Another day, another memorial service

On a beautiful, hot day in Athens the remaining core of the Friends of Dionysus got together to remember our dear departed friend Lefteris Kouris, who passed away unexpectedly a year ago. As the  whole point of the 'friends' is the appreciation of wine and, indeed, food, we held not only a traditional greek orthodox church memorial and the ensuing coffee, but a very fine lunch as well. A direct result of this is this post, where wine takes precedence bu, making things more interestingt - if you're fortunate dear reader - a tiny bit of wisdom might show its little head!

My temporary exile from London is peppered with events, some, like this, bittersweet; luckily there are other events that make up for the sorrow. And wine is ever-present, to make life (mine, anyway, and by extension yours...) more interesting. Of course the other factor that makes Athens pleasant this time of year is the decidedly spring/summer weather, necessitating wearing t-shirt and shorts quite a lot, something that this time of year is far less likely (but not impossible, it was sizzling last week) in London.

Luckily for irreligious old me the priest was in a hurry and had already finished all services early - he was done by the time I got to the little church! The traditional greek post-memorial coffee was a more modern affair, with cappuccino and espresso taking the place of 'greek' (turkish) coffee. Over coffee and biscuits we sat reminiscing and mentioning all sorts of stories involving our absent friend, many of which were quite hilarious, and it all made me feel almost that he was somewhere near, close by and soon to appear, that we would hear his gently caustic remarks again. We all miss him in our different way.

On to lunch, to replicate many such occasions when our friend was present not just in spirit, but in body as well, laughing with us and enjoying the food and wine on offer. The venue chosen - Blue Pine in Kifissia (suburb to the north of Athens) has been a regular haunt of the Friends of Dionysus for over 20 years, and the owners accommodate our need to bring our own wine so drinking is always at least very, very good and, more often than not, wonderful. And so it proved to be and we enjoyed three different wines that I'm sure Lefteris would have approved of.

We kicked off with a Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre from Jean-Marc Brocard and from a variable vintage (2005) that was past its best but still delicious, especially if like me you like older wines. Its age is obvious in its golden colour and the first bottle was on the way to oxidation, subdued but holding on. The second bottle was fresher, with livelier ripe white fruit aromas  and a longer, cleaner finish, a graceful old wine drinking well. As most 1er Cru Chablis is not really wine for ageing, showing its best in late youth with its steely, lightly complex chardonnay flavours,  I thought this did rather well. Most of us had a salad of some sort as a starter, with mine being an excellent boiled courgette affair served with some tasty olive oil. The Chablis managed to match it and not completely overpower its flavours.

I then opted for a Tournedos Rossini, having recently mentioned it in a post; Blue Pine's version would not win any awards for execution but the meat was tender and tasty, even if the foie gras was thin and the sauce over-sweet. The brilliant pommes allumettes they always serve helped to make the dish more satisfying than it would otherwise have been. The red wine to accompany the main course was one from Lefteris' adopted country of Italy (insider joke alert), from a superb vintage (1997), one of the best areas,  a top producer and from one of his top vineyards: a Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto 1997 from Casanova di Neri. The Casanova estate was started by the Neri family in the early 1970s and Cerretalto was the first vineyard they acquired; its old vines produce a big, lush wine with deep colour, even after 21 years, and ripe, intense red fruit aromas and luscious taste, quite untypical of most wine made from the Sangiovese grape. This is serious wine from a serious producer, which stays in oak barrels for 36 months, then 24 months in the bottle before being released - no quick money making from the Nerri family! Here we started with the fresher of the two bottles and progressed to the marginally more subdued one, as we got stuck into sauces and fries, with the wine more than matching everything with the succulent red winter berry fruit and quince aromas, intense, complex and smooth as silk fruit on the palate. And long, long, staying in the mouth.

I suppose dessert HAD to follow, and with it an incredible sweet wine (moelleux) from Foreau, the amazing producer of Vouvray at Domaine du Clos Naudin in the Loire valley. Those of you who do not like sweet wine should put aside your prejudices and taste something like this - a 1997 (excellent year) moelleux - you'll wonder why you'd been so blinkered, even stupid, for so many years. To say these wines are complex is like saying the sun rises in the east, simplistic! They are natural, rich and intense yet full of subtleties and surprising nuances, and you can find traces of most any flavour in there, astounding creations of passionate, dedicated people who love what they do, and do it to perfection. What a joyous end to an occasion full of remembered warmth and laughter but tinged with sadness. My dessert was irrelevant - a chocolate ice-cream of sorts - but I consumed it anyway to keep the calorie count up. Ah, suffer the little children and I with them...

For the wine lovers among you, please understand that quality costs in more ways than one, and that fine wine is not just cheap wine in fancy bottles. Many things make a difference, from the yield of the vines, to grape selection, to cellar work, to time in cask and type of cask, to time in bottle etc. etc. Do some research, choose good producers, spend bit more but wisely and age stuff properly if possible.
Wine is often made with passion and is worth being passionate about, seeking out the stuff that contain passion as an added ingredient! Don't drink industrial rubbish - often paying only a little more results in a much better wine...

I love wine and so did my friend Lefteris, who is much missed and whom we suitably honoured - rest in peace.