Summer Sippers

It is hard to believe, but kids are headed back to school this week! Where has the summer gone? With plenty of warm days still left, I thought I would share some of my favorite warm weather sippers that I have enjoyed this summer.

Let's begin with Sauvignon Blancs from around the world! These summer sippers are wonderful alone on a hot summer or evening or paired with summer salads, asparagus, lobster, and crab cakes.

Gary Farrell 2013 Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc
A wonderfully crisp and zesty wine with citrus flavors of lemon and grapefruit with tropical notes as well. Gary Farrell is known for his Pinot Noirs, but this Sav Blanc is delicious. You can find online at www.garyfarrellwinery.com.  

Kim Crawford 2013 Sauvignon Blanc
The nose on this wine has the citrus and grassy notes Marlborough wines are known for. A fresh and zesty wine with a juicy acidity. Year in and year out a wonderful Sav Blanc at a great price and easy to find at your area wine and liquor stores as well as many grocery stores.

Sirius 2012 Maison Sichel Bordeaux Blanc
A nicely balanced wine with a more earthy aroma than the new world Sauvignon Blancs. This wine is 50% Sauvignon and 50% Sémillon with tropical fruits and floral aromas. Classic French mineral finish and well balanced, this wine is wonderful alone or with food.












Now a couple of white wines from Spain and Italy!

Fazi Battaglia 2011 "Titulus" Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi
The grape this Italian wine is made from is the Verdicchio grape from the Marche region. My husband and I first enjoyed this wine with a Margherita pizza at a café in Rome. It is also delicious with Bruschetta! The light bodied wine has citrus and herbal aromas - a bright and refreshing wine. I ordered mine at www.empirewine.com for $9.95 a bottle.

Martin Códax 2011 Albariño
Another favorite wine of mine year after year. This Spanish wine has citrus and fresh herb notes on the nose with a fresh palate of citrus and grapefruit. A favorite pairing of mine with this gem is guacamole! It also pairs well with seafood, shellfish, poultry, and mild cheeses.

Back in the US here are a couple from Oregon and the Finger Lakes of New York!

Elk Cove 2013 Pinot Gris Willamette Valley

Peach and pear with a full, almost creamy mouth feel that coats the mouth. This is an Editor's Choice from Wine Enthusiast receiving 91 points in the upcoming October issue. I will enjoy this delightful wine into the fall.

Barnstormer 2013 Chardonnay

This unoaked Chard has floral notes with pear and citrus on the finish. We discovered this wine from the Finger Lakes earlier this summer (See blog entry July 8, 2014). $17.99 a bottle at www.barnstormerwinery.com .

Last, but not least, a couple of Rosé wines to enjoy as well!

Herman J. Wiemer Dry Rosé Cuvée NV

Another delicious gem from the Finger Lakes. This wine is a blend of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay with notes of strawberries and raspberries. Fresh and crisp with a nice body it is easy drinking alone or with light fare. It is $13.50 at www.wiemer.com .

Isabel Mondavi 2013 Deep Rosé

This unusual Rosé is Cabernet based which gives it a bit more body than some Rosé wines. The wine is full of strawberry, cranberry and red apple. Wonderful alone or pair with spicy Thai, salmon, or this Labor Day with burgers and brats.

And if you are worried about taking your wine glasses outdoors, I have the perfect glasses for you! Govino shatterproof wine glasses. They are shaped like true wine glasses and are so thin you are able to taste the wine instead of the plastic. They even have an indentation for your finger to make it easier to hold on to your glass! You can find these glasses at The Wine Merchant in Clayton, MO or online at www.govino.com and www.amazon.com. Look for Champagne flutes, beer glasses, and decanters as well.

Cheers,

Beth

Wine Maker's Dinner

     Saturday evening was a first for two of the winos (Mary Jo was busy having a fun weekend with her hubby in Beverly Hills), we had our first ever “Winemaker’s Dinner” featuring Cobblestone Ridge Pinot Noir, that our husbands produced in my basement. Our guys were excited to try out their first batch of wine, but a little anxious as well. So we decided what better way to try their new wine than pairing with a great dinner and throw in a blind tasting to boot!

 

    

     Before we sat down to dinner, we decided to match the Cobblestone Ridge up against two other moderately priced Pinots from California. We chose the 2010 Castle Rock Mendocino County Pinot which came in at just under $15 and a 2011 Carmel Road Monterey Pinot priced at about $20 a bottle. Mike and Bart were a bit nervous trying their wine at such an early stage (only 6 months in the bottle), but they were hoping to learn from their first batch to improve future wines. And what better way to learn than tasting and experiencing! To make the tasting more interesting, we decided to invite our neighbors and friends, Jim and Carla, to get an unbiased impression. Each couple had three small carafes labeled a, b, and c filled with the three wines. We had time to examine the color both in the carafes and in our glasses, the nose, and finally the taste. We all made sure to save a bit of the wine to try with the dinner as well! When the results were in Mike and Bart were pleased. Although most were able to determine which wine was The Cobblestone, they felt it was very close quality to the Castle Rock wine which has had more time to mature. It will be interesting to let the wine sit 6 more months and see how it changes.

 

     Then it was time to eat! Everyone was starving after smelling the wonderful aromas from all food preparation. In deciding on the menu for the evening we tried to choose dishes that would pair well with Pinot. Bart made a fantastic pork loin rolled in spinach, spices, cheese, and pork belly! He found the recipe in the Wall Street Journal, Pragmatist's Porchetta. I made my Smoked Gouda Risotto with Spinach and Mushrooms (Cooking Light 1999 and myrecipes.com). There were plenty of green vegetables and Greek salad to top things off. Everything tasted fantastic and paired nicely with all of the Pinot Noir. We also enjoyed opening a 2008 J Vineyard Pinot, a 2011 Decoy Pinot, and to top things off a 2009 Elk Cove Shea Vineyard Pinot (thanks Bart and Lisa)-just to get the comparison of between Oregon and California Pinots. For dessert we had Bissinger’s Porcini Truffles. If you ever have a chance to pair those truffles with a Pinot-don’t miss out.

     What more can you ask for in an evening? We had great friends, wonderful conversation, delicious food, and fantastic wine. In the process we all learned a bit more about wine and the care and time it takes to make good wine. It really makes you appreciate all those hard working growers, pickers, winemakers, and all the support people it takes to make the wine we love to enjoy.

 

Cheers,

Beth

 

Wine Word of the Week

 

 

Deacidify -winemaking process undertaken only after very cool summers whereby the acidity of a wine or must is deliberately reduced, usually by adding calcium carbonate (chalk) or occasionally water.



Oregon Days 1 and 2

Lisa and I and our husbands have made it to Oregon! It is as beautiful as I imagined and the wine is wonderful. There is so much to share, I will try to hit the highlights so far.

We arrived Sunday and settled into our rental home, The Lake House, just outside of Yamhill. It is a charming home that sits on a beautiful pond filled with bullfrogs. It is fitting our needs beautifully. After settling in we had time to visit two nearby wineries, Elk Cove and Willakenzie. Both had sweeping views that we enjoyed while tasting their offerings. Our favorite of the day was Elk Cove Shea Pinot Noir. We brought some home for dinner that night and enjoyed it with an expertly prepared filet mignonette, creamed spinach, and garlic roasted potatoes, all expertly prepared by Lisa's husband.

Day two we met our tour guides, Fred and Marie Gunton from A Nose for Wine Tours. Fred is very knowledgable about wines and seems to know everyone in the area. His wife Marie, brought some great pairings to go along with our wines. We toured a variety of wineries ranging from the well established to some just getting started. My favorite Chardonnay of the day I found at the first site of the day, the Brick House. The tasting takes place in a wonderful old barn. They age their Chardonnay in neutral oak barrels, allowing the wines to have the crispness of an unoaked Chardonnay, but with more body. If I had to pick my favorite place of the day, it would be Winderlea. I love all of their Pinots, but my favorite was their Pinot from the Shea vineyard. I believe you can't miss with a wine that uses grapes from Shea vineyard! (sheawinecellars.com)

Today we are off to the Dundee Hills AVA to try some wine, taste some olive oil, and enjoy another wonderful day in Oregon. The only thing that could improve the day is if our cohort, Mary Jo, could be here with us!

Cheers,
Beth