A dinner with old friends

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my friend Matt and his wife came to visit and stay with me, and my friend Andy and his wife also came to town. I've known Andy forever, and Matt since we were kids playing little league together. The 3 of us were in high school together, so Saturday night was a nice mini-reunion. Instead of going out, I suggested we just eat in, which meant I could break out a nice selection of wines.

Before dinner, I opened a bottle of the 2007 Terredora Aglianico, which I had just picked up that afternoon. We tasted this wine at Vinitaly, and I thought it was a very good, forward Aglianico that is also fairly priced. This first bottle purchased here certainly met those expectations. It had lots of fruit and a good body, a nice wine to kick off the night.

For dinner, we had steaks along with my herb roasted potatoes, so I chose the 2000 Domaine de Cristia Renaissance Chateauneuf du Pape. I'm not sure, but my final verdict is that this wine might have suffered a bit of heat damage. It wasn't cooked, but it had a bite to it that never went away, and just never seemed to balance out, even though it had a couple of hours of air. Others liked the wine, but I'm pretty sure it had a flaw.

Following that, I wanted something that would wow everyone as we had finished eating, so I went with the 2001 Sartori Amarone. Despite not having more than a few minutes of air, this wine did not disappoint. It was full and expressive as an Amarone should be, though not to the level of the best I've had. I had no complaints though - this was a great introduction to Amarone for a group that had not experienced one before.

The Amarone actually went so quickly that I ended up opening one last bottle. Sticking with Italy, I went for the 1997 Campogiovanni Brunello. Again, we opened and started drinking, and the wine was pretty solid from the start. It certainly improved as we drank, but it was really drinking well, showing off the great pedigree of the 1997 vintage, with nice cherry fruit and a pretty long finish. I was happy with the wine, and look forward to some other great 1997 Brunellos over the next several years.

All in all, this was a great night. It really is fun to get to enjoy a night like this with old friends and to share some of my wines with them, even if they aren't "into wine" like me. Everyone enjoyed the different styles, and I find it fascinating to see how different people prefer different wines. In the end, it is always a matter of personal preference.