Wine, Food & Friends

If any of you remember my post on our Cheers group just after Halloween, I talked about  how we all came together as a group.  Well, last night we resurrected the wine dinners that were previously held at Carolina Winesellers, at the home of the founders of our group.  We gathered at 6:30 for dinner catered by Dine by Design, local caterers who are also treasured members of our group.  We are fortunate to have such talented folks among us.

The food and wine pairings and comments are as follows:

Key West Salad paired with a South African Chenin Blanc (smelled and tasted like a Sauvignon Blanc to me).  No matter what or where the wine was from, it was good.

Grilled pork tenderloin paired with a Chilean Carmenere (Santa Rita).  Absolutely yummy.  Chile makes great wines.

Twice baked potato paired with a California Chardonnay from Sonoma (surprisingly a Kirkland brand from Costco).  Mmmm... Good!

Chicken Saltimbocca paired with a Chianti (Pietro, I think).  Nice choice, went well with the chicken and earthiness of the mushrooms.

Turtle brownie for dessert.  A pie-shaped portion of chocolate yumminess paired with a Rosé from somewhere.  Sorry by that time....well you understand.  I didn't take notes on the wines so it is from memory and subject to errors.

The evening was full of fun, friendship and great conversations on topics ranging from wine and food (of course) to golf, travel, shopping, and restaurants, and that was just at our table.  We have been getting together like this for several years now, and the good times just keep getting better and better. It is truly a wonderful group of people, all friends with a common interest in good food, good wine and good times shared with each other.

Many thanks for the delicious food and the expert wine pairings.  Salute!