It was the 4th of July, and Saturday, and I grilled yesterday and Mom and I will be going to my brother's for grilled stuff tomorrow, and by laws graven in stone tablets long antedating Moses, Saturday Is Spaghetti Night.
Well, I heated up the sauce, and made salad, and boiled water, and went to get a batch of "fresh" spaghetti out of the freezer. Zounds! I was OUT!
Well, there was a box of dry neckties (known that way by Grandma, also "bowties") but now grandly known as "farfalle" on the box, and anyway, that's good too, so a few handfuls went into the water. It never hurts the sauce to simmer a bit anyway.
Because it's a special occasion, and because I've been itching to open it, I got out Joseph Swan Zeigler Vineyard Zinfandel, 1994, Russian River Valley. Cost me a gargantuan $41.00 when I bought it at a "library sale" day in January.
Color like a brand new Zin. Dark and rich. A little slower on entry than young stuff, but developing a depth that grows and grows. Blackberry and bramble doesn't say the half of it! Very smooth tannins - I've had a couple of other bottles of Zeigler Vineyard Zin and it can be pretty rough. Fades a bit at the end. Alcohol? What alcohol? -- until you stand up. 15.3% alcohol
John