I was tied up in a negotiation from 10:30 to 5:15, and
then ran to Lowe’s to pick up milk and some water biscuits and rice crackers for
tonight’s Book club meeting at our house.
My selection for this month's club meeting was J. Michael
Orenduff’s “The Pot Thief Who Studied Escoffier”. Thank God, Suzette had gone to Costco to pick
up some last minute items and was at home filling bowls and some of her larger
Monkey Pod wood bowls with chips and candy well before I arrived.
When I arrived I immediately put the 1 kilo wheel of French
Brie on a plate on the dining room table with the 2 lb. tub of Smoked Whitefish
salad and began cutting and toasting slices of whole wheat baguette. Suzette had also brought home a lovely Linzer
Torte that her new baker had made for the party using raspberry jelly we had in
our pantry. It was really lovely with it traditional latticework crust and toasted almond slices. Here is a picture of it.
At around 6:45 p.m. the first book club member, Rob Easterling, arrived and five more members arrived soon after. We nibbled and drank Londer Vineyard’s 2009 Paraboll Anderson Valley Pinot Noir and New Mexico Gruet Blanc de Noir champagne. My favorite snack was dipping Kirtland Sea Salt potato chips into the onion dip that Suzette made with 1 lb. of fresh sour cream she had bought at Costco and mixed with a packet of Lipton's Onion Soup; sometimes the oldies are still goodies.
We started the meeting around 7:10 by calling J. Michael
Orenduff, who was kind enough to agree to do a Q&A about his career and
books. After we finished about 45
minutes of questions for Michael, we completed our meeting by giving our
individual grades for the book and comments.
Then it was time to serve dessert, so Suzette made decaf coffee and I
served coffee and slices of Linzer Torte.
I explained to the group my connection to Michael Orenduff
and discovery of his book, was indirectly through his wife Lai-Kent Chew
Orenduff, who is a noted art historian and author in her own right, is Wayne Chew’s
sister. I discovered the book, which is
dedicated to Wayne and Elaine Chew, when they gave me a copy of it as gift on my
60th birthday. Also, I met Michael and Lai last summer at
Wayne and Elaine’s home when they invited Suzette and me to dinner, while
Michael and Lai were visiting them. Michael and Lai live near Atlanta, where Lai is
teaching art history.
There is also a connection between Londer Vineyards and Albuquerque.
The Londers used to live in Albuquerque
where Larry was an eye doctor. In fact,
Charlie Palmer told the group that Larry had been his eye doctor. Here is
the short history of the Londers and their vineyard. I first met Larry at a Symphony Wine tasting seven
or eight years ago and we were so impressed with his pinot noir wines that Suzette
and I have visited the winery many times and gone to the Anderson Valley Pinot
Noir Festival several times.
Londer Vineyards
Larry and Shirlee Londer
left Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1999 and settled in the Anderson Valley to
start a winery. A small 16-acre estate vineyard was planted (15 acres of Pinot
Noir, 1 acre of Gewürztraminer), and the Londers set about sourcing grapes to
produce Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir. Winemaker Greg La Follette
got them started with their first releases in 2001, and Richard Davis, who
worked with LaFollette for many years, has since taken over the winemaking
duties.
The wines have received
considerable accolades. The Pinot Noir lineup has varied but usually includes
Anderson Valley, Corby Vineyard, Paraboll (a reserve), Ferrington Vineyard and
Estate Grown.
In 2011, founders Larry
and Shirlee Londer sold their home and estate vineyard in Anderson Valley, but
continue to manage the winery from their home in Colorado, and still source fruit from their former estate vineyard
Bon Appétit
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