Wine is always best paired with friends, right? Right. So recently we invited a few friends over to share some samples I received from Folie à Deux. It was especially appropriate to try the wine with others since Folie à Deux is actually a French term meaning “shared fantasies”.
For our meal we had braised leeks, vegan risotto, pot roast and mochi ice cream (ugh). Kind of an odd menu combination, I know, but one of our guests had food “issues”. Oh well, what can you do with these people? At least no one had any wine issues or restrictions. Otherwise they would have been shown to the door. Just kidding. I think.
Anyway, I opened all the wines and let everyone decide what would pair best with the particular dishes they were eating.
Wow! I was surprised by the big flavors on this wine. It had a nose of cherries and blackberries and a bit of dusty cedar. I don’t really like the scent of cedar, but this was cedar in a good way, not an old hamster cage type of cedar scent. I thought the tannins were very light, but one of our guests thought they were too strong. (guess who..)
2008 Folie à Deux Zinfandel –What a delight this was. A juicy, juicy Zin full of flavor, with pepper and nutmeg. It also had some minty notes too. But overall it was smooth and rich and very drinkable. Everyone liked this wine and this bottle was finished first.
2008 Folie à Deux Cabernet Sauvignon – An easy drinker that our problem, um I mean hard to please, guest loved. It had a nice balance and smooth tannins with ripe berry and plum fruit flavors.
The wine was good and our guests seemed happy, and although we never got to the point of sharing our fantasies, (thank god, because I’m sure one of the fantasies would involve vegan pork) we did share some great stories and a few toasts to friendship.
I would certainly seek out the Folie à Deux again. If you are looking for something inexpensive ($18-24) that will not disappoint, give it a try. Oh, and for the record, the finicky guest, dear as she was, is the wife of one of my husband’s friends. I sure hope she does not read this blog.
Careful Marcy, the DSM IV has Folie a Deux as a mental disorder: "a madness shared by two", or, shared psychosis wherein one partner becomes so psychotic that the other partner begins to be psychotic too. This also may be the definition for marriage.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your professional assessment!
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