That describes tonight’s post.  Barbara was inspired and made what is probably the best meal of the summer tonight, a Layered Vegetable Casserole.  I held myself back after only 3 servings (not wanting to overdo it…).

Here’s her hand-written recipe.  One of these days I will re-type it so it’s clearer and less ambiguous, but for now, it’s good exercise for our readers to make the dish as described.

Baked in the oven and then finished briefly under the broiler, it was tender, crispy, fragrant, and sensuous.

The wine was an unusual but very appropriate choice, a 2015 Sachino from the country of Georgia.  It’s a smooth, medium-bodied blend of Saperavi and Rkatsiteli grapes, the first is red, the second, white.  I know relatively little about Georgian wines, except that their wine history is probably the oldest in the world, their indigenous grapes are amazing, and they often age their wines in qvevri — earthenware vessels used for fermentation, ageing, and storage of wines.  This is not a qvervi wine, but it is inexpensive, easy to drink and goes with a wide variety of summer dishes.  It comes from the Kakheti region.

If you are curious and want to know more, Alice Feiring has written an excellent book about Georgia, the culture, the people, and the remarkable wines: For the Love of Wine.  I recommend it highly.