So many parties to attend, so little time.
We jaunt from one Christmas party to another this time of year. Giuseppe and I ventured to the 'burbs to attend our friends, Stefano and Helena's holiday party at their house in Rye. Rye??? Not the bread! The sleepy suburban town up in Westchester, New York.
Stefano and Helena are worldly people and made sure we were not in shellshock from venturing out of our city environs. As you can see, Stefano's cellar was well stocked and being the generous man that he is, he shares his wine with his friends. Even the ones worth writing about. Big California was represented in his guests offering: Silver Oak, Insignia, Caymus, Cakebread, Heitz and more. The French wines were mostly Burgundy. Even one Musigny that Stefano said he paid $600 per bottle for. And he was serving it to his many, many guests. I felt like I was at a P. Diddy party.
The food was delish! Being the quintessential hostess that Helena is, it would be so pedestrian if she hired just any caterer. No. You hire the services of Katherine J. Rich of Greenwich, Connecticut. If you don't have a live-in chef (Mon Dieu!), you hire Catering by Katherine. She's the person in the kitchen that is invisible and voila! makes food come out of the oven as if you slaved all year over it. Tuna tartare with creme fraiche and caviar on a crisply fried waffled potato chip. Mini burgers so succulent and tender. Not like those mini burgers you sample at charity events that are as hard as a hockey puck. Make your own roast ham and beef sandwiches with homemade artisanal breads. Yes, all suburban trophy wives stay home and wait for that bread to proof while they exercise themselves to waif-life feathers that will blow away with the flour that was used for the bread.
Now back to the wines! I tasted them all. The American stunners were strong, alcoholic, forceful and even with a little time, I mentioned I didn't think they were ready to drink. Translation? The guest that chose this lot from the booty either knew the retail value and made that night their foray into the high-end, or liked it so big and full in the mouth that it could've been Yellow Tail for all they knew.
There were some white wines for those who had to maintain their Zoom Whitening pearlies in tip top condition. What better than a $100 French chardonnay? The red Burgundies were elegant, easier to drink, perhaps a little thin compared to the American wines. But there were 2 wines from the Rhone region in the South of France. I thought it was an interesting add-on because Burgundy is primarily pinot noir, a princely grape with pedigree. The American wines represented were mostly cabernet sauvignon, the king of red wine grapes that is all about structure. Rhone wines are mostly blends. In this case, a blend of grenache (fruit and alcohol), syrah (another big, dark structural grape), cinsault (pronounced "sin SO" and adds spice to a blend), and mouvedre (earthiness). I thought it was the perfect in-between party wine for the evening.
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