Category Archives: Blends

Summer Lovin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo

 “Summertime is always the best of what might be.” ~ Charles Bowden

Friday’s summer wine feast highlighted a few of the best of what is to come this summer.  Shelly and I had two hours to sample as many of the fine wines as we could. It proved to be fairly tricky since there were seven tables with five wines each. Five food stations with samples of cheeses, main course offerings and dessert were available to navigate along with the wine.

David fromVintage Wines said that Riesling was going to be one of the big trends this summer and we paired the Richter Estate Riesling with samples of baked, breaded Hake in pesto sauce. I’d never tried Hake, but it proved to be a tasty yet light fish. The flavorful delicacy of the fish and basil from the pesto brought out the floral and citrus vibe of the wine. As for the reds, the Tamarack Red Blend was pleasant enough at first taste but as the sample wound down, Shelly found it became more bitter with a vinegar aftertaste she wasn’t really into ~ so in the chum bucket it went.

On to our next pick of the night: an 07 Tudal Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab Sauv always brings to mind colder temps and a hearty beef dinner. Jack from Wine Trends suggested pairing it with the tricolor tortellini salad and kale with blueberry quinoa. I didn’t think it would pair well at all but found it to have a subtle strawberry on the nose; fruit forward jam essence, peppery in the middle and a finish of soft caramel. The mild spice of the tortellini and sweetness of the kale quinoa was beautifully offset by the complexity of this Cab and it was surprisingly refreshing. Only 490 cases of this vintage were produced so it was a rare and wonderful find. At a price point of 39.99, I thought I’d splurge for a wine that was toe-curl worthy.

We did our best to use our limited time wisely but didn’t get through all the stations before closing time. Yet with the rush, we still managed to get to the cassata cake. Even when you’re at your busiest, there’s always time for cake.

It was great to experience a tasting like this; like speed dating but with wine. And while we couldn’t sample everything, we did come away with a couple of good numbers to hook up with for the summer.

Cheers!

Cold Day, Warm Côte

Katie's Côte on a cold winter's night

Katie's Côte on a cold winter's night

It’s been a while since my last post and I have a really good reason: I wanted to finish my spotlight on Icewine with some fabulous pictures of the Icewine Festival here in the Cleve. Old ManWinter has a wicked sense of humor, and blasted us with some nasty weather that made it too treacherous to venture out.

My sister was visiting from Canada and I wanted to share a special wine for her last night here. Not to let a little thing like a winter storm dampen our fun,we decided to end the blustery day enjoying a lovely glow in the fireplace and a bottle of 07 Amador Foothill Katie’s Côte, the lovely Côte du Rhone I enjoyed while I was in Napa. This is a blend of 52% Syrah, 48% Grenache and we found it to be a beautifully complex mixture of berry, spice and plum with a delectable buttery finish. And while it’s a terrific stand alone wine, we paired it with a selection of Belgian chocolates and George Clooney: we watched “The Ides of March” on the dish.

I loved spending time with my sister. I wished we could have gone to the ice wine tasting but  it was great to have a girls night in. The next ice wine event in the Cleve will be in early March and if the weather cooperates, I’ll be there. Why let a little thing like a snow storm ruin a good glass of wine?

Cheers!

Wine Tasting ~ Original Zin and a little PromisQuity.

Zin-ful

Zin-ful

 I’ll admit it: I drink around. As a student of wine, I believe that I have to try a variety of wines to find out what I like and, more important, why I like it. I can’t buy a case of one type of wine. I have to experiment and the one I choose to spend the night with might not last until the next weekend.  For this recent wine night with the girls, we compared and contrasted two Zinfandels. In the past, I haven’t necessarily favored the beloved Zinfandel; I’m not exactly sure why. I guess until now, I thought they weren’t full- bodied enough for my liking. That’s what making assumptions does: it makes an ass of, well, just me in this case.

 We chose to go with 09 Macchia ‘Prestigious’ Zinfandel and an 09 Pezzi King Zin from Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma. The Macchia had a lovely, deep red color, was gentle on the nose and possessed a rich, bold berry on first taste. The next sips brought out more of the richness and lusty flavor. It made me think of a Cabernet in its style; I was pleasantly surprised.  We were unanimous in our appreciation of this wine and it seemed to pair very well with the assortment of mild cheeses I had set out.

The Pezzi King Zin was also a pleasant drinking wine but the consensus was that it tasted very young, as though it could be cellared a little longer. While we did pour both through aerators, it might have enhanced the Pezzi to have been decanted for a time.

PromisQous

PromisQous

With the night still being young, we moved on to PromisQous, a red wine blend from California. It boasted a “delightful dalliance” of Zin, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Syrah. We found that it was indeed a playful little minx and paired very well with the sharp cheddar left on our plates from the earlier tasting.

It was a great night of tasting, trying some new wines I’d never experienced before and getting to know some new friends. I’m not sure what the next wine night theme will be but with so many great wines out there, I’m sure it’ll be just as fun.

Just don’t expect me to call you in the morning.

Cheers!