Mom's Epic Birthday Bash

So my mother's birthday was last Wednesday when I happened to be home for spring break.  Since I was home, my mom decided that she wanted to have a little bit of a birthday dinner (totally fair).  Well it ended up that both my brothers, a fiancé and girlfriend, came over to join my dad, mom and I for dinner.  And if the picture from the next morning doesn't give it away, my family loves to drink wine!  In my description of each wine, I will start by the wine I had first in the night and work my way to the end of the night!

(1)  I started with the Palette Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  This definitely a pretty standard cab but was very smooth and very nice.  It was actually a great wine to start with because it was not spicy and the tannins were very night.  While it good, I wouldn’t say it was very complex in flavor but a great way to start off the night.  I did drink this wine with some cheese, crackers and cream cheese with pepper jelly.  I wouldn’t say it changed the flavor of the wine, it just mellowed it out.

(2)  I think I then moved onto the Cheateau St. Jean.  Another very nice, smooth bottle of cabernet sauvignon.  It went well with a dinner of ham and mashed potatoes and asparagus.  It was pretty stand but definitely of higher quality than the one before.

(3)  I did try a taste of the zin before it got emptied but it just wasn’t my style.  A little spicy but was full bodied.  I wouldn’t say it was bad it just wasn’t my favorite.

(4)  Now we get into the wine I was really excited to try.  My brother girlfriend bought it as a present for my mom and it is actually a Grand Cru from Rhone.  Being from Rhone it was also the standard GSM blend but it was a 2009 so I got really excited.  I tried a glass at the end of dinner (probably not the best idea) but man was it good.  It was full bodied with a hint of spice on the nose.  It was also very tannic but was just such a well-made wine.  I mean it was smooth and full bodied and pretty much just AWESOME.  If you find this wine (I don’t know how much it is) you should definitely take a crack at it

(5)  The last wine I had of the night was the 14 Hands cab (again).  Once again, it was very good and smooth and a relatively standard cab.  It was definitely the best of the bunch hands down but I only had a taste since it was so late in the night (and by late I mean 9pm and I had an interview the next morning)

Now that you got the whole she-bang on the wine party, I did find some interesting notes while writing this.  One, I think my parents like cabernet sauvignon.  Two, I think my parents like wine from California.  Three, we drink like fish but have the best time ever as a family!  Once again, happy birthday to my mom and hope you enjoyed this read!

~R.V.