Every day is different and interesting in it own special way. Today was even more so for several unexpected reasons.
It started at 5:00 when I got up to take Rebecca to the airport.
At 10:30 Aaron came by to create a SODA agreement with four bottles of wine he had been given to try during his trip to Romania last week and an exciting report about our developing Romanian wine import business.
Then at 11:55 I met Robert Pidcock at East Ocean for lunch. Robert is a vegetarian, so we always order the same thing, Deep fried tofu with vegetables. This the same dish as Moo Goo Gai Pan except deep fried squares of tofu are substituted for the strips of chicken in this dish.
I was amazed by the story that Robert told me about how he is single-handedly taking down a corrupt cabal of lawyers, doctors, trust companies, and social workers who have been exploiting elderly people by railroading them into court ordered conservatorships to strip them of their assets by sealing their files from public access and thus failing to notify their relatives except for the complicit child or relative who initiates the case of any of the facts surrounding their mischievous deeds.
Robert has a client who was forced into this situation and he filed a response and then a writ is superintending control with the NM Supreme Court, which is now investigating along with the U.S. Department of Justice. Robert is now trying to advance legislation that will protect New Mexicans from such schemes. A fantastic story.
After lunch I returned home and Suzette arrived at 2:45.
We rode to Montano at 4:00.
When we returned at 5:00 we watched the business news and then the reports of the capture of Raqqa on the BBC news.
At 6:00 we started preparing dinner, a composed salad with slices of PPI roasted lamb, tomatoes, kalamata olives, avocado slices, pickled fiddlehead ferns, thinly sliced red onion, sautéed pimiento, and sautéed goat cheese rounds coated with crushed pistachio nuts. I made a light balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. We also served the PPI Tzatziki I made Friday.
The reason for dinner was to try three of the wines Aaron brought back from Romania. We started with a Lambarini sparkling white that was not very good. Then when the salads were served we opened the better bottle of red a 2016 oaked estate bottled red Feteasca Neagra from Domeniul Bogdan, organic biodynamically grown and certified DOC wine, a very clean tasting wine with a chalkiness not unlike a good Chateauneuf de Pape. Feteasca Negra is one of the great Romanian grape varieties. This wine had great clarity and body; a great bottle of wine that would sell for around $20.00 in the U.S. Domnuil Bogdan is located within twenty miles of the Black Sea in southern Romania. During the period that Romania was part of the Roman Empire it was one of its principal wine producing regions and ranks fifth or sixth among the wine producing countries in Europe.
We then opened a bottle medium sweet red wine with a much lighter flavor profile that was
surprisingly pleasant to drink named dreamer that will need a new name and label. I liked it because
it was not too sweet and had a fresh fruity flavor. I think it will be very popular.
We sat at the patio table sipping wine and talking about the wine business until 9:00 when Aaron said goodnight.
We all thought there is a window of opportunity for the introduction of Romanian wines in the next year or two due to the poor harvest in Western Europe due to climate change this year and the recent devastating fires in the California wine country. Romania had an exceptionally good wine harvest this year according to Aaron and he is getting calls from distributors and other importers seeking Eastern European wine, so things are looking hopeful for VinDacia.
VinDacia's first container of wine is ready to ship to the U.S., so we shall soon see if America wants to drink Romanian wine.
Bon Appetit
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