Betty Ford, Here I Come...

As mentioned here previously, on Tuesday I attended the wonderful paella party at the Inn at Occidental. Wednesday night found me at Hurley's Restaurant and Bar for the Nord family's annual client appreciation dinner. Wow, wow, wow! Great food and FANTASTIC wines. Hurley's owner/chef Bob Hurley put together a wonderful dinner, based on our theme of the movie Like Water for Chocolate. We had:

~ Atun asado con salsa mexicana a la antigua

~ Traditional pork mole with Mexican vegetable rice and toasted sesame seeds

~ A cheese course, with three cheeses plus dried fruits, mixed nuts, and honey

~ bittersweet chocolate torte... with brandied cherry sauce, almonds, and creme fraiche

For each course, we had two different wines from wineries who use Nord grapes (see the Nord's in the pic below). Each was wonderful, though to me three really stood out: the Nord's own Nord Estate Wines Petite Sirah (Jonquil Vineyard), the Novy Syrah (Page Nord Vineyards), and Jeff Runquist's Cabernet Sauvignon (Rancho Sarco Vineyard). Spectacular, spectacular, spectacular.

(And YES, I had a TOUCH too much to drink, and was feeling it especially the next morning at my business meeting with a Sonoma County winery... who wanted me to try their wines, of course. Ah, such is life in Every Meal A Feast land....)

Anyway, gotta run, but please, check out Hurley's sometime, and the wines I mentioned too.