Dinner with a Friend and Wayne Gretzky

On Thursday, Pris and I had a friend over for dinner.  It was small simple meal that didn't involve too much work since I had to work all day and make the drive back home.  We provided the food, Rusty provided the wine.  That's always a great arrangement.  To go with dinner, Rusty grabbed a couple of bottles of Wayne Gretzky Estates 2005 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.

We actually opened up one of the bottles and proceeded to finish off the Finca El Origen that was left over while the Gretzky Cab breathed some.  In a testament to lucky timing, the food was done at about the same time the Finca was finished.  For dinner we had dry aged NY Strips from H.E.B., prosciutto/parsley/parmesan mashed potatoes, and the roasted tomatoes with garlic and croutons dish.

The 2005 Wayne Gretzky Cab is a good Cab, especially to go with the steaks we were having.  On the nose it had all the hallmarks of a first-rate Cab: dark fruit, dark cherries, and blackberry.  But then on the palate it wasn't as bold as the nose would lead you to believe.  This wasn't a bad thing.  The Gretzky Cab was smooth, rich, and well balanced.  It had generous helping of dark redolent fruit tempered with some slightly sweet accents.  Smooth tannins provided a very mellow finish for this Napa Cab.

The all around smoothness and balance of this wine made it very easy to drink, and we finished off the bottle in short order.  Even though it was mellower than most of the Napa Cabs we've tried, it was still a perfect compliment to the aged steak.  The mellowness also meant that the wine didn't overpower the mashed potatoes and roasted tomato sides.  Other bolder Cabs would've simply buried these flavorful sides, but the Gretzky did not.

Rusty picked up the wine at Jones' Liquor. I had picked up a bottle there a little while back on Mike Jone's recommendation, but we haven't opened it yet.  Now we know its a really good and mellow Cab that will go great with steak and some lighter dishes.  It runs $14.99  a bottle.  For more information you can visit: http://www.gretzkyestateswines.com/