Stellenbosch is on fire!
My friend Nadia, who lives in the Stellenbosch area of South Africa, sent me a few photos today. Apparently the region is caught in the midst of wildfires; apparently they weren’t content to create wines like those of California, they wanted the natural disasters too. How strange!
So, in Nadia’s honor, I drank a glass of Ken Forrester 2005 “Petit” Chenin Blanc with dinner at Ray’s Boathouse tonight. One official review grants this wine 89 points, which is about 2-3 points too high…still, it’s a very nice and drinkable wine, especially considering the spate of lovely, warm weather here in Seattle. Here’s what I wrote in my master spreadsheet of wines I’ve tried:
“Very light, golden color; smells of honey and wildflowers; tastes like grapefruit, with a nice, dry finish that doesn’t linger. Quite refreshing, good with a salad.”
That salad was a great counterpart: butter lettuce, local blue cheese, raspberry vinegarette, almonds, and dried cranberries. Terrific!
After dinner I had a glass of Clear Creek pear brandy, which I have wanted to try for a while. I hear they use 28 pounds of fresh pears per bottle. That’s a lot of pears! You can certainly tell, too: the smell and taste of the pears in this brandy are exquisite. As I described it to my fiance, “it’s like pears soaked in gasoline!” She hates the strong stuff.
I want to try the Douglas Fir eau de vie that Clear Creek produces, but it’s $50 at the local liquor store…more within my means is the McCarthy’s single-malt whiskey. That scotch/whiskey has received good reviews so far. I guess it’s time to head back to south Seattle, once I get paid of course.