Lori and I went up to Santa Rosa a couple of weekends ago, this time with another relative, but again to see the boys and their families. Of course we had dinner together at the end of the day. (And we watched Game 4 of the World Series, with the San Francisco Giants winning that game and ultimately the World Series!)

Actually, this relative was Lori’s aunt, and she was up visiting us to celebrate her 85th birthday. Lori’s brother and wife drove from Reno to meet us, and the dinner was really her birthday party. We brought up a couple of bottles from the wine cellar for the event:

Audelssa 2001 “Mountain Terraces” Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley

Aver Family Vineyards 2007 “Blessings” Petite Sirah, Santa Clara Valley

The Audelssa 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon in the decanter, about an hour before dinner.

I wish I could remember the story behind us acquiring the Audelssa Cab, but my memory isn’t that good, and neither is my discipline at keeping notes on wines. The Aver Blessings I remember well. We were at a PS I Love You – Dark & Delicious event in 2010 at Rock Wall Wine Company in Alameda. PS I Love You is the Petite Sirah industry advocacy organization, and Dark & Delicious is a great event showing off different wineries and interesting food pairings, all around Petite Sirah. We had recently visited the Aver tasting room in the Gilroy area, and enjoyed their Petite Sirah. Then they were at the event, and a magnum of the 2007 Blessings was part of the silent auction that night. Mine, mine, mine! I can’t remember what we paid for it, but I considered it a great deal (steal!).

Winemaker B decanting the magnum of Aver Family Vineyards 2007 “Blessings” Petite Sirah

How many dinners do you have where it makes sense to open a magnum? Well, it made sense that night, as we had enough people to drink it and very good food (barbequed hamburgers, maybe not as elegant as for the usual 85th birthday celebration, but very good nonetheless) to pair with it. I’m not a huge fan a Petite Sirah – that’s more Lori’s – but this was even better than we remembered it. Sometimes Petite Sirah is made to just emphasize how big and bold and tannic it can be. But bigger is not always better, and a bit of restraint with this wine allowed the grape, and the wine, to really shine.

Nothing against the Audelssa Cab, which was actually a very good Cab and also went well with the meal, but this night was PS I Love You.

L’Chaim,

Larry