from the identified year.  Cosecha means harvest.

So as the conversation spun on after we finished our bowls of stew, I saw that there was bread and wine left, so I went to the fridge and fetched the wedge of Kirtland blue cheese and sliced slices of it and put it on pieces of bread and Ricardo and Mike accepted them. 

Then we removed the bowls and I fetched dessert plates and the containers of Haagen Daz Dulce de Leche and Vanilla ice cream Cynthia and Ricardo had brought (Lowe’s again, I assume) and we ate cookies and ice cream with the last of the crianza and then I poured small glasses of Harvest Gold white wine from Camino Real and then a glass of Mirabelle plum brandy.  A discussion of vodkas and brandies ensued so I poured glasses of chilled Aalborg Jubeliums Danish Aquavit so all could taste its thick cumin and caramel flavor and finally Austrian Monopole 100% potato vodka for those still tasting.

At 10:30 p.m. eyes started drooping and we all decided we had to go to bed.

Bon Appétit