5 friends were invited to Dominick's to help Leslie ring in year 40, quite the monumentous occasion. On the back patio, bricked in and canopied by an olive tree, the only light source a fireplace and strings of globe lights traversing the space, we are tucked into a long wooden table and start the night off right. A bottle of bubbles appears, and the night begins.
Leslie is my stylish cousin, a super-creative type who travels the world and lives between Los Angeles and St. Croix. She can be credited with spoiling me for all world travel, as my first trip to Europe was as her guest at age 17. We stayed at the Savoy, soaked up culture, went to the World Music Awards... you get the idea. Her party guests include folks from across the creative spectrum and I feel inspired from the moment I sit down with this group.
I swipe the wine list to discover an Italian-focused yet nicely balanced selection to celebrate Leslie's big day. Wines are separated into "White" and "Red" but subcategories don't stray into the cliche grape names; instead, bottles were creatively organized by familiarity under titles like "Tried and True," "Your New Best Friend," and "Go Out on a Limb."
We chose a Sirch Tocai-Fruilano "Albana" 2007 off the "Your New Best Friend" list. This is one of my favorite grapes, and it is becoming just a little easier to find with its popularity growing. The first bottle was dry and lightly effervescent with notes of lemon-verbena and pears. An instant crowd-pleaser! Bottle #2 was from the 2006 vintage, and had vanilla undertones with a very slight tang on the palette. This, too, went over well with our group, so a third bottle (of the 2006) was requested and came sailing out with smiles.
And then there was food...
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