04/04/06 – Penedes
So our meeting is now on Wednesday again… is that cool with everyone? I need some feedback from you bunch of mutes over which day you prefer. Otherwise I’m going to keep picking the day using what thus far has been a very costly and dangerous method: every Friday night, I instruct Max and Brett to each consume a fish cake. What they don’t realize is that one of the two fish cakes has been laced with cyanide; not enough to kill a man, but enough to make him projectile vomit for the duration of the weekend. If Max throws up, meeting is on Tuesday, and if Brett’s the one to punt, it’s on Wednesday. This method is just really becoming too bothersome, not to mention expensive and just generally unusual. Can we select a day please? E-mail me your preference or mention it at the meeting tomorrow night.
At the last meeting, some concerns were raised about the viability of doing a meeting entirely devoted to Sherry… the bottles are too expensive, it’s too intense to be drinking for an entire evening, etc. Ok. For now, we’ll suspend the Sherry meeting, but I’d like to discuss this on Wednesday and see if we can’t figure something out — i.e., sharing bottles to reduce cost, bringing some appropriate food and making a meal out of it, whatever.
For Wednesday night, we’ll be focusing on the other important Spanish region we have left to cover: Penedes, the “epicenter of Spanish art, literature, philosophy, gastronomy, finance, and culture,” according to the Wine Bible. Well, I don’t know about all that, but regardless, it’s a good place for wine. The region is known for Spain’s best Cava, which is a sparkling wine made by the Champagne method. I’d definitely like to see a few Cavas at the Penedes meeting, but the region also produces still wines; specifically, it’s known for some nice whites, often made from the native varietals Macabeo and Parellada, and sometimes from Chardonnay. The region also makes reds, including wines made from both Cabernet Sauvignon and from native Spanish varieties. Please feel free to either bring red, white, or sparkling white.
We’ll be meeting a la casa de Theresa y Joe. Their address is (not for you).
I’ve been advised to let you know that they have two small dogs, and they request that you don’t allow them to have too much wine. Also, as they’re new arrivals to the area, they’re not completely furnished yet, so it might be helpful if you were to bring something to sit on, i.e. a folding chair or a floor cushion. I’m bringing this ridiculous portable lawn chair I have that has DUEL cupholders. Yeeeeah! I’ll be double-fisting it tomorrow night. Can’t wait. Please remember to chill your whites, and we’ll see your bad asses tomorrow night at 9:00.
Jesse