Weekend Wine Snobbery
It's an absolutely fabulous spring day here in the Upper Midwurst. I spent the whole day outside, cleaning up last Fall's detritus from the yard, Now I'm relaxing with an excellent glass of 2002 Red Knot Shiraz as the ribeye steaks and portabello mushrooms in the smoker grill to perfection.
Our local gourmet coffee/wine/food shoppe held a spring wine-tasting party last night, so MrsBaliHai and I put on our nice duds and stopped by. The joint was overflowing with oeneophiles desparate for grape squeezin's . There were 8 tables to sample from, and I tried at least 3 wines from each. The proprietors also put out a buffet spread of smoked salmon, stuffed mushrooms, capers, and fresh fruit.
We walked out with the aforementioned Shiraz, a 2000 Foppiano Petite Sirah, a 2003 North Coast Gewurztraminer (that I'm going to save for the next time I make Rogan Josh), and an utterly wonderful 2002 Renwood Orange Muscat that's the lightest, freshest dessert wine I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. That one'll go perfectly with a chocolate souffle.