Rioja with hints of menthol and tobacco November 28, 2007

Tonight, as I was taking a break from analyzing the case study, Ciba-Geigy and the Newport Investment Proposal, I decided to open one of the more than 20 bottles of wine from the Thanksgiving party.  It was interesting to see the mix of wines left over from the party.  There was an equal mix of reds and whites as well as grape varietals.  I can’t say there was much variation on the retail price of the wines, for most of them are in the 10-15 euro range.  There is nothing wrong with that – and I wouldn’t expect a guest to be bringing over a pricy bottle of wine – at least not until I can afford to host swanky cocktail parties. 

So, I decided to look through the stash and open a red wine.  The winner was a 2004 Campo Viejo Crianza Rioja that retails for about 9 euros.  I have to use the term “winner” loosly, because I was not a big fan of this wine.  I have enjoyed several Rioja’s, but this one fell flat for me.  It was dry, lacked structure, and as one reviewer from www.cellartracker.com put it, it had light cranberry and menthol on the nose and a hint of tobacco on the pallet.  Not the descriptions of a wine I’d pay money for.  I do want to thank the kind classmate who brought this wine over, but hate to say that I will probably not be going for seconds on this one. 

Thanksgiving Party Success November 23, 2007

I can’t think of a better word than success to describe last night’s festivities.  The food, beverages, dancing, singing, moustache contest and great company were a definite success.  I was reminded by many friends and family in the past few days that I have so much to be thankful for, and they’re absolutely right.  Emails, phone calls and the party last night reminded me of what great friends and family I am surrounded by and who care about me so much.  As for last night, here are some priceless photographs to show a rundown from start to finish.

PREPARATION:  Thanks to Wyllys (cutting the Turkey), we had Turkey, aka America’s dirty bird, as part of the meal.  One bird was cooked in the oven and the other was prepared in Wylly’s smoker.  Both turned out delicious!  To accompany the meal, Katharine and Lisa slaved in the kitchen for hours making mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, apple and pumpkin pie, salad, green beans, and several appetizers.  Our classmates brought over tasty appetizers, desserts and loads of wine.  So much wine, that we’ll have to have another party to try to put a dent in it.  I settled on getting Beaujolais Nouveau, Chenin Blanc, and Tuvel Rose.  All were delicious, I’m not ashamed to say.  And to complement dessert, we shared a Sauternes dessert wine from Rich.

         

ROOMMATE PHOTOS: After we cleared everyone out of the kitchen, the roommates finally got some pictures together. (Back row: Elizabeth, TJ, John, Gordon, Robin; Front row: Lisa, Katy, Katharine)

    

    

THE FEAST: It was difficult making room for all the food, but once we crammed it all on the kitchen table, we set up a queue from the living room to the kitchen and filtered people through the line.  We had so much food that people started getting second helpings – which is expected, of course at Thanksgiving. 

 

ENTERTAINMENT:  This included a mustache contest, singing and dancing.  Over the past few weeks, the men in the class decided to compete with each other in growing ‘tashes.  Bala was the winner, Ciaran came in second and Hugh got third.  Jenny and Claire did a great job of giving out prizes for the winners.  Here are the contestant’s mugshots:

 

(Hugh, Vijay, Jim, Ciaran, Bala, Ken, Andrea)

   

SINGING AND DANCING:  Aaron, Andrea and Mike brought their guitars and entertained the class with a medley of fun tunes.  John joined in showing off his talents as well.

    

Following this up, Ciaran did an acapello rendition of You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling from Top gun and others got down to the music, including Robin with his slick moves and Rahul and his wife showing off their Indian dancing skills.

    

GREAT FUN:  And finally, we ended the night finishing off the keg, drinking more beer – thanks to Dave, and goofing off.  This Thanksgiving will definitely go down as one of my favorites.

       

Thanksgiving Wine Selection November 18, 2007

My flatmates and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for our classmates and in a dutiful attempt to get out of any cooking responsibilities, I have volunteered to choose the wine.  Anticipated attendance is growing every day and guest-count as of today is around 30 people.  If I weren’t such a Type A person, I would make a run to the wine shop and pick up a few cases of wine, hoping that would be enough to cover all the guests.  However, in order to incorporate everyone’s preferences, have enough wine to last the evening, and choose wine to pleasantly compliment the meal, I must answer the following three questions:

1.  How many bottles should I purchase?

2.  What should be the split for white, red, and rose?

3.  Which specific wines should I purchase for the white, red and rose selections?

Simple enough?  Not for an aspiring wine connoisseur such as myself.  I will probably put way too much thought into how this task will be carried out and will end up with either too much or too little wine.  For my sake of future wine drinking, I hope it’s too much. 

A wine that will definitely be on my purchasing list is Beaujolais Nouveau.  I enjoy this easy drinking wine and feel it will compliment the turkey meal quite well.  Another varietal I plan to purchase is Pinot Noir.  Since there isn’t an abundance of great Pinots from the US or New Zealand, I may take my chances on an unfamiliar Burgundy.  As for the white selection, I haven’t a clue at the moment.  That will definitely require some research.  If you have any suggestions, that I could easily obtain from an Ireland wine merchant, please let me know.

As some of you know, Thanksgiving is a very difficult holiday, given what happened last year.  Rather than turn my cheek to this well-celebrated event, I’m trying to stay positive and enjoy the company of those around me, who are looking after my best interests.  Don’t forget all you are thankful for this coming Thursday, and to my American friends and family, have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving.