The Last Rose' of Summer

Yesterday was a good day.

The minor surgery went well and the physical therapy began, and while painful it wasn't as bad as I expected. Friends offered dinner so we planned a menu and they picked up some items at the market and did everything here.

The weather was summer like with sunny skies and temperatures in the lower 80 degree range, but the forecast was for a big change (and it is raining hard as this is typed). Having no restrictions on diet or alcohol I decided to open one of the two Louis Casters a Damry rose' champagnes.

It was a beautiful pale copper in color and tasted of strawberries and fresh biscuits. It was a wonderful way to start an evening. Wonderful bubbles and medium body with good acidity only made the wine better.

For the menu we decided on a two pound porterhouse steak, a fennel and apple a slaw with juniper berries and lemon and a curried couscous with almonds and currants.

I pulled out a 1995 Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva.

It was still dark in color and smelled of fully ripe strawberries and cherries with hints of flowers and some earthiness. The tannins and acids were fully integrated into this wine and it was in total balance. It was as good as a fully mature Chianti gets. It was full bodied and fruity with only enough bite to refresh the mouth. It was a perfect example of how wines improve in the bottle and why I like the taste of a mature wine. It was not old in any sense, but it was mature and at its peak.

The steak was grilled, then carved off the bone and lightly sprinkled with lemon juice and olive oil. The wine was remarkable with the steak and the currants in the couscous. There were no problems with the slaw either as the fennel and apple seemed to go with this wine as well. It was a wonderful meal.

There is one more bottle in the cellar and it is on the "drink soon" list as I can't see it improving.