The Armoire and a Bottle of Wine

An old family friend, Don dropped by last night to help me with a project. I recently acquired an armoire and I am putting it to use as the "entertainment center." I am tired of all of the cords and machines that one has to have now days to enjoy a TV program. What ever happened to the old Magnavox console televisions that my Dad use to buy? Not only did I want to hide the TV, the cable box, the DVD player and the old 1981 Panasonic top loader VCR ( the 1950's Buick of all VCR's), but also wanted to remove the stacks of DVD's and videos from the bulging book case. The purpose of this large piece of wooden furniture is so I can sit in the living room and read and/or listen to music without having the TV staring at me. The goal is to close the doors of the armoire and all of that electronic, shiny silvery looking stuff will be hidden and won't clash with the antique parlor style of furniture I inherited.

Of course anybody kind enough to help me with this project of moving the armoire, placing the heavy 32" TV and equipment just right, hooking cords up, etc deserves to be treated to a bottle of wine and appetizers (and of course a little gossip). I lightly blanched (still crisp) fresh asparagus and wrapped each chilled stalk with a slice of Genoa salami. Another plate of goodies was prepared with wedges of Greek flatbread spread with chick pea and black olive hummus and in the middle of the plate was a bowl of assorted green and black olives marinated in olive oil, herbs and Merlot. I closed my eyes and reached into my wine stash and pulled out a bottle of wine -- a Woodward Canyon Columbia Valley Merlot 2001.

I opened the bottle to let it breath for about 30 minutes before Donnie arrived. The imprinted "Get Woody" cork came out and the bottom of the cork was covered with purple "wine diamonds." For me, this is always a good sign as it is often telling that the wine has not been overly fined and filtered. Before Donnie and I started to work, we sat, gossiped and made some wine notes. Here is what we have:

The nose at first seemed a bit yeasty, but later we could gradually smell dark fruit and chocolate. At first taste we found almond, cherry and pomegranate. We came to the conclusion that this was a very layered wine because as soon as we tasted the first layer of fruit, the second layer was of currant and dried plum with a hint of licorice, followed by an overwhelming taste of cloves to the palate! Like the old Adam's Clove chewing gum. Then the Merlot finished long with lots of black pepper -- a very spicy finish! Don said it best, "a very dramatic ending." We decided that this six year-old wine paired very well with the salami that was wrapped around the asparagus. However, if we had been prepared and knowing more about this wine, we think it would pair perfect with a steak or a blackened Cajun-seasoned piece of salmon. Oven-roasted sweet potatoes, too. This 2001 Merlot is still available through Woodward Canyon.

By the way, we still found time to get the project completed. The electronics have found a good home in the fancy wooden closet. I wonder how many bottles of wine it would hold?