Friday, Saturday, Sunday...

So, we kicked off the weekend with a bottle of rose from Provence: Domaine Fontanyl Cotes De Provence 2009. Rather, I opened the bottle with a friend; Daryl would sample this late Sunday afternoon. I'm on the hunt for good roses now that the summer is almost here--still haven't found anything comparable to our beloved Ortman's Syrah rose. This, however, came highly recommended by John from Total Wine, and it didn't disappoint. Dry but with lots of fruit. I picked up another bottle from Tavel, France, which is supposed to be top of the line when it comes to rose. We'll save that for another Saturday...

Saturday afternoon, a friend stopped by with a bottle of organic Malbec from Argentina, which we enjoyed with Manchego cheese and almonds. Later that evening, we headed out to a brand-new restaurant.Vin 21 promised good food and wine, and we loved it. We started the night at the bar and perused the wine list--I was excited about all the different Spanish wines they had by the glass. I started with an Ipsum Verdejo/Viura blend; Daryl had a Ra Nui SB (Marlborough). We then got a glass of Pinot Noir by Cartlidge & Browne, which we used to drink years ago when we first started learning more about wine. Brought back some great memories of Fermentations in Seaside, FL, where it all started.

Two glasses of wine led to a plate of crispy fried calamari, which led to a table and more wine! Had a great meal (tuna for me; fillet mignon for Daryl), yummy dessert and coffee. Unfortunately, about halfway through dinner, I stopped writing down the wines we drank, but our favorite was a delightful red blend (Cab/Syrah/Grenache) from Stickleback (Australia). ("Rhymes with Nickleback," Daryl kept saying, so we'd be sure to remember it at night's end.) Daryl's thoughts on the Stickleback: "unexpected complex wine, delicious--but the bouquet was deceptively simple."

And on Sunday, we finished off the rose. Another delicious wine weekend!