Greek Night-OPA!

A Saturday night, a few good friends, Greek food and some interesting wines contributed by ChrisinSunnyside/YakYakWine & ob2s along with their lovely wives.
We hosted a post-offline dinner and wine for those who were either unable to attend the night before or traveling from out of town.

*Handmade spanikopita triangles filled with spinach, feta, spring onion, dill and parsley.
*Medjool dates stuffed with sheep-cow feta, wrapped in serrano ham and pan seared
*Kasseri cheese, greek olive medley, marcona almonds

The Kessler paired quite well with the starters.

• 2008 Kessler Sekt GmbH & Co KG Weissburgunder Extra Brut

  Germany, Württemberg

  No formal notes taken:
  Creamy and full in texture with apple, lemon tart and pear flavors.
  Fun and well made sekt, I only wish I had more!

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*Spring baby greens, grape tomatoes, Persian cucumber, kalamata olive, feta cheese, fresh dill with homemade Greek lemon-honey & shallot vinaigrette
*Fire grilled pita bread, homemade tzatziki with Greek yogart, garlic, lemon, fresh mint and dill

Served with the remaining Kessler Sekt, Mark Ryan and a prelude of the Nicholas Cole.

*Rotisserie grilled whole leg of lamb: marinated with onions, garlic, white wine, lemon, rosemary, dill and thyme, cooked to medium rare.
~Served with dill infused aioli and mint sauce
*Broiled fresh Atlantic char: lemon and fresh dill. ~Served with dill infused aioli
*Oven roasted baby yellow potatoes with olive oil, parsely, garlic
*Stuffed broiled tomatoes: Greek oregano, dill, parsley, garlic, feta cheese, mascarpone cheese & topped with panko bread crumb-parmesan cheese crumble
*Blackened brocoli, olive oil, garlic, sea salt

All wines were sampled with the main course and each one offered an interesting pairing in its own right.

• 2006 Mark Ryan Long Haul Ciel du Cheval Vineyard

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  No formal notes taken, yet I do remember loving this wine:
  Compact and complex with some caramel notes, refined red and black fruits and well balanced acids. This wine offered tiers of flavors, elegance and quite an evolutionarily-lengthy finish.

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• 2006 Nicholas Cole Cellars Reserve

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  No formal notes taken, but the textural components were undeniably memorable:
  Big, yet dialed back with sophistication. Dark with a rudiment of clove, mocha and refined black summer berries. A textural marvel; velvety dark-silky chocolate and a long gliding finish which digressed on the palate for infinity.

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• 2007 Wooldridge Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Applegate Valley

  No formal notes taken the night of the 12th, however we revisited on day 2:
  With a nose of bell pepper, cologne, eucalyptus leaves and tea, I wondered if the fruit had been picked under ripe or if this wine was in a dumb phase. Somewhat better on the palate, proposing flavors of sharp red fruit, nutmeg, black currant and drying tannins. I appreciated the bright acids for food pairing. Finish lingered on with moderate lift on the hind palate.

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• 2010 Naches Heights Vineyard Syrah Naches Heights Vineyard

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Naches Heights

  No formal notes taken on night 1, however we were pleased to revisit day 2:
  This wine evolved over the course of 24 hours showing coal, spiced black fruit, cranberry, stems, a bit of blood, rust and raw beef scents. Near incalculable amounts of freshly crushed black peppercorns, a wild component, interesting herbal notes, gaminess, tart black fruit and exotic spices on the tongue. With predominant drying tannins on the abundant finish; would love to revisit in 2 years time.

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• 2008 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Camins del Priorat

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  No formal notes taken with dinner, but left overs were sampled on day 2:
  A blend of 60% Carinena, 30% Garnacha, with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
  
  Aromas of spiced glacier cherries (Mr. VinL's term), toast and sweet red fruit. Simple, yet pleasant with blackberry pie filling, sweet oak, coffee and aniseed flavors. Healthy tannins which leave the hind palate a bit dry following a touch of smoothness on the mid-palate.

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*Baklava, Kourabiethes cookies, dark chocolate covered caramel-sea salt

The Bert Simon was a highlight for me with the dessert course, especially the Greek treats! The Folin Tempranillo paired best with the chocolate caramels.

• 2005 Bert Simon Serriger Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  No formal notes taken the night of January 12th, but a bit left over was relished:
  An indescribable and intoxicating perfume of what I referred to as my childhood memory of the smell of freshly crushed fern fronds. Lemon, herbs, pears, unripe grapefruit and tea also flushed the nose. Layer upon complex layer imparted fresh tea, apples, papaya and honeyed pears. And yes, lychee fruit-(accurately coined by CiS at dinner). This riesling offers rich foundation blocks of minerality nodding towards slate, limestone and wet river rock.
  This is the wine that solidifies my grasp of the Riesling craze. I now understand!

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• 2007 Folin Cellars Tempranillo Folin Vineyards

  USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley

  With no formal notes on day 1, a re-sampling the following day was in order:
  This is a Dessert tempranillo.
  With little effort, caramelized-brandied cherries, toasted clove and cinnamon spices flushed the nose. Rich, dark stewed cherries, brûléed sugar, toasted caramel, smoldering oak, nutmeg, cinnamon and bay leaf flavors warm the mouth. Finish is also tepid with the addition of brandied caramel.

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Thanks CiS/YY and ob2s for all your work on the 1/11/13 PDX offline!