Newsletter Archive
We have some difficult news about Yanni's reputation as a host.
Last week he and Denise drove into the hills of Crete to visit Fragospito, the family winery behind one of our reds. They showed up at 1 p.m. It was harvest. The Gavalas family, Nikos and his daughter Christina, had been out picking grapes until 5:30 in the morning. They had every right to hand our owners a glass through the window and go to bed.
Instead they opened the cellar, walked the vines, and poured the whole lineup. Then they fed them. Then, and this is the part Yanni is still processing, they kept feeding them.
Twenty-three years of welcoming people into our dining room, and he got out-hosted by a family running on four hours of sleep.
The consolation is that the wine they were pouring is the same Fragospito Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah that's on our list, so Yanni got to drink it with the guy who made it. The Gavalas family has farmed those vines since 1906. The good photos, the lunch menu, and the trunk situation are all in the journal. See the link below.
TOO HOT TO COOK!
So Chef is preparing Chicken Eggplant Parm over linguine. Starting tonight. Breaded chicken, eggplant, house marinara, a frankly irresponsible amount of mozzarella, all on a bed of linguine. Nobody has ever ordered this and regretted it. Some have regretted ordering an appetizer first.
The wine is not a suggestion this week. It's the Fragospito Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah, by the bottle only, because that's how a wine like this should be opened. Syrah up front with dried fruit, spice, and a chocolate edge, Cabernet behind it giving the whole thing a spine. Melted cheese and fried crust need a red that pushes back. This one does.
It's also the bottle Yanni drank with Nikos Gavalas at the winery last week, which means he'll be checking that you ordered it.
The Part We Left Out
We put the whole afternoon in the travel journal. Sixteen photos and Yanni and Denise's own notes: the harvest, the cellar, Nikos and Yanni with the first-vintage bottle, the lunch we skipped over above, and the moment they realized what they'd bought and looked at the size of the rental car.
Go see how a family in Crete does hospitality. Then come let us do ours.
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