Big windows and a view of the water from your dining room?  And I thought I was just going to see my cousin and her husband whom I hadn’t seen in almost a year.  Needless to say, besides the crazy city driving and the parking in San Francisco (think nothing but steep hills) my visit was absolutely lovely.

After a day of shopping for home goods and groceries, we walked to a little Italian restaurant directly on the water.

The Italian restaurant where we went to dinner was right on the water.  Marius had been there before, and as it turned out he looks like the twin of the restaurant’s former and beloved employee.  Marius is a local celebrity and we benefited.

It was too chilly -breeze off the water and evening fog – to comfortably sit outside, so we headed inside and managed to get a table by the window facing the water.  We had excellent service, enjoyed our meal, had a chance to talk and meet the manager, and try a California Sirah that I’d missed on the menu.

So with these mental notes I approached the box of goodies – tasting kit – my friend Luke sent.  His conditions were that I try them all, take notes and report back, and not return the bottles empty.  I agreed to the terms.  My friend Julia joined me for this tasting.  We sat outside by the palm trees at a little table, enjoying the evening breeze.  Each person had a Riedel single malt whisky glass (thanks, Luke!) and a water glass with filtered water.  We had a dump bucket (no pressure) and my notebook.

Why is there no “e” in Scotch Whisky? Because it’s Scotch.  The Scotch, Canadians, and Japanese no “e”; the Americans and Irish use an “e.”  And they’re completely different beasts when it comes to taste, of course.  For more clarification, here’s a NY Times article on the subject.

Brief tasting notes (combined from Julia and me).  We tasted by checking out the color, swirling a bit and smelling, then we added a bit of water to open it up and took a sip:

1. The Macallan 12 year old – nose had caramel and oak, the palate some peat “tastes like whisky.”
2. The Glenlivet 12 year old – nose was fruity, sweet, and stronger than the first; palate some tropical fruit “no, thank you.”
3. The Macallan 15 year old – nose similar to the first, but more pleasant perhaps more refined; palate was smooth with oak and vanilla notes
4. The Balvenie 15 year old single barrel – favorite bottle, lots of pomp and circumstance in the presentation, Bottle #4 of 350, nose was fragrant, vanilla, floral; palate was perfumed but more delicate
5. The Lagavulin 16 year old – nose was very smoky and of peat; palate of wet, earth, smoke, rich.  Quote on the bottle – “Time takes out the fire but leaves in the warmth.”  Agreed.  Warm. Turns out these folks also make Taslisker
6. The Macallan cask strength – nice dark color, nose like sherry; no comment (no enjoyment) on the palate.

A little more about Single Malt Scotch – They are made in Scotland (that may have been obvious) at a single distillery with malted barley as the only grain ingredient.  The finished whisky is then aged in oak barrels for years.  Often left in the same barrel for a decade.  I can only imagine the patience required.  Each year aging in oak apparently decreases the alcohol content (we were still at 43% or so) and as with wine, the different types of oak barrels impart different flavor characteristics, for example bourbon casks give a vanilla flavor to the whisky.

The proverbial “first word” of an infant often sounds like “ma” or “mama.” This strong association of that sound with “mother” has persisted in nearly every language on earth, countering the natural localization of language. -Source

You won’t know until you try the wine, so you have to take that little risk and go ahead and buy what looks good and see if you get lucky.  This week I bought a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc for $7.99!  We drank it chilled.  I was very impressed by both the nose and the taste, and would gladly stock these in my (currently imaginary) cellar for cocktail hour, lunch party, or summer wine.  Lovely.  Cheers!

Yesterday after work I headed to a boutique wine shop in Healdsburg known to me for its unique selection of both local and international wines and beers.  Thursday evenings they invite a sommelier to host a blind tasting on a theme.  I’m always impressed that these tastings seem really to be about exploring new regions and varietals and not just about getting you to buy wine, but helping you find something you like.  He sources wines from all around, often serving wines he doesn’t even carry in the store.

Luckily, my favorite wine from last night’s selection he both carried and sold in my price range.  The tasting featured red wines of Southern Italy including some Aglianico (grape varietal) and wines from the Mr. Etna wine region!  Volcanic soils create a rich base for some awesome wines.

My favorite for the evening:

2007 Guadara Aglianico del Vulture: with a taste of deep plums, lively acidity, medium tannins, and juicy fresh cherries, the major note I wrote down was “anytime.”  I could enjoy this wine anytime.  I think my favorite characteristic was the texture; it had such a wonderfully round continuous flavor.  A little research taught me that the grape itself is black and produces a full bodied wine with serious aging potential.  In fact, you’re supposed to let it sit for a few years before you touch the bottle, which explains why 2007 is a current release for this wine.  Patience, grasshopper.

2nd on my list for the night was a 2008 Pietradolce Archiineri Etna Rossa: with a ruby color and a wet zesty earth on the nose, this medium bodied wine with nice acidity got smokier as it opened up.  Very enjoyable.

3rd place: 2005 Vignabbaldo Montefalco Sagrantino L’Orma: smelled at first like a horse stable, but tasted elegantly light in body with notes of cranberry and pretty high tannins.  Among the folks I was tasting with, the thought of Thanksgiving came up, and I agreed this wine would be perfect with a slice of Thanksgiving turkey.

Salute!

The food community very quickly lead me to the crafts community, multi-talented folks with equally creative friends.  Sometimes friends or fans promote each other, and I get word of a new artist that way.  Last year I won a beautiful pair of earrings from Alaska thanks to the blog Pro-Soup Propaganda.  Other times it’s wonderfully talented people who have the platform to promote themselves and their new etsy shop.  That was the case this past month.  I read Susan’s blog post describing the beautiful bracelets she makes and a give-away to one lucky reader!  I had the fortune of winning and before I knew it she was asking me my wrist size and color preference.

I ended up with this beauty and would like to say, THANK YOU, SUSAN!