Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to all our fellow Americans!  Today is a special day to remember all those brave men and women who have fallen while serving our country in the United States Armed Forces.  Many family and friends will most likely visit graves of their loved ones or go to parades or just gather for a fun-filled picnic or cookout.

Since I am a wine lover, I still like to enjoy wine while cooking out versus the popular beer or adult lemonade.  So I came up with a few menus that would make any day enjoyable.

 

For the typical cookout, who can go wrong with hambergers and cheeseburgers?  With this option, I would totally enjoy a Merlot. A yummy potato salad or pasta salad as a side would complete the course.  To top off the meal with a little something sweet, I would offer chocolate cupcakes with strawberries and blueberries on top for the patriotic flare!

 

 

Another option if you fire up the pit is BBQ Ribs!  I just love those finger lickin' summer staples.  A good Rioja is what I would pair with them.  As a side to complement the ribs, I would serve a chilled macaroni salad.  As for a dessert, I might switch over to a Riesling to enjoy with apple pie.

 





 

 

For the chicken lover, my choice would be Chicken Kabobs. A chilled Chardonnay would match perfectly, especially on a hot day!  Since the grill is going, add some potatoes to enjoy.  Include a green garden salad to complete the meal.  Top it off with grilled peaches ( maybe over vanilla ice cream :)).

 

For those who still want steak, you can switch out steak for the chicken in the kabobs, because the potatoes and grilled peaches complement well with a good Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

All in all, a good day enjoying good food, good wine, and good friends is the best way to remember those who have fought for the freedom we enjoy every day.

 

God Bless the USA and Cheers!

 

Lisa









Mother's Day - A Time To Celebrate and Be Celebrated!

Mother's Day is a beautiful day of celebrating our own Mother's and, for some, celebrating being a Mother.  I was happy to celebrate both!  On Saturday, we celebrated with dinner of chicken stuffed with spinach and Monterrey Jack cheese with parmesan au gratin potatoes.  We paired this dinner with Francis Ford Coppola's Director's Cut Chardonnay.  What a delicious wine!  This oak-aged Chardonnay was crisp with notes of vanilla and citrus.  It paired well with our dinner and is a bargain at $21.00.

The celebration did not stop there!  On Mother's Day, we spent a beautiful morning with my Mother-In-Law enjoying bagels and fruit.  The rest of the day, we decided, would be spent at home enjoying our four kids and the gorgeous Midwest weather.  I was eagerly anticipating my choice of Mother's Day wine, Isabel Mondavi Deep Rose Cabernet Sauvignon!  I had been waiting to kick off my summer with this delicious wine for weeks!  To me, this wine exudes the feel of summer.  Served chilled, it is wonderful to enjoy sitting next to the pool in the sun, which is exactly what I did.

This wine is very fruity and light, with the right balance of acidity!  It is made of 100% cabernet sauvignon and hails from Napa Valley, California.  It is hard to even look at this as wine, it is almost like a summery fruit juice!  For all the red drinkers out there, don't be turned off by the possibility of a "too sweet" wine.  As a dry red drinker myself, I still enjoy this wine and it is completely refreshing on a warm spring or summer day.  It can be paired with everything from Thai cuisine to salmon to chocolate!  What's best?  This wine can be enjoyed for around $15.00!

I'M wines are created by Isabel Mondavi's son, Robert Mondavi, Jr. in Napa Valley, California.  I'M Wines make Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the Deep Rose.  The wines were originally made "for Mom", but quickly gained interest and have been repeat award winners.  Learn more about I'M Wines at http://www.imwines.com/press.php.

Cheers and Happy Mother's Day!

Mary Jo

Wine Word of the Week

Off dry - wine that is slightly sweet. 

Wine School-Garnacha-May 1, 2013

Wines

Fuego Old Vines Garnacha

Color:  Vibrant purple
Nose:  The nose was wonderful - jammy with spice.
Mouth:  Vibrant fruit up front with a lovely finish.
Price:  $8.99/World Market

Pairings

Fontina Cheese:  This cheese seemed to enhance the fruit, almost too much.
Jarlsberg Cheese:  Initially it brings out the spice in the wine but detracted from the wonderful finish.
Spiced Gouda:  We all love the cheese, but it is too spicy for all the wines. Maybe with margaritas!!
Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives:  Not a match, completely took the spice away from the wine. It worked better when we ate the olives without the cheese.
Chicken Quesadilla:  As Lisa says, "Yum!".  A great pairing that balanced the fruit and spice of the wine.
Shepard's Pie:  Lisa enjoyed this pairing more than Mary Jo and Beth. Tamed the fruit a bit too much.
Lindt Chili Chocolate:  We all love this chocolate, and we loved it with the wine.
Dark Chocolate Covered Raspberries:  Wow - a fantastic pairing! They compliment each other perfectly. As Mary Jo said, "There are all kinds of things going on with this pairing!".

Conclusion

A great, jammy wine with a wonderful finish.

Zestos Old Vines Garnacha

Color:  Brick red with a touch of purple.
Nose:  The nose on this wine was more striking than the first wine with notes of black current, fruit, and spice.
Mouth:  A smooth and balanced wine with soft tannins.
Price:  $9.99/World Market

Pairings

Fontina Cheese:  Overall it seemed to pair better with this cheese than the first wine, but not a pairing we would recommend.
Jarlsberg Cheese:  The cheese overpowered the fruit of this wine.
Spiced Gouda:  Again, the cheese was nice, but too spicy for the wine.
Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives:  Better when the cheese was removed from the olives.
Chicken Quesadilla:  Nice pairing.
Shepard's Pie:  A nice match, would be great comfort meal in the winter.
Lindt Chili Chocolate:  A nice match although we enjoyed it with the first wine even more.
Dark Chocolate Covered Raspberries:  Nice match, the chocolate seems to work better with the first wine again.

Conclusion

This wine was the overall favorite for the three of us. It had a lighter body than the other two wines, and for the reasonable price we will definitely give this wine another try.

Vina Alarba Garnacha Vinas
Color:  Dark purple with a hint of brown.
Nose:  Pepper on the nose with a distinctive balsamic vinegar aroma.
Mouth:  More tannins than the first two wines. Fruitiness of the other wines was missing. This was our least favorite of the wines when dried on its own.
Price:  $9.99/World Market

Pairings

Fontina Cheese:  This cheese did not help this wine out and all. In fact, none of the cheeses paired with this wine.
Jarlsberg Cheese:  Not a match.
Spiced Gouda:  No, same problem as with the first two wines.
Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives:  It didn't enhance the wine, but worked better than the cheeses.
Chicken Quesadilla:  Nice pairing it helped to round out the wine.
Shepard's Pie:  No, we had a hard time finding anything to go with this wine.
Lindt Chili Chocolate:  The first wine was definitely the best with this chocolate, this was just average.
Dark Chocolate Covered Raspberries:  Not our favorite, but it works as well as anything with this wine.

Conclusion

This wine was a miss for the winos. It had a difficult time standing up to any of the pairings and was disappointing on its own.

Final Thoughts

Beth:  Spanish wines are such a great value! I would definitely purchase the Fuego and Zestos Old Vines Garnacha again. Fuego definitely had the best finish, but my overall favorite was the Zestos. My favorite food to pair with these wines was the quesadillas. It was great with Fuego as well as with Zestos. Unfortunately nothing really gave the third wine a boost in flavor, but you win some and lose some. Another great night with my wino buddies!
Lisa:  These wines were new to me.  I am used to Old Vine Zins, so the the "Old Vine" for Garnacha was something I was interested in trying.  You couldn't beat them for the price!! since Robert Parker had given the Fuego a 92pt rating, I was excited to give it a try.  I enjoyed the fruitiness and light tannins and especially loved the chili chocolate pairing!! The chicken quesadilla fit it well too, yum!  As for the Zestos, the smooth soft tannins and light finish were a delight.  Again, the chocolate pairings were delicious! Unfortunately, we couldn't get into the Vina Alarba, however, the chili chocolate did pair well. But then again, chili chocolate is never a miss!
Mary Jo:  This was our first "Old Vine" Garnacha class.  All three wines were very reasonably priced! My favorite of the three was the Zestos.  It had a wonderful nose and, while it had a shorter finish than the Fuego, it was very smooth and enjoyable.  It was an especially good pairing with the shepherd's pie and chicken quesadilla!  The Fuego was my second favorite, especially pairing well with the chicken quesadilla and the dark chocolate covered raspberries.  Overall, I wasn't especially pleased with the Vina Alarba, although it was okay with the shepherd's pie.  Unfortunately, the spiced gouda cheese was too spicy to pair, as it overpowered the wine.  Great class!  Can't wait to buy these wines again!