Inauguration Weekend

I think this sums up the Inauguration weekend in DC perfectly.

I'm sure Jose Andres was referring to the terroir and the history of the wine in his remark above, but wine can be transportive to a place in one's memory. Almost none of the wines I had that weekend were particularly spectacular or of note, but because of the context in which I drank them, I will relive these incredible moments when I see one of the bottles.

We started the weekend off with dinner at Bobby Van's on Friday night. With a good portion of their wine list half-price on Friday and Saturday nights, it made sense budget-wise to order a bottle (not like it really takes that much to convince me to order a bottle). We went for a Jean-Luc Colombo Croze-Hermitage Syrah 2006.  It was a very traditional Rhone Syrah, with notes of plum, black pepper, tobacco on the nose and similar spicy and herbaceous notes following suit on the palate.  Medium bodied and structured with medium tannins, it made good friends with our filet mignons.

Saturday brought us to the DC Armory for National Day of Service.  The air vibrated as thousands of people turned out to help and the rainbow population of volunteers melded together in camaraderie to create kits of grooming essentials for overseas troops.

(volunteers)

(Dr. Jill and Vice President Joe Biden making a speech at the Armory)

We spent the remainder of the day walking around the National Mall and playing tourist until it was time to get ready for the Kids' Concert at the Convention Center.

Come on now, when you hear Kids' Concert, don't you think of choirs of children singing their little hearts out?  We did, and we were wrong. So, so wrong.  Our first inkling came when Usher opened the show.  By the time the closing act, Katy Perry, sang her last song to the cheering 4-ft-tall-and-under crowd, all we could think was, damn, feels good to be a kid.

Hungry and thirsty, we ended up at Tony Cheng's for Chinese.  Prosecco seemed like a good match for the Asian cuisine and with a group of 20+ people it worked as a crowd-pleaser, so we went with Lamarca Prosecco. The lightly yeasty notes mingled with hints of peach, apricot and other orchard fruits.  The mild bubbles gave it a good mouthfeel without overwhelming our food.

Sunday found us at brunch with my college friend, her husband and new baby.  Their awesome blog, www.DMVDining.com, has been gaining quite the following and it was invigorating to talk shop (and food!) with them.

(Kennedy Center from the Georgetown Waterfront)

After, we wandered Georgetown for a bit until it was time for dinner at one of my favorite DC restaurants, Zaytinya (home of the opening blog picture).  However, after trying to coordinate with 15 people at a tapas dinner, I needed a drink - badly.  Unfortunately, I can't accurately report back on my glass of wine; I ordered an Assyrtiko but what I received lacked the stony flintiness and minerality normally associated with the grape.  Most likely, I received my neighbor's Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon/Assyrtiko blend as I noted pineapple and tropical fruits in this glass.  Still delicious, though.

Then (drumroll please)..................

Inaguration Day!

6:15am and we're downstairs, bleary-eyed but ready to start the day.  After security checks, we headed to the Capitol Building.

Everyone has been asking what it felt like to be there and the best I can say is, I felt like an atom, a tiny floating particle in a large moving object.  I was a part of something much bigger than I, but this grandness existed because of each of us present. The crowds flowed, swelled and crested with each speech and with each oath.  Never in my life have I ever felt so singularly alone yet an integral part of something.

(see the teeny-tiny monument in the background?)

(crowds)

(stage right)

We were next driven to our viewing spot for the Inaugural Parade:

(on your right, the presidential viewing box)

 (our view behind bleachers, oh yeah)

(I can't decide if I felt safe or scared with all those rifles)

Finally, onward to.... The Ball! 

(main room)

(I really wanted to show off my shoes)

(Katy Perry doing her thing)

(Dupont Circle VIP room)

So, what did we drink at The Ball?  Patriotic event = domestic wines.  Black tie event = sparkling wine.  Put those together and I'm drinking Woodbridge Brut sparkling wine from California.  It was simple and accessible: a little peachy, a little yeasty, small bubbles. But, as I'm drinking it at the Inaugural Ball, it's the finest champagne. 

The evening culminated with a private dessert reception at the Biden residence.  More wine, hors d'oeuvres, dessert, a dance floor, live band....

(our gracious after-party host)

....and a late-night performance by Darren Criss from Glee.

I'm grateful for wine.  I'm grateful because serves as another source of memory.  Beyond seeing pictures, beyond hearing songs, it's another sensory experience that can bring me back to this particular moment in my life.

Keep tasting....

Goldilocks and the 3 Bubblies

Once upon a time there was a girl named Goldilocks.*  One evening, close to New Year's Eve, the fair-haired maiden was invited to a party. Full of excitement and merriment, she donned her favorite party dress, glossed her lips and curled her hair in the most fetching manner.  She was just about ready to go but one thing was missing: a gift for the host.  Knowing she could not show up empty-handed, Goldilocks set out to find the perfect present.

Chocolates?  She wondered.  Flowers?  Our heroine wandered the chilly night pondering her options.  Just when she started to despair, the glowing lights of a wine store appeared in the distance.

Of course!  She would bring a bottle of bubbly.  With glee, she entered the shop.

Our leading lady first tried Clement Klur Cremant D'Alsace, a sparkling wine (but not champagne as it was not from the Champagne region) from France.   It was yeasty and toasty, with some notes of sour cream and green apple on the nose.  On the tongue, it was very dry and the baking bread tones again appeared.  But oh dear!  The bubbles felt like soda carbonation! "These bubbles are too harsh!" she declared.

Next, she saw a beautiful pink Cleto Chiarli Rose Spumante Brut de Noir Lambrusco from Italy.  Delicious strawberry, raspberry and rhubarb appeared right away on the nose.  On the tongue it was slightly fruity up front, rather toasty on the finish, dry and contained a decent amount of acidity.  Hmmm, she thought, this is very nice, but, alas, it was only lightly frizzante.  "These bubbles are too soft!"  she cried.

Our heroine was overcome with hopelessness, but just as she was about to leave, the kind shopkeeper brought out one more, a  Marc Hebrart Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Champagne.  "Oooooh," she thought, and her eyes widened with the first sip.  Toast and yeast were prominent on the nose, along with pear and some yogurt/dairy tones.   The palate was similar in flavors, refreshingly dry and the refined, moussey bubbles danced on Goldilocks' tongue.  "This is just right!"  she announced.

With a twinkle in his eye, the shopkeeper wrapped up this treasure and our heroine skipped off into the night.

*These characters are a work of fiction and any resemblance to real-life people is purely coincidental.  Trust me.  The last time I tried to style my hair with a curling iron I ended up burning my ear.

Because Nothing Says Thanksgiving Like Champagne

I wonder what the Pilgrims drank on the first Thanksgiving.  Mead?  Cider?  Or maybe they abstained from alcohol altogether? A quick online search yielded few answers but I'm fairly certain they didn't put nearly as much thought into it as we do in modern society.  For the last few weeks, food columns, e-newsletters and the like were consumed with pairing the perfect wine with The Big Feast. I understand wanting to creating the optimal experience at the table, but when the meal is as complex as Thanksgiving dinner,  there's no straightforward answer.  To this, I abide by the cardinal rule of wine:  drink whatever you enjoy.  There's no better formula than: delicious food + delicious wine = amazing dinner.

For my family, that meant rose champagne.  My mother, always excited to be introduced to something new, bought a bottle of champagne that would supposedly appeal to my Ruinart Rose-loving palate.  For weeks, she had been talking about this bottle; a salesperson at her favorite wine shop touted it as being very close to a Ruinart but at a more affordable price point. I was anxious to compare and she was looking forward to getting a (close) taste of my favorite sparkler. Needless to say, there were a lot of expectations riding on its cork.  So, what did we think?

Champagne Montaudon Brut Grande Rose
This sparkler was very dry, more than expected.  On the nose, white pepper and yeasty notes added savory tones to subtle peach and strawberry essences.  On the tongue, light mousse-y bubbles gave way to a long finish and the same characters on the nose announced themselves on the tongue as well.    It was  deliciously complex and robust and made great friends with Turkey & Co.  I still have a slight preference for the Ruinart , with its the rich round mouthfeel of its bubbles and the berry tones, but this Montaudon was the perfect accompaniment to the meal and is a noteworthy sparkler for my list.

Now, what to drink with leftovers....