Birthday Dinner Wines - 2006 La Bascula 'The Charge' And 2006 Hahn Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

Chris celebrated his 40th Birthday on Saturday night in one of his previous 'hometowns' of Antigonish, Nova Scotia.  It is the home of his Alma Mater St. Francis Xavier University.  Shannon had the brilliant idea to take him back to his old stomping grounds to relive old glories.

We were joined by close friends Craig & Cheryl and Ray & Natalie and a wonderful night was had by all.  We began the night at Gabrieau's Bistro, where we had a wonderful meal ranging from Crab Cakes, to Thai Seafood Platters, and Steaks.  We were greeted by a note and gift card from Jay & Allyson would could not be with us but wanted us to have a nice bottle of wine to have with dinner.  So, on top of the delicious food we were looking at having some great wine.  We settled on a couple of bottles from Gabrieau's extensive and value driven wine menu.  The breadth of wines available on their wine list was quite amazing.  They have done a fantastic job of finding great gems at all price points.  Top marks to them for doing that.

First up was the 2006 'The Charge' from La Bascula, a blend of 75% Tempranillo and 25% Garnacha from Spain.  We have had this wine before and it is was a real crowd-pleaser.  Very nice mouth feel and very approachable and most importantly great with food.  With five of six drinking red that didn't last long, so we moved on the 2006 Hahn Estates Cabernet Sauvignon which was another big wine that had a great mouth feel and great flavour profile.  Both wines were elegant and round and made a great meal even better.  A Chocolate Cheesecake group dessert was not necessary but was a great ending to the meal.

Post dinner, we walked down the street to The Townhouse Brew Pub which is on the way back to the Hotel.  It was cold and we were ready to sit down for a drink or two (or more).  The Townhouse has a list of local craft brews from Propeller Brewery, Garrison Brewing Company, Granite Brewery, and Pumphouse Brewery.  All high quality beers, all delicious.  We tried the Tall Ship Amber from Garrison, the Pilsner and IPA from Propeller, the Peculiar from Granite, and the Premium Lager from Pumphouse.  It was a great night of wine and beer tasting, ultimately winding up with some poor late night food choices (i.e. Donair Eggrolls) that helped make for a tough morning.

40th Birthdays are not supposed to be easy.....

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon