California Francis Ford Coppola Rosso

Hi!! We actually went out to eat Friday night. We went to Aubrey's to have one of their fabulous salads. It's been so wicked hot the past week or so, I couldn't stand the thought of eating anything heavier. However, I was still in the mood for a red wine, so I ordered the granny smith salad with little slices of steak and balsamic vinaigrette. I ordered the Francis Ford Coppola Rosso to go with it. I knew this would be a bit of a stretch, since I had ordered this wine before. This would be great with a big burger or a steak, but would be a little big for a salad, even if it did come with steak slices. The real problem with the pairing was the salad dressing. The balsamic dressing was a little sweet and kind of clashed with the wine. So, I just ate my salad and then enjoyed sipping the wine after the meal. The salad and the wine were both delicious, just better separate than together. This wine is actually a blend of three different varietals. It was very fruity, even jammy, with a nice amount of spiciness on the nose and the finish. The spiciness definitely gave it more interest. This wine sells for $6 a glass at Aubrey's or, I believe, $30 a bottle. Not bad for wine at a restaurant, but it would be much less at a liquor store. Incidentally, the wine list at Aubrey's seemed pretty heavy on domestic wines, with quite a few well known and well priced labels. Usual restaurant markup for wine is somewhere around 3 times retail. That's why I always drink better wines at home than when I'm out (unless it's a "bring your own bottle" place, like Savelli's).