September 23, 2021 Lunch - Cafe Sena. Dinner - Chicken Soup at Vahl and Amy’s and Reserve Tasting at Santa Fe Chili and Wine Festival

We got up at 7:00 and Suzette drove to work and I worked from 8:00 until 11:00, mainly filing my motion to withdraw my representation q of the dozen or so clients in the Lower Rio Grande Adjudication.  My reason was that I had reached the age of 75 and I no longer wished to engage in major litigation.  At 10:00 I ate a bowl of granola with milk, yogurt, and three diced strawberries.  The fresh strawberries were firm and very sweet.

When Suzette returned at 11:00 we took showered, got dressed, and we drove to Santa Fe. After delivering Luke’s box of crystals, we drove to Owings Gallery and walked to Cafe Sena and met TR and Linda for lunch on the open patio at 1:00.  There is  a new menu with lots of Mediterranean recipes, such as an eggplant wrapped couscous dish that Suzette ordered, a gyros sandwich that TR and I ordered a sandwich, a pita bread wrapped around gyros cooked lamb slices with fresh cubes of tomato and red onion slices and tzatziki sauce.  Linda got a Cesar salad attractively served in a tall Parmesan cheese wrapped bundle of romaine leaves. Our waiter appeared to be a middle aged Mexican.  I guess most of the young people have abandoned food service.  

We had our usual lively conversation.  TR showed us a new product, and argon oil shin care product and Linda described a new program she is developing for the Folk Art Museum Foundation to manage estate sales of folk art collections.  So they are still active as ever.  They said that Cyclone Nora blew a tree down at Baliville at Sayulita that damaged their water meter and they were going through the governmental bureaucracy to get it replaced and that they had obtained resident visas for Mexico so they can now transit and do most things any other resident of Mexico can do.

At 2:45 we all left and said goodbye and Suzette and I walked through Owings Gallery and said hello to Mark and then drove to the Sweeney Center for the Trade Tasting.  Unfortunately or fortunately when we arrived we discovered that the Trade Tasting had been on Wednesday and today was the Reserve Tasting, at which the wineries pour their best wines and Sysco puts out a lovely assortment of food.

We explained to the staff that the mistake was due to misinformation they provided by showing the communication with a conformation that the trade tasting was today, not yesterday.  After a wait of about twenty minutes and a check with the supervisory staff we were allowed to attend the Reserve Tasting and they slipped the gold wrist band onto us.

The reserve tasting is a delight.  It features some of the best wines in the world; literally.  I started at Roderer.  They were pouring a new French champagne named Collection, Bin 242 that was Non-vintage brut that the pourer told me included the grapes from the 52 grand cru plots of vines used to make Cristal that were not deemed sufficiently fine for a vintage bottling of Cristal in 2017.  This Collection bottle is priced around $67.00. Cristal Rose is priced around $500 and regular Cristal around $250. That is the type of insider information one picks up as one sips an ounce or two of these great wines poured by the most knowledgeable persons.

Two of the reasons I like Roderer is their flagship facility in the US is located in Anderson Valley and the other reason is they own Domaines Ott that produces one of the best roses in the world and arguably the best Rose from Bandol.  I tried the Anderson Valley Pinot and it was sublime, delicate, elegant and yet complex, everything one would want in a Pinot.

I drank too much, but there were several standouts, the Spanish Rioja LAN winery had a single plot Tempranillo that was off the charts wonderful.  Banfi was pouring it iconic Brunello de Montalcino.  Ridge poured a 2011 and a 2018 Montebello.  I asked what the newly released 2018 was priced at and the lady gladly told me, $245 per bottle.

There were over 100 wineries all pouring their best stuff. 

Here are pictures of my favorites. 

The food was also delicious. I particularly liked a herb rubbed roasted chicken served hot and a black truffle oil flavored goat cheese.  

After the tasting we stumbled to the car and Suzette drove us to Amy and Vahl’s house in Eldorado where I finished my second bottle of Icelandic water to start sobering up

We talked and Amy served us lovely bowls of chicken soup with the amazing biscuits she buys at Whole Foods.

I was still sobering up and only tasted the warmth, but knew the broth was nutritious.

Vahl opened the DePonte Clay Hill Pinot Noir and drank a glass as we were going to bed.

Bon Appetit