Toasting the new year

On Saturday night, Brian and I had one more Christmas celebration for the year, this time with friends Tony, Nicole, Ann and Jeremey.

Tony and Nicole hosted, and Tony baked up his signature lasagna with gravy, his beloved family secret recipe marinara sauce. Ann & Jeremey were generous enough to share a couple of bottles of wine they purchased while vacationing in Italy earlier this year.

It was a real treat for Brian and me. With a mere two glasses, I had more wine that night than I had in the previous couple of months -- combined.

The vino was outstanding, and the six of us compared notes on the appearance, nose, taste, finish and overall impression for our wine journals. We first sampled the 2005 Villa Santa Anna Poldo Sangiovese. We all commented that you could detect that the wine had been aged in French oak barrels, and I confirmed that just now by reading the producer's description of the wine online. (It actually spent "two years in small and medium size French oak barrels inside our underground cellars at a constant temperature." Cool! And good to know that my two sessions in noncredit wine tasting classes are still paying off.) The next wine was the 2008 Boscarelli Prugnolo Sangiovese blend.

We finished the evening with conversation and a gift exchange. Our friends were very thoughtful and sweet in their gift-giving. I'm looking forward to more fun times together in 2011.