A Big Strong (Silver) Oak!

It was Valentine's Day, and we were heading to dinner with another couple at a local wine bar and restaurant.  We had not yet had the pleasure to dine there, so we were really looking forward to it, especially the wine!

My thoughtful Husband, knowing how much I love wine, had other ideas.  Before we left for dinner, he presented me with a bottle of 2008 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley, to take along for dinner (http://www.silveroak.com/).  Why, you ask, did he get a bottle of wine to TAKE to a wine bar?  Well, he certainly knew what he was doing!

From the first taste, I felt like I was eating dessert before my dinner!  What an amazingly rich, delicious and well-balanced wine.  The wine is a gorgeous garnet color with a nose that makes it hard to stop sniffing and start drinking!  On the mouth, the tannins were perfectly structured with a mouthful of cherries and chocolate.  The finish was divine, like a warm winding river down my throat that went on and on.

The rest of our group tasted this wine, as well (although I found it hard to share!).  One member of our group, who typically only drinks white wine, really liked this wine!  I am always happy when a white wine drinker enjoys the taste of a red wine, since reds are typically my favorite.

I was approached by our waiter who asked, "dessert ma'am?"  My response was simple, "I started with dessert, and I plan to end with the same."

Cheers!
Mary Jo

Wine School, Classic Italian Wines, February 17, 2014

Theme: 

Tonight's wines were brought to us straight from Italy, compliments of our hosts from our In-Home Wine Tasting last week (see previous blog).  I had always wanted to taste Amarones and Brunellas but was unsure what to try.  Thank you for sharing your love of wine with us, Mary & Lewis-they were absolutely wonderful! 

The Wine:


Tenute Silvio Nardi 2003 Brunello Di Montalcino

• Color:  Brick red to orange along the rim; deep red in center              
• Nose:  Oak, spice, dried fruit – smells rich and warm 
• Mouth:  Very smooth and balanced with some tart fruit at the end. It has a wonderful, long finish.

Reccla 2005 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

• Color:  Deeper in color, all the way to the rim, more than the Brunello
• Nose:  A lot of dried raisin fruit on the nose, smells like a Sherry or Port
• Mouth:  Wonderful, not nearly as fruity on the mouth as the nose would indicate. Spice on the mid-palate, finish is incredibly long-just keeps going  and going!

Bolla 2005 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

• Color:  Very deep brownish/ red in color. The darkest, thickest of the wines this evening.
• Nose:  Raisin fruit, but not as strong as the Reccla Amarone. More earthiness with some spice and truffles.
• Mouth:  Very smooth, medium tannins, a little black licorice and another nice finish.

Overall conclusion:  A wonderful evening spent with great, classic Italian wines. Amazing wines, great friends, and good food. It will be difficult to top this wine school!

Pairings:

Vintage Cheddar:  This cheddar cheese was an excellent pairing with all three wines. We especially enjoyed it with the Bolla Amarone. The spice in the wine exploded when paired with this cheddar.
Extra Aged Gouda:  Another great pairing! Loved it with the Brunello the most. It was also nice with the Recchia Amarone.
Manchego:  The cheese pairings were a great success tonight. This was very nice with both Amarones. It brought the fruit forward with the Bolla.
Lasagna:  Wow! Can the night get any better? Lisa made a great lasagna and It paired well with all three wines! Our favorite was with the Bolla. The pairing was balance and enhanced the wine and the food. This rich wine became even richer when paired with this dish. Also, an excellent match with the Brunello. A delicious spiciness really shown through with the wine.
Chuao Potato Chip Milk Chocolate:  We weren’t sure how milk chocolate would work with such rich wines, but we enjoyed the chocolate with the Brunello and the Recchia Amarone.
Chuao Fire Cracker Dark Chocolate: This spicy chocolate worked well with both Amarones with the spice in the wine paralleling with the spice in the chocolate.
Ghirardelli Sea Salt Soiree:  This was our least favorite of the chocolates with the wine. The sea salt just didn’t pair well with these rich wines.

Conclusion:

Beth:  Wow! absolutely loved the wines tonight. I think it is impossible to pick a favorite. Thank you to Mary and Lewis who were kind enough to share their love of Italian wines with us after our tasting at their home. I have had a Brunello in the past, but have only had a small sampling of Amarone in the past. These two wines far surpassed the ones that I had sampled previously. I loved the richness of the wine and all had fantastic finishes. In fact the finish on the the Recchla Amarone kept going and going. The wines paired perfectly with the aged cheeses and the lasagna. I will be dreaming of these wines for a long time. Thanks Lisa for the great pairings and delicious lasagna!
Lisa:  Devine!!  Each of the wines tonight were different and special in their own way.  The colors were definitely old world.  The nose on each was totally different with the hint of sherry in the Recchla. The taste of each kept getting better as the night went on, especially pairing with the lasagna.  Of course the cheeses were  perfect with each wine bringing out the wines best flavors.  The chocolates were just something different I had been wanting to try but for the most part, they worked.  It was really be hard for me to pick a favorite wine tonight because a truly loved them all! Now I know what to look for :).
Mary Jo:  This was truly a special class!  First, the wines were generously given to us by Lewis and Mary and came directly from Italy!  Second, the wines were DELICIOUS!  This was our first class with these wines and we were in for a treat!  It is rare that all three of us like all three wines.  It was so interesting how all three wines had the distinct flavor of raisins, with the Bolla having the least raisiny flavor.  The Recchla was port-like in its mouth, mores than the other two.  Additionally, the Recchla had a finish that never ended!  The pairings were unique to each wine.  The Cheddar paired best with the Bolla, the Gouda paired best with the Brunella and the Recchla paired best with the Manchego.  I found the Bolla to be delicious with the lasagna!  The potato chip chocolate was just okay with all three, but the Recchla worked well with the firecracker and the sea salt chocolate.  I can't pick a favorite because each worked so well with different parts of the meal and alone!  The wines were amazing, as was the company!  (And maybe if we all ask REALLY nicely, Lisa will share her lasagna recipe!!!)

In-Home Wine Tasting Fun!

Over this past year we three winos have enjoyed sharing our growing knowledge of wine at various social and charity events.  Wanting to spread our wings to small groups we also donated silent auction baskets with gift certificates including In-Home Wine Tasting parties for 8 people. This past Saturday we hosted our inaugural In-Home Wine Tasting at the home of a Silent Auction Bid winner!

Mary and Lewis were the awesome winners and we had a blast with them and their six guests!

The package included three wines and expertly paired gourmet cheeses including a little wine education and a whole lot of fun!  We even included set up of glasses, plates and cleanup just so the hosts could enjoy the evening just as much as their friends.

Not knowing them or their tastes, I spoke with the hosts ahead of time to get an idea of the wines they currently enjoyed.  They had lived in various countries so they were familiar with Italian and Spanish wines.  From that information I suggested a Blind Wine Tasting and we would stay with three dry reds.  At this point we 3 winos did our "homework" and chose three different wines and taste tested the cheeses so we would have a great evening.  Let the game begin!

We set up three glasses at each place setting of white appetizer plates on top of black chalkboard paper.  Our wine bottles were covered in the chalkboard paper and labeled A, B, and C.

With scoresheets for taking notes, we walked everyone through the steps we use in our own "classes". First, we took a look at the color of all three wines and let everyone come up with their own description.  Then we had them bury their noses deep into the glass to enjoy the nose or smell of each wine.  And finally.... TASTE the wine!....all the while sharing what everyone was tasting and taking notes.  Using a Wine Varietal sheet of a choice of SIX wines we had everyone vote on the three wines to see who got all or any of their choices correct.  Being the teacher that Beth is, we had them pass their papers to the right and they each "graded" them as we unveiled the wines. Our winner had two out of the three correct!  And is now the proud owner of a "Fish" winestopper!!

So I know you are dying to know what the wines were.....

Wine A-  Charles Krug 2010 Merlot ($19.99 at Randall's)

Wine B-  Beronia Rioja Reserva ($18.99 at Plaza Liquor)

Wine C-  Las Acequias 2010 Malbec ($14.99 at The Wine Merchant)

Once we revealed the wines, everyone enjoyed trying each of the following cheeses with each of the wines:

Flory's Truckle Aged Cheddar ( Missouri cheese from The Wine Merchant)

Cave Aged Gruyere Raw Cow Cheese (The Wine Merchant)

Manchego Cheese (Dierburg's)

Prairie Breeze Cheddar (Dierburg's)

What a fun time it was watching everyone trying new tastes!  Of course we had to add a little something extra - Bissinger's Dark Chocolate Covered Wine Grapes (from Fezziwig's).  Yum!

Well what a fun night we had presenting our first official In-Home Wine Tasting!  We want to thank Mary and Lewis for winning the Silent Auction Basket and hope they enjoyed the evening as much as we enjoyed "educating" them and their friends.

Cheers!

Lisa

Wine School Worden Hill Syrah Vertical Tasting, January 28, 2014

Worden Hill Vertical

Theme:
I was very excited to host this wine school. About a year ago a wine club I belong to, Winderlea Vineyards in Oregon, offered a three bottle vertical of their “boutique” Syrah that they had been quietly producing with winemaker Robert Brittan. Wine club members were able to order a 2008, 2009, and 2010 sampling of this wine. I love the Chardonnays and Pinots that Winderlea makes, so I was very interested to see what they could do with the Syrah grape in the cool climate.

The Wines:
Worden Hill 2010 Syrah

• Color: Inky, purple-a bit lighter in color around the edge  
• Nose:  Very earthy, some pepper, most fruit of the three on the nose 
• Mouth:  More tartness and acidity than we were expecting for a Syrah. Reminds Mary Jo of a Smarty!
• Price:  $45

Worden Hill 2009 Syrah

• Color:  Inky 
• Nose:  Earthiness again on the nose, with oak and pepper
• Mouth:  Less acidic than the 2010 with more spice on the finish, fruit is a bit darker, more well balanced   
• Price:  $45

Worden Hill 2008 Syrah

• Color:  Inky, darkest purple of the three vintages 
• Nose:  The nose of this vintage was completely different, some smokiness and tar 
• Mouth:  Finish was a bit flat 
• Price:  $45

Overall Conclusion:  A definite thread of similarity in each of the vintages, but each wine had its own nuance. Hands down the favorite for all of us was the 2009 vintage. We also agreed that we prefer a warmer climate Syrah.
 
The Pairings:
Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese:  Brought out fruit and balanced some of the tartness on the 2010 vintage, but overall we liked it best with the 2009 wine. Did not pair well with the ‘08.
Prairie Breeze Cheese:  Again it brought out some fruit and balanced the tartness of the 2010, but we enjoyed the most with the 2009-brought out the fruit and emphasized the spice on the finish.


French Cassoulet

Drunken Goat Cheese:  Do you see a theme-best with the 2009! The wine had enough body to handle the cheese and the spicy finish was great! Lisa says yum!
Smoked Sausage French Cassoulet:  The 2010 continues to taste a bit young but this dish did tamp down some of the tartness. It was much better with the 2009 and really improved the finish of the 2008. This was a first time recipe, so Beth was a bit nervous with how it would turn out, but we all enjoyed it. Thanks Dierberg’s Supermarket.
Godiva 72% Dark Chocolate:  This chocolate did not work at all with the 2008, was better with the other two vintages.
Lindt Dark Chili:  The chili in this chocolate paired better with the wines.

Conclusion:
Beth:  I was very excited to host this wine school because I love the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from Winderlea. Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed in these wines. I guess I like a warmer climate Syrah over the cooler climate style. Definitely enjoyed the 2009 vintage the most, pairing nicely with the food. Even if the wine didn’t live up to my expectations, the company definitely did!
Lisa:  I was really looking forward to our "special" wine class.  Vertical tastings are fun to experience the difference in the years especially when some years are better than others.  I think I liked the '09 best because the '08 may have been past it's prime and the '10 needed a little extra time? As for the pairings, the '09 was spot on with the cheeses and Beth's first attempt at the Smoked Sausage French Cassoulet was a winner! Even though we may not have been in love with all the wines, it won't stop me from trying  a vertical again!
Mary Jo:  We were all excited about this vertical tasting!  Obviously, Winderlea is synonymous with quality wines!  I believe we all agreed, however, that these cool climate Syrahs were not what we had expected.  We felt the best of the three wines was the 2009.  It paired the best with the food, even the Drunken Goat cheese.  The food was delicious and the wines certainly weren't "bad".  I think the three of us agreed that, for now, we prefer a warmer climate style Syrah.  Great class, and, as always, I enjoyed the evening of delicious food and wine with my good friends!

Cheers,
Beth