I like winter celebrations, a cause to PARTY.. A champagne festival. GREAT!

They are “A decoration of our lives”, some with trees and glittering adornments

and others with lots of presents around. There are those who would like a trip to a warm exotic place, whatever fills your life with joy and gets you through the next quarter.

I wonder if you celebrate Christmas and New Year’s time around the end of December, and Easter around end of March beginning of April (it goes by the Lunar months) what do you celebrate in mid August Napoleon’s birthday or India’s Independence (both on August 15^th), or maybe Just the Kids summer Holiday or just your own Summer. Then you get to stick again to the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582 (the previous calendar was 11 minutes too short per year which means that every million years the Christian faith would lose around 21 and a half days (Oi Vei…) If you asked me pope Gregory wanted to down history with something in his hands and HE DID!!!!!!!!!!

Lets move on Just to let you know (for the next trivia Quiz you will play round the old fireplace with a glass of eggnog in your hand :

The 3 oldest calendars are :

The Byzantine 7520–7521 calendar which calculated the first day of creation to September 1^st, 5509 BC to August 31^st  5508 BC  ANNUS MUNDI  + 2012 = 7520/21

The Assyrian 6762

The Hebrew 5772–5773

All the above count from the “day of creation” according to their belief and calculations Nice!

Back to our own humble celebration which celebrates US.

If wine (mostly Champagne is not the issue tonight than the food will balance the occasion.

The menu:

* Cappuccino of white beans with white and black truffles Home made seasame and Parmigiano grissini

• 2 salads: Roasted endive with fresh figs, Rockfort, and Pomegranate dressing.
• Oven Roasted Tomato sald with Tulum cheese

Tulum cheese (Turkish: tulum peyniri) is a traditional Turkish goat’s milk cheese ripened in a goatskin casing. Due to its unique flavor

* Souflee of French goat cheeses and fresh porcini mushrooms

* Lobster whith cream of sweet pepers (Girardet style, I wish…..) servrd with a puree of violet potatoes, fried cubes of yellow potatoes mange tout and baked Shimeji mushrooms

Festive Macaroonsn  with Port and Coffee

Drinks:

for starters Duval Leroy Blanc de chardonnay 1999, I must admit it was not the best of choice but since all our drinks were different champagnes leading to our midnight champagne to receive the New Year it was subtle enough. The pronounced sweetness which I personally dislike was appetizing to my family members. It acted as an appetizer with salty munchies and led us

We quickly moved to Bollinger Rose NV to ease my pain of shattered expectations between us it did not but raised the level from our first champagne and took us through the salad break which gave me a chance to grt the soufflé to the table at the best possible timing

With this perfect soufflé (I must add) we had to move to a sure bet one of my favorites The Bollinger grand annee 1990 . The 1990 Bollinger has a rich, light golden hue in the glass, and nice sized bubbles. Upon pouring it reveals the full array of mature aromas, roasted almonds, toffee, even creamed coffee with burnt caramel or honey, than wet mushrooms and even earthy truffles. Full bodied, but vibrant and sparkling. It has fully evolved flavours, still nicely supported by the acidity. What a delightful wine a real mood maker and it is going very well with the mid course. The Champagne and our mid course delighted us and got us closer to the “…stroke of midnight …clock hands join palms in respectful greeting …” of the New Year (may I use and add to the wonderful opening lines of Slman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children). So Just before the midnight hour we filled our glasses with the last bottle of one of my favorite champagnes:  1989 Heisieck Monopole Diamant Bleu , A rich lemon-brilliant gold color opened in the glass with a perfect mousse of tiny bubbles, complex elegant nose of butter fruit tart in Crème pâtissière, with a whiff of grilled almonds and buttered toasted brioche, all tender but expressive long and persistent aromas of “more” . one of the perfect examples of a perfect champagne of equal amounts of Pinot and chardonnay. The perfect opener to a new year and a wonderful accompanying drink to our desert (eaten after the 10th stroke of midnight)

With the Lobster I wanted a winner We worked our asses off to get the claws out of the shells intact (actually V. did most of th work on that she somehow got the hang of itwhich allowed me more time to look after the tails and the Lobster and sweet peppers sauce so…

So Just before the midnight hour we filled our glasses with the last bottle of one of my favorite champagnes:

1989 Heisieck Monopole Diamant Bleu , A rich lemon-brilliant gold color opened in the glass with a perfect mousse of tiny bubbles, complex elegant nose of butter fruit tart in Crème pâtissière, with a whiff of grilled almonds and buttered toasted brioche, all tender but expressive long and persistent aromas of “more” . one of the perfect examples of a perfect champagne of equal amounts of Pinot and chardonnay. The perfect opener to a new year and a wonderful accompanying drink to our desert (eaten after the 10th stroke of midnight)

Happy celebrations for whatever reason to Ya all.

Your Wineguide