When we think of alfresco dining, we always seem to think about our friend Mary! She loves the great outdoors, especially when it involves food and wine. Of course, the weather has been spectacular in San Francisco so hence we decided to give Mary a call. She was flying back from Texas earlier in the week and was free to join us for dinner (yay!). She sent back a text asking if she can invite a friend. This fabulous friend of hers was Ron Pieretti – founder and wine maker of Prospect 772 in Angels Camp (double yay!). It was a great evening catching up with Mary (who always looks amazing). My husband thoroughly enjoyed talking with Ron. We discussed all our favorite local wine regions and wine producers and lo-and-beyond… he knows every one of them (from Michael Officers at Carlisle to David Lucas at Lucas Winery); the two bottles we opened tonight. Mary pointed out that “birds of a feather flock together” – and yes indeed!!

Our selection of wines for the evening were:
• Valdo Prosecco Brutm NV ($11, Wine Club SF): Aperol spritzer cocktails (2 rounds) is always the perfect starter.
• Prospect 772 “Stepping Stone” Grenache Blanc Santa Barbara 2012: Thanks Ron for bringing this bottle to share with us! Very powerful grenache blanc with a nice graceful taste. Flavors of pineapple, guava. papaya. apricot and vanilla with oaky nuances of smoke, vanilla and caramel. Sensational!
• Lucas ZinStar Zinfandel 2004 ($30, Winery): Your probably aware that we’re big fan of David Lucas’s ZinStars. This is the 8th 2004 Zin we’ve consumed (brought it previously to Hawaii and Friscati restaurant) and it never disappoints. I’m bummed that we only have one bottle left but maybe David will surprise us with another bottle in our shipment.
• Carlisle Two Acres Rhone Blend 2007 ($34, Winery): This bottle was rated 90-92pt by Robert Parker but taste more like a 97pt wine! It oozes with warmth of red berries, underbrush, rose petal, cardamom, and game. Quite smooth on entry with flavors of cherry, tree bark, spice and licorice framed by suave and gentle tannins on the finish. A very feminine and elegant mourvèdre, more reminiscent of something from Châteauneuf du Pape as opposed to Bandol. This vintage is sold out at the winery but you can try finding a bottle at California Wine Merchant on Chestnut Street.
• Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir Napa Valley 1997 ($19, unknown source): Yes! You read this correctly. We drank a 1997 pinot (16-years old). Why, you may asked? Well oddly enough, we called in the electrician to service our small wine cabinet earlier this week so we needed to remove all the bottles. This Mondavi pinot rolled out of nowhere like a lost puppy. Of course we decided to do the endurance test (tonight, out of all night) and whoa! Flying daggers of acidity with a noticeably sharp edge. I thought it would be “drain cleaner” potential but surprisingly, it survived quite well. As you sipped it, you can tell that it was still holding on to its dear life (thank goodness to the cool storage). Imagine, Robert Mondavi was still alive at the time this wine was released (he died in 2008). I’m sure our guest Ron knew him as well.