Dinner at Asti Trattoria ... Varner and Ketcham

Last night, I had dinner at the outstanding Asti Trattoria. To start us off, we had a salad, white bean puree with truffle oil, and homemade sausage with grilled grapes. This was accompanied by a bottle of 2005 Varner Chardonnay "Amphitheater Block". The Varner matched perfectly with its steely nature. Lots of crushed rock and white flowers, subtle apple and pear flavors. It seemed more on the yellow side than I remembered and was denser than a Chablis would be, but it is s stunning wine.

With my entree of grilled hangersteak on truffle mashers and grilled asparagus, we had a bottle of 2005 Ketcham Estate Pinot. And did that deliver...when first poured, the wine was a little tight and unusually grapey, but after being open for about 30 minutes to an hour, this was drinking spectacularly. Just a great wine and I can't imagine that I'll be able to hold off my last bottle for long since it is drinking so well right now. If you have some yourself, I'd suggest popping one soon to see how you like it at this stage.

What did you drink last night?