Our Anniversary

2005 Rasteau Cave de Rasteau, Dame Victoria
$12.99
2000 Barolo, Gromis, Gaja
$146 at the restaurant, $85 retail
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenhur Kabinett, 2005
$20.99
Shane’s and Jen's Notes

Our one year wedding anniversary was on June 14, 2007. We had dinner at San Remo’s in San Carlos to celebrate the actual day, and then we had the big celebration on Saturday – dinner at Harris’ in San Francisco.

We love going to San Remos because it reminds us of our honeymoon. San Remos serves authentic Italian pizza and if you suspend disbelief for just a moment, you can imagine that you are in Florence. Alas, the wine list leaves much to be desired (a reminder that you aren’t in Italy), so we always bring our own bottle. We brought the Dame Victoria and it was outstanding. I detected violet, cherries and dirt on the palate while Jen detected currant, fennel and orange peel. Either way, we both agree that it was supple, mildly complex and just a bit hot on the finish. It is a great QPR wine.

Part Two of our celebration took place at Harris’. This was the huge blowout and we indulged. We began the evening with a couple of gin martinis that were outstanding. They were made with Duckhorn Vermouth and Bombay Sapphire Gin. They were the smoothest martinis we have tasted, and we are guessing that the Duckhorn Vermouth makes the difference.

We were determined to have an “epic” wine with dinner and our first choice was a Pride Cab. Unfortunately, they were out of the Pride that we could afford so we went with a Gaja. The “wine purchaser” (his term, not ours) came out to discuss the wine with us. He brought us a decanter and replaced the generic stems with Riedels. He mentioned that he loved this particular wine and we, of course, mentioned that it was our anniversary and told him how we had discovered Italian wines on our honeymoon.

We let the wine decant for around a half an hour before tasting it. We're not going to tell you it was the best wine we’ve tasted -- for our palates, we like a bit less oak. But it was perfectly made and went wonderfully with our magnificent steaks.

As mentioned, this wine was definitely oaked, though with a pretty gentle and purposeful hand. We detected orange peel and cigar box flavors. The wine was very concentrated, and totally seamless. The spice notes were particularly lovely. As the wine opened, its perfume really blossomed.

We finished the meal with glasses of Tokaji and Inniskillin Eiswein (Riesling). Shane loved the Tokaji and Jen loved the Eiswein, albeit not as much as a good German Eiswein.

We drove home and opened the Dr. Loosen. Dr. Loosen is quickly becoming one of our favorite wineries. This kabinett was amazing. The palate showed a laser beam of tangy lemon with citrus flavors and maybe a bit of minerality on the finish. It put the exclamation point on our celebration.