Dinner with Good Friends, Good Food, and Good Wine

A group of friends has traditionally met in February to celebrate "Open an Old Bottle Night" along with the Wall Street Journal. This year, schedules are not shaping up to do that (we're looking at late April or May - busy people), but my best friend and I still thought it was about time to do a dinner party.

So Saturday night, February 14, we had 8 folks for dinner. After checking the sale paper for our local Kroger, we served Grilled Beef Tenderloin, green beans, mashed potatoes, and rolls. We had shrimp, cheese, and Greek caviar salad on bread for appetizers. Followed up with dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate for dessert.

We started with Champagne (Domain Chandon Blanc de Noir) with the shrimp and cavier. We started experimenting with red wines with the beef tenderloin.

Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red Lot 46
Tobin James Chateau du Cacheflo

The Marietta won hands down.

Ravenswood Zen of Zins

We decided we liked their Vitner's blend better.

Then the wines Pam brought came out. We tried a 1990 Quivera Zinfandel and a 1990 Silver Oak Cabernet. The comparison here came down to a grape preference. My mother in law and my husband preferred the Zin, and I and our other guests preferred the cabernet.

After explaining the varietal differences to my mother in law, my husband went and got a bottle of his Marietta Zinfandel and opened it for comparison. These bottles are on the "no one opens but him" list.

We decided that good food, good friends, and great wines make for a great evening.


The tenderloins we coated in a damp rub, then grilled.

Black Peppercorns
Black Sea Salt
Chopped Garlic

Put everything in a mortar and pestle and grind to a rough paste. Coat the tenderloin and let sit for about 40 minutes before grilling. Sear on the grill, then cook about 15 minutes a side.

Not bad for "Sale Meat".