Mr. Vino and I were enjoying our gewürztraminer and the company of Lacy Bottoms, the beautiful manager of Chez Suave.

A platter of smoked sausages arrived with a bottle of riesling. The wine was an ’04 Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss grand cru riesling from Alsace. Mr. Vino gave a toothpaste-commercial smile and, shaking his head, said, “Dear, sweet Lacy, you spoil us with such fine wine.”

“No, gentlemen, it is a special event when you visit,” she replied, batting her long eyelashes. “Chef Kenny has given me instructions to treat you like royalty.”

Lacy opened the bottle of riesling, while my mouth began to water looking at the sausages.

“Knowing Chef Kenny like I do, I know some of these sausages are bit spicy and that is why this riesling is the perfect match,” Mr. Vino said.

I took a whiff of the wine and noted the fine floral, almost rose-petal aroma mixed with baked apple and peach nuances. When I took a sip, I noted a richness on the palate and a lot of minerality – the wine was not sweet but had a certain amount of balanced sweetness and acid.

“This wine has symmetrical beauty, like great classical art,” Mr. Vino said.

“Mr. Vino, I am often confused by German wines, spatlese or auslese – it’s all Greek to me,” I said and then dove into the sausages.

Mr. Vino wiped his mouth with his napkin and pointed his left index finger in the air. “Wine is confusing, but that is what makes it fun,” he said. “Your tongue stumbles into all sorts of things and is often better for the experience.

“In vineyards by the Mosel River, if the weather conditions are right and after dry weather and rain falls from the heavens, ripe riesling grapes develop this ugly mold called botrytis cinerea – noble rot,” he continued. “This wonderful mold shrivels the grapes, taking out the juice and leaving sugar concentration. The grapes are then made into wine with more extracted sugars and flavors.”

Lacy sat down with us and grabbed a glass of riesling. “The hierarchy for these wines is based on the sugar concentration of these grapes affected by the noble rot,” she said. “Spatlese is late-picked. Auslese is select-picked bunches of grapes that have been effected by botrytis, and beerenauslese are selectively-picked grapes. And only the most effected grapes are made into trockenbeerenauslese, which I think is honey heaven.”

I then declared: “Let us not forget eiswein, the great dessert wine made from frozen botrytis-effected grapes.”

Lacy got up. “I think we should try a bottle,” she said, and before I could stop her from getting this expensive wine (a wine I could not afford), she was back and was opening a bottle of Dr. Loosen ’03 Riesling Eiswein Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Bernkasteler Lay.

My eyes were bulging out like I’d found a $100 bill on the sidewalk. Her delicate hands poured a few ounces of wine, which came out like syrup. It was golden and wonderful. Mr. Vino said it best: “Silky and rich, it is a succulent sweet tart and as lovely as a wine can be.”

I was beginning to worry about our tab. When Lacy whispered something in Mr. Vino’s little ear, he gave out a smile that filled the room and said: “Don’t worry about the check. Chef Kenny has picked it up and Chef Kenny’s limo will be taking us home.”

Thank God for such a good, rich friend!