Every year, we observe a mix of new and old, of same, of familiar, of new, of different. When we were young, we reveled in tradition: as we grew older, we enjoyed tacking the shingles on in a new way. A couple of our friends found themselves childless for the first time: They weren’t keen to embark on the loneliness cruise: we weren’t ready to plant more baby lettuce just yet. So we combined our mutual dread of change to create a new tradition.
We held a Coro Christmas. Pulling treasured Coro wines out of the cellar, we created a menu to compliment these awesome Zin-based blends that beautifully reflect the unique personality of Mendocino county (coromendocino.com). But first we indulged in a 2008 Denner viognier from Paso (dennerwith grilled prawns marinated in Yuzu citrus, mint and lemon thyme: superb wine and great pairing. Two bottles of pinot were sacrificed during culinary prep, including a strawberry-rhubarb pie perfect 2005 Generosa Veranda (generosawines.com). We seared duck breast in a pan large enough to kill a moose, topping it with a Montmorency cherry sauce, and nestling it on a mash of Yukon potatoes, rutabagas, kohlrabi, heavy cream and gruyere. The 2001 Pacific Star Coro (pacificstar.com – the most amazing winery you will ever visit: perched on the western edge of the Pacific coast above Fort Bragg), mates zin with petite sirah, charbono, syrah and pinot noir. Exquisite! It made that duck quack in several languages, while the elegant Eaglepoint Ranch 2004 Coro made it way too easy to polish off the plate of Christmas cookies intended for Santa, who appeared at the end of the evening with yet more wine. At least I think it was Santa.
