For today's luncheon, we started off with a arugula salad with blueberries, pecans and feta cheese drizzled with balsamic dressing and a watermelon gazpacho. After, the pasta dish was a pesto linguini with zucchini and ricotta. The main was one of my favorite dishes to make, Chicken Provençal with red onions and lemons. Finally, we finished up with a peach-pecan torte with lemon glaze served with vanilla ice cream. 

I love having friends over for wine pairing luncheons and dinners a few times a year. Since it's 35˚C in Tokyo now, I wanted to keep the luncheon and wines light. I never thought that a group of five would make it to a dessert wine, but I did finally get to pop open my Amarone della Valpolicella. It's not a dessert wine, but it did stand alone deliciously well after the peach torte. 

One of my guests asked about the Amarone grapes, and there is always ones of the grapes from the blend that I forget! This time it was Rondinella. I definitely need to remember Corvina, Corvinone, Rondiella and Molinera for my upcoming exam!