Funerals and Good Wine

Off from work today and out the door very early to attend an uncle's funeral in Kentucky. Nice to see some relatives that I haven't seen since the last family funeral. They all looked older, but then of course I'm preserved by the wine. There was a nice discussion with my wine loving aunt about her trip to Italy and we made plans for a couple of Italian dinners in the near future, one here in Ohio and the other in Kentucky.

I arrived home without having stopped for lunch so I was quite hungry when dinner time arrived. There were some very large shrimp in the fridge and some fresh pasta as well. The shrimp were combined with lots of garlic, shallots, olive oil, a large dose of red pepper flakes and a little butter in a large skillet. I threw in a chopped tomato, a pinch of Spanish saffron and some white wine. When everything reduced a little I stirred in a tablespoon of heavy cream, some salt and black pepper, and some parsley. Then we tossed in the cooked tagliatelle. A couple of crusty roles and it was a great ending to the day.

With the heat from the pepper I opened a 375 ml bottle of 2006 Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett. We already had a spicy Italian meal with a Spanish accent so I saw no harm in adding a German touch. The wine was tart with ripe apples and lime in the nose, wonderful acidity and just enough sweetness to marry perfectly with the spiciness of the pasta. This wine is a touch drier than the 2005 version and not quite as long in the finish, but it is a very good wine in its own right. It is probably closer to a true Kabinett style than the 2005 since it is drier. Nice wine.