2005 Col d'Orcia Rosso di Montalcino

[hotwine]

A newbie in the line-up. Bright ruby, almost a Barbaresco in the glass, wonderful fruity nose, then bright red fruit on the palate. Graceful finish, taunting, leaving me wanting more. 13% alc/vol and about $18 at the discounter. With escargot and pizza.
Sauteed the snails in butter with garlic powder, onion powder, touch of S&P, then grilled over an oak fire; then drizzled some more garlic butter over 'em in their little ceramic trays and held 'em in the oven at 200F until she got home a couple of hours later; no harm done with the long wait. Figured she'd like a treat after slaving in the kitchen all weekend, preparing for the Thanksgiving feast.... and she did enjoy.

[Innkeeper]

Food & wine both sound delish.

[wondersofwine]

I got my fix on mussels at a French restaurant in Durham--may have to go back there soon for the snails.

[hotwine]

Have enjoyed escargot since the '60s (recall having them with Bordeaux at a French restaurant in Nha Trang in late '67) but had not had them grilled until we visited The Nest in Fredericksburg back on Halloween, our anniversary. They were the best yet! Chef served them with a cream and chive sauce on a bed of spinach. I found a cream & chive dip for chips from Ruffles, and that was close enough.

When we were first married and living in Stuttgart (1975-'76), our favorite Sunday lunch was 4 doz. escargot and Bordeaux. Yum!

[Innkeeper]

My boss in 'Nam shipped a case of escargot over in his hold baggage. He had previously been stationed in France at a different base than we were at, but at the same time. He brought back lots of it from that hitch.

At any rate he would break out a can of it for what special occasions we enjoyed over there, and ate with the great French bread that the locals had been taught to make. Great memories.

[wondersofwine]

IK,
I was thinking surely the escargot/snails would go bad before arriving in Vietnam but then saw that they were already canned. While I was in Germany a friend sent me some Gruyere cheese (which we had enjoyed at a raclette place in Zurich together) but I was in the process of moving from Heidelberg to Giessen and the cheese was a smelly mess before I visited the mailroom on post. The mail clerks were happy to get rid of it. My first escargot experience was in Strasbourg and the waiter had to demonstrate how to use the tongs and little fork, etc.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 12-01-2008).]