Lawry's the Prime Rib: Review

This place is a classic. Servers referring to themselves as Ms. _______, meat coming around on carts to order, meatballs and homemade potato chips in the lobby while you wait, just to name a few of its inviting characteristics. It's been a tradition in our family to go to Lawry's every Christmas to enjoy not only the food, but the live caroling provided by elaborately-costumed professionals. It adds a nice touch to your steak besides the horseradish and yorkshire pudding. Another delicious thing that adds a nice touch is......drum roll....great wine! As many of you know, I've recently started working for a wine importer and distributor that imports boutique, limited production wines from Argentina. So this year, we brought the 2005 Familia Cassone Obra Prima Cab Sauv $20 retail, and the 2008 Mi Terruno Malbec/Cab Blend $24 retail. Those prices are estimates...these wines aren't actually available retail yet. We're in the process of distributing them to restaurants in San Francisco. Also, my uncle brought the 2006 Hahn Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands. The Pinot Noir was beautiful, and exactly my style: floral nose with notes of violet and ripe raspberry, smooth texture with a great mouthfeel and a soft, rounded finish. It was not overly barnyardy and it did not have that tart cherry i hate! By the time our food came, we were done with this pinot, which is fine because i think the prime rib would have overpowered it. First i tried the Mi Terruno Blend with the meat. I love this wine by itself because the 55% malbec makes it juicy and jammy, while the 45% cab gives it great structure and sophistication--i don't think it needs food! it did work well with the meat, but it was perhaps a little too fruity for my taste. The Obra Prima cab, however, was a beautiful match for the prime rib. It has smooth lush tannins, but enough of them to balance the rich fattiness of the meat. The more earthy subdued berry flavors worked a little better than the blend did for me.

All in all, it was a great experience. Delicious wines, and some pretty darn good food to pair with it. Oh, and great caroling too!