Castelvero Cortese

[Innkeeper]

Interesting day today. Had to bring my true love over to Blue Hill for a massage this morning. So, I drifted on down to the B.H. Wine Shop and chit chatted for an hour or so, and only ended up with four bottles. More about them in coming weeks. As I was getting ready to go, I mentioned that it was true love's birthday (won't mention her age, but I turn 64 on Oct 10 and she is six weeks older). My friends in the wine store recommended a neat restaurant about twenty miles down peninsula in Stonington called Lily's Cafe. I asked if the cafe served wine; and they said, "No, but they only have a $2 corkage fee, and we have some cold whites right here."

2002 Castelvero, Cortese, Piemonte ($7 B.H.W.S.). It is a very refreshing medium bodied (11% alcohol) wine that was just about perfect for this situation. We had crab cakes make from fresh crab meat, napped with light curry mayonnaise; accompanied with lovely salad and fresh bread. Finished up with banana cake with sour cream frosting. There went the lo-carb diet, but birthdays only come once a year. The corkage bought two fairly decent stems and the offer of an opener that, of course, we didn't need. Recommend the restaurant and the wine if you ever find yourself in this part of Maine. The whole thing with wine, food, corkage, tax, and tip came to just under $55.

[Kcwhippet]

When you mentioned Blue Hill before, I thought you were talking about down in MA. Then you mentioned Stonington, and I was sure you were talking about CT. Folks that settled New England sure weren't very imaginative when it came to coming up with place names. There sure are a lot of towns with the same name from state to state here.

Our very best to Bev on her birthday.

[Innkeeper]

There are 55 place names that appear in five out of six New England states, and a dozen or so that appear in all six.

[Georgie]

Gee, anniversary...birthday...lots of happy times happening at the Innkeepers'! Nobody deserves them more than you two! [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[tandkvd]

Happy b'day to your wife and congradulations on the aniversary. And many returns on both.

[Innkeeper]

Picked up a couple more of Castelvero Costese from Blue Hill (still $7) to bring home. So, tonight we popped one with boneless, skinless chicken breasts sauteed in OO & butter, seasoned with salt, white pepper, granulated onion & garlic, and Penseys Italian seasoning. Deglazed the pan with some dry Vermouth for a simple sauce. Simply wonderful.