Birthday Dinner & NJ Wine

This was my first COVID birthday, but we all have more experience dealing with this mess by now than we would like. A long list of local restaurants who do takeout and a well-stocked bar and wine cellar definitely go a long way in making the best of a bad situation. Yes, I know the bottle on the right above is neither wine, nor from New Jersey (more on that below). I am also very grateful that, thus far, we have not been afflicted by the health threat that is ever-present or the economic threat that has impacted so many.

I have written about Bistro diMarino in a couple of previous posts, but I opted to return for my takeout birthday dinner. My wife and I chose appetizers and entrees. She was kind enough to pick up the food, while I picked out some wine.

The Appetizers

For my appetizer I chose the Fagioli con Sausage-cannellini beans sautéed with broccoli rabe and spicy Italian sausage (shaved parmesan cheese added at home). My wife chose the Short Rib Gnocchi. It consisted of their famous gnocchi and short ribs, with caramelized onions, melted sharp provolone cheese in a house red sauce. You can choose either an appetizer portion or an entree portion of any of their gnocchi dishes. While my wife chose the appetizer portion, it was quite large. The picture below only contains about half of the portion that they packed for her.

                            

The Entrees

For my entree, I chose the Pepper Encrusted Ahi Tuna, served rare with a Barolo reduction. The sides included garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed baby leaf spinach. The Tuna was amazing and the Barolo reduction made my selection of the Turdo Vineyards Nebbiolo a no brainer. Otherwise, I might have gone with a lighter red or a white wine with the Tuna dish.

My wife chose the Vitello Milanese-Pan fried veal cutlet topped with arugula and diced tomato in a lemon and extra virgin olive oil dressing. She also selected the mashed potatoes and sautéed baby leaf spinach to accompany her entree.

We loved both of our entrees and the Nebbiolo was perfect with the appetizers and entrees.

                              

The Wine

When my wife and I dine out, we invariably take a bottle of red and a bottle of white (a la Billy Joel). However, when you have access to all of your wines (and bar) for a dinner at home, you can be more impromptu. Still, I kind of knew I was going to be opening a red for our dinners and appetizers, I decided to open a bottle of white for my Birthday Happy Hour.

For our happy hour, I chose a bottle of 2017 Cedar Rose Chardonnay. It is a good, reasonably priced Chard with a medium body, fruity aroma and taste, but a dry, smooth finish.

The 2014 Turdo Etichetta D’Oro Nebbiolo is a lush, full-bodied wine that has incredibly smooth tannins, especially for a Nebbiolo. I remember tasting this one when it was first available and it was amazing then. Today, it is one of the best red wines I have tasted and definitely my favorite Nebbiolo from any producer.

Dessert

Okay. Let’s get something straight. No cake here and no candles to blow out (that’s forbidden during COVID, anyway. Besides, at my age, putting the right number of candles on a cake can be tiring and blowing them out may exceed my available oxygen output (based upon my recent oximeter reading). Therefore, my wish was for a liquid dessert-Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey. If you haven’t tried it, you really need to do so soon. There are lots of flavored whiskeys and rums and vodkas out there these days. However, this one tastes like scoops of peanut butter were dipped into the batch and still managed an ABV of 60%. Smooth and delicious! I had a second helping and didn’t even miss the chocolate cake.

Cheers!

Winter Sale!

Interested in learning more about New Jersey wine and wineries? You can purchase a copy of my book, New Jersey Uncorked: A Snob-Free Taste of NJ Wine. Better yet, you can get it on sale for $17.99. Just use the coupon code Winter2021 here: http://store.bookbaby.com/book/New-Jersey-Uncorked

Or if you prefer, you can get an even better deal on the ebook version at the Apple iBook store. Just use the same coupon code and download it for $9.99. Please note: Neither offer is available at Amazon.

Coming Attractions

• Less common wine varietals
• New wineries coming soon
• Why do you like a given wine?
• What factors contribute to a wine’s taste?

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