Sunday Dinner with Friends

We were in the middle of prepping for an "Indian night" in the kitchen when Walt texted "Oso Buco at my house, 5:30pm start". OK then, Indian food tomorrow night! We usually like to start early so we can help Walt in the kitchen but there wasn't much to do this time so we sat down and tasted a few interesting wines and chatted about the days events. Amy joined in about 20 minutes later after experiencing the exact same problem I had once when trying to find Walt's house as I wondered through the neighborhood. But I actually went and knocked on the wrong house, oops.

One of the problems with taking pictures during eating is I forget to take pictures because I'm eating. This was all that was left of the cheese and meat tray with an artichoke spread by the time Chris reminded me. The truffle cheese was really good, had that good stink but not overpowering.


Walt has mastered the art of bread baking from his trip to Tuscany; it' really impressive. the holes were nearly perfectly uniform. Good for soaking up all the juices.


Started of with the bread salad with onions, tomatoes, all tossed in oil and vinegar dressing.


Gnocchi with a homemade pesto, really good dumplings. I like mine pillow soft and these hit the spot.



This is the gravy from the osobuco but Walt did something to it, it was crazy good. Amy and I ended up just scooping the stuff onto the bread and inhaling it.


When it comes to osobuco or just about any beef/lamb dish, I really like when it's prepared so it's moist and fork tender. I shows a level of culinary understanding and precision and we had a winner here, the meat just fell off the bones and no knife required. Brilliant.


Amy's first osobuco experience required her to "suck the juice" from the bone. She handled it like a champion.

• 2009 Sea Smoke Chardonnay

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  Wow, this is a big wine. Huge nose of pear and touch of heat. Palate is dominated by pear and red apple juice, lots of fruit, like the most I've tasted in a chardonnay. Weighted mouthfeel without being syrupy. I enjoyed it. Missing anything resembling mineral notes so I guess you could argue the wine is not balanced but you could also argue it tastes pretty good too. Won't be confused with white Burgundy.

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• 2002 Waterstone Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This was opened three nights before by Walt and was sitting on the counter so I gave it a taste. Held up very well; slight bricking around the rim; cassis nose with some char; surprisingly lively fruit profile with red cherry leading the way. Very smooth rounded out tannins. Drink up and enjoy.

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• 2002 Opolo Sangiovese

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Didn't even know Opolo grew sangiovese until Walt pulled this one out, great surprise. Fruit profile was leaning towards overripe and prune notes are swirling around. Still fruit forward at 10 years. Interesting but not what you'd expect to be "varietal correct", in the zinfandel family if anything.

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• 2005 Argiano Non Confunditur Toscana IGT

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Wasn't a big fan of this wine based on the previous bottle but this one was better. Still holding on to the firm tannins so I decanted this for 2 hours then poured it back into the bottle through the vinituri, that seemed to calm it down. Although a red blend, the sangiovese and merlot are the stars of the show with their attributes showing the most. I would have guess right bank blind most likely.

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• 2004 Domus Vitae Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Crystal red color; Classic sangviovese aromas with a bit of earth tones but not "dirty". Super smooth mouthfeel and not much in the way of youthful structure, drinking great right now. The drinking window is until 2020, that seems awful far out...

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The Odd Couple


Amy has the worlds smallest feet, here is her heel in my sandal. Size 11 and 2. She'd be a superstar foot model in Japan with those little things.


As we jumped into the car after another great evening of dining at Walt's, the moon was particularly bright so I snapped this starry shot to the ending of brilliant evening.