Jean arrived back from New Jersey last night after spending two weeks with her niece, who was (against all advice to the contrary) giving birth. To celebrate this most welcome event, tonight I roasted a rack of venison that Jean had earlier ordered from D'Artagnan and grilled some asparagus from our CSA. We started the evening with a 375 ml bottle of
2012 Barbadillo Manzanilla en Rama Saca de Otoño which we had with (appropriately enough) anchovy-stuffed manzanilla olives and a raw milk manchego. The wine was dry, with slightly nutty notes and a saline character, but was initially marred by a green streak. With air, the green notes dissipated and the wine took on a rounder character. Jean, who has always been skeptical of dry Sherry, fell in love with the wine after it had seen some air.With the main course of venison, I opened an orphaned bottle found in the cellar: 1995 Clape Cornas, which had a strong green olive nose when initially opened, but which in time took on a more standard character of dark, berryish fruit, stones, smoke and licorice. It was not particularly sauvage or animale for Cornas, which I think lies at the heart of the Clape-Verset comparisons. It had plenty of acidity and fine-grained tannins to make it quite food-friendly, and it was a treat with the venison (venison and Syrah being one of my classic food pairings).