The Last Eleven, #1: Brumes de la Tour Blanche, Sauternes 2015
The story of this wine begins, as far too many do, with a guy.
He came into my wine bar one evening and was incredibly charming. We hit it off, I gave him my number as he left, and we ended up hanging out a few times. We talked about a lot of things, especially wine, and I mentioned my love of French dessert wines. The fling was short-lived because shortly after he went on a trip to Europe and Argentina for a few months, but we kept in touch.
When he returned, we met up again and he gave me a bottle of Sauternes that he picked up while he was in France. It's a nice bottle and I saved it, planning to drink it on a special occasion presumably with him. Things didn't really work out for several reasons, and now he has a girlfriend that he seems super happy with and I'm absolutely ecstatic for him. He's a really great guy with good taste in wine, just wasn't the one for me. Que sera.
The wine has sat on my rack for about 10 months now, until I brought it to Dyllan and Tyler's house for Thanksgiving.
Dyllan and Tyler came into my life the way any life-long friends do; via Craigslist. I was looking for an apartment after only two months in San Francisco and their post advertising a room made me laugh out loud. We clearly had the same interests and senses of humor and they had moved here from San Diego too. My first email to Dyllan literally began: "Hey there! I’m Davana and I’m pretty sure we’re about to be best friends!"
As luck would have it, I was right. She replied right away. We made plans and met up one afternoon then hung out for an hour just chatting. Although I didn't end up living in their extra room because it was just too far from my job, we stayed close friends. When Tyler proposed to Dyllan I got to be involved in the plan and the following engagement party which was one of the most exciting things I've ever been part of. Once, they came over my house for dinner and I completely burnt the hamburger buns on my skillet, setting off the smoke alarm. Good friends would have just felt bad and tried to help me cook new ones...it takes a best friend to record you jumping up and down in a Minnie Mouse apron trying to fan the smoke detector then take a selfie with you and the hot fireman who showed up. There's plenty of other stories but the bottom line here is that these are straight-up good people. Genuine, thoughtful, kind, good-humored and good-natured people.
So naturally it made sense that when Dyllan found out I didn't have Thanksgiving plans, she insisted I come over. It was just her, her mom and sister, and Tyler, but she invited me to join in. We had the most awesome low-key Thanksgiving I've ever been a part of. Dyllan was in pajamas, we didn't put the turkey in the oven until like 4pm, and we played a most ridiculous game of "Cool Cats and Asshats" while it cooked. Many shenanigans ensued. I kept thanking them for inviting me to their family Thanksgiving and they kept saying, "Of course, you are family!" and I think that alone describes the kind of people they are.
Eventually it was time for dessert. I served up my famous pumpkin pie (with freshly roast pumpkin and freshly ground spices, because duh) and cracked open the bottle of Sauternes from all those months ago. These are people I love and they deserve to try a wine that I love.
It smelled like passionfruit, peach, and white flowers and tasted like honey over ripe, juicy pineapple with just a hint of white truffle and white pepper. Positively delectable. Truly the only time I'll ever turn down a glass of Sauternes is if I already have my hands full with two other glasses of Sauternes.
Lovely people deserve lovely wines. Sweets for the sweet, as they say. The perfect occasion and people for wine one on the list. Ten to go!