An Engagement Celebration

Our friends Daniel and Monica got engaged recently and revealed it to us last night over dinner at Morton's. They met through Kara and I - in fact, they had their first kiss the night of our engagement party. We were very happy to hear it and Kara shrieked at the top of her lungs when she found out.

To be honest, another friend had already filled me in ahead of time so I was prepped with the Champagne. For a celebratory toast, I brought a bottle of Egly-Ouriet 'Les Vignes de Vrigny' NV that my friend Chris Miller from Spago sold me. Egly-Ouriet is a small "Grower Champagne", primarily located in Ambonnay, but with other vineyard holdings as well. The 'Les Vignes de Vrigny' is actually 100% Pinot Meunier, which is all they have planted in Vrigny. Hence, this cool bottling of a 100% Meunier Champagne. His wines are unfined and unfiltered, spend plenty of time on the yeast, resulting in big powerful Champagnes.

The 'Les Vignes de Vrigny' was fantastic - a powerhouse, but still clinging to the elegance of Champagne. Lots of ginger and orange/lemon citrus. On the attack, the dosage stands out giving an immense blast of fruity pleasure, then the acidity quickly cleans it up and allows the mineral and secondary nuance to present itself. Plenty yeasty, this was a real crowd-pleaser and held up to the rich salads as well.

For reds, Monica brought a Boudreaux Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 from Washington. Leavenworth, to be exact. Interestingly enough, this is the only self-powered winery in Washington state due to the fact it's ten miles off the power grid. The wine fell into the profile of WA wines for me, candied/ripe fruits with a chalky tannin finish. The fruit felt a bit more "red" than I would normally expect from Cabernet, but it was great with the food and makes me respect how the anti-jammy Cab works so much better with food. Actually, for whatever reason, I really loved this wine with the Onion Rings.

I texted Sanguis winemaker Matthias Pippig about which of his wines I should take to dinner that night. He responded "Waxing Poetic" which is his new release. So - I make it a point never to cross the winemaker. I took the Sanguis 'Waxing Poetic' Syrah 2006. This was the first time I'd tasted this bottling after receiving it a few months ago. It was gorgeous and a definite hit at the table. Daniel was blown away by the mouthfeel. It was elegant (despite its 15.1% alcohol) and complex. Pepper, florality, blueberry, raspberry, meat, toasted marshmallow. I'd love to hold some of this, but it's so good today! Matthias is really nailing it these days.

So, a hearty Congratulations to Daniel and Monica! We look forward to many more dinners and wines shared over the years to come!