Thursday, February 23, 2023

Cork Poppers Add Music to the Menu

At an earlier Cork Poppers group, one of our members asked Rick if he'd provide a little concert on his classical guitar sometime. So, when he decided to host a pared down version of our group music was on the menu too! (Four of our members were away for the season; two were unable to come -- one of those being the guy who had suggested the music!)


Rick had said "bring finger food and a wine that goes with an Argentinian tango or Italian sonata." We were off and running! (He did say, "Tomatoes should be sliced and on the platter, not whole and ready to be thrown." Protecting the musicians and their instruments is always a good thing!)

We started with Monetto Prosecco ($12.99 at our local grocery store). We didn't "taste" and evaluate as we often do for that. Instead, we just sipped and enjoyed as everyone gathered!


That said, it's a decent Prosecco and at the price good for crowd. And you've gotta love the sparkle!

As we enjoyed our Prosecco, Rick and Josh played several pieces. Here's one of the shorter ones and also one of my favorites, Piazzaolla's "History of the Tango," first movement. 

Or, if you prefer, this lively piece. 


Next we had Rick's wine, Grifone Sangiovese from Puglia, Italy.


Kate noticed it was the same grape as a Chianti but not so raw. After Rick revealed it came from Trader Joe's for about $7.99, one of our gang called it "a cheap fix." I noted it would also be good for cooking, as you want to cook with something you're happy to drink -- but not the $20 bottle! At the end of the afternoon, Kate said this was her favorite of the ones we tasted.

Our third wine was Llama 2019 Malbec Old Vine from Mendoza, Argentina, brought by Kate. We noted the cherry notes. The vines from which the grapes were pulled were 100 years old, or, as someone note, almost as old as Rick.

Kate bought this at Lansing's Old Town general store for $16.99. It was my favorite of the day.

Bob was last with Cantine Florio 1833 Vecchioflorio Marsala Superiore DOC 2018. This was a sweet dessert wine and for one who doesn't much like sweet wines, I was impressed. It had an elegant dry fruit finish which one of our gang called  "Sweet and warming." 


Bob paid $13 for this on sale from our local Meijer store. It's generally around $21.

For the most part, Barb was drinking white this time and she brought along my favorite white, Clean Slate, a very dry Riesling. Even though I left it to her at the party, I told her I was in for ordering a case and sharing if she found it. (It's a tough one to find.)


Barb determined "They're all my favorites!" to which her husband, Mike, said, "No surprise there!"

Then it was time for the food!

Everyone outdid themselves. Barb brought little pigs in blankets and a fabulous cranberry chutney over cream cheese; Kate added summer sausage and her famous homemade quacamole; Bob brought a terrific cracker and cheese platter with proscuitto wrapped provolone and I had the lemon tarts and ham slides I shared the recipes for in my last post.


No one went home hungry. And everyone went home happy.

Sharing with:    Love Your Creativity    /   All About Home  

57 comments:

gigi-hawaii said...

What a fabulous time you all had! Great to see musicians too. Wine and music go together. Instant love. I tend to like white. The Prosecco and Riesling would appeal to me the most.

Lynne said...

Pleasant evening . . .
friends, wine tasting, music too!

bobbie said...

Josh & Rick play so wonderfully!!! A great addition to the CPs!
Hugs ~

My name is Erika. said...

Your cork popper meetings always look like a fun time Jeanie. And this time having some lovely music to accompany the tasting looks like it's even more fun. Thanks for including the videos. It's great to actually hear Rick play. Hope your not in the ice storm I saw on the news tonight. hugs-Erika

Joanne Huffman said...

Wonderful music!

DeniseinVA said...

This is another wonderful post Jeanie. Thoroughly enjoyed Josh and Rick's duet, thanks for including that. There's nothing more wonderful than having live music to listen to. They certainly are very talented. A sumptuous buffet with various choices of wine and great company, perfect!

Boud said...

This looks like a great evening. Live music, food, wine, as good as it gets. I've noted the prosecco you liked.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Lovely concert
Wine and good food!

Rita said...

What wonderful music! I don't drink and know nothing about wine but it looks like you all had a fun tasting party. What a sweet night to remember. :)

Linda P said...

There were some good wine choices at your party. I like that you had variety. Live music, delicious food and good company make for a happy time of sharing.

Elizabeth Varadan said...

How wonderful to have your own concert wile enjoying these fabulous wines. My husband and I both love classical guitar.

Jacqui Brown said...

All the ingredients for a perfect night, especially homemade nibbles and live music.

William Kendall said...

Sounds like you had fun.

roentare said...

A day of wine tasting. How nice and fun!

David M. Gascoigne, said...

The true spirit of chamber music revived in 21st Century Michigan. Mozart would be pleased!

Valerie-Jael said...

Food, wine and wonderful music - what more do we need? Hugs, Valerie

Anvilcloud said...

Wine, music, company and food. What a time you folk have together. But now I am hungry for breakfast. Believe it or not I am thinking of just white bred toasted lightly. I don’t know why. 😎

eileeninmd said...

What a fun evening, the music, food and good wine. Sounds great to me!

Take care, have a great weekend.

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

What a fabulous party, Rick and Josh are quite talented musicians.

Marilyn Miller said...

For someone that doesn't drink wine you made me want to buy them all. They all sounded good. What a lovely evening of music, sipping, and the food looked and sounded delicious. I do have a weakness for food such as these nibbles. Yummm!

La Table De Nana said...

Finger foods and great music! Qui dit mieux? I like apps because you eat as much or as little as you want and what you prefer:)I love the soft music.

Pam said...

Looks like you all have a really good time!! Awesome, having friends is so great. Mine are amazing and its cool to hang out. Wine, tried drinking some each night for Cholesterol but my body did not take kindly to it, I was waking with major heartburn. So, I had to stop with that....lol, I could not even be a good wino if I wanted to be.

Anonymous said...

Good times with good friends! And oh my...I would love to get that cranberry chutney recipe !!! It looks AWESOME.
Dawn P. Albany, GA

Carol @ The Red Painted Cottage said...

I agree with everyone, what a fabulous evening spent with friends, good food, wine and music! I no hardly anything about wine. I love a good glass of wine when we go to a nice restaurant, but I never know what to order.

Linda @ Life and Linda said...

Such a great gathering with friends with good wine, good food and music. Rick and Josh are wonderful musicians.

Breathtaking said...

Hello Jeanie :=)
I enjoyed both the Tango music and Mozart's Chamber music played by two very talented musicians. What could be better than wine, good food, and music, shared in congenial company.
All the best.

Misadventures of Widowhood said...

If I was young and starting over I'd work at putting together a group of friends like you have here to do wines and food parties. I'm so impressed with you guys.

DUTA said...

I'm afraid I don't know much about wines, but the food on the table looks very tempting!
Rick and Josh are virtuoso music players! No doubt about that.

Bill said...

A wonderful time with friends, food, fun, wine and music. Perfection!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

Wine, food, music and good company... What more could you ask for?!

Prims By The Water said...

Slicing the tomatoes made me giggle! Looks like the appetizers and music were a hit. Janice

kathyinozarks said...

Sounds like such a wonderful time-wines, food and friends-perfect!

Veronica Lee said...

Such a wonderful evening!

I enjoyed Josh and Rick's duet.

Hugs and blessings, Jeanie.

ashok said...

Rick is a Star!

Iris Flavia said...

Your Rick sure is not only talendet but also funny :-)
And. That MONETTO I think we once had, too!
LLAMA sure is a funny name!
Love the zebra-plates especially - and the food! My ole cheese-bread sure is nothing compared to this!
Goingg home happy is the best!

thepaintedapron.com said...

What a great gathering Jeanie! Your Cork Popper group has so much fun, and thanks for sharing the beautiful music! Are you being effected by the terrible winter storm, the news keeps mentioning Michigan? Hard for us to believe, we are 70 degrees today!
Jenna

CrystalChick said...

I watched the first video, but for the second I was listening while reading the rest of your post. Delightful!! My husband has a couple guitars, and for a while has been partial to the classical one. All of the wines sound good. Neither of the two Trader Joe's we go to sell alcohol. I prefer red wine, however, my favorite white is Gewurztraminer.
~Mary

Bonnie said...

Jeanie, It was fun to hear about your Cork Poppers tasting and gathering. I would enjoy a group like yours.

Pam Richardson said...

Jeanie, what a fabulous gathering of friends, food, wine, and music. The music was wonderful and thanks for sharing and please tell Rick how much I enjoyed. Happy Weekend!

Hena Tayeb said...

What a fun time.

shoreacres said...

Thanks especially for sharing the music. Tell Rick how much I enjoyed it! I would have enjoyed some of that food, too -- you people certainly do know how to put on a party!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Music and food are my kind of party. I'll leave the wine to you, but I enjoy reading about it. I've been to buffets that served less than your "nibbles." Everything looks beautiful and from the sound of it, you all had a fabulous time.

Divers and Sundry said...

Y'all have a great sense of humor :) Thanks for sharing the videos. Sweet!

Jenny Woolf said...

It is very strange how a really inexpensive wine can sometimes be better than one with sky high prices.(I don't have a great palate for wine, so I'm not relying on myself, even though that's true for me - I've also seen a few professional wine tastings when it pans out that way too.) Those are great pieces and so well performed, both of them and the food looked excellent. I'm very glad you're posting Cork Poppers reports again, it always seems such a nice idea.

Sandra Cox said...

What a lovely evening. Both men are very talented.

Sherry's Pickings said...

I used to love a good Prosecco back when i drank alcohol :)

R's Rue said...

Looks delicious.

Victoria Zigler said...

Sounds like a wonderful gathering. Thanks for sharing the music with us - I really enjoyed it.

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

The music is so very lovely! What a fun gathering! I will have to keep an eye out for the dry Riesling! It sounds like something I would enjoy! I love that you guys have shifted to focusing on aps/finger foods. That is my favorite kind of food at a party!

Polly said...

I'm not much of a drinker nowadays but delicious food, a nice glass of red, friends and music makes for a good evening

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Jeanie,
Looks like a great time was had!!
Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind words about my Mother's pictures...I am glad you enjoyed seeing the Gallery Wall! I am thrilled that I finally got around to doing it and I can now enjoy seeing my parents in a time before I was born. Have a great week!!
Hugs,
Deb

gluten Free A_Z Blog said...

such a great idea to have food that matches the music! Everything sounds so good. I buy wine from Trade Joe's and have found some we really like.

Carola Bartz said...

An evening with friends, music and wine is wonderful and it sounds like you had an exceptionally good one. I'm glad that a German Riesling was among the wines, even though I am not particularly fond of Mosel wines. I think it's one of Germany's weaker wine regions, but it's difficult to get wine here from other German areas. Sangiovese is indeed the grape used in the wine from the Chianti region - but it may not be called Chianti if it is not from that area.

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

Sounds like everyone had fun and you can't beat that. Good food, music, wine, and good company make a perfect get-together.

Amy at Ms. Toody Goo Shoes said...

I really enjoyed watching/listening to Rick play! Looks like another wonderful time with friends! (I'm trying hard to catch up on my blog reading)

Lowcarb team member said...

What a wonderful time with your friends.
I enjoyed the videos too :)

All the best Jan

Fundy Blue said...

What a lovely wine tasting and feast. I enjoyed Josh and Rick's music.

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