LIWINEDAD

  A disclaimer first that neither Jo nor I are big fans of sweet wines, but I do sometimes enjoy a delicious dessert wine.  The Wölffer Estate – 2020 Diosa Late Harvest White Table Wine is a fantastic dessert wine, not what I would consider a White Table Wine.   Last year, the wine arrived in our inventory as part of the Wölffer Estate December Club shipment.   As we are not significant sweet wine drinkers, we regifted the Diosa to our Niece & Nephew, who are sweet wine aficionados.   The Diosa is a home run, and I received a few photos and comments about the wine (Figure 1).    Kelly paired the wine with a block of Brei but without the Fig compote (Figure 2).     Kelly’s comments were straightforward: “ I couldn’t find fig, but at least I had brie.   TJ and I loved this.   Very sweet, the apricot really kicks you in the face, and then the honey takes over in the end.   Pleasant surprise definitely needed vanilla ice cream for the autumn,

  Jo was out with a friend, so I was left to create my dinner.  The solution was to do a classic steak and wine dinner.  First was the selection of the wine.  We did a pickup and tasting a few weeks ago at Raphael Vineyards-liwinedad .   One of the wines includes a Raphael Vineyard - 2017 Estate Malbec , which was very good, so we brought two bottles home.   With the wine selected, next was the meal to pair with the wine.   A hearty wine like the Malbec calls for a USDA Choice (Not prime) rib-eye steak with trimmings. The Raphael Vineyards2017 Estate Malbec is a fine example of a Long Island Malbec and has found a fine home at Raphael’s, notwithstanding the grapes’ French heritage and Argentina being a second home.   Malbec’s color is rich, dark purple with a touch of bright garnet at the fringes.   The nose is red berries, Cherries, and Raspberry with light alcohol (Figure 1).    Black cherry and raspberry come forward with a hint of plum on the palate.   Pleasant tannins and easy

  In March, one of the wines that arrived from Channing Daughters Winery as part of the Channing Daughters Winery Club Selection was the 2020 Tocai Friulano.   Unfortunately, Tocai Friulano's name is deprecated since the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (31 MAR 2007) prohibited using the name to avoid confusion with the Hungarian Grape Tokaji.   The grape is known simply as Friulano or Sauvignonasse or Sauvignon Vert.   For a complete discussion and history, see Wikipedia-Sauvignon Vert .   Enough about the history and linage of the grape, how does the wine taste.   The color is a light straw with slight shimmering gold effects in the glass with good eye appeal (Figure 1).   The nose comes forward with notes of stone fruit, grapefruit, and a hint of unripened pear.   The wine has a lighter body feel as it washes across the palate with bright acidity bursting forth, much as with a Sauvignon Blanc.   The grapefruit, peach, and crisp granny smith apples greet the palate.  

  Villa D’Aqua in Bellmore is an old friend, and this note on how fine a restaurant is long overdue.  Today, we stopped for a late lunch early dinner with our son for his birthday.  The restaurant was doing a brisk business, but ample parking was still available alongside the docks.  So we opted to sit inside as there was still a chill in the air.  We were warmly greeted and guided to a table of our choosing by the friendly staff.  Cocktails were ordered to open the palate and arrived promptly with generous pours (Figure 1).  The menu has all the usual offerings and a page more of fantastic specials for the day. Opening the meal with starts, we each selected small plates and a salad.   The Stuffed Pepper (Figure 2) is a fine roasted red bell pepper filled with a flavorful, moist meat and rice mixture covered in a red marinara sauce.   The Spinach Salad (Figure 3) is a goodly portion of spinach with Mushroom and Prosciutto and finished with a warm balsamic reduction dressing that perf

  Long Island life is not only about wine and food but also outstanding entertainment.  A few days ago, Jo and I had the opportunity to attend a performance of The Kennedy Dream Project by Oliver Nelson (Figure 1) at the Jazz Loft (Figure 2).   As my musical tastes are split between Baroque and Heavy Metal, and Jo is a devoted John Denver fan, we were unsure how we would take to a jazz orchestra.   Adding to the uncertainty if we would enjoy this style of music, the work was unknown to both of us.   However, the Orchestra is assembled from a cross-section of talented Long Islanders (including my future Daughter-in-Law) who came together to provide a wonderful evening of music.   The Kennedy Dream was an enthralling blend of spoken word and Orchestral Jazz interludes, including guest Flutist Nelson Oliver Jr., the composer's son, playing the flute and the piccolo.   After the intermission, the Kennedy Dream was followed by a selection of locally composed music and included the co