After working like crazy before our departure, and then spending a week on

vacation,Troya and
I could not wait to have a dinner night at home. We both love dinner nights at home when we get to make one of our favorite recipes or try something new and pair it with something in our wine cooler. Since we had done Caribbean food for a whole week we were looking for something different. None of our favorites were jumping out so we looked through some of our cook books and found a recipe for an Afghani lamb and spinach stew served over a middle eastern rice pilaf with dried fruit and pine nuts with a cold cucumber and yogurt soup on the side. A perfect blend of spice and sweet we thought. Now to pick the wine. I thought a Spanish style varietal would go great with these flavors and found an 09 En Garde Tempranillo from the Livermore, CA area. On its own this wine had great flavors with coffee and dark chocolate jumping to the front. It paired beautifully with the meal, becoming smooth and mellow but not lost or over bearing with all the flavors. Good to be back.