Christopher's World Grill

This past weekend I was able to fly down to Texas to visit my daughter at college for a special sorority Holiday Tea. Of course, while we were there, my husband and I also took her out to a nice dinner- one that she would call "fancy".  She was so excited when we told her we were going to Christopher's World Grill because that's the "best place in town", according to our 19 year old.

Well, she had good reason to be so excited because we enjoyed a wonderful evening!

We started the evening with a couple of delicious appetizers.  The first one was the Texas Spoon Drop Crab Cake with grilled shrimp, cayenne tomato butter sauce and lime sour cream.  It was huge so there was plenty to be shared between the three of us.  We also enjoyed pan seared scallops that were so tender!

 

The wine we chose for the night was Mauritson's Rockpile Zinfandel from the Cemetery Vineyard.  I have to admit I have had this wine before so I knew we were in for a treat! It was delicious with the crabs cakes!  The nose had dark fruits and a hint of mocha.  On the palate were velvety tannins with a taste of roasted coffee yet had hints of blueberry.  Of course it was a hit with the en tree's we enjoyed also.  I selected the seafood special of the night which was a Seabass over mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus.  My husband had the stuffed pork chop with blue cheese and our daughter had the veal chop that was sauteed with bone in and she ooohh and aawwhh over it!

As we ordered the main course we opted out of salads so we could save room for desserts!  Our daughter enjoyed the Creme Brulee and we split the Almond Polente. It was a wonderful night for the three of us! 

I would definitely recommend this restaurant in Bryan, Texas!  It may be her graduation dinner in a couple of years :)!

Cheers!
Lisa

Robust Wine Bar

My husband and I have been wanting to try out Robust Wine Bar at its new location in Edwardsville, IL since it opened earlier this year. We finally had our chance for a late bite on Saturday night and were not disappointed.

We were seated in the back of the restaurant in a cozy booth and greeted by our waitress, Mimi(hope I’m spelling that correctly). Her first task was to familiarize us with the extensive menus. Wines on the menu are categorized by their “robust factor” which is based on the body style of the wine. With such an extensive wine list, the robust factor helps you narrow down a wine that is just your style. Wines are separated into eight categories:

• RF1:  Bubbles
• RF 2: Crisp White
• RF 3:  Mellow White
• RF4:  Luscious White
• RF5:  Soft Hearted Red
• RF 6:  Generous Red
• RF 7:  Robust Red
• RF8:  Sweet & Stickies

And when it comes to the food you have choices that range from cheese and charcuterie plates, soups and salads, flatbreads and small plates, all the way to full size entrees. Each food item on the menu is also given a RF rating to help the diner in pairing their wine and food. After an excellent overview of the menu by our server, my husband settled on the salmon special and I chose the mushroom flatbread. We were thrilled to see a MacPhail 2009 Pinot Noir on the menu and selected that as our wine. What an excellent example of a California Pinot! We both loved it. And the food – fantastic. Mike let me try a bit of his salmon. It was perfectly prepared-just melting in my mouth. My flatbread was a hit too. Both dishes were a match made in heaven with our wine.

   

On my next visit I definitely want to try out one their many wine flights offered, like, Run with the Bulls Spanish flight or Platinum Blondes Chardonnay flight. They also offer special pricing on wine flights on Wednesday evenings and other specials through out the month. Check them out on Facebook or at www.robustwinebar.com. 

Cheers,

Beth

The Teachers Become The Students!

Wine, like many other things in life, is an area where you cannot possibly ever know it all.  The Stay At Home Winos never profess to be experts, but simply enjoy learning about wine.  This past Friday evening, a group of us were treated to a wine tasting conducted by Scott Cullman and his lovely wife, Sherri Cullman, at our home.  This event was purchased by the Guinns at a silent auction last year.

Scott Cullman is with Garco Wine (garcowine.com) in St. Louis, Missouri.  Garco Wine is a family and locally owned and operated wine wholesaler, and has been in business for seventy years.  

Needless to say, it was exciting for the Winos and their guests to be on the receiving end of the wine tasting on this evening!  Scott and his wife brought 8 wines for our group to taste, including a Straw Wine and a Port.  The following are the wines we tasted:

Gundlach Bundschu Chardonnay
Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc
Sonoma Oaks Pinot Noir Russian River
Gladium Tempranillo
Gundlach Bundschu Mountain Cuvee Red
Michel Schlumberger Cabernet Sauvignon
Marietta Petite Sirah
Ministry of the Vinterior Zinfandel
DeTrafford Straw Wine (Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. )
Pacchia Port

Many guests really enjoyed the Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc, so I would have to say that was everyone's favorite.  The straw wine was very interesting, and the Port was an enjoyable way to end the tasting.  Our group didn't stop there, however, as we enjoyed a couple spirited games of "Left, Right, Center"

It was a wonderful treat to meet Scott and Sherri and we are already planning our next tasting!

Cheers!
Mary Jo

Wine School-Cabernet Franc vs. Cabernet Sauvignon, November 4, 2013

 

 

Theme:  Cabernet Francs

Recently I was reading an article about the "other" Cabernet.  We are all familiar with Cabernet Sauvignon and even Merlot-the two more known grapes of Bordeaux.  Cabernet Francs are mostly used as a blending grape but I'd thought I would see how it stood alone and compared to the Cabernet Sauvignon.  So here we go!

The Wines:

Domaine Aimé 2011 Cabernet Franc

• Color:  Deep, inky purple
• Nose:  Blackberry jam with a vegetative aroma
• Mouth:  Definitely a young wine with more fruit than you would notice on a typical Cabernet. The wine has significant tannins with a long, warm finish.
• Price:  $14.99
• Conclusion:  The fruit in this French wine really popped as the wine opened up. As expected of a French wine, it paired well with the food.

Steele 2010 Cabernet Franc 

• Color:  Lighter shade of purple.
• Nose:  Wet forest floor with a bit of spice, notes of bell pepper, and caramel-especially as the wine opened up.
• Mouth: Can really taste the tannins and definitely oaky on the pallet. 
• Price:  $15.99
• Conclusion:  This was our favorite Cab Franc of the evening. It paired nicely with the main course and overall with the cheeses and chocolates too.

B Side 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

• Color:  Bright garnet
• Nose:  Tobacco and cardamom. Mary Jo also noted some bell pepper.
• Mouth:  This wine has light tannins with blueberry notes - more fruit forward than we expected for a Cab.
• Price:  $16.99/regular price $24.99
• Conclusion:  We all enjoyed this wine very much, although we were not expecting it to be the most fruit forward of the bunch. The tannins were balanced, making it the best wine of the evening for a sipper, although we enjoyed it with the dinner too.

The Pairings:

• Wyngaard Chevre Affineurs Goat Gouda:  Wow-we loved this cheese and it paired well with the wines. We liked it the best overall with the Cabernet, and preferred it with the Steele Cab Franc over the French wine.
• Cypress Grove Midnight Moon Goat Cheese:  Another cheese that we all enjoyed with all three wines. It paired best with the Domaine  Aimé.
• Drunken Goat: This pairing fizzled, it left an unpleasant aftertaste with all of the wines.
• Beef Roast w/vegetables:  First off, the beef roast was delicious! Mary Jo and Beth thought it paired well with all three wines, though Lisa was not a fan of pairing it with the French Cab Franc. A great match with the Steele Cab Franc, bringing out the best in both the dish and the wine.
• Ghirardelli Twilight Intense Dark Chocolate:  A very nice pairing, the favorite of the chocolates for the evening! The finish was fantastic with both Cab Francs.
• Lindt A touch of Sea Salt Dark Chocolate:  This was our least favorite chocolate with the wines. Would definitely not pair it with B Side Cabernet, but it was decent with the two Cab Francs.
• Lindt Chili Infused Dark Chocolate:  We do love this chocolate! Lucky for us it pairs well with many red wines. This evening it paired best with the French wine, Domaine Aimé.

Conclusion:

Beth:  We have had many red wine classes, but this was a first to focus on Cab Franc! The company, food and wine were wonderful as usual. My favorite Cab Franc of the evening was the Steele from California. It was wonderful with the pot roast, standing up well to the hearty dish. And it was definitely a “wow” with the Wyngaard Chevre. It was interesting to compare the two Cab Francs with a Bordeaux style Cab, although this Cab surprised me a bit, being more fruit forward than I expected. The two wine varietals definitely have differing aromas on the nose, with much more vegetation with the Cab Francs. Cheers to Lisa for a wonderful class and an education on how Cab Franc isn’t just a blending grape!
Lisa:  These Cab Francs were definitely a surprise to me!  After reading several articles on line and in books, I was expecting the Cab Francs to be less tannic and more fruity than the Cab Sauv. However, the particular wines we enjoyed tonight seemed to me to be just the opposite. My favorite pairing of the night was the Goat Gouda with the B Side Cab-yum!  I did, however, enjoy the roast beef with the two California wines.  It's always fun to try something different and share it with friends :).  As they say "nothing ventured, nothing gained"!
Mary Jo:  I think I may have found a new favorite every day wine during this class!  My favorite Cab Franc was the Steele from Lake County.  It was simply delicious.  For me, this wine was the best with the beef roast w/vegetables and the Wyngaard Chèvre.  Having said all of that, the B Side is truly another favorite wine of mine.  It was incredibly fruity and, with the beef roast, I found it to be too fruity.  None of the wines went well with the sea salt chocolate (very unfortunate, since that chocolate is amazing).  As far as the Drunken Goat cheese, the cheese's finish killed all three wines.  I am not sure I realized how delicious Cab Francs were!  Ultimately, this was a great class full of surprises.  Thanks, Lisa!