Talk-A-Vino

This Father’s Day was one of the best ever, so I decided to share with you some of the experiences – as you can imagine, mostly in the form of the pictures.

The day started with the cards from the kids – this is always a great beginning. Then the weather gradually changed from overcast to a beautiful clear sunny day with just the right temperature (don’t know what is your idea of a great summer temperature, but for me 75F and a light breeze is almost ideal). From there on,  there was great food, great wine and … some interesting new experiences.

Here are few pictures to give you an idea about cooking (well, yes, not so much cooking, mostly grilling).

Grilled chicken tights:

Kebab, on the grill:

And the same kebab, off the grill:

I don’t know why, but potatoes fry the best on the side burner of the grill (we have electric stove in the kitchen):

And then mushrooms… I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to eat mushrooms any time and any day:

Enough about the food. Let’s talk about the drinks now.

First, we had some [very lazy] cocktails. Just take it out from the freezer, squish in the glass and voila! 8 different flavors are available in the store – and Mango Daiquiri was the best out of the four we tried:

Then we switched to Champagne – errr, Sparkling wine. We had Marques de Gelida Cava Brut Reserva, which is Rose (Pinot Noir based) – very nice, round, medium bodied and refreshing (Drinkability: 7+) :

The best part about this sparkling wine was… opening of the bottle. Despite the fact that I told you not to saber a bottle of Champagne at home, I decided to ignore my own recommendation and try to saber the bottle (you should know that deep inside I’m a 10-years old, masquerading as an adult). Sabering was an absolute success, as I managed to do it from the first attempt. I have even a short video of that process, but it will require time to process, so for now, I can only show you some pictures which will illustrate  what happened. Here is the top of the bottle:

And here is the very top of the neck – the glass top was completely separated during  the opening, cork and glass together:

The only problem is – Sabering was so much fun, now I want to do it again!

Then we had a very nice red – 2009 Cave de Tain l’Hermitage Crozes-Hermitage Les Hauts de Fief (13% ABV, $17.99)- earthy nose with some roasted notes, same on the palate – deep concentrated ( but not jammy) fruit, great acidity, touch of spices, round tannins, very balanced (Drinkability: 8).

Then we had scotch – 41 years old Lonach Glendarroch (from Highlands, distilled in 1967) – absolutely amazing. I can’t even try to describe complexity of that scotch here – it will take a few tasting sessions to figure that out (my wife said that it was by far her favorite scotch ever):

Now last, but not least – my Father’s day present – 2005 Giribaldi Cento Uve, Langhe, Italy:

In case you are wondering what’s so special about this wine: it is made out of 152 grape varieties (you can read more here), so it will mean a serious progress of my grape count.

That’s all folks. I’m very happy with my Father’s day. How was yours? Cheers!