March Wino's Gathering

Sunday, March 25, 2012

This months gathering was held at Stan's in Santa Monica. Not the best day. Rain, wind and terrible driving conditions.  There were times on the freeway that you could not see more than a 1/16 of a mile. The rain came down like a hose was turned on. The clouds were so low that between them and the spray from the water it was a total white out.  But 12 of us braved the elements to attend. Because of the venue being in Santa Monica which is about a 45 minute to 1 hour drive for most of the people in our group there are usually an average of about 15 that show up. So not bad turnout considering  the conditions. But let Stan do one of his "Stan's Cellar Cleaning" when he puts out about 4 cases of his own wine the wine vultures come out of the woodwork to attend.Then about 30 show up.

Appetizers were good and Remy's Trifle she made for dessert was excellent.  The host made a Beef & Gravy dish along with corn beef.  We usually use 1-1/2 ounce pourers to regulate how much wine a person pours but today because of the small group we did without. It was interesting to see how people poured when they were on there own. Most people kept the pours down to 2 to 2-1/2 ounces which is not bad considering that people really do not have a clue what an ounce measurement is. They usually think they have about half of what they actually do. But if you ever attended Weight Watchers way back, you quickly learn what a measurement looks like.

Today's theme was French Cablis & Tuscan Reds. One of the best wines was a 1997 Antinori Tiganello. I brought a 2010 Francine et Olivier Savay-Fourchame 1st Cru Chablis which I felt was showing quite well. The 2006 Campogiovanni Brunello was good also. All the wines were good but those 3 stood out to me.

Thankfully the weather cleared for the drive home,  So another "Gathering" finished and looking forward to Aprils event.