Eureka!

There I was sitting in Wood Tavern in Rockridge having a perfectly phenomenal glass of 2007 Reinhard und Beate Knebel, Von den Terrasen Trocken Riesling. I was really enjoying the minty, oily, fruity, herbaceousness in the nose that wasn't quite eucalyptus...something that reminded me of aged Rieslings. Do you know how aged Rieslings are often described as having a petroleum characteristic? Well, that never really worked for me. But I knew what it meant. When I went rounded the corner to Tara's (again), I just had to have that beautiful, faintly green tinged Bay Laurel ice cream. And then it came to me! Slightly minty, oily, fruity yet herbaceous in a shiny dark green leaf kind of way... I know this sounds like crazy talk but it was a wine epiphany! It's Bay Laurel that I taste in some Rieslings. It is, it is, it really is! Careful with the wild California Bay, it can be so strong, it'll kill your taste buds. The culinary variety is easier to gauge in infusions.

So I made up some Bay Laurel panna cotta and put some intense, ripe grapefruit sections on it and tried pairing it with the off dry 2009 Toulouse Vineyards Riesling, which sports some mouthwatering acid. And? Dead on the money. Don't take my word for it, swing by the winery in the Anderson Valley for the Alsace Festival Open House on Sunday and taste for yourself. Now I'm on the lookout for an aged Riesling to manhandle with food.....