My best intention was get and serve only American wines for thanksgiving, and I had just the array in mind: We'd start with a sparkling wine from Gruet in New Mexico (winner of a blind tasting several years ago and reasonably priced), Followed by an Oregon Pinot Gris for the appetizer course, and finishing up with an Oregon Pinot Noir with the big bird. (Not the yellow big bird, of course.)
Here's what we wound up with:
Adelsheim Pinot Blanc, 2006, Oregon, 13.6%, $20.75;
Benton Lane Pinot Noir, 2007, 13.5%, $25.65;
Segura Viudas Cava, 12%, $22.29
The Adelshiem was by far the best, complex, interesting, complementary yet able to hold its own against the meal. The Benton Lane Pinot Noir was a disappointment to me. It lacked body, was more like a Nouveau Beaujolais than a complex Pinot Noir.
Now, I know I can get "big" jammy Pinot from California, but I like the complexity of the Oregon Pinot. And I've certainly had excellent wines from Benton Lane. Just not this one. I have discovered that the better Oregon Pinot Noir costs more money, and to get a reliably good wine you often have to pay more than $40, sometimes much more.
The cava was good, and I think it's a good value. Certainly worth having on hand.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Nero d'Avola - Nov 21
Nero d'Avola
Nero d'Avola, the dark red grape from southern Sicily, was front and center for our most recent wine tasting. We've enjoyed this wine for several years, finding it good with food and tasty while being very affordable. This time we each brought a bottle and tasted them blind, before eating and then again during our dinner.
But first, the appetizer: Cheeses from Appleton Creamery: “Camdenbear” a soft cheese made from cow milk, and served with a cranberry chutney from Half Moon Farm; a three milk “tomme” from goat, cow, and sheep milk; and a raw sheep milk cheese, aged over 120 days and “closer to a Romano”. We shared a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau, ($9.99, 2009, Georges Duboeuf, 12.5%). Not normally my preferred wine, this years version was better than I had expected, and was a good way to start the evening. And the cheeses? Awesome: a meal could be made exclusively from them, and we would all have been happy!
Now, the wines:
Fondo Antico Nero d'Avola, 2006, 13.5%, $10.99, imported by Ideal Wine and Spirits. (yellow)
Contrada Ragabo Nero d”Avola, 2006, 14.5%, $12.99, imported by Small Vinyards LLC. (green)
Terre Nero d'Avola, no year indicated, 13%, $10.65, Imported by Leonard Locascio. (orange)
Villa Pozzi Nero d'Avola, no year indicated, 13.5%, $16.99, imported by WJ Deutsch and sons (blue)
We normally are quite fond of this wine. It has lively flavor (berries, cherry, some spice) and enough tannin to make it good with food. But these wines were “all over the place” as one guest noted. It was hard to get a good sense of what the wine really tastes like from the four samples we had. Comments ranged from “harsh” to “sweet”, from “bland” to “comfortable, completely different”.
One wine, the first we tasted, (Fondo Antico) was universally panned. None of us really liked it, the tannins were too strong and no clear flavor emerged. The most charitable thing to say was that it would be a good pizza wine, or a good 2 Euro/bottle wine in Europe.
The other three wines were all different. Scores were closely matched, with the Villa Pozzi narrowly (should I saw “nero-ly?) edging the others for overall favorite. There were hints of blueberry in the flavor, and it had the most balanced tannins.
My favorite was the Terre, which was also the least expensive.
As expected, the wines became much, much better with food. We ate a roast leg of lamb, with roasted root vegetables and carrots cooked in cream. The wines had good body to stand up to the strong flavors, and even the least Fondo Antico was pleasant with the meal. But the others all came into their own – really adding to the meal and tasting much better in their own right.
We had fun, we enjoyed a great meal, and we talked about the next get together, whenever that will be!
Nero d'Avola, the dark red grape from southern Sicily, was front and center for our most recent wine tasting. We've enjoyed this wine for several years, finding it good with food and tasty while being very affordable. This time we each brought a bottle and tasted them blind, before eating and then again during our dinner.
But first, the appetizer: Cheeses from Appleton Creamery: “Camdenbear” a soft cheese made from cow milk, and served with a cranberry chutney from Half Moon Farm; a three milk “tomme” from goat, cow, and sheep milk; and a raw sheep milk cheese, aged over 120 days and “closer to a Romano”. We shared a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau, ($9.99, 2009, Georges Duboeuf, 12.5%). Not normally my preferred wine, this years version was better than I had expected, and was a good way to start the evening. And the cheeses? Awesome: a meal could be made exclusively from them, and we would all have been happy!
Now, the wines:
Fondo Antico Nero d'Avola, 2006, 13.5%, $10.99, imported by Ideal Wine and Spirits. (yellow)
Contrada Ragabo Nero d”Avola, 2006, 14.5%, $12.99, imported by Small Vinyards LLC. (green)
Terre Nero d'Avola, no year indicated, 13%, $10.65, Imported by Leonard Locascio. (orange)
Villa Pozzi Nero d'Avola, no year indicated, 13.5%, $16.99, imported by WJ Deutsch and sons (blue)
We normally are quite fond of this wine. It has lively flavor (berries, cherry, some spice) and enough tannin to make it good with food. But these wines were “all over the place” as one guest noted. It was hard to get a good sense of what the wine really tastes like from the four samples we had. Comments ranged from “harsh” to “sweet”, from “bland” to “comfortable, completely different”.
One wine, the first we tasted, (Fondo Antico) was universally panned. None of us really liked it, the tannins were too strong and no clear flavor emerged. The most charitable thing to say was that it would be a good pizza wine, or a good 2 Euro/bottle wine in Europe.
The other three wines were all different. Scores were closely matched, with the Villa Pozzi narrowly (should I saw “nero-ly?) edging the others for overall favorite. There were hints of blueberry in the flavor, and it had the most balanced tannins.
My favorite was the Terre, which was also the least expensive.
As expected, the wines became much, much better with food. We ate a roast leg of lamb, with roasted root vegetables and carrots cooked in cream. The wines had good body to stand up to the strong flavors, and even the least Fondo Antico was pleasant with the meal. But the others all came into their own – really adding to the meal and tasting much better in their own right.
We had fun, we enjoyed a great meal, and we talked about the next get together, whenever that will be!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
South African Sauvignon Blanc
What a day. I noticed this morning that our freezer, a small floor model, had a puddle of ice near the door. Not good. I closed the door, made coffee, and waited for the caffiene to kick in. Cautiously I opened the door and looked at the freezer again - the ice puddle was still there. Worse, everything inside the freezer was covered in rime ice, fuzzy crystals of ice obscuring the post-it notes with the contents listed. I was afraid that another cup of coffee wasn't going to be the ultimate solution, but on the other hand it certainly couldn't hurt.
In the process of defrosting the freezer I discovered some lost items - some soup, Caldo Verde, that I love when it gets cold, and a small piece of salmon. I chose the salmon for the evening dinner. My usual cooking method is grilling, but tonight I decided to poach the salmon, and the recipe that google provided included 1/2 cup of sauvignon blanc. I got a bottle out of the cellar and poached the salmon, made Basmati rice, and a fresh (local Bowdoinham) spinach and tomato and mushroom salad.
Now, I always prefer reds to whites, and I didn't think too much about what wine I had chosen. But when I tasted it, wow! Rich, complex, long lasting, complementary to the meal, it was great. The wine was a South African Sauvignon Blanc, 2007, from Graham Beck. I don't remember where I got it or how much it cost, but it wouldn't have been a terribly expensive bottle. A perfect complement to my 6 month old frozen salmon ( a good wine can really make a meal come together, like the right rug in a room).
South Africa has been producing some very distinctive and quite drinkable wines, at reasonable prices. I'm particularly fond of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines, and now I'm keen on the Sauvignon Blancs.
Tomorrow I'll see how it goes with Caldo Verde soup.
In the process of defrosting the freezer I discovered some lost items - some soup, Caldo Verde, that I love when it gets cold, and a small piece of salmon. I chose the salmon for the evening dinner. My usual cooking method is grilling, but tonight I decided to poach the salmon, and the recipe that google provided included 1/2 cup of sauvignon blanc. I got a bottle out of the cellar and poached the salmon, made Basmati rice, and a fresh (local Bowdoinham) spinach and tomato and mushroom salad.
Now, I always prefer reds to whites, and I didn't think too much about what wine I had chosen. But when I tasted it, wow! Rich, complex, long lasting, complementary to the meal, it was great. The wine was a South African Sauvignon Blanc, 2007, from Graham Beck. I don't remember where I got it or how much it cost, but it wouldn't have been a terribly expensive bottle. A perfect complement to my 6 month old frozen salmon ( a good wine can really make a meal come together, like the right rug in a room).
South Africa has been producing some very distinctive and quite drinkable wines, at reasonable prices. I'm particularly fond of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines, and now I'm keen on the Sauvignon Blancs.
Tomorrow I'll see how it goes with Caldo Verde soup.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)