As this is the last weekend before Lent, we pushed the boat right out. Butter basted Wagyu beef ribeye steaks and Three Cheese Hasselback Potatoes. If you looked up decadence in the dictionary, it would have this meal's picture in the definition. Green vegetables, you ask? For once my view that green vegetables are not food, but rather what food eats, prevailed.
To drink I opened one of my two bottles of the 1997 Ridge Monte Bello. I last had this wine at a restaurant in 2007, when it was a tannic beast. An additional ten years of bottle age transformed it into a mellow and amiable companion. Ruby red in color. Strong bouquet of cassis, blackberry, tobacco, leather, and anise. On the palate, the tannins have softened considerably. Indeed, the texture is now velvety smooth. Lingering finish. A truly great wine at its peak.
Grade: 98
(No. I don't know why Typepad sometimes flips the photos on their side. Grumble.)
