I always have the best intentions to write a blog once a week, or at least every couple of weeks. Unfortunately, other things (like life) get in the way, so my best intentions go awry. However, I was going through photos from 2014, and I found ones of bottles that we had enjoyed along with various dinners or restaurants. So, I figured, why not have a composite of memorable wines and dinners from the year? And here we go:

May - Ernie has been to Brussels, Belgium, a number of times, and I finally made it there in 2013. So we had seen Et Voila a number of times when we drove along MacArthur Boulevard in Georgetown, and we finally decided to stop. What great food! Very traditional Belgium food, including Ernie's favorite "Mussels in Brussels" and pommes frites. We had this lovely dinner along with a very nice white Rhone wine, a David Reynaud Crozes Hermitage 2011. The crisp, fruity wine and the mussels (we both like them in a white garlic broth) were a great combination. Highly recommend this restaurant.

July - We traveled to Philadelphia for a relative's wedding. We had not been to Philadelphia in quite a while, so we were looking forward to seeing cousins and also for trying some of the great restaurants that friends had told us about. We spent a fabulous evening at Tinto, which is owned and run by Jose Garces. What great Basque food! Lots of different tapas to try, complemented by recommended wine pairings. Our server, Kristin, was fabulous. We selected a number of different foods, and we got to have five different Basque wines. The first was an Ametza Arabako 2011 Petit Grain Muscat from Txakolina to go along with cheeses and olives. The next was the Castellroig Ull de Llebre 2010 from Penedes. This was paired with the charcuterie we had selected. Third up - a 'Temple' Bodegas Rejadora 2009 Tinto de Toro. This went very nicely with the diver scallops and the crispy serrano and the prawns. The fourth wine - San Jorge 'Roble' Tinto Fino 2012 from Ribera del Duero. Beautifully bold, great tannins, gorgeous scent. We had this with the lamb and the duck, a very nice combination. And finally, with dessert, a Bodegas El Maestro Pedro Ximenez Sherry from Jerez de la Frontera. A lovely way to end the evening - and we definitely need to go back to Philadelphia and have another dinner there!

The menu with our marked tapas at Tinto in Philadelphia.

August - When we finally moved into our new place, we celebrated with a somewhat simple but delicious meal - Linguini con le Vongole, or linguine with clams. In fact, Ernie made the dinner so perfectly, we had it again in September. We got the opportunity to pull out two different whites to try with the clams. The first dinner we paired a Cantine Cipressi Falanghina Terre Deli Osci 2012. This is a great wine to go with seafood, since the grapes are grown near the Italian coast - fruity citrus and pleasantly full-bodied to go with the clam sauce (Ernie adds anchovy paste to give a bit of richness to the sauce). The second time we had the clams, we had the Podere Guiggiolo Toscana 2011, which is a combination of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Incrocio Manzoni grapes. The creaminess of the chardonnay and the grassiness of the sauvignon blanc complemented the clam sauce in a totally different way than the Falanghina - but just as deliciously. Two excellent Carbone meals!

The 2012 Falanghina we enjoyed with the Linguini con le Vongole - first time...

...and the 2011 Podere del Giuggiolo from the second dinner.

September - Business took me back to Brussels, so I ended up missing Ernie's birthday by sitting on a plane. While in Brussels, I went to dinner with the local company folks at Belga Queen, which is a beautiful restaurant in an old bank building right near the center of Brussels. Belgium is not famous for its wine, and I am not a beer drinker; therefore, I cannot regale you with tales of what I understand are super Belgium beers. However, I did indulge in a fabulous dessert, which involved three different kinds of chocolate paired up with three different ages of Gran Marnier. Unfortunately, I do not know the name of this creation, as I did not write it down. The youngest Gran Marnier was a bit strong with the alcohol flavor, whereas the 75-year old Gran Marnier was beautifully smooth and the characteristic orange flavor. And the three pairings were great. When I go back, I have to find this again!

Three ages of Gran Marnier, youngest on the left and oldest on the right.

October - This was a busy month with various people's birthdays. We had another great Carbone meal, courtesy of Ernie, who tried out Baltimore's Parts and Labor butchery. They had an incredible set of bone-in ribeye steaks, so we decided to grill some in our Wolf oven (we love the appliances in our place!). Ernie seasoned them "Tuscan style" with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and some rosemary for seasoning. Really simple, and absolutely delicious. I pulled out a bottle of wine we had purchased in Paso Robles, CA, a few years ago, a Four Vines Anarchy 2008. This is a big, bold wine with almost equal amounts of Zinfandel, Mourvedre, and Syrah. The wine had a combination of the big jamminess of the Zinfandel, the peppery Syrah, and a smoothness from the Mourvedre. A great combination with the fantastic ribeyes.

The raw ribeyes from Parts and Labor - an inch and a half thick.

Ribeye steaks with butternut squash and broccoli.

For my birthday, we went out to the Black Olive to celebrate. (Yes, it is very unfair that we went out for my birthday but I was on a plane for Ernie's birthday...) This is a really nice Greek restaurant in a Fells Point neighborhood. The fish is wonderfully fresh, and customers choose their fish from a case of all the fresh fish. They also have wonderful lamb. Since Ernie had the rack of lamb, I chose the 2008 Manousakis Nostos from Crete. This wine is made from Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache Rouge, and Roussane grapes (for blending). The finished wine is a beautiful ruby and purple color, a scent of very black fruits, and great leathery taste with the black fruit. A lovely wine - and it went great with Ernie's lamb and my St. Peter's fish in parchment. To complete the meal, we (of course) had baklava, which was a perfect ending.

A wine from Crete to complement our Greek meal.

We also celebrated our friend's birthday, Ivan. Since it was on a Tuesday, we went to Cinghiale for 1/2 price wine night. They have great pastas and other food, so we each chose our celebratory meal. And to accompany, we chose an Aglianico del Vulture, a 2009 Il Sigillo from Cantine del Notaio in Basilicata. This was a big, bold wine with lots of tannins and really dark fruit flavors. We let it breathe for a while to get the fabulous flavors. Some salumi misti and cheeses, and then the pasta - it was wonderful. Definitely a wine I want to find again.

An Aglianico del Vulture - beautifully bold.

November - We had a lot of activities in October and November, so we missed our son-in-law's birthday. So to make it up to him, we met Joe and Krissy in Annapolis at Lewnes Steak House. This is a favorite restaurant for Joe, since he loves beef (well done!). Lewnes has a great selection of different cuts of beef, in addition to seafood, so we all had a great time. They also have a very good wine list, so we chose one that we don't typically have - a Portuguese wine. This one was a 2009 Prazo de Roriz from the Duoro region of Portugal. The wine is made up of uniquely Portuguese grapes - Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Francisca, Touriga Nacional, and Touringa Franca, along with a few others. This was a full-bodied wine, great tannins, lots of fruit - perfect with the various cuts of beef that we each ordered. A very happy birthday celebration for Joe, even through it was late!

A very nice Portuguese wine made from more than five native grapes.

December - We have been trying to get to various restaurants around our new area in Baltimore, since there are so many! We had tried Bond Street Social for a late lunch in September, so we tried it again for dinner. It was a very cold night, so we were fortunate to get a table right next to their fireplace. We tried a couple of their very unique appetizers - Cream of Crab Soup Dumplings (the soup is baked right into the dumplings!) and the Crab Cakes with fried green tomatoes and tomato relish. Yummy! And for dinner, Ernie chose the Herb Crusted Salmon with citrus lump crab salad, and I chose the Panéed Scallops with citrus risotto and grilled mango salsa. To go with the great food, we chose a wine from a vineyard we had visited a number of years ago in Napa Valley, a 2012 Darioush Chardonnay. What a great pairing! The wine was very full-bodied with oaky scents, buttery taste and the beautiful fruit flavors. The wine went great with the food. By the way, if you find yourself out in Napa Valley, do stop by the Darioush Winery - it has great architecture and also wonderful wines!

We have great memories of the Darioush winery in Napa Valley.

Our son, Matt, came recently to stay with us through the holiday season. When he arrived, we walked over to Cinghiale - after all, it was 1/2 price wine night again! (This is a great deal - definitely check it out!) Matt and I both ordered the Maccheroni alla Chitarra with Cinghiale Bolognese (Chitarra Macaroni with Wild Boar Bolognese sauce) and pecorino. Ernie ordered the Casunsei, which is sausage-filled tortellini with a butter-sage sauce. We decided to try a 2009 Donna Olimpia Millepassi from Bolgheri, which is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. The wine is named for the Roman ruins that traverse the property - the ancient Roman road that crosses the estate. The wine is definitely a keeper - garnet red with traces of violet, scents of blackberries and blueberries, and baking spices along with the fruit in the taste. I was disappointed that we didn't find a reason to order a second bottle! A great way to start the holiday, and I have to find this wine in a wine store.

And to end this entry, I want to end the way we finished so many meals through the years. We love Limoncello, which is a liquor made from lemons from the Amalfi Coast. We have loved Limoncello since we had it at Positano Ristorante in Bethesda, at Amici Miei, a homemade version in Tuscany (that's a story!), and on the coast in Amalfi and on Capri. We found a bottle of Pallini Limoncello at a Montgomery Liquor Store - and it was fabulous. A very bright yellow with traces of green, a gorgeous lemon taste, and an almost syrupy consistency. It is always a wonderful way to end a meal and toast the companion with whom you are sharing the meal. And so we toast you - here's to all the great meals and wines of 2014, and we are looking forward to new ones in 2015!

By the way, if you have suggestions, comments, or ideas for new stories that you'd like to share, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, Auguro a tutti voi Buone Feste! (I wish all of you Happy Holidays!)