2009 George DuBoeuf Morgon (Cru Beaujoulais)

Hello everyone!! I have been wanting to try this wine for a while now. I have seen it mentioned several times and heard that Cru beaujoulais is the wine to try if you like fresh light French wines, but are not particularly fond of beaujousais nouveau. We had this wine with a salad consisting of chicken breast, dried cranberries, and blue cheese on a bed of lettuce. It was a very nice wine with the overall impression of being bright, fresh and vibrant. I believe that the bright (but not overpowering) acidity helped to give this fresh, vibrant liveliness. The color was deep garnet, which surprised me, as I was expecting the lighter, purplish color of a nouveau. The nose carried aromas of cherry and raspberry with a bit of vanilla. There was also a definite floral component which I found difficult to identify. On the palate it was very fruit forward and a little sweet with bright acidity and very soft tannins. It was light bodied but full flavored. The finish was soft and fruity. Overall it was not big, not particularly complex, but pleasant. I got this wine at McScrooge's for about $15. I would drink this wine as an alternative to rose. To me, this would be more interesting than a rose but pair well with many of the same foods.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.