Fattoria Montellori 2006

Holiday weekend is here and it got off to a delicious start this evening with a grilled New York strip steak, a little left over risotto made into a cake and pan seared, and some carrots and shallots with fresh tarragon.

The wine was a 2006 Fatorria Montellori Chianti. If one had a project to demonstrate what a Chianti smells like this wine could be used as a "olfactory" aid. Cherries, good, clean dry dirt, a little spice, and a wee bit of leather all eagerly jumped out of the glass. The cherries were tasty and there was a little raspberry to go with them. There was good acid and just the right amount of tannin on the finish to dry the mouth a little. For $12 it is impossible to not like this wine if you like Chianti. There's not tremendous depth or weight, but that is not what this wine is about. It's about popping the cork, pouring a glass and downing it with some good food at a reasonable price. At 13% alcohol it's not going to overwhelm anything, including a budget.

Tomorrow is one of several designated "days of gluttony" on the calendar. It is "Lobster Fest" day, where the local market flies in a plane load of live Maine lobsters and offers them at $12 apiece. Friends (the usual suspects) are pooling resources and buying 16 of them in the morning and cooking them all tomorrow evening. Salad, grilled potatoes, green beans and a few surprises will round out the menu.

There will be wine! Last year was sort of a hodge-podge of whites while this year is focusing on chardonnay with a special emphasis on Chablis. My contribution to the day will be a Vincent Mothe 2007 Chablis and a 2006 William Fevre Premier Cru Fourchaume Vignoble de Valourent. Happily I also know that there will be a 2006 Fevre Grand Cru Bougros on the menu. There will be a couple of California Chardonnays as well. Full details will magically appear here on Sunday, but here's a nice shot of the Mothe Chablis in the evening sun.