One hot Friday evening in July each year we invite our friends to converge on our home for a festive gathering of sampling good food and fine drink. None of us is especially knowledgable in the areas of fine wines or cheeses, so we usually depend on the experts to recommend good pairings and new tastes each year. Such fun!
We generally have between 20 and 40 guests in attendance (this year we had around 30 – including the Dukes’ who drove up from Atlanta for the event) and once we know who will be coming, we divvy up the menu and each couple contributes a bit of what we need to pull together a feast of an evening that none of us could pull off on our own. It’s like a highly organized potluck with a strict no-casserole policy.
We absolutely had the most wonderful time – heat and all. The cheeses were spectacular (one of them – the Humboldt Fog – actually has a central line of edible ash because it is ripened among the fog of Humboldt Bay in California), the wines were superb (especially the blackberry dessert wine!) and the fellowship was top-notch. Friendships were deepened (and new ones were formed) and our tongues and lips were enlivened by the sampling of new flavors from the earth and vine and goat. :)
We look forward to this event every year and this was definitely one of the best years yet! From the warm greetings upon arrival to the lively stories told by candlelight as the evening drew to a close, we all left wishing we didn’t have to wait a whole year to do it again.
(All wines can be found at Cool Springs Wine & Spirits and all cheeses, meats, spreads and chocolates can be found at Whole Foods stores.)
Cheers, friends! Happy Monday!
ps – just for the fun of it: here is a link to my Wine & Cheese Tasting post from two years ago. Mmm… that was a good year too!
oh, hi! this makes me want to be in franky so bad right now. even if it means swampass, getting jangled in ryan’s toasts (favorite) and putting back on those 10-15 lbs.