Crescent City Cuisine

NEW ORLEANS, LA-April 15 Hank got up early in order to meet me for breakfast in New Orleans (I had flown in from Chicago on Monday and spent the afternoon shopping and walking around the French District). We had the morning free and then went to Commander's Palace for lunch with several accounts. I was excited to be back at the Palace because we had such a wonderful winemaker dinner there last May during the New Orleans Wine & Food Festival. I was not disappointed. The lunch included a local favorite (and one of mine), turtle soup. The spiciness of the soup paired well with our New Gewurz, which we always recommend to people looking for something to have with Mexican or Asian food. We also had several reds with the smoked pork dish and everyone had different favorites. The Cabernet Franc and Alexander School Cabernet were the big hits at our table.

One of the best parts of this trip has been visiting with the people you dine with. One couple who sat with us told us about the Strawberry Festival that had occurred the weekend before. It sounded like a wild event where they used three 50 gallong barrels of local run to make daiquiris.They gave us a bottle of this special run made from local sugar cane and we're looking forward to sharing some of it with our daughter Margaret when we visit her in New Haven.

We had a dinner that night at Brennan's. It was held upstairs in a beautiful private room with a lot of history about Mardi Gras. Attendance wa small, but that allowed for a more intimate dinner. Again the food was delicious with my favorite being the chocolate crepe that was served with our Redemption Zin. Hank's favorite pairing was the CYRUS with the cheese course.