What I Drank With Dinner (WIDWD)

If I were to choose my favorite holiday meal, then it would be Christmas dinner. I enjoy Thanksgiving for the opportunity to be with family and friends, but this large gathering usually generates a smorgasbord of wines, few of which end up being standouts next to a turkey buffet.

On the other hand, I appreciate how Christmas dinner offers a much better opportunity to match the food with a few good bottles of wine. And it's usually an occasion to pull some of the older wines off the rack and give them a try.

This year was no exception with us starting our dinner with a smoked trout cheese spread and a 1996 Argyle Extended Tirage Brut, which was a gift to us last month from my sister and her husband. The Argyle was a perfect match with the richness of the trout and creaminess of the cheese. Best of all, the sparkling wine offered a chance to toast 1996, the year I moved to Seattle and met my wife, Kari.

For our main course, we served an oven-roasted Oregon free range beef tenderloin along with green beans and roasted red potatoes. I chose a 2002 David Hill Estate Selection Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (13.5% alcohol) and a 2003 Pepper Bridge Merlot Walla Walla Valley (13.9% alcohol), both of which had been gifts from folks in my extended family over the last year.

Joining these local wines was a 1990 Collalto Cabernet Podere Torvai (12%), an Italian table wine that my father-in-law, Bob, brought back from a recent visit. Being the oldest wine at the table, it provided a conversation piece for us to reflect on the year 1990. This is what I enjoy about serving older wines, the personal reflection it encourages by taking you back to a certain time and place.

Even better, this wine had a great story behind it. While visiting Vicenza last year, Bob met up with his former Italian language instructor, Navio, or "maestro" as he liked to call him. Navio tutored Bob when he was living in Vicenza in the early eighties.

Navio had an interesting bio, having served as an airman in the Italian air force during WWII. After Italy was liberated, Navio was captured by the Germans in North Africa and sent to a labor camp in Yugoslavia. During Bob's recent visit, Navio gave the 1990 Collalto Cabernet to him in appreciation for their long standing friendship.

In terms of taste, the David Hill had an astringent finish, the Pepper Bridge was a bit oaky, while the Collalto offered intrigue and evolution in my glass. Maybe it was the story about Navio that had me enjoying the Collalto more than the pinot or the merlot. Or maybe it was just a better wine.

Regardless, the evening was festive and celebratory, with us raising a glass to our lives and loved ones, to Navio, and to the many gifts of wine at our table. A Merry Christmas dinner indeed.