Last meal for my week long birthday celebration

Saturday was the last day of my week of "debauchery" as Noel calls it...it started with a dinner at Peoples Palace with some good Riesling, then Steak Dinner in Elbert's, with Barbaresco, Burgundy and Bordeaux. Then a Tapas dinner at Tapellas, followed by a quiet celebration (the same day of my birthday) at home.

For Saturday, I invited some friends for dinner at my mother-in-laws house(thank you Mom!!). The menu was to be simple: some Deli from my last trip to Italy, Sobrasada and Chorizo (Jabuguitos) with Homenaje Rosado and Sherry.

For main: Rack of Lamb, Steak, prawns and some fish, followed by some salad and pasta for long life. I have to give a big big thank you to Noel for helping me. He offered to cook the Rack of Lamb as a gift for me, and since I've heard and seen through his blog how good it looks, of course I accepted. Then, he also cooked the steak for me, the same steak we had in his house during a dinner some time ago.

For the wines, we had several bottles of Homenaje Rosado (2008), which I found a bit more "full-bodied" or heavier than the 2007, but surprisingly it has less alcohol content than the 2008. Noel also brought a bottle of Bodegas M. Gil Luque Leyenda Amontillado Jerez, a very dry type sherry, which goes quite well with Tapas.

For reds, we had: 1999 Michel Chiarlo Barbera d'Asti Nizze La Court(Noel's bottle). I opened a bottle of 2000 Abat Domenech Priorat, which is partly owned by a family friend of ours in Spain. We also had a 2003 Chateau Lascombes (courtesy of Edwin) and a 2003 Descendientes de José Palacios Corullón(my bottle).

Initially I was thinking of the Priorat to go with the steak, since they are powerful, tannic and full bodied wine. This was a 2000 so I decanted it for almost 2 hours. It was very slushy (Initially I thouight it was sedminent, but it looked more like mud). After 2-3 sips, I decided to go with the Barbera for the Steak, a less tannic, medium bodied wine. This paired perfectly with the lamb, and even the steak. We also had a 2007 Burgáns Albariño, to go with the Prawns and Blue Marlin. This is a Albarino blend, very easy to drink and a perfect pairing with Seafood.

The Corullon, from Bierzo was also more my type of wine. Not as overly powerful and full bodied as the Priorato. This also paired well with the lamb, plus I had some left over to go with the cheese platter (Old Amsterdam, Reggiano, Tomme de Savoie and Fourme D'Ambert).

This time, I was very remiss at taking pictures. This time, Noel took much more than me. I'd like to thank everybody who came, and again Noel, for doing all the cooking. The Food was superb.