Last night we had another of our ‘Battle’ dinners. We had two ‘new’ couples, since the Ackermans and Johnsons couldn’t make it. Pat Greathouse & Chris Barnes and Lois & Gary Lewis joined us and Laura Chancellor & Larry Archibald for the Greek dinner. We started with two Grand Cru NV Champagnes: Pierre Péters Cuvée de Réserve Blanc de Blanc and Le Mesnil Blanc des Blancs (a special Rare Wine Co. offering) to sip while we were assembling and beginning preparations. The theme was Greek food and wines. The dinner started in our living room around the coffee table with Mezze plates prepared by Pat - shrimp with tomatoes and feta, eggplant and parsley dip, zucchini fritters, Agrumi salumi, olives, and pita bread. This nice starter was enjoyed with the end of the Champagnes and a good 2005 Curran Grenache Blanc. Then still around our coffee table we had Lois’ Dolmades: a mixture of rice, currants, mint, & pine nuts wrapped in grape leaves. These were enjoyed with two Greek wines: 2008 Santorini Assyrtiko ‘Katerina’ (white) and a 2007 Boutari Nemea (red).
Then we moved to the dining table for my Avgolomeno Soup (rich chicken stock with orzo, lemon juice and beaten eggs) with two more Greek wines - 2003 Agros Santorini Asyrtiko (white) and a 2006 Haggipavlu Aghiorgitiko Nemea (red), The white was a medium brown color, but not oxidized and with good acidity. Both wines were good with the soup. Next was Laura’s Moussaka with Lamb with the same red wine as with the soup and a 1999 Ridge Geyserville. Both wines were good with the lamb. Then we finished with Laura’s Ricotta Cake with a lovely 1996 Château Pierre-Bise Coteaux du Layon Rochefort ‘Les Rayelles’. They made a lovely combination.
Another delightful cooperative dinner.