Dinner party

Last night we had some people over for dinner. My wife invited some of her friends from work for an evening of food and fun. We started off with various cheeses and crusty bread, parmesian-oregano crisps and some grapes. For dinner we had grilled skirt steak marinated overnight in a mixture of red wine, red wine vinegar, worcestershire sauce, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. We also had tequila-lime chicken - grilled chicken breast marinated overnight in tequila, lime juice, orange juice, salt, pepper, and jalepeno peppers. On the side we had a grilled corn and fregula "salad" and an avocado, tomato and cucumber salad.
For the drinks, I went on the cheaper side since I had to buy a bunch of bottles. For a white, I went with the always reliable Papio Chardonnay 2005, California. This is from the line of cheaper wines from Robert Mondavi Vineyards. I don't think it says Mondavi anywhere on the bottle, but that's where it's from. You can go to the Papio website here. This was my first time trying the 2005 vintage. It didn't dissapoint (especially for $4.99 a bottle). It is light, fresh and crisp. There really isn't any oaky-ness in this chardonnay. It had flavors of pineapple, a little lemon and some scents of flowers. I didn't really drink this one with the dinner, but I tasted it to see how it was.
For a red, I went with a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz-Grenache 2004, Australia. I've had Yellow Tail many times before, but only the Shiraz or the Chardonnay. This time, I thought we would have something a little different. The first bottle was uncorked (it's a synthetic cork) about 1 1/2 hours before anyone was supposed to show. I poured myself a glass an hour after uncorking. There were still some scents of alcohol that I was a little surprised at. It's a deep dark wine. There were some flavors of pepper and fruits that I associate with the shiraz side, but I felt they were quickly overpowered by the cherries and strawberries of the grenache. I wasn't sure what I thought about this wine at first, but it went down very easily without any harshness in the finish. By the end I was really enjoying it, but was it because I had a few glasses? Who knows. This one went for $6.99 a bottle.
Finally, for desert, we had some home made creme brulee which we were able to torch with our nice creme brulee torch (it's not often you get to use a blowtorch in your own house).
Overall, I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We had a great time. It was a fun evening.

NP: Down Under, Pennywise