2007 Seigneurs de Monbazilllac (sauternes)

Hello everyone!! I hope you are having a very merry Christmas Eve! Our family celebrates the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve. We actually had five fishes (even numbers being unlucky, so while 7 is ideal, five or three is ok for a smaller dinner party). We had calamari with lemon and olive oil dressing; crab and scallop cakes; pasta with clams, mussels, and scallops; salad; and bread. We enjoyed a pleasant but unpretentious pinot gris (Geyser Peak) which was nice with the meal. It had a brisk acidity that complemented the seafood dishes. I believe I've described that wine in an earlier blog.

For dessert, we had cheesecake with blueberries and this nice little dessert wine. This wine is not a true sauternes. It is from outside the region of true sauternes, but has the distinct flavor of the "noble rot" It had a lovely golden color. It was somewhat aromatically challenged, with faint aromas of honey, nuts, and apricot. The flavors were similar with the addition of figs and raisins. It had a lingering finish of raisins and nuts. It coated the entire palate and was really quite pleasant with the cheesecake. This wine is available in Knoxville for about $15 a half bottle. I have had more interesting sauternes, with more complex flavor profiles and more intense aromas, but not at this price. It was alright, but overall, uninteresting. I don't drink sauternes (or any dessert wine) often. These are special occasion wines for me. Because of that, I don't think I'll pick this up again, unless it's strictly as a cost saving measure. Unless I need several bottles of dessert wine for guests, I'd rather spend more and have a more memorable bottle. Still, it's very nice for a $15 sauternes style wine.

2009 Leyda Pinot Noir from Chile

We had this wine tonight with pasta and pork chops with peppers. This light red was a nice compliment to the tangy and well seasoned pork chops. The color was brick red. The nose and the flavor profile started with lots of cherry. As it opened the cherry dissipated and strawberry and blueberry emerged. After opening for an hour or so the blueberry and cherry disappeared completely, and we were left with strawberry and plum! This wine also had a nice forest, mulch component and a little bit of spice. I bought this at Ashes for maybe $12. It was recommended as a Burgundian pinot. Honestly, when we first opened this wine I wasn't too sold on it as Burgundian. However, as it opened it developed more of the delicate complexity expected of a French burgundy. This is a very nice wine for the price. Also, it will be even better in a couple of years. I really love having this style of wine around because it is sooooo food friendly. I'll probably keep this around (or set some aside).

2008 Dry Creek Valley Castlebank Old Vine Zinfandel

This was a nice little wine that I picked up from WTSO (wine til sold out) online for $11 a bottle. We had this wine with homemade pizza and it was very nice with it. This is a single vineyard zin labeled from Guilia's vineyard. I don't know if this wine is available locally. The color was a dark purple garnet. The aromas were black cherry and a little vanilla. The flavors were cherry, blackberry, a llittle vanilla, and a touch of chocolate (I only got the chocolate on the finish). It was pretty light for a zin, with more acid than tannin. We couldn't help but compare this wine with the previous zin. It wasn't nearly as polished. However, it was an honest, straightforward wine that was pleasant to drink. I have 3 more bottles, and I'm looking forward to enjoying them.

2006 Cline Zinfadel

This was a terrific zinfandel from the Sonoma region in California. We had this wine with lamb chops smothered in onions, tomato, and olive. It was a lovely match with the lamb and may be the best zinfandel I've ever had. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where I got this wine. It probably came from either Bob's or Campbell Station, and of course, I'm not sure about the price. I'd guess this to be in the $20 to $30 dollar range.

The color was a deep, inky garnet with a bit of a brick red color at the edge. The aromas were of oak, blackberry, vanilla and chocolate. The flavor was of blackberry and cherry with the vanilla and chocolate previously described. On the palate it was very fruit forward, and had a wonderful smooth, rounded quality. It was very silky for a zin with well integrated tannins. The finish was smooth and lingering. It was one of those wines that was just delicious. This wine was excellent with the lamb, but would also make a great sipping wine. I think part of the success of this wine was the fact that it has a little age. This rounded out the tannins and integrated all the flavors. I will look for this again.

2008 Anakema 2008 White Blend

Sorry, I've fallen behind in my blogging responsibilities. Also, we've not been drinking a lot of new wines. Last week we had this white blend form Chile. it was 35% Viognier, 35% Reisling, and 30% Chardonnay. This wine received 89 points from the International Wine Cellar. I picked this up in Atlanta from Total Wine for $15. We had this with a roasted chicken dish with greens, onions and toasted squares of bread. The dish was delicious from Food and Wine magazine December issue page 106. The wine was not so good.

The color was pale straw. The aromas were apricot with minerality and a touch of smokey oak. The flavor profile was similar with apricot and pear. The flavors were a little too subtle. It had a nice minerality and bright, refreshing acidity, but it just seemed disjointed. Overall, while I liked the minerality of this wine, it lacked personality. Definitely a pass.

Thanksgiving: A tale of two pinots (and an ice wine)

Hello everyone!! I hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving! My older son was back in town and we had a really lovely dinner with just the four of us, myself, my husband Al, and our two grown boys. I served erbazzone with swiss chard as an appetizer. It had a flakey crust and a filling of chard, cheese and eggs. Then we had butterflied game hens with mushrooms and a little cheese over a "nest" of sauteed potatoes. We had cherry tomatoes warmed in butter and herbs, sauteed green beans with a little shallot, and some purchased cranberry-orange relish. We started with 2008 Erath Pinot Noir from Oregon state. Then we opened the 2007 Luigi Bosca Reserva Pinot Noir from Argentina, and finally we had the 2008 Riviere du Chene Monde Vin de Glace (ice wine) from our recent trip to Canada.

The 2008 Erath Pinot Noir was a nice pairing for the little birds. The birds were very moist and savory having been marinated in wine, olive oil, and seasonings, then browned on each side under a broiler, then covered with gruyere cheese and roasted in a pan filled with a 1/4 inch of white wine. Mushrooms are added half-way through the roasting step. Of course, the birds are basted multiple times while they are roasting. So, back to our wine. This was a dish that could hold up to a fairly robust wine. The Erath pinot noir was very good with it. It had a nice garnet color with a touch of brick red at the edge of the glass ( unusual in such a young vintage). It had aromas of raspberry and strawberry, with floral notes and a touch of the mulchiness often found in pinot noir. The flavors were true to the palate and it had a nice silkiness to it that complimented the richness of the food. It had a pleasant lingering finish. This wine is about $20 at McScrooges, but is available at Total Wine in Atlanta for $15.

The 2007 Luigi Bosca Reserva Pinot Noir was also very good. This is one of my favorite pinots for sipping. Al and I differ in our opinions on this wine. Al says it is a nice enough wine, but it doesn't taste like a pinot noir. I have to agree, but I like it anyway. This is a pinot that is not to be confused with a burgundy. It is very new world. I don't know if it's because of the use of oak barrels, the approach of the winemaker, or if it really is all due to terroir. It really is very full bodied for a pinot noir. When it was first opened there was a lot of oak on the nose. This dissipated with a little time in the glass. It had a deeper color than the Erath. It was a deep, dark garnet. It was more aromatic than the Erath with aromas of raspberry, cherry, some oakey vanilla and a little spiciness (sweet spice more than pepper). It was nice and velvety on the palate with a lingering finish of cherry and spice. It's unusual for a pinot, but I really like this wine. This was about $18 to $20 at Ashes, and it is also available at Total Wine in Atlanta for $20.

Pinot noir is an interesting varietal, much like chianti in Italy. There is an incredible range of expression for this grape. Before last night, I had 4 very different pinot noirs in my wine rack. They can be very light and delicate in the traditional Burgundian style with aromas of strawberries and flowers and light in body. These wines often are fairly complex with hints of mulch or "barnyard" especially as they age. Pinots can also be fairly robust, as is this Luigi Bosca, with bigger fruit and more oak than the Burgundian style pinots. I think it's fascinating how one varietal can express all this. Also pinots are good companions to a wide variety of foods. They are an excellent choice when the food is too much for a white (or you just don't want to drink a white). A light pinot can be easily substituted for a rose. Really, it's just a matter of matching the weight of the pinot to the weight of the food, especially for fish and chicken dishes without too much hot spice. The burgundian pinots are especially food friendly and pair well with almost any fish or fowl. The more robust pinots pair well with dishes that won't quite take a heavier red, but mostly, I enjoy these as sipping wines. The heavier pinots would compare well with a lighter Cotes du Rhone wine, and could be used in their stead. There may be more pinot reviews this fall. It's a varietal worth exploring over time.

Finally, we had the 2008 Monde Ice Wine with our apple and cranberry tart. My younger son, never having had a dessert wine, kept commenting over and over about how sweet it was! Yes, that's the idea. Also, the alcohol content was low in this wine, only %10. I believe this is also typical of ice wines. When we purchased this wine, I thought it was sold as half or whole bottles and we bought a half bottle. Later, I noticed that it wasn't a half bottle at all, but was only 200 ml. So, in the future, I'll be checking the size of those little "half bottles". I don't know if this is something new, or just something I never noticed before. Anyway, we were just looking for a little sip of something sweet with the pie, so everything worked out well. It had a lovely honey color in the glass. It had aromas of honey, apricot, pear and a little floral component. The flavor profile was similar with pear, apple, apricot, honey and touch of sweet spice. It had a luscious, creamy silkiness, and a lingering finish. It was very good with the apple tart, somehow the pairing made both the pie and the wine taste even better. I love it when that happens! I try to have nice pairings every time, but once in awhile, it really is just magical! This wine was $30 or $35 at the winery in Canada. I haven't found it here, yet.

2009 Lucky Star Pinot Noir (California)

Hello!! We enjoyed this pleasant little wine with rabbit pie tonight. The color was garnet, and as expected with a pinot noir, not too deep or intense. The nose was of raspberry and vanilla. The flavors were raspberry, cherry and vanilla with soft tannins and very soft acidity. It was very fruit forward and pretty sweet when first opened. As it opened in the glass, it softened and the flavors became less intense and better integrated. This wine was $8.79 at Campbell Station Wine and spirits. Considering the price, this is not bad. It's very young and fruity, reminiscent of a beaujolais nouveau. I thought it lacked structure and complexity. Of course, it is a 2009 vintage and what do you expect from an $8 wine? I would prefer this to a beaujolais with my turkey. It would be good for a party, especially if you have friends that are not big wine drinkers. It's so soft and easy drinking that many people would really enjoy it.

2007 Educated Guess Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Hello!! This was a lovely wine that we had the other night with black and blue salads. It was a little big for the salad, but not a bad pairing. It was a very delicious sipping wine, that really needs no help from food.

It had a deep inky color that was purple at the rim. The nose was dark cherry with vanilla, woodsy oak, and a little bit of licorice. The aromas blended and mellowed nicely as the wine opened. On the palate there was black cherry and vanilla. It was very smooth and even across the entire palate. This wine was just plain delicious! I went back today to get another bottle. Ibelieve this wine sells for $19.99 at Campbell Station Wine and Spirits for this wine. I understand that this wine will be featured at the next tasting on the second Tuesday of December.

2008 Domaine de Couron Cotes du Rhone Villages

Hello everyone! This wine is the younger brother to the previous wine, from the same producer, so bear with me as I can't help but compare the two wines. I tasted this at the Second Harvest wine tasting sponsored by Campbell Station Wines and Spirits and then we took home a bottle. It is a bllend of syrah and grenache. I believe it also sells for $15 to $18 a bottle. This wine is similar to the 100% syrah, but a little rougher, with tannins that are not as well integrated. It's also a 2008, whereas the previous wine was a 2006 vintage. I liked this wine, but I do believe it would become more rounded with a few years in the bottle. We had this wine with pizza at home. Not as bad a pairing as you might think, because I make this pesto pizza with spinach, mushroom and goat cheese that is always too light for a classic Italian pizza wine. Al always makes a second more traditional pizza with red sauce and mozzarella. So picking out a wine for pizza night is a bit of a problem. This wine was pretty good with both, not a great pairing, but ok with both pizzas.

The color was very inky and dark with a rim of purple at the edge of the glass. The nose was of cherry and vanilla with a bit of licorice. Much like the previous wine, this one nicely coats the palate. It's not a heavy wine, but has a medium body, just a little lighter than the 100% syrah. The flavor profile included lots of currents, some cherry, a little vanilla, black tea, and a hint of licorice. This is a very nice wine, and I may pick up another bottle while I'm there purchasing several bottles of the 100% syrah.

2006 Domain de Couron Cotes du Rhone 100% Syrah

Hello everyone!!

We're back in Knoxville now and we have had a couple of very nice wines this past weekend, especially this one! We attended the Second Harvest wine tasting hosted by Campbell Station Wines and Spirits. This event is always held on the second Saturday of the month from 4 to 6 pm. Both this wine and the next one I will blog were featured at this tasting. We came back from the tasting and I cooked lamb chops, brussel sprouts and spinach. I decided that the syrah would be a great pairing with the lamb, and it was! A bite of lamb and then a sip of wine and back and forth because they complimented each other so well.

The color was a deep ruby to garnet. The nose was big but not huge with aromas of cherry, raspberry, licorice and subtle forrest scents. On the palate it started out as fruit forward with cherry and blackberry flavors. As it opened it became less fruity and flavors of licorice, dark chocolate and black tea became more apparent. Both early on and after opening the flavors were smooth and velvety and coated the entire palate. The tannins were firm, but smooth. We loved this wine! It was big and round without being overpowering. It was elegant and controlled. If this wine were a dinner guest, it would be William F. Buckley: smooth, elegant, witty and conservative. If syrah can be like this, it explains all the new world plantings of the grape. What I don't understand is why some producers make such big, overly muscled, gloppy wines when they could be making something elegant and refined like this.

I paid $16.50 at Campbell Station Wines and Spirits and I'm planning on running back over there and picking up a few more bottles for later.

Notre Vin Maison (Our House Wine), red blend Quebec

Hello, everyone! Tonight I am enjoying a little red wine from the local Quebec region. No year, as in the previous wine. Perhaps this is not required in Canada? This is a very unpretentious wine from Rougemont, which is just across the river from Montreal and just North of Vermont. It was somewhat aromatically challenged with light aromas of strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. The taste is similar with no complicating additional flavors. In fact, it is very reminiscent of Lambrusco, but without the bubbles. This is a very light ruby red wine that could be served with fish or chicken dishes. It drinks much like a rose, being lighter in body than almost any pinot noir. I'd actually prefer this to most roses. We had it with salads and cheese bread in the room the night before leaving Quebec. I had to more or less talk Al into buying a wine for tonight, as we're driving back to Knoxville tomorrow. So, since this was available in 500 ml bottles ($9) and was a local product, we decided to give it a try. As a person this would be like that simple guy at work, solid and pleasant enough, but not the deepest thinker.
We also picked up some Ice Wine while in Canada. That will be blogged later when it is opened and enjoyed.

Cotes Du Rhone Villages Montreuil Red Wine of France

Sorry, I could not find a year on this bottle. I actually picked this up at a grocery store here, in Quebec, to have one evening in our room. It was $15, and I believe I've seen this in the states. It's a blend of syrah and grenache. It was a nice little wine, and true to its type. It was fairly light in appearance and in taste, with a ruby to garnet color. The nose was raspberry, blackberry, and a little vanilla. There was an added touch of spiciness (orange rind?) on the palate. It had a soft and silky feel in the mouth. The finish was soft and rounded, pleasant but not terribly long. We had this wine with sandwiches in the condo kitchenette. It was nice with the sandwiches, which were loaded up with veggies. This would pair nicely with chicken, turkey, salmon, etc. You could have it when you would normally serve a burgundian pinot. As a person, this wine would be the dinner guest who gets along well with others, a quiet, pleasant guy.

Gattavecchi 2004 Vino Noblie di Montepuluciano, Reserva Dei Padri Serviti

This was a beautiful bottle of wine, full of soul and personality!! It is made of 100% Prugnolo Gentile grapes (aka Sangiovese). It had a deep garnet color, reminiscent of blueberry juice, and was not terribly dark. The nose was of plum, blackberry, cedar and licorice (the label also mentioned vanilla, but I didn't pick it up). The palate was much like the nose but also with a dark cherry component that rounded out the other flavors nicely. The flavors were well integrated and all were present on the finish. It was very smooth and elegant. The tannins were somewhat firm, but not too strong. The weight was medium. It got better and better as it opened over an hour or so of sipping. I got this at Atlanta Wine and Spirits for a little less than $30. I've already blogged this wine in the '03 vintage and we loved that too, but '04 is reputed to be even better, and I think it was. Both wines were excellent and I'll continue to seek out this producer.
We really liked this wine! It was a bottle that really brought home what wine writers mean when they talk about authenticity and soul. It felt like a very serious wine. It was almost like having a third person at the table, someone who is very adult, polite, and pleasant. A sharp contrast to the last wine. I have to say that the Big Guy red was pretty much like its name. It was loud and a little too slick, like those "party guys" we all know who get a little too loud and have a little too much fun. He's ok for an outdoor barbeque, but not someone you can have a serious conversation with. He's too busy impressing other people and telling slightly off-color jokes. The Montepulciano, on the other hand, is like that quiet, well traveled older friend. You can sit and converse with him and perhaps he'll share some of his experience with you. It's a totally different kind of relationship. I could digress into a discussion on "Old World" versus "New World" wines here, but I think there's already enough mud-slinging on that topic. I've had wines from the New world that have Old World soul and vice versa. One of the challenges I face when buying wine is to find these soulful bottles in a price I can actually afford, or to put it another way, to avoid the wines that are just cheap consumer products. I hate to make generalizations like this, but we all know that all wines are not at the same level. The trick is to find wines that are really enjoyable (and moving, if possible). That's really what all the wine talk is about.

Big Guy Red 2005 California Red blend

Hello!! I am now in Quebec, Canada and enjoying some truly beautiful scenery! Everyone here has been very kind, in spite of the fact that my French is pretty much non-existent. Tonight we arrived at our little condo and feasted on cheese, bread, apples and pears. The wine was pretty good with the aged goat cheese (a local product, reminiscent of a Spanish Manchego, but a little less sharp). This wine was a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Savignon, and Syrah. It was deep garnet in color, almost purple, and very dark. The nose was of red cherry, and oaky vanilla. The palate was much like the nose. This was an inoffensive, simple wine, with a rather simple flavor profile. I really was hoping for more. It was a 2005, so it had a little time to age, and I bought it on the recommendation of a friend whose palate I trust. Maybe it was me? Maybe it was the picnic type pairings? This wine just really didn't do anything special for either myself or Al. Having said that, I think it would be a nice wine to serve with beef or a pork tenderloin to guests who aren't big wine drinkers. It would be good with burgers. It had soft tannins and not too much acid and was fairly well balanced with an ok finish. I paid a little over $15 (maybe as much as $18?) at Campbell Station Wines. It just lacked complexity. I feel that in this price range, I can do better.

Cartlidge and Browne 2008 California Pinot Noir

We enjoyed this wine a few nights ago with a classic pork roast served with rice and salad. It was very nice with the pork roast but would also be good with turkey or a nice savory roast chicken. The color was a lovely rich plum. It had aromas of plum, blueberry, spice and a little tar. The flavor was true to the nose and it had soft tannins, medium acidity and a silky mouth-feel. It was very nicely balanced and had a lingering finish of blueberry and spice (Al noticed a little ginger). Interestingly, I noticed the finish mainly on the mid-palate, an area that is weak in many wines. I bought this wine at Bob's for $12. I went in and asked for an everyday pinot noir in a Burgundian style. Indeed, it was very Burgundian with the complexity of flavors and a fairly light style. What I like about these wines is that they are so very food friendly. They are perfect for meals where you might feel like reaching for a heavier, oakier white. Nothing wrong with that. But sometimes it's just nice to have a red. That's the perfect time to try a Burgundian Pinot Noir. This wine does have that Burgundian style, although I have had lighter Burgundian Pinot Noirs. This wine is a very nice middle ground Pinot (not too light and not too heavy) and I thought it was very enjoyable. At $12, it was really a find.

2008 Abbona Dogliani Dolchetto

Hello!! I've just tried my first Dolcetto and I have to say, it was very nice! Dolcetto is from the Langhe zone in Italy. It is an everyday wine of that region and is commonly enjoyed with the lighter appetizer course, but also with everyday meat or vegetable dishes. It is very food friendly and pairs with foods much as a pinot noir or Cotes du Rhone would. It's a light to medium bodied Italian red with light acid and fairly firm tannins. This wine had a very nice nose of cherry with a little vanilla. The flavor profile was similar to the nose with lots of cherry and a nice bit of toasty vanilla oak. It was a very smooth, somewhat silky wine which hit the entire palate, although it was lighter on the back of the palate. Still, it had a nice finish. Overall, very pleasant, but not very complex. I could see this as a very nice everyday wine which would pair well with a variety of foods. Here's the downside. This varietal is very popular in Italy, especially in the Langhe region, but not a lot is exported. Consequently, it's a little pricey. I paid $27 at Ashes for this wine. This particular wine is supposed to be a very good example of the varietal. Would I buy it again? Yes, I will pick up another bottle soon (while they still have it). It is just so food friendly and so yummy, to us. It you do a lot of casual Italian cooking a couple of times a week, like I do, you may want to keep one or two in your wine rack.

2003 Gattavecchi Riserva dei Padri Serviti Montepulciano Nobile

Hello!! We had this delightful Italian wine with steaks and polenta. It was a deep brick red and had a big, full nose. It had aromas of plum, plum, plum with some vanilla and a little cherry. On the palate it was very smooth with soft acids and well integrated tannins. The flavor was plum, cherry, raisin and vanilla with a distinctive touch of root beer. It covered the entire palate and had a lingering finish. It hit the entire palate and was overall smooth and elegant. This wine came from Total Wines in Atlanta and was $25 a bottle. The '04 vintage is also available, and is supposed to be an even better vintage. The '04 is rated at 91 points by Wine Spectator. These wines are particular favorites of myself and Al. Years ago, we ordered a bottle at a restaurant on a whim and were blown away. It really turned us on to wine in a whole new way. It's become a standard for us. Montepulciano had suffered in reputation since then, but there have always been excellent examples available, if you just take the time to find them. After all, it was these wines and these winemakers that gave rise to the Super Tuscans. But there are still winemakers in Italy producing excellent Nobiles. I'm picking up a couple more bottles.

2007 Louis Jadot Pinot Noir Bourgogne

Hello everyone!! Last night we had roast chicken with snow peas, garlic and aromatic vegetables. It was delicious! We had this French Bourgogne with it. It was light cranberry in color, and fairly transparent. It was somewhat aromatically challenged with bits of raspberry, current and strawberry on the nose, with maybe a hint of smokiness. On the palate red current and raspberry with a little mulchy, earthiness. The tannins were soft, but present, and the acidity was very light. Not one of my favorite wines but a nice light red that went very well with the chicken. This is a French burgundian style pinot noir as opposed to the much bigger and bolder new world style pinot noirs. Like rose wines I find that although some of these very light reds are not my favorite sipping wines, they are pleasant and very nice with lighter foods, especially when you just don't want to have a white wine. Because of that they do have a home in my wine rack. This wine is fairly simple for a pinot noir and lacks the complexity of other French pinot noirs that I've had in the past. That being said, it it what it is. It's a pleasant (under $15 a bottle) burgundian style French pinot noir. Would I buy it again? Maybe. Or maybe I'll try something different. It would be a good wine for Thanksgiving dinner. I would by far perfer this wine to a nouveau beaujolais (very grapey!) with my turkey.

2004 Podere La Vigna Brunello Di Montalcino

Hello!!! We had a fabulous wine last night! I prepared a beef stew with onions, garlic, tomato, and rice. The Brunello was a good match. It had a rich garnet color, with a nice brick red color at the rim. It had aromas of cherry with a little vanilla and a hint of smokiness. The flavor was very true to the nose. The tannins were firm but smooth. The acidity was soft. What really set this wine apart was the elegance of it. It was so smooth, so well balanced, and so elegant. The flavor profile was similar to many wines we've had (and enjoyed) in the past, but this wine had a beautiful silky texture. I will say that it was better with the food. The tannins became a little intense after dinner when we were sipping the wine by itself. All in all, this was one of the best wines I've ever had! This wine was ordered online from Wines Til Sold Out. This site offers deeply discounted wines listed one at a time, until they sell out. This wine was about $45, originally listed at about $90. I have one more bottle of this, and I wish I had more. I believe I have just become a Brunello fan.

2006 Mas Carlot Les Enfants Terribles Rhone valley red wine

Hello! Last night we had this wine with spaghetti and meatballs. Why a French wine with a classic Italian meal? Well, the sauce was improvised from the sauce leftover from braised veal chops we had the other day. It was a rich creamy sauce, more French than Italian in flavor. The wine was a good match to the meal, standing up to the richness and complexity of the meal. The color on this wine was a deep purple. The nose was full of blackberries, along with some smokey, oakey aromas. On the palate there was lots of blackberry, baking chocolate and a little licorice. It had soft, well integrated tannins and mild acidity. It was a little weak on the back palate and the finish was short. It was good but not great. It was a little too much oak for me. I got this at Bob's for $15.50. I'd drink it again, but I'd not go out of my way to pick up a bottle.

2009 Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) Selection Prestige White Bordeaux

Hello! Al and I had a nice white Bordeaux last night. I prepared chicken breasts with cream ala Julia Child. I served it with asparagus and rice. It was actually a quick and easy recipe if making a sauce with en entire cup of cream doesn't seem like a bit much. Julia recommended a white bordeaux, and I just happened to have this one. It was very nice with the chicken dish. The crisp acidity of the wine cut the creaminess of the sauce. But this wine was richer and more flavorful than many Sauvignon Blanc wines. White Bordeaux can be made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle. They are typically predominantly Sauvignon Blanc, but blending in the other varietals gives the wine more body and richness. This wine is a bland of Sauvignon Blanc (40%) and Semillon (60%). It had a nice pale straw color. The nose was fruity and sweet with a bit of floral. i picked up lemon, pear and a bit of pineapple. The taste was not nearly as sweet as the nose. It started with the taste of lemon, then green apple on the mid-palate, then a bit of almond (and vanilla?) on the finish. It also picked up some grassiness as it opened. Overall, this was very nice. It was crisp but medium bodied and had a silky lingering finish. I'm going out today to see if I can find another bottle. I picked this up at Bob's a month or so ago. I'm not sure of the price, but I believe it was $15-$20.

Graham's 10 Year Tawny Port

Wow! This was a lot of fun! I ran across a recipe for an Italian dessert containing dried dates, apricots and cherries. It also called for wheat berries, hazelnuts, and chocolate. I thought it would be fun to try having this with a port. Since I know little to nothing about ports, it was a bit of an adventure. I went to Bob's and found everything from $6 (very scary) late vintage port, to 30 year ports that were well over $100. They also had something called tawny port for about $35. It looked promising, so I decided to give it a try. It was delicious! I'm really not a big fan of port, mainly because I find the high alcohol content a bit of an impediment. And it does have that spike of "heat", which many people enjoy. The color on this was just beautiful. It had a lovely tawny red current color, like brick red, but brighter. The nose was lush with dried fruit. There was date, fig and raisin, along with the scent of baking spices (cloves, and allspice). The taste was true to the nose, and it had this wonderful rich, viscous mouth-feel. It was very sweet, but well balanced, with a lingering finish of dried fruit and spices. It reminded me of those home-made holiday fruitcakes that are basted daily in rum. It was a great compliment to the dessert.

I went on line to find out just what is this "tawny port". Apparently there are basically three kinds of port: late vintage port, a ruby red port of recent vintage with minimal aging; classic aged port which is aged primarily in the bottle for up to and sometimes more than 30 years; and tawny port which is aged for shorter periods in oak barrels. All are, of course, fortified wines with alcohol levels of about 20%. Aged ports acquire the same characteristics of aged red wines. The 30 year ports are still deep red. The tannins have softened and the flavors are more blended and mellow. The tawny ports pick up flavors from the barrels which change the taste and character of the wine. The barrel aging is what gives this port both it's color and taste. It has less fruit and more oak than the other ports. I read that it is not advantageous to further age tawny port in the bottle. Also, once opened, it is best consumed within 4 days or so. The recommendation was to re-cork a partially consumed bottle and store it in the fridge. Classic old ports retain their character longer after opening, with partial bottles lasting for up to a few weeks.

So, while ports may not appear frequently in this blog, we will probably enjoy one from time to time, particularly around the holidays.

Nervi 2001 Gattinara (nebbiolo)

Well, I'm sorry to say that this wine was a bit of a disappointment. Wine Library has recently been reviewing nebbiolo and Gary was very enthusiastic about this varietal. I'm not sure if it's a difference in palates or if this wine just wasn't a good example. I was actually expecting something bigger and more full bodied, so maybe the mistake was my own expectations. I opened this wine to have with a spinach lasagna. The lasagna was also lighter than I expected, with a sauce that was very vegetal (lots of aromatic vegetables). It was very good, just less tomato and less hearty than I expected. so, while the pairing was a bit of an accident, the food and wine actually matched better than it might have. This wine was fairly delicate and reminded me of pinot noir more than anything. It had a lovely tawny red current color, which was light and transparent. On the nose there was current, strawberry, violets maybe some rose petal and definitely some forrest smells. The taste was true to the nose with soft tannins and nice acidity. It was reminiscent of a pinot noir, but more tannic and with a bit more oomph. I actually liked this wine, but more as Italy's answer to burgundy. I'm uncertain on the price, because Michael picked this up for me at Total Wines in Atlanta. The wine I asked for was a Nervi Gattinara 2001 Vigneto Molsino at $24. I can't find Vigneto Molsino anywhere on the label, but Nervi does make a whole range of nebbiolo and nebbiolo blend wines, so I'm probably not too far off on the price. I'd try this (or a different nebbiolo) again, mainly to explore the varietal further.

2007 Cateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Chardonnay

Hello!!

This was a rather disappointing wine. I roasted a chicken and served it with garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed snow peas. The meal was truly delicious, but the wine was disappointing. The tasting notes on this wine sounded very promising, and the wine was actually very true to the tasting notes. It just wasn't very well balanced. This wine couldn't decide what it wanted to be. The color ws a very pale straw. It was aromatically challenged with a faint nose of lemon and pineapple. The first thing that hit me on the taste was pineapple with lemon and maybe a hint of mango. It was very weak on the mid-palate. Al picked up a little minerality here, but to me it skipped right over the mid-palate. On the finish there was butterscotch with a bit of bitterness. From the tasting notes I expected a heavier, buttery chardonnay, but this wine just didn't deliver. It wasn't very good as a light fruity, tropical chardonnay either. It seemed unable to decide which style it was trying to emulate, "rich and buttery" or "tropical fruit". Frankly, it succeeded at neither. It wasn't terrible, but I certainly wouldn't get another bottle.

I do like both styles of chardonnay. I seem to be able to find the very lightly oaked fruity style fairly easily. Edna Valley is a good example. It's very refreshing and pleasant. It's easy to drink. But I also like the rich buttery chardonnays. I think they pair really well with roast chicken dishes like the one we had tonight. I suspect they are just hard to find in the less than $20 price range. I had a beautiful Pine Ridge Chardonnay about 6 months ago. I picked it up on clearance at McScrooge's, where it was originally priced at about $35 a bottle. Incidentally, McScrooge's has a big selection of chardonnays. It's almost too many to choose from. so, the search goes on for a good buttery chardonnay at an affordable price. I'll keep you posted.

Suavia 2008 soave classico

Hello all!!

I had this truly delicious wine a few days ago with Spaghetti and clams (just a light olive oil and wine sauce) . It was a very nice pairing as the brightness of the wine cut through the richness of the sauce. The Suavia was a nice clear dandelion yellow. The aroma was lemon zest , apricot and melon. The taste was similar to the nose. It started out with honeydew, apricot, and a little citrus. On the mid-palate there was a pleasant minerality (limestone), and on the back end, almond. It had a wonderful lingering finish with fresh acidity. Overall, a very nice, well balanced medium bodied wine.

I picked this up at Bob's for a little over $15 because I was planning on spaghetti with clams and didn't think I had anything at home that would quite fit the bill. I was wishing I could find another bottle of the Pio Cesare gavi that I liked so much. I saw this wine at 91 points (Wine Spectator, I believe) and decided to give it a try. Al and I used to drink a lot of soave 25 years ago, but then it kind of disappeared. And I can understand why. Frankly, it just wasn't that good. We'd try a bottle every now and then, but it would be very unremarkable. So, we quit drinking it. This wine is what soave is all about (or should be). I hope to see more soave of this quality. Anyway, I went back to Bob's and bought three more bottles. I also found this at Total Wine in Atlanta for $19 a bottle (and well worth it in my opinion).

2007 Ona Anakena Malbec Limited Edition

Hello all!! I should preface this by saying that I'm really not a big malbec fan. They tend to be a little too big for my palate. Also, we don't do a lot of barbeque, tending to eat foods and drink wines that are either Italian or French in style and flavor profile. But, my husband, Al, has always had a soft spot for the malbec and syrah wines that I tend to avoid. So, I asked my son, Mike, to bring one up from Atlanta Total Wine has a catalog, so I picked one out and Mike brought it to me on his last trip to Knoxville. We were having barbeque pork on Labor Day and I thought this malbec would be a good pairing. And it was good with the barbeque. I could also see having this with a big roast in the winter. The color on this wine was an extremely dark inky purple. There was a lot going on with the nose. It started out with some pretty heavy oak, but this faded within a half hour or so of opening. The nose opened into dark currents, mulch, and spicy cinnamon and cloves with a bit of violet in the background. On the palate there was the intense jammy dark fruit flavor of currents and blackberry. The tannins were firm and a little harsh. There was lots of bitter chocolate and a bit of tobacco, especially on the finish. It was weak on the mid-palate, which seems odd considering the overall intensity of this wine. I believe this wine would be much better after a few years in the bottle (I'm developing a preference for red wines at about 5 years or more), but I'm not convinced that age will solve the problem in the mid-palate. I think I'll try another malbec next time.

2005 Columbia Crest Walter Clore Private Reserve Red Wine

Hello!! This is one of my all time favorite wines. I actually got this by mistake when I was trying to order a Columbia Crest award winning cabernet on-line. This wine is a cabernet blend and is produced using traditional bordeaux techniques. The flavor profile will sound similar to other wines I've described, but the difference is that this wine is sooooo smooth, silky and balanced! It's elegant. It had a very nice dark garnet color. On the nose there was bright dark cherry, blackberry and blueberry with a little fennel (celery and licorice). It had a rather strong oakiness on the nose when it was first opened, but this dissipated after 20 or 30 minutes, leaving a little vanilla behind. The flavor was very much like the nose with fruit on the early to mid palate and the spicy fennel and vanilla on the end. There were also subtle undertones of leather and pipe tobacco. The finish was extended and very pleasant. This was very delicious, complex and so balanced and silky. I don't drink a lot of domestic wine, but I would if it were more like this! Also, I didn't pay all that much for this wine. We rarely drink anything over $30, and this is no exception. I think I paid $90 to $95 for 3 bottles of this with tax and shipping, so it must have been about $27 a bottle? I wanted to order more, but it was all gone. Alas, this was our last bottle. We had this with black and blue steaks, baked potato and salad. It was a very good pairing, but the steaks could have been less peppery, to really compliment the wine. I purchased this wine through J.J. Buckley. They are in California, and they do ship to Tennessee.

2007 Brazin Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (red label)

Hello! I thought I had blogged this wine before, but no!! One month last spring (before the blog) the wine group did a whole dinner of Zinfandel. It was pretty interesting. There's a big world of Zins out there. They are typically California wines, and many of them are from some of the oldest plantings in California. Apparently it was a popular grape among the Italian immigrants who first planted vineyards in California. As a varietal it was overlooked for a number of years while cabernets became very popular. However, some of the old plantings still remain, and zinfandel has pretty decant following today. Having said all this, there are lots of zinfandels available, in a variety of price ranges. They tend to be big, bold and fruity with varying hints of mocha, pepper and sometimes a little licorice or leather. They pair well with basic American foods such as burgers, steaks, not too hot barbeque, and (our favorite) pizza. Some of the more expensive single vineyard zins are fairly complex and should age well, but in general zins are everyday wines.

Our favorite everyday zin is Brazin Dry Creek Valley, available at most local liquor stores (I've seen this at Ashes, Bob's, McScrooges, Cedar Bluff, and I'm sure it's at others as well). It runs from $11 to $15 a bottle. It has a nice deep color, and on the nose there is lots of cherry and a bit of oak and spice. It's very fruit forward with cherry, plum and blueberry with a bit of cinnamon on the finish. The label describes hints of mocha and vanilla as well. I would agree with this. Overall, not complex, but very tasty and enjoyable. We had it with our homemade pizza and it was delicious!! Brazin also makes a Lodi zin with an orange label. I don't care for it as much. The flavor profile is a little different and I didn't think it was as well balanced as the Dry Creek (both were 2007), but everyone's palate is different, so you might want to give it a try.

2005 Campo Viejo Rioja Reserva Tempranillo

Hello!! Thursday was a day off work for me, and I had picked up some baby back ribs on sale, so... I fixed ribs with a root beer glaze, polenta, and spinach with pine nuts. We picked out this spanish wine. It was quite good, although the ribs were a little sweet. This wine was $9 at Ashes. I saw someone carrying out a couple of cases of this a few weeks ago. He seemed to think it was an amazing deal. Well, it wasn't exactly a "change your life" wine, but it was pleasant and certainly very yummy for the price. The color was a dark garnet. On the nose there was a good bit of oak (this improved some with time). It also had aromas of cherry and plum with a bit of licorice and pepper. The taste was very true to the nose with a bit of leather added in. Overall, very nice. The tannins and acids were fairly soft. A light ot medium bodied wine. A little hollow on the mid-palate? This would be a great wine for a party! I've had more exciting wines, but honestly, for the price, very good.

2007 Val de Sil Godello Sobre Lias Valdeorras

Hello! We've been drinking a lot of old favorites (and some box wine), so not much to blog about. Last night we had a VERY nice white from our trip to Atlanta. It came from Murphy's in the Virginia Highlands area. It was about $18-$20. We had it with a chicken fajita salads. It was good with the salad, but we continued to sip it all evening. It was one of those wines that continued to improve as it opened. It had a nice pale yellow color. It had a very nice bouquet of lichee, pineapple, orange zest, nutmeg and mineral. The aromas carried through on the palate with a nice bright acidity (but not too much) and lime flavor. On the finishthere was limestone, nutmeg and finally almond. The finish was long and lingering. It had a pleasant silky mouth-feel. It was reminiscent of a torrontes, but more complex and full bodied. I'd love to find more of this.

Winers get together, Spanish wines

Hello everyone!!

Al and I had a wonderful time with our Winer friends! I hope everyone was comfortable at our little place. We just loved having ya'll over!! I promised everyone a rundown on the wines so here goes:

Moscato Dasti 2009 Villa Lanata (Italy): This was our greeter. It had a 5.5% alcohol content, so nice and refreshing but with very little alcohol. It was sweet, but nicely balanced with a creamy mouth-feel and soft acidity. The flavors were very peach, a little citrus and lots of vanilla wafer. Yummy.

Next was the Burgans Albarino 2009. This wine was very nicely balanced with melon, citrus and a full body I usually get with a white bordeaux. It paired extremely well with the goat cheese torte. The caramelized onions and bits of smokey bacon really complemented the wine. And the rich mouth-feel of the wine went well with the creaminess of the cheese.

Next was the 2008 El Coto Rioja. This was a bright crisp wine with nice acidity and lemon/citric flavors. It had a weight similar to a Savingnon Blanc, but the taste profile was less herbal (and none of that overdone grapefruit thing you sometimes find in Savingnon Blancs). It was refreshing and nicely balanced and was very tasty with the salad. The salad was greens with shrimp and a mixture of eggs, lemon and olive. The citric notes of the wine paired perfectly with the lemon of the salad.

Next was another Albarino, the 2008 Martin Codax. This was similar to the other albarino, but lighter, crisper and with a little spiciness that I didn't detect in the Burgans. It was interesting in that they were similar but different, and both were nicely balanced and very good. It was a good match with the pealla, which was a complex bland of flavors. Albarino is a traditional pairing for paella, which wants a white wine of some substance (like an albarino) to stand up to the mix of meats, seafoods and spices.

Next was the Allende 2004 Rioja (estate bottled). It was a very smooth wine that showed its age in a good way. It had aromas of licorice and dark fruit and a few people noted coconut. It had bright acids and firm tannins with a lingering finish. Overall, it was balanced and complex, a very nice wine. It paired very nicely with the sausage and pepper dish.

Next was a group of two wines and two kabobs with polenta. The wines were both Riojas. One was Ibericos 2006 tempranillo. This wine had firm tannins and dark fruit with a spicy finish. It was very good with the spicey pork kabobs in particular. The other Rioja was a Vina Zaco 2006 tempranillo. This wine was very pleasant. It was more fruit forward with bright cherry flavors and soft tannins. It paired especially well with the beef kabobs. The polenta certainly bears mentioning. It was very tasty and flavored with cheese and rosemary.

Hope everyone had a good time!!

over-oaked white wines

Hello all!!

Well, I've had quite an education this past week. We drank three wines in a row that were not pleasant at all. The first was a rose from Italy. It tasted very "off" as in oxidized. Although I had not purchased this wine very long ago, it was definitely past it's prime. It had probably been stored improperly (too hot) at some point. Too bad, because I keep trying to find a rose that I'll like, but so far it hasn't happened. I'll not give any details about that particular wine, because it would be unfair to comment further. I really don't know what it would have tasted like.

The second wine was one of the wines from Total Wine in Atlanta. It was a 2006 Kings River Chardonnay from South Africa. It is described as having rich open aromas of fresh citrus and lime with hints of oatmeal and butterscotch. I was hoping for a nice buttery chardonnay. Instead the aromas were of wood chips, and the flavor was similar with hints of ... well, I can't remember anything except the woodiness. It was also unbalanced, with an unpleasant acidity that clashed with the oakiness. Perhaps a younger vintage would be better?

The third wine was marginally better. It was a 2007 Anselmi San Vincenzo from Italy. You know I have a weakness for all things Italian (starting with my husband). It was better balanced than the previous wine, but the oak overpowered what should have been a rather delicate white wine. Again, perhaps a younger vintage?

To be fair these wines were not the typical 2008 and 2009 vintages generally seen. Perhaps the age on these wines made them seem over-oaked when they were actually starting to oxidize. Anyway, although they were $8 and $9, I won't be trying them again.

2006 Cesari Mara Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso

Hello! Wow, did we have a great meal last night! We had black and blue steaks, baked potato, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and side salads. It was all great with the Mara Ripasso! The steaks were easy to fix. I took two filet mignon from Kroger's and cut a pocket into the width of the steak. Then I put a little salt in the pocket and stuffed it with blue cheese. I then wrapped the steak with a strip of bacon, and then lightly salted the steaks. Then I pressed cracked pepper into the steaks. Then I sauteed the steaks in olive oil. Once the steaks were done, I removed the excess fat from the pan and sauteed a shallot, then deglazed the pan with some beef broth. I reduced the broth and spooned it over the steaks. Delicious! The wine was such a nice compliment. It started out with a lot of black licorice on the nose along with dark cherry and a nice undercurrent of earthiness like dry leaves. On the palate there was cherry, plum, and raisin. The tannins were firm, but smooth, leaving a feeling of silkiness. As it opened the flavors became more integrated and mellow. $27 at McScrooges.

2007 Castillero del Diablo Gerwurztraminer from Concha Y Toro

Hello!! Here's another wine I've never tried before, this Gerwurztraminer from Chile. I have mixed feelings about this wine. it starts out with a bright grapefruit and has this really bright acidity on the mid-palate along with the nice nutmeg spiciness one generally finds in a Gerwurztraminer. On the finish there is a pleasant lingering minerality. What I don't like about this wine is that it's so unexpected. It's extremely dry for a Gerwurtztraminer. The greapefruit flavor is also a little unusual. In fact, this wine is more than a little reminiscent of a Savignon Blanc. A nice dry, complex Savignon Blanc. So, overall, a very nice crisp dry white wine with good acidity and a spiciness and minerality which adds a level of complexity. Still it's not a typical Gerwurtztraminer, and if that's what you're looking for, reach for a different label.

2009 Ropiteau Vin de Pays D'0c Pinot Noir (French)

This wine is from a winery established in 1848 in the South of France. It's one of the wines we picked up at Total Wine in Atlanta for $9 a bottle (I just wish I had bought more). We had it with a black and blue salad, but it would have been better paired with the classic duck. Pinot noir is very food friendly and is a good choice when you want a red, but not one that is too heavy for the food. When first opened it had this unique blend of cherry and strawberry with a bit of dry leaf aroma. As it opened over the course of an hour or more, this wonderful leafy, forrest aroma developed and the tannins emerge, giving the wine more structure. It has a very nice balance of acid and tannin and the fruit forward characteristic develops into something more subtle and complex as it opens. I really like this wine. It's one of my favorite pinot noirs ever. I can't believe I paid $9 a bottle for this. I don't know if it's available in Knoxville, but I think I'll look for it.

2007 Vesevo Sannio Falanghina

This is a delicious white wine that we picked up on our trip to Atlanta. It's from the area of Compangia in Italy. It has a light golden color, and a fairly complex nose of honeysuckle, citrus and minerals. It's pretty aromatic for a white wine. The taste is similar with good acidity, pleasant citrus notes that are more orange than lemon, and a little white peach. It has good minerality and has a nice weight to it. It's one of my favorite whites, dry but complex and full bodied. This wine is from Total Wines in Atlanta and cost $12 a bottle. 87 points from Wine Spectator. We had this with pasta with calamari, scallops, and clams in a light tomato based sauce. A very good pairing.

trip to Atlanta

We had a big time last weekend!! Al and I went to Alanta to visit our older son and to check out some Atlanta wine stores. We started out by stopping at Total Wines and More North of Atlanta. I had such a big time there!! It was like the Home Depot of wine. Loads and loads of wine at fabulous prices! We may have to visit Mike more often, or give him a list when he come to visit us. There were wines I couldn't find there that I've purchased in Knoxville, but overall, the selection was great! I also liked their catalog. it was a listing of all the wines in the store, so I really can give Mike a detailed list, and he should be able to get everything on it. The prices are so good because they buy in the kind of bulk that smaller stores just can't compete with. I bought a mixed case, including a 2004 Brunello. There will be many postings as I work my way through these wines.

Next event was a stop at "The Grape", an Atlanta wine bar. It was written up in Wine Spectator. I was pretty excited about going there. They did have an extensive wine list. We had a Spanish red from La Mancha, an '07 Borsao Campo de Borja ($8 at Total Wine, more at The Grape). We ordered a cheese board with the Borsao and also an appetizer with hummus and flatbread. The wine was very good, fairly fruit forward but with some cedar and spice especially on the finish. Very pleasant with fairly soft tannins. We shared this with Mike and Ken, a friend of Mike's from out of town. The Grape also features live jazz at the Atlantic Station location.

Later in the evening we stopped at Murphy's in Virginia Highlands. They have a wine shop, a bar, and a restaurant. We had dessert and wine. I had Creme Brulee and a sauternes. Al had plum cobbler with port. Both were classic pairings and both were delicious. I also picked up two bottles at their wine store. A great way to end our day in Atlanta.

We spent the night in a cosy little bed and breakfast called the Gaslight Inn, also in the Virginian Highlands area. our hosts were extremely gracious and everything was arranged to make us as comfortable as possible.

Sunday we visited the High Museum of fine art in Atlanta. We saw the Dali exhibit there, and also visited their collection of renaissance art.

We had a late lunch again at Murphy's. And In the late afternoon we had gelato at Paolo's in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood (no trip to Atlanta is complete without a trip to Paolo's).

Finally, we had dinner at La Tavola again in Virginia Highlands. They were celebrating their tomato feast with a special menu that utilized locally grown heirloom tomatoes. I had the handmade cheese ravioli with a light tomato sauce. Mike joined us for dinner and we shared a bottle of Nero d'Avela, a little young, but very nice with the food and it improved as it opened.

So, a big food and wine trip to Atlanta! A little bit of visiting and a whole lot of good food, wine and shopping. Loads of fun!! We left just as I ran out of money to spend, so it all worked out well.

Chanti

Hello!! I want to talk about chianti wines today. Last night was the Winers get together and we did pizza night. Everyone brought a food and a wine pairing. I have to say, the pairings get better and better with this group. Anyway, because there were pizzas, there were two different chianti wines. I love this wine. Chianti has gotten some bad press in the past. Forget about all that! There are some fabulous chiantis out there. And I'm always impressed with sangiovese varietals. Sangiovese is the main varietal in chianti, Brunello, Montepulciano di Nobile, Super Tuscans, and is sometimes labeled as Sangiovese, especially when produced outside Italy. I'm fascinated by how different these wines can be from each other and with how much variation exists between different chianti wines based on style and winemaker. I've personally discovered a very llightly oaked chianti, Tiziano, which is light and fruity. I often serve this wine instead of a rose (I'm not much of a rose person). It's a very good wine when having guests that are not big wine drinkers and food that begs for an Italian wine. I serve it with Italian food made with light tomato based sauces. A little heavier than the Tiziano is Da Vinci chianti. We had this last night paired with a pepperoni and cheese stromboli. It was very smooth and mellow, still with the characteristic cherry vanilla, a bit of earthiness, and fairly soft tannins. Bigger than the Tiziano, but still very easy to drink and a good choice for people who don't drink a lot of Italian wines. Not a very complex or challenging chianti, but pleasant. We also had a Gabbiano last night. It was a little harsher, with firmer tannins. I liked it, but it might be a little rough for some people. I believe it would have been better if it had more time to open. Then there's one of my favorites, Cecchi chianti classico. It's a bigger wine than any of the previously mentioned wines. I'd drink it a lot more often, but I spend a lot of time exploring different wines. There's so much out there. I think the Cecchi is a terrific food wine for many Italian dishes. It's great with lasagna, spaghetti, pizza, steaks, anything with a tomato based sauce. It's much like the Da Vinci, but with more structure and complexity. And finally I want to mention one of my all time favorite italian wines, Francobaldi Chianti Reserva. It's big but mellow, with a wonderful velvety weight on the palate. Maybe the Cecchi would become more like this with age, but I lack the patience to find out. The Francobaldi is a little more pricey, at close to $30 a bottle, but it's worth it. It approaches a really good Montepulciano di Nobile in character. I keep at least 3 different chiatis in my winerack. Right now, we have the Tiziano, the Cecchi Chinati Classico, and the Francobaldi Chianti Reserva. This way, I always have the right chianti at hand. I'm considering adding the Da Vinci just to round out my lineup.
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Dinner guests: 2008 Martin Codax Albarino, 2007 Sebastiani Pinot Noir, 2006 El Coto Rioja, 2005 Las Rocas Garnacha

Hello!! Well, we have been drinking wines this past week, but nothing new until this weekend. We had another couple over Saturday evening. For starters I fixed little crostini with green beans, zucchini, salsa verte, and feta cheese. We had the Albarino with this. It was very quite good. Subtle aromas of jasmine and white flowers. I picked up well integrated flavors of peach, mild citrus and hazelnut. It was very well balanced and had a nice rich body. It was my first Albarino and now I know what all the fuss is about. I'll be keeping one in my winerack. This particular wine was $16 at Ashes. They have one on sale now for $10 or $11 which was rated 90 or 91 by the Wine Spectator.

Next came Italian mushroom stuffed crepes and salad. Our guests brought the Sebastiani pinot noir, and we opened it with dinner. It was a pleasant, soft well balanced pinot, somewhat lacking in complexity, but it was a nice wine with dinner and took a bit of a back seat to the food. It had soft tannins and acids and pleasant, easy to drink fruit flavors of strawberry, cherry, and plum.

The other two wines were after dinner sippers. The Las Rocas is one we have had before, $19 at Ashes. This is one of my current favorites. It's a fairly big wine with a big, aromatic nose which rises right out of the glass to greet you. The aromas are dark cherry and a soft spiciness. On the palate it's dark cherry, blackberry, and cedar with a little bit of pepper. It's fairly smooth and full bodied with firm tannins and a nice balance of acid. It had a pleasant lingering finish. Lastly, we opened the El Coto. To me, this was a bit of a disappointment, but Al liked it better than I did. It had a big, in your face nose, with bright cherry and oak. The taste was pretty much the same. It seemed simple and very "new world" after having had the Las Rocas. It wasn't bad, but was a bit of a fruit bomb and the oak monster was definitely with us on this one. Personally, I think you can find better Spanish wines. To each his own.

California 2006 Bogle Phantom

Hi!! Well, my younger son will be turning 22 in a few days and he requested burgers for tonight. I bought some prepared burgers from Fresh Market, bacon and cheddar. First I sauteed a couple of onions nice and slow so than they were sweet and caramelized. Then I just pan fried the burgers, and laid a slice of cheddar on top to get melty before taking them up. I then deglazed the pan with a little white wine, reduced it down and stirred it into the onions. We used chiabatta for buns, toasted for a minute in the broiler. A little tomato and lettuce with the sauteed onions, and it was a great burger. Bogle Phantom is a blend of petite syrah, zinfandel, and mourvedre from California. I've had this wine before, but I didn't like it as well this time. I think it's because we've been drinking so many European wines. It seemed a little harsh to me. The fruit was big, but the tannins were a little rough and it lacks balance. Also I get a little burn from the alcohol (14.5%). It's definitely lacking in complexity. Maybe it would be better with some age? The nose is blackberry and oak, but not a big nose. On the palate I taste mostly blackberry with a little vanilla, and maybe a little chocolate and smokiness on the finish. I think it was better when we had it with a steak, but overall, there are better wines out there. At $20 from Cedar Bluff Wine and Spirits, I'm sure I could do better. Perhaps a nice bordeaux from Bob's?

California Francis Ford Coppola Rosso

Hi!! We actually went out to eat Friday night. We went to Aubrey's to have one of their fabulous salads. It's been so wicked hot the past week or so, I couldn't stand the thought of eating anything heavier. However, I was still in the mood for a red wine, so I ordered the granny smith salad with little slices of steak and balsamic vinaigrette. I ordered the Francis Ford Coppola Rosso to go with it. I knew this would be a bit of a stretch, since I had ordered this wine before. This would be great with a big burger or a steak, but would be a little big for a salad, even if it did come with steak slices. The real problem with the pairing was the salad dressing. The balsamic dressing was a little sweet and kind of clashed with the wine. So, I just ate my salad and then enjoyed sipping the wine after the meal. The salad and the wine were both delicious, just better separate than together. This wine is actually a blend of three different varietals. It was very fruity, even jammy, with a nice amount of spiciness on the nose and the finish. The spiciness definitely gave it more interest. This wine sells for $6 a glass at Aubrey's or, I believe, $30 a bottle. Not bad for wine at a restaurant, but it would be much less at a liquor store. Incidentally, the wine list at Aubrey's seemed pretty heavy on domestic wines, with quite a few well known and well priced labels. Usual restaurant markup for wine is somewhere around 3 times retail. That's why I always drink better wines at home than when I'm out (unless it's a "bring your own bottle" place, like Savelli's).

2004 French Cuvee des Aedoises des chateau Eries Fitou

Hi!! This was a night of leftovers. I grilled some steaks and we ate leftover cheesey polenta, roasted pepper salad, and a little sauteed brocoli and leeks. It was all pretty good, but I managed to overcook my own steak a little (Al didn't mind, because he likes them medium well anyway). I'm from cattle country, and it seems just wrong to eat a steak that not red and juicy in the center. Oh well, on to the wine. This particular wine is a Fitou from the Languedoc region. I honestly don't know much about it. But, it rated high on the delicious scale. It was $11 or $12 from Bob's, if I recall correctly. It had a beautiful deep rich color and was pretty aromatic on opening the bottle. On the nose ( or "sniffy sniff" if you follow Gary Vaynerchuck) it smellled of cherry and peppery spice. I could pick up aromas of oak and vanilla. Tasting started with blackberry and dark cherry. There was pleasantly firm tannins and a nice silky body, then a lingering peppery spicy finish. It paired nicely with the steak. This was a terrific wine for the price. I think we need another bottle to keep on hand.

2007 Italian Tiziano Chianti

Hi!! this is a very nice everyday wine that pairs well with many foods. I reach for this wine when I want a red that's not too heavy or "big". We had this wine with scallops fra diavolo (which was very delicious). It's also a good wine to serve to people who are not big wine drinkers. The tannins and acids are pretty soft. My notes from a previous tasting are that it is delicate and elegant with no apparent oak. It tastes and smells of cherry. It's a very pleasant,easy drinking wine that pairs well with a variety of foods. We often have it with lighter pasta dishes with fresh, bright tomato sauces. It does improve after opening for about 30 minutes or so.

2007 Alamos Viognier from Argentina

Hi!! We actually had this wine a couple of nights ago. It was pretty good. We had it with grilled chicken salads, and the pairing was good, but not outstanding. The viognier was very fresh and clean on the nose with aromas of jasmine and lemon peel. On the palate it was very acidic, bright and juicy, and tasted of grapefruit and a little lime with nice minerality. This was a pleasant summer sipping wine and at $8 or $9 at Ashes, a very good buy.

2005 Pio Cesare Barolo

Hi!! We tried a barolo a few days ago and I'm still trying to decide whether I liked it or not. We had it with home-made tortellini stuffed with ricotta and served with a very meaty tomato sauce. Thad Cox, at Ashes, recommended that if we wanted to drink it now, we should decant for at least 4 hours. Well, it was opened and decanted 2-3 hours before dinner. It was still very tight. In fact, I now know exactly what people mean by this. It was extremely rough when first opened, with harsh tannins and strong acid. It did soften a bit, but really it just never finished opening, even after about 6 hours. It seemed pretty well balanced to me, with firm tannins, bright acid, and dark cherry with a little licorice on the finish. It was quite pricey at $69 a bottle at Ashes. Really, I'd like to get another bottle and set it aside for 5-10 years.

Barolo is supposed to be an iconic wine from Italy, one that collectors take quite seriously. It's definitely a "big red" and is best served with meat ro meaty dishes. As you may know from previous blogs, this wine is definitely out of my usual price range. But, it was on the Matt Kramer list of Italian wines as a "don't die without trying it". It has quite a reputation as one of those eye opening wines that turn people on to drinking wine. I can't say that this Barolo had that kind of effect on me. But, it did make me realize how important aging is for some wines. I suspect that my impression of this wine would be very different if it aged 5-10 years or more. Some say these wines age well for 30 years or more. Really, I feel it's unfair for me to evaluate this wine. It's just too young. But, after drinking it, I now know just what that means.

2007 Pio Cesare Cortese di Gavi

Hi!! I'm very excited about this new wine. I've been sipping it now for about an hour and it just keeps getting better and better. I was really excited about trying this wine because the producer has such a good reputation. We had salmon with Romesco sauce, a salad, and a little bit of chibatta. The wine has a great lemon-gold color. The nose is pleasant with light citrus, melon, and apple. The palate was much the same with a nice minerality, bright, juicy acid, good body and a silky, lingering finish. I love this wine! It's crisp but with good body. It was great with dinner and even better for after dinner sipping. I was just sorry when we got to the end of the bottle. This wine is regularly priced at $24 and is now at Ashes for $10!!! I bought 3 bottles and I should get some more! It was good with the salmon, but I think would be even better with shellfish. There are some great recipes for pasta with shellfish and calamari. This wine would be really good with it!

Wine Dinner at Naples

Hi!! I had a big time tonight! Naples and Ashes host a monthly wine dinner, which we go to when we're able. The food is always fabulous and the pairings are quite good. Ashes often showcases wines that are new to them, so it's a little preview of up and coming wines. There's always a distributor present and they give a little information on the wines. There were five courses, with the wine presented first. I find this helpful because the aroma from the food can interfere with assessing the aroma and flavor of the wine. So, wine is poured first, then a little talk about the wine, then that course is presented. Then plates are cleared and the next wine is poured. Seating is in tables of eight. It's a very pleasant way to spend an evening,

The first wine was a 2009 Marques de Caceres white riojas. It was paired with a goat cheese and pancetta tartlet with roasted almonds. Delicious!! The wine was very dry with a fairly delicate nose of apricots and light floral tones. The taste was crisp with notes of lemon, melon, apple and citrus. It was fairly full bodied for a white wine. Heavier than a pinot grigio. The pairing with the goat cheese was terrific. This wine sells for $10 a bottle at Ashes.

The second wine was a 2008 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Blanc. It was paired with calamari with tangerine and mango relish. The food was very good, a little spicy, but I like that. Spicy, (hot spicy) is a difficult flavor to pair with wine. The wine was a little "funky". The nose was very nice with strong scent of peach and other more subtle fruit scents. The flavors were similar but there was an odd taste on the finish that I thought was a little unpleasant. This seemed to disappear when sipped with the food, but the spiciness of the food would cover many flavors. Perrin is supposed to be a very well regarded label, but I really didn't care for this particular wine. It runs $11 a bottle at Ashes.

The third wine was a 2007 Peregrine Central Ortago Pinot Noir from New Zealand. It was paired with salmon and grilled corn and wild rice cake, served with avocado butter. The salmon and the rice cakes were terrific! The pinot, I thought was very good. Someone at our table commented that it was pretty light bodied for a red. It was a light red, but many pinots are. It seems that pinot noir varies quite a lot from one terroir to another and from one winemaker to another. This pinot reminded me of the burgundy I had recently, and the distributor remarked that it was made in more of an old world style. I thought it was good with the salmon, but maybe dominated it just a bit. The nose was pomegranate, blueberry, and light smokiness. Similar on the palate, with a nice balance of acid and tannin and a lingering finish of fruit and licorice. Al liked it with the salmon more than I did. Some people thought this was the best pairing of the night. At $36 a bottle, I thought it was a little steep, but it's a little harder to find great bargains among pinot noirs.

The fourth wine was a 2008 Spice Route Chakalaka from South Africa. It was paired with beef short ribs with tomato, potato and eggplant lasagna. Delicious!! This wine was extremely fruity with big cherry nose and flavor. It also had tones of spice (especially cloves) and smoke. It's tempting to call it a fruit bomb, but it was so delicious, who cares? At $21 a bottle it's too good to pass up. This would be great with barbeque, steaks, burgers, sausage, etc.

The fifth and last wine was a 2001 Borgo Scopeto Vin Santo from Italy. This was paired with blueberries and pomegranate zabaglione. What a great ending to the evening! The wine was sweet smelling with aromas of vanilla, cherry, and figs. It tasted of raisins, figs, vanilla, and spice. It was sweet and alcoholic and very smooth. $42 for a half bottle, but it would be perfect with that holiday dinner dessert, and each person only needs a little bit.

Overall, a very fun (and filling) evening. I thought the best pairing of the night was the goat cheese tart with the white Riojas, but my favorite wine was the Vin Santo. It brought back memories or big Italian dinners with Al's family. It was just a great wine. I also really liked the Chakalaka. It may find a spot in the winerack alongside Al's favorite zinfandel.

Winers get together last weekend, wines too numerus to count

Hi!! So, as I said before I've been busy cooking, etc. The wine group I'm involved with met last weekend. There are about 8 couples, all interested in wine. We meet once a month and everyone brings something to share. There should be a list of wines and food served, but I'm afraid I'm usually focused on the event itself. We keep discussing the need to write down all the wines and their food pairings, but so far it's been pretty hit and miss.

We started with sparkling domestic wine, Chandon. Very nice. I believe it was labeled as brut, but it didn't seem unpleasantly dry to me. I'm not a big champagne drinker, so I usually stick to sweeter sparklers, but this was very nice, and about $18 a bottle.
Then we had a torrontes (the Don Manuel Villafine I blogged about before) with scallops wrapped with prosciutto and topped with romesco sauce. Then we had a central coast California Pinot Noir (sorry I don't know the label) with stuffed portabella mushrooms. After that things get a little fuzzy. There were three more bigger reds served with smaked turkey, a beef and noodle dish, and a roast beef dish that was truly tender and delicious.

Sorry the descriptions are so sketchy. I never take notes at these things, instead savoring the experience. Everyone had a really good time at this little get-together. If I get better notes/information on the wines, I'll add it to this blog.

2006 Cantele Salice Salentino

Hi!!

I haaven't posted in a while. I've been busy cooking, drinking wine, reading about wine, and of course working. Also it's been wicked hot. The heat makes me want to reach for lighter food and white wines. However, don't think for a minute that I'm tiring of reds.

Last Friday night, date night for Al and myself, we went to Savelli's for pizza. We brought a 2006 Cantele Salice Salentino with us. It's a favorite. We've had it several times, and it never disappoints. I picked up a replacement bottle at Ashes yesterday for about $12 or $13. It's very cherry on the nose, with a little oakiness. On the palate it's again very cherry with soft tannins and acidity and a smooth velvety mouth feel. Very nice on the mid-palate and a pleasant lingering finish. It's very nicely balanced and very good with food. Honestly, the wine was way better than the pizza. A better pairing might have been something a little meatier. Matt Kramer recommends serving it with ribs.

We had this wine again when we had some friends over. We served ribs slow cooked in Italian spaghetti gravy, polenta, roasted pepper salad, and zucchini. This wine was a very nice pairing. It had enough body to hold up to the food well, but with the delicious cherry taste, the velvety body, and the friendly tannins and acids, it was a nice wine to serve with dinner for guests who do not drink a lot of wine. A hit!!

Bad Bordeaux

Well, tonight I fixed and ate what may be the best burger I've ever had. It was made with one pound of ground bison and one sweet Italian sausage, plus an egg, 2 tablespoons of creme fraiche, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 a teaspoon of dried thyme, and some ground pepper. We had them on buns with all the fixin's. We also had sweet potato slices with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. The wine was the $6 Bordeaux I mentioned a few days ago. It was pretty bad. It was a 2007 Mouton Cadet from Baron Phillippe de Rothschild. The color was pretty light for a Bordeaux. The nose was not memorable. The tannins were rough, and the wine seemed unbalanced. I hoped it would improve as it opened, but it didn't. Frankly, I've had better boxed wines. Would it improve with age? Maybe, but I doubt it. The tannins would probably soften, but with the fruit flavor so weak and the pale color, I don't really think it would improve. Rothschild is supposed to make some very good wines, this just isn't one of them. Even at $6, it's a pass.

2008 M. Chapoutier Cotes-du-Rhone

So last night was pork chops and peppers, and garlic mashed potatoes, and a green salad. It was all very good. The wine was a 2008 M. Chapoutier Cotes-du-Rhone available at both Ashes and Bob's for under $15 a bottle. Garnet in color with a nose of violets and black cherry. Nice balance of acid and tannins. The tannins soften as it opens and it develops a silky mouth feel. Very fruity with cherry, black raspberry, and a little chocolate on the finish. This is listed in the Robert Parker Best Wine Bargains. I really like it. Not a big red, more medium bodied, very good with food and also a nice wine to sip after dinner. One of my favorite "house reds".

2009 Don Manuel Villafane Torrontes

So, the plan was Torrontes with chicken roll ups made with boursin cheese and asparagus, and rice with veggies (sauteed onion, zucchini, and spinach). Also I wanted to try making some new appetizers that would go with the torrontes. The appetizers were made from sauteed red and yellow sweet peppers, onion, garlic, and chicken breast. I added a little mojo sauce for flavor. I put some of this mix on toasted chibbata (brushed with olive oil and toasted in a 400 degree oven), and some of it I put on rounds of puff pastry. I put a little mexican grated cheese on top and toasted them in the oven. It was very good with the torrontes, but was actually a little too sweet for the wine. So... when this one goes to the Winers club , I'll add a little mushroom to make it more savory. The torrontes was very good with the chicken roll-ups.

The torrontes was a new one for us $13 at Ashes (we usually drink Legado torrontes from Argentina, very tasty and about $9 a bottle at Ashes). This was Don Manuel Villafane 2009, also from Argentina. It had a very nice nose, very fruity (citrus and melon) with a honeysuckle scent. it had nice balance with good acidity, and a full silky mouth feel. The taste was similar to the nose, with melon and lime. Very nice, easy to drink. This is a good wine to sip on the patio, and should be good with mildly spicey dishes

I also made an appetizer from figs. You cut the figs in fourths and marinade them for at least 30 min in a balsamic vinagrette. Then they are arranged in the center of a dish, and surrounded with little slices of fresh mozzarella, and a little spinach for color. Sprinkle with a little lemon zest and a little bit of mint leaves, and ta-da! a very nice appetizer. It's pretty sweet though, so it might be difficult to match to a wine (terrible with the torrontes). We had a little of the sauternes from the other night. It was delicious with the figs!!

Bordeaux: 2007 Chateau Crox-Mouton

Date night!! Dinner was sauteed lamb chops, potato slices tossed with olive oil and seasoning and baked in the oven, and roasted vegetables with olives. The wine was another Bordeaux. Delicious! This wine was very nice with the strong, savory flavors of this meal. When first opened the wine smelled of blackberry and smoke with a little tar and a little of the mulch/forrest aroma I've tried to describe before. It tasted much like it smelled. The acidity and tannins were fairly soft. As the wine opened up over the next hour or so, it developed some cherry flavor, and the smokey/tar flavor mellowed a bit. The tannins were a little more apparent and it developed this wonderful silky mouth feel. Very nice lingering finish. Overall I really liked this wine and this pairing, but I think I prefer the L'estang we had the other night. It was a bit more complex than this wine. This wine would be better than the L'estang with something like barbeque. Both were very good. This wine was about $18 at Bob's, which was actually $3 or $4 more than the L'estang, so... Still, I think the take home message is that there are some good Bordeaux's at affordable prices out there, you just have to be willing to try a few. Both these wines are listed in Robert Parker's Wine Bargains book. Interestingly, he doesn't give numerical ratings to wines in this book, he just describes the wines. I guess if it's listed, that's recommendation enough. I also picked up a Cadet Mouton Bordeaux at bob's for $6!! I guess I'll have to get around to trying that before too long.

White Bordeaux with appetizers

I haven't mentioned this yet, but Al and myself are part of a little informal group that gets together once a month to try different wines. Each couple takes a turn at hosting, and every couple brings something to eat and a wine. Sometimes there's a theme, and lately it's been pairings. Each couple takes a wine and a food that pairs well with that wine. Well, that means every month I have to come up with a new food to take and a wine to go with it. So, this weekend is a four day weekend for myself and Al. My work schedule is a little unusual in that I work quite a few Saturdays, a Sunday a month, and then sometimes I get these long weekends. Anyway, since we didn't go out of town, I thought it would be the perfect weekend to try out some appetizer recipes. After all, the next wine group get together is next weekend. Plus, I'm working next Saturday, so I need something I can either do ahead or make quickly.

So, yesterday i made little appetizers out of cibatta from Fresh Market. I cut the bread into little pieces suitable for finger food, brushed them with olive oil, and toasted them in the oven broiler. Then I topped the toasted bread with roasted vegetables and some grated parmesan. It was actually quite tasty! We had saved back a little of the white bordeaux to try with this. It was pretty good. Not a wow pairing, but tasty. Maybe this wine would be even better with something a little less sweet. The roasted peppers and onions gave the appetizer quite a bit of sweetness.

White Bordeaux, 2007 Tour de Monestier

Friday night so fish for dinner? We had rainbow trout, which has recently been available at Fresh Market. This time I just sauteed it with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. we also had some leftover barley with sweet peppers and roasted veggies. The wine was a French white bordeaux 2007 Tour de Montestier from Chateau Monestier La Tour. I'm not a big white wine person, but this was really good. The nose was fresh and hinted at a little sweetness. It smelled of cut grass, a little vegetal smell (maybe of green peas?), some pear and apricot and a little citrus. Tasting was not sweet, but dry with pleasant acidity and a strong minerality, especially on the finish. It had a very nice body, coating the mouth nicely. The taste was citric, light grapefruit, and a little green apple and the mineral, chalky flavor. Along with the chalkiness I also got a little bit of a walnut taste on the finish. Overall, a very well balanced and fairly complex wine. Very nice with the fish, but even better with the parmesan cheese which we nibbled on later. I think it would be a good choice with any creamy white sauce, especially one with sharp flavors. This wine was $12 at Bob's. It was rated 88 by Wine Spectator.

Lately I've been seeking out some dry whites with a little more character. I feel that so many of the white wines on the market now are similar in style. Many are somewhat sweet and very fruity. This makes a pleasant sipping wine, but not necessarily a good food wine. My goal is a winerack that contains something for almost any menu. Actually, this reminded me of the vino verde we had a week or so back, but his wine had much more body and could hold up to heavier sauces and foods.

I forgot to mention that white Bordeaux is typically a blend of sauvignon blanc, semillion, and muscadelle grapes. This explains the mix of flavors and smells i was picking up in this wine.

Pinot Noir

Not an exciting wine tonight. We had dinner after work at Silver Spoon. I had the sirloin and bleu salad and Al had the cobb salad. We both had the Mirrasou pinot noir. My advice? Don't bother. The wine would be very good for someone who's not a wine drinker. It's not at all offensive. In fact it's not at all much of anything. Not much nose. Invisible on the mid-palate. Grape and cherry on the attack. A weak finish. Am I being a little too harsh? Perhaps. Actually the review could be written differently: A delicate wine, reminiscent of beaujoulais noveau with a light but pleasant nose. There was strawberry, a light touch of floral and earthy aromas. The flavor was similar: strawberry, floral, and earthliness. There was delicate acidity with light tannins. A very easy drinking wine. Actually, it was a nice entry wine. It's all about perspective. You might keep that in mind when you're reading those tasting notes that are posted in liquor stores. Personally, I don't care for beaujoulais. They are too light, thin, no body. But to someone who likes them they are delicate and light with subtle flavors and light tannins. So, sample around and get to know your own taste, your own palate.

Memorial Day Weekend: Bourdeaux, Super Tuscan , Sauterne

Friday night was pizza with Berbera. A fabulous wine. Already wrote about that.

Saturday night was little filet mignon steaks, garlic mashed potatoes, and slow cooked onions with my first real Bordeaux. The Bordeaux was Chateau de L'Estang 2005, about $15 at Bob's. Now I know what all the fuss over Bordeaux is all about. It was a big red, at least for me. It was very aromatic, with a great nose which was pretty oaky, but balanced with dark fruit, licorice, and a mulch/forest scent. It was full bodied in the mouth with fairly intense blackberry, dark cherry, and blueberry flavors balanced with good acidity and firm tannins. On the finish I picked up some chocolate. It was more complex and a little bigger than the California cabernets I've had. I figure if this is what a $15 Bordeaux is like, no wonder people collect the big house Bordeaux wines. I'm planning on keeping a bottle of this (or another affordable Bordeaux) in the winerack. To me this is a great wine with steak, but a bit much for drinking by itself. It wants a strong flavored food to balance it. Not loads of alcohol at 13.5%, which just goes to show that big wines don't necessarily need high alcohol content.

Sunday was chicken with olives, zucchini, and a barley dish with roasted red peppers, onions and tomato and the 2006 Monte Antico super tuscan. A very nice meal. This is a great "go to" wine for me. Last fall it was listed in the Wine Spectator's 100 best wines of the year. It listed number 61 and was only about $15. I've recently seen this for as little as $11 a bottle. It showed up everywhere (in Knoxville at least) probably because there 70,000 cases produced. Monte Antico is also listed in Robert Parker's Wine Bargains book and is noted for consistently producing quality wines at affordable prices. This wine is not a complex or as big as the bordeaux, but is very pleasant and easier to drink. Also easier to pair with food. the nose is not as big as the Bordeaux, lots of cherry and oak, with vanilla. At first I tasted loads of dark cherry, bright acidity and somewhat weak tannins. It was a little weak on the mid palate. But it opened over 45 minutes or so and the flavors mellowed and blended. It rounded out became much better. The tannins actually seemed to become stronger, maybe because the cherry mellowed out as it opened. Overall, this is a great wine for the price. I often choose this wine when I think a white will be overpowered by the food and I don't want a really lightweight red. This was great with the heavily seasoned chicken and vegetable dishes.

Monday night was ribs (what else?), corn on the cob, and slow cooked onions left over from the steak dinner. We had a small glass of box white wine with dinner and later a little glass of 2003 Chateau d'Arche Grand Cru Sauterne. This producer is actually listed Larousse Encyclopedia of wine. Ok, I've been really looking forward to trying this. I picked up a half bottle at Bob's a few weeks ago for about $30. I've read so much about how wonderful Sauternes are. Sunshine in a glass. Poetry has been written about Sauternes. It's hard for the actual experience to live up to all that press. I'm still trying to decide if I like it. It has that funny smell that Rieslings often have. It does have a glorious golden color and a rich syrupy mouth feel with a pleasantly sweet lingering finish. It tastes nicely sweet with apricot, apple, and pear flavors, and maybe a little cinnamon or nutmeg mixed in. I also definitely get the taste of yellow raisins. But it also has the odd Riesling smell in the taste as well and it's a bit of a turn-off. Maybe I should try another producer? I'd have to get another good buy. Yquem runs about $125 per half bottle in a newly released vintage. These wines can age for 50 years or more. If you've never had Sauterne and you have had dandelion wine, the two are similar but the Sauternes is definitely the heavier of the two.

Barbera

Wow!!! I had forgotten just how good this wine is. The plan was to fix Friday night pizza at home and open a Barbera (it's next on Kramer's Italian wine list, and we've had it before with pizza). Very good with the pizza, especially the one with the tomato based sauce, but also good with the pesto and goat cheese pizza. The Barbera starts out very bright, lots of acidity and nice cherry and blueberry. Also a little oak on the nose, but subtle, as an undertone. As it opened, it just got better and better. By an hour to an hour and a half after first being opened and poured, we were done with pizza, but were still slowly sipping at the wine. By that time, it had mellowed and ripened into this wonderful velvety rich deliciousness that was just amazing. How can that happen?? The smooth cherry,blueberry, chocolate finish held hints of licorice or spiciness. This is why I love Italian wines. Wow!!

This particular wine was a 2008 Briccotondo by Fontanafredda. I believe I got it at Bob's package store for about $12 a bottle, but I've seen this particular wine at several different places.

Try it! Try it with something unpretentious like pizza or a simple pasta with red sauce. Then sit and finish the bottle, sipping a little at a time. You'll see what I mean.

Maso Poli Pinot Grigio 2007

This is a wine I've had many times over the years. $18 a bottle at McScrooge's. Not a big nose, but floral with hints of minerality and apricot. Al also picked up a little pear and maybe a little citrus. It was pretty full bodied for a pinot grigio, nicely balanced, fairly dry, and mildly acidic. Not overly fruity, as are some pinot gris. Nice minerality on the mid-palate. Apricot again on the finish. A good food wine, but not as crisp as many pinot grigios. There was more color to it, too. It was a pale golden color, as opposed to some pinots, which have little color at all. Not one of those semi-sweet "sipping on the patio" wines, but good with food. It would pair well with pasta with white sauce, chicken or fish. We had trout with lemon zest and capers, broccoli with anchovies, raisins, and pine nuts, and polenta with onion and zucchini. Not one of my best pairings. The seasoning of the food somewhat overwhelmed the wine. Actually, the trout would have been better with a simpler preparation, just olive oil, salt and pepper. The wine would be ideal with something with a little more weight, and a little less spiciness. A nice pasta with white sauce or chicken breasts rather simply prepared, maybe with a mild buttery sauce with shallots. Overall a nice solid food wine, but not a "wow" wine.

Aglianico

Aglianico is a not real well known wine from southern Italy. It's a deep dry red wine with rich, earthy flavor. I got this particular wine on-line from JJ buckley. They have a very extensive list of quality wines and they DO ship to Tennessee. I got this wine because I'm slowly working my way alphabetically through a book on Italian wines (they've always been my favorite). The book is Matt Kramer's Making Sense of Italian Wine. Not as detailed as Vino Italiano, apparently the current "bible" on Italian wine. Matt Kramer's book is not as thick, or as detailed. It's very approachable. Anyway, I got this book on a whim and I decided that it would be fun to work my way through it. It's laid out alphabetically. What could be easier? Well, finding the wines has been a bit of a problem. So far, I've managed to get everything. But I'm only up to Barbera. And I'm drinking lots of non-Italian wine, too.

Anyway, tonight we had Aglianico. Specifically Irpinia Aglianico cinque querce 2006 ($20/bottle). It says on the label that it was estate bottled by Salvatore Molettieri. We had this wine once before several months ago. Both times I served the wine with lamb, a very nice pairing. The wine had a nice nose of cherry, and oak. I could smell some vanilla and a little spiciness. When it was first opened the taste was very fruit forward with firm tannins and bright acidity. As it opened it mellowed and I picked up more flavor. The acid and tannins softened and I could taste the dark cherry, as before, but not so bright. I could also pick up a little raisin flavor and some licorice. The finish improved, leaving a nice lingering dark cherry and vanilla flavor. I'm too impatient to have lots of experience aging wines, but I bet this one will be better in another year or more. I've got one more bottle of this stuff and I'm going to sit on it until at least the next calendar year. In addition to being good with lamb (a local favorite in this region of Italy), it would pair with beef and other strong flavored foods. Kramer recommends it with hot red peppers, and pastas with strongly flavored sauces.

Dinner was lamb chunks (stewing lamb from Kroger) with black olives. We had polenta and spinach as side dishes. The spinach was sauteed with olive oil, garlic, anchovies, and golden raisins. Unusual and tasty. I sauteed onion, mushroom and zucchini and stirred it into the polenta. Also very tasty. Alas, the lamb should have been absolutely delicious. It was nice and tender. But, somehow, I over-salted it. Oh well, can't win 'em all. I'm thinking the lamb will make nice sandwiches. The bread will take the edge off the saltiness.

Curious about the site's name? I'm calling it Penny's winerack because I don't have a cellar. LOL

Knoxville Wine Scene / Review Vinho Verde

To Whom it May Concern:

Can't think of a better way to get started. How about, Hello All!

I don't know about you, but I've decided there is a need for this blog in Knoxville, Tennessee. There are quite a number of people in our little college town that are interested in drinking good wine and eating good food. Of course, there are groups available here such as the Wine Society of East Tennessee (a stuffy name, but actually some very nice people, not that I have met many of them). There are also various little informal local groups that get together to share wine and food. There are tastings and dinners held locally and sponsored by various liquor stores and restaurants. In short, Knoxville has more going on than an outsider might expect. But what about the voice of someone local who drinks wine, has a somewhat limited budget, and has no associations with the wine or food business? How about a format for sharing ideas on wines that are available locally? I read some of the national publications on food and wine, notably "Wine Spectator" and "Food and Wine". The complaint I hear from other Knoxvillians is that they read about a wine in one of these publications and then they go to their local liquor store and it's not available. Then they're discouraged. Same problem with those little wine buying guides. They probably work great if you live in New York city, but in Knoxville, you're going to have to do some hunting to find wines listed that are available here. Things have gotten a little easier since our state legislature made shipping wine to individuals legal in the state of Tennessee. But many of the on-line wine shippers still do not ship to Tennessee. Maybe they think the market here is too small to justify dealing with our state regs? I don't know. But I do know that many places will not ship to Tennessee. So, what we need is a way to share information on wines that we CAN get.

Vinho Verde

Metro Pulse just started a wine column. It's to appear monthly, and the first article contained some very good general information on Portuguese vinho verde (green wines). Green meaning young and relatively un-aged. I happened to have one of these wines last night. Husband, Al, and I had chicken piccata with a lemon-pepper flavored pasta and a side salad of fresh greens and tomato. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. The chicken piccata had lovely little capers and bits of pancetta and the lemony sauce coated everything wonderfully. We had never had this particular wine before (or any vinho verde that I recall). It was Quinta da Aveleda, 2008 vinho verde white wine from Portugal. I picked it up at Ashe's (for about $10) on a whim. It was very nice, crisp, semi-dry, mildly effervescent, citric, but with notes of melon and tropical fruit. It had a very nice citric, fruity nose and a nice level of acidity (for me). I thought it was fairly complex for a $10 wine and it had a pleasant lingering finish (for a white). It was very good with the chicken piccata and I think it would pair well with summer salads, fish, or any lemony chicken dish.