It is very common to hold wine dinners in California and I experienced my first one with Rob Lawson with his Pavi Wines (Rob’s personal wine brand). It was held at a very nice restaurant, where the chef paired the wines with interesting dishes.

Rob was a showman, totally surprising me and the rest of the guests, presenting every wine with a particular story about it. The Pavi brand name itself is the name of his wife. Her family, following a family tradition, named her Pavi, which is a combination of the first two letters of each of the parents names, hence her mothers name Vima and her fathers namePaul: she is Pavi!!! Unfortunately Pavi and Rob couldn’t follow this tradition with their daughters, as it would have to be Ropa or Paro. Not the best names for the cute girls they have.

The wines were all stars, starting with the Pinot Grigio from Napa and also included wines of the same varietals but which were directly imported from Venice (Italy). It was interesting to taste them together because you noticed the difference of the terroir. We tasted the “Dolcetto” next and I fell in love with it. It is a very nice wine for meat (I might take some bottles, it would be perfect for an asado!!!), with strawberry marmalade, cassis, vanilla notes and sweet tannins and long finish. My favorite!


It was a nice dinner we all enjoyed it very much. People went to bed smiling …