vino with a touch of building gossip

The winos of the ClockTower gathered last evening in the home of our generous and friendly hosts Javi and Cori for a memorable pairing of chocolates and wine. Cori, admittedly not the wino Javi is proud to be, provided lush, bluecheese and crusty bread appetizers drizzled with honey to get us started, while Javi poured a delicious cabernet from DeLoach. Naturally it had been decanted earlier so it had already caught its breath and was ready to go. Javi’s a pro.

Typical of fruit-forward reds from California, the DeLoach exhibited a deep ruby color and cascading flavors of plum and raspberry with just a touch of black pepper and the oak in which it was stored. He was right, it was perfect with the dark, Lindt chocolate.

Also surprisingly supportive of the wine was another dark chocolate also from Lindt but this one infused with the warmth of red chile peppers. Amazing, this one was my favorite. The sweet rich burst of cocoa slowly gives way to a sneaky, expanding burn from the chile, so a sip of the very nice red can quash the heat and set you up for the next chocolate bite. I assure you, the chatty, enthusiastic crowd approved.

But Javi and Cori were not through. 

For a killer finish to cap the evening they poured a golden white port from Dow with a nutty rich aroma and a perceived viscosity reminiscent of the juice poured from canned peaches. Fantastic! These straight forward flavors paired beautifully with the milk chocolate this time---not too complex---just a satisfying rush of grape and cocoa to send us all back out into the night in high spirits. This was fun.

So there you have it; a little vino with a touch of building gossip and some very good tunes in the background... a happy night with the neighbors and I hope we all do it again. And if you missed this one make time for the next. Javi and Cori did this right. Our thanks to 311!