April 13, 2010. Another great evening at The Buzz in Boise tasting and eating; eating and tasting. Varietals of the World: Nebbiolo and other Piedmont Favorites and Muscato. Debbie did another great job and the wines matched and pared extremely well with what Debbie chose. But lets look at the wines and the meal! Cheers.

(Sorry for the lousy photo!) We started with a 2004 Villa Felici Classico Orvieto, 12% (17). This was a grassy, vanilla and sea shore nose. This would age another 4 years or so. Then we had a 2006 Masked Rider Syrah, 13.5% (16). A very light red that is easy to drink. Both of these wines were the preliminary wines. Then with the Wine and Cheese Strata, we had a wonderful NV Risata Moscato D’Asti, 5.5% (19). Very drinkable and clean. A wonderful wedding wine. Robin and I both enjoyed this blue bottle, wine.

And with the Stuffed Zucchini, we had a good 2005 Mezzacorona Moscato, 11.5% (17). A dry and still wine that really goes well with the light spicyness and herby stuffing of the zucchini. Yet, the zucchini, usually a very mild squash, was not overpowered by the Moscato.

The Asparagus Soup with Lemon Crème Fraîche. What can I say. It was delicious! Cristi did a wonderful thing: she served a 2008 Muscadet, 12% (19) as a comparison. Nice touch! And the 2006 Prunotto Barbera D’Asti, 13% (18) went quite well with the asparagus. But, so did the 2008 Muscadet. We saved a little to try with the asparagus. And, in my opinion, the Muscadet went best with the soup.

This White Bean Salad was different. Lots of green pepper. But surprising, the 2007 Marchesi Di Barbera Monferrato Maraia, 13.5% (18) went very well with the salad. The green pepper did not interfere with the wine. But just to let you know, this is not one of our more favorite varietals.

With the Nick and Toni’s Pasta ala Vecchia Bettola, we had a good, but not exceptional, 2003 Travaglini Gattinara, 12% (16). This wine would go well with a spicy Veal Parmigiana or Lasagna. It did go very well with this pasta.

And to top the dinner off, a wonderfully, refreshing Tripple Orange Soup. The wine that was chosen was a NV Zonin Moscato D’Asti,(18). Such a good meal with a wonderful selection of wines to go with it. If you missed this one, don’t fret!! You can redeem yourself on Tuesday May 12, or May 16 for the Quarterly Dinner, on July 25 for a BBQ or on Mother’s Day! Your choice. Hope to see you at the next event. Contact the Buzz for more specific information and to make reservations. Cheers!