Capodanno

Oakland, January 1, 2013—

FOR NEARLY FORTY YEARS now — the exact number was one of the items of conversation — we have spent New Year's Eve with another couple, two of our oldest friends as you might imagine, odd-numbered years in our home, even-numbered years in theirs.

Yesterday, then, we drove down to San Francisco, there to see two marvelous exhibitions: Richard Diebenkorn at the Crown Point Press gallery; Jay De Feo at SFMOMA. (Perhaps I'll have something to say about those shows over at The Eastside View.)

Then it was on to our friends' home in the Oakland hills: French onion soup, rich and deep; roast leg of lamb, simple and succulent; roast fingerling potatoes, cauliflower. New York style cheesecake with Champagne, and the New Year — Happy New Year to you all! Buon Capodanno!

Cabernet Sauvignon, Whitehall Lane (Napa), 2008: rich, balanced, fruity, mature