A once dear friend of mine and I were talking one day, the conversation was about what we did over Christmas … she told me about her friends that she’d seen, who’s seeing who, who is pregnant and what they’re all up to.  I, on the other hand, told her about the few parties I had attended and the wines I’d tried, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember with whom I had talked to, or what so-and-so was doing.  I tell you this story to illustrate that my lunch at Hillebrand is not an isolated incident when I tell you that I have little recollection about the food, but I do remember what was in the bottles poured and the glasses sipped.  So while I enjoyed my soup, the 2007 Trius Riesling Dry stood out to me a little more, with it’s zippy acidity and lively fruit.  My three sliders (small hamburgers made of pork, chicken and beef – each topped with a different cheese) were interesting and tasty, but not as tasty and interesting as the 1997 Showcase Cabernet Franc or the 1999 Trius Red … the 97 seemed just a tad tired, but the 99 Red was a marvel.  There was also the single barrel 2006 Showcase Chardonnay (barrel number #5073) that was quite tasty – but I have no idea where it fit into the menu.  The food was good, the wines were delicious and all were a matched with the menu and made for a great noon-to-two-thirty lunch “hour”.  Salud!

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.