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Friday, November 12, 2010

Another Suck Evening in Oakwood

November 11th, from the deck. Our last mild day of the season?
Barb, the waitress, helping a senior citizen trying to read the fine print. 
After watching the sunset and the geese on the water, we walked down to John and Sally's, then drove over to the Old Mill for a wine dinner. For a while we milled around talking, sampling wines and watching the Barred Owl sitting in the tree outside the window. The owl, or it's progenitors, has camped in that location for years. Eventually food started showing up. The chef and owner, Dave Forland, led off with dates stuffed with spicy sausage and wrapped in crispy bacon (nobody could screw up a combo like that), some herbal goat cheese on garlic bread, marinaded shrimp and other assorted hors d'oeuvrey stuff. A short time later the serious food started arriving. We nibbled our way through a number of courses, eventually finishing it off with creme brulee (wishing for vintage port and ice cream). Along the way we sampled eight or ten wines, maybe more. If they didn't hit the sweet spot for the course, we dumped them in the bucket and moved on. Lorna won't. She doesn't think any wine deserves being thrown away.

I'm not a real white wine drinker, but I appreciated the Mud House Sauvignon Blanc, a moderately priced New Zealand. There were a couple of Chardonnays, a French and a California. I kind of liked the '07 Steele Winery, but John was hoping for something bone-dry and flinty. The best red at this time was an '06 Iota Pinot from the Oregon's Eola-Amity Hills. We also had a Robert Craig '06 Affinity Cab blend that was potentially nice, but probably needed a little more time. Bobby Parker 92 points. I sloshed it around in the glass for a while and drank it anyway. I couldn't bring myself to bucket that one. This is a hard life, but someone has to live it.

Addendum: John liked the Malbec and the Hahn Pinot Noir for the price. I thought the Malbec was adequate and I didn't try the Hahn  because I was already familiar with it. I also have "Ken Wright" scribbled on my notes, but I don't recall tasting any. And I think I would remember.

6 comments:

Margadant said...

And 50% on the senior citizens isn't bad either.

Silk Hope said...

Green with envy! Had two delightful Chimays last night.

Gunnar Berg said...

I did notice a couple of guys slip out and come back from the bar with mugs of dark beer.

meg2628 said...

That sounds delightful. I would like to go to the Old Mill and drink wine with you guys. Maybe I could help with reading the labels?

Anonymous said...

souds great. hrm... you remind me that I have an nice amarone waiting for me...then some of my favourite whisky:

http://www.canadianwhisky.org/reviews/forty-creek-double-barrel-reserve-40-alc-vol.html

by the way...that first photo looks a lot like what I experienced this evening on my bike pulling my daughter home from school.... A great ride!

Allan Pollock

Anonymous said...

That place was amazing. I will never forget my 17th birthday present from Uncle Gunner. The view o my gosh, incredible, wish the owl would have appeared though.

♥AAB♥