More Than This

Ridge
Lytton Springs 2004
Sonoma County, California
Rating: 8.5








I'll start off by proclaiming how awesome my mom is. Aside from birthing me she also, upon being invited to my apartment for her birthday dinner, volunteered to cook (and set up a tiny Christmas tree which I would have never thought to procure on my own). Don't get me wrong, I love cooking and would have gladly made dinner. However, I couldn't turn down one of Gail's signature dishes: fettucini with shrimp, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, basil, shallots, and feta. This left my boyfriend and I to choose an appropriate vino, bread, hors d'orderves, and dessert. The wine proved to be easy, as we went with our gut instincts. Getting out of Zingerman's in a timely manner, however, is a bitch. We were like Hansel and Gretel, sampling goodies fed to us by a staff hellbent on fattening us up and, through a natural curing process, making us delectible enough to be sliced and placed between two slices of Farmhouse bread , priced $13 at the Roadhouse.


While the pasta was being prepared, we snacked on two cheeses: a locally made goat cheese rolled in tarragon and a creamy, brie-like cheese from Burgandy which is actually rubbed in pulp from Burgandy grapes. A no-brainer match was L. Mawby's Blanc de Blanc, a crisp, dry, delicious sparkler from the Leelanau Peninsula. Probably best known for his Sex Brut Rose (and subsequently one of the most predictible double entendres in the local wine industry), Lawrence Mawby's winery is my favorite in Michigan. All sparkling but all over the place and a great tasting room experience to boot. But the bubbles were just the beginning...

Although we had considered going with the Geyserville, we chose the Lytton Springs for its higher concentration of Petite Sirah. All Ridge proprietary Zinfandel blends possess a common thread in taste, but are different just enough to warrant indecision of what to drink with a particular meal. Initial instincts, as often the case, proved correct. The 2004 Lytton Springs, which is 79% Zinfandel, 18% Petite Sirah, and 3% Carignane, was the right choice. Rich plum color with a nose of dark berry and smoke, but also walnut and fortified grape(which I'll get to later). This is a serious Zin- all the fruit-forward qualities for which the varietel is known, but with added structure and boldly finessed tannins. It's also a formidible match to a dish with shellfish and tomatoes, as it's smooth enough not to drown out the flavor of the former and hearty enough to stand up to the ripeness and acidity of the latter.

Lytton Springs is Bryan Ferry- unquestionably masculine, but wrapped in such a suave and deboniare package. Perhaps I should have put on Country Life as we sat around the table after dinner, savoring the last of the wine. This is when an important discovery was made- the more the Lytton Springs opened up, the more it took on an aroma of vanilla, nuts and cognac quite reminiscent of the wine that, coincidently, we planned on drinking with dessert. Chateau d'Orignac Pineau des Charentes, one of my favorite dessert wines, is aged in cognac barrels and has a toasty hazelnut flavor. With its sonically harmonious fusion of strong flavors, it just might be the Bryan Eno of wine. Or not. Trying the two side by side only made the similarities more apparent and made for a seamless transition from dinner to dessert. Naturally, both go well with chocolate-frosted cupcakes.

-Lauren