CHRISTMAS WINE AND DINE
On Friday 8 December 2006, Vitis Amsterdamensis closed its activities for 2006 with an excellent Dinner and Wine Evening at De Witte Uyl restaurant in Frans Halsstraat, Amsterdam.
As usual with our bunch of members, the conversation grew louder as more and more wine bottles emptied! We were welcomed at the restaurant with a Bellini, comprising an organic (!) cava, and with a puree of white peach and a lime peel. Its origin is from Harry’s Bar in Venice, where it is made with Prosecco of course! The appetizer was an excellent terrine of tomato with a basil dressing.
This was then followed by a first course of Crème of spinach with smoked trout, a poached egg and a little nutmeg, washed down by ample quantities of Au Cler 2005, which is a Cotes de Gascogne. It is made from 70% Colombard and 30% Ugni Blanc grapes.
This was then followed by ‘Game sausages with mashed potato and porcini served with pumpkin gravy’ together with a salad of rocket salad with parsnip, pumpkin and Jerusalem artichoke (to give us some extra vitamins to help our bodies recover the next day, according to the restaurant!!).
The accompanying wine was Capello di Prete 2001, which is a South Italian wine from Pulgia,and made from 100 % Negroamaro grapes (negro=black; amaro=bitter) (although it is very smooth and not bitter at all!).
Then the restaurant’s excellent ‘Runny chocolate cake with ginger ice cream’ and a black sherry ‘Valdez’ made of the pedro ximenez grape. Finally, we finished off several bottles of Le Grand Vin de Château Grinou 1999 A.C. Bergerac which is 100% merlot.
Without doubt, the ambiance of the evening was enhanced not with just the great food, wine and service but also by Annemieke and her excellent (and hard working) staff. It was great to try different wines again in a very relaxing atmosphere, and we hope to return to the Witte Uyl in 2007.
As we draw to the end of this, our first full calendar year of existence (hard to believe!!), we would like to thank those who have helped us sip, slurp and slosh our way through more than 300 bottles of some of the best (and less wonderful!!) wines on the planet.
From Bordeaux bangs, through rich Rieslings, across Catalonian chasms, traipsing through Hungarian hillsides and ending up on South African slopes – with a bunch of organic wines thrown in for good measure – 2006 has been a very versatile year for our members. Our achievements this year, however, would not have been possible but for the dedication and help of Richard, Mendes, Annemieke, Robert and Theresa, Robert and Monika, Classic Canal Cruises and (of course!) Oscar and Farud. Without their support and guidance, (not to mention arm-twisting!) the club’s Steering Committee would inevitably have ended up on the rocks (or more likely – in the gutter!!).
But off course, the Steering Committee can plan itself as much as it wants, but we are fully aware that at the very end it is the members that make Vitis Amsterdamensis very special. Our expat community is by its nature transient, so our members come and go as our lives ebb and flow from this Venice of the North! Though we have said a few sad farewells and many bright hellos this year, we do thank each and every member for their complete support, inventive ideas and unforgettable Fridays throughout the past year. Not to mention your wonderful – if not erratic – scoring of the wines!!
We are giving our livers a rest in January, but we look forward to welcoming our members – new and old – in February 2007, and so we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (hic!!)
Cheers,
The Steering Committee
Vitis Amsterdamensis