Wine School, Merlot and Meatloaf, September 9, 2014

Theme:  

With Summer coming to an end. I wanted to get back to REDS! We haven't really tasted Merlot's in a while, so I thought about getting back to basics. I chose Merlot's from California, Chile, and a French Bordeaux from the right bank that would consist of mostly the Merlot grape. So here we go!

The Wines:

Kendall Jackson 2011 Vintner's Reserve (Sonoma County) Merlot

• Color:  Deep, ruby red
• Nose:  Initially mocha, spice, and dustiness came through. As it opened up more cherry and blackberry emerged.
• Mouth:  A dry medium-full bodied wine with a cherry tartness. Medium tannins are round with flavors of mocha and cherry and a nice finish.
• Price:  $16.99
• Rating: 3/5 (Beth), 3.5/5 (Lisa),   3.5/5 (Mary Jo)

Santa Ema 2009 Reserve (Maipe Vally) Merlot

• Color:  Deep, ruby red with a lighter outer ring
• Nose:  An aromatic wine with definite notes of asparagus, chocolate, spice, and vanilla. 
• Mouth:  Another medium-full bodied wine with smooth acidity, medium  plus tannins. Flavors of chocolate and red fruit with spice on the finish.
• Price:  $14.99
• Rating: 3.5/5 (Beth), 4/5 (Lisa),    4/5 (Mary Jo)

Chateau Jardin 2000 De Petit Village Pomerol

• Color:  A hint of brick in the deep red
• Nose:  An aromatic nose that definitely shows some age with aromas of tobacco, dust, and leather.
• Mouth:  A bone dry wine with medium, dry tannins. Fruit came forward with dinner.
• Price:  $23.99
• Rating: 3/5(Beth), 3/5 (Lisa),    3/5 (Mary Jo)

Overall Conclusion:  

These three wines each had distinctive characteristics that you might expect coming from three different regions. We enjoyed the finish on the Kendall Jackson, and the nose on the Santa Ema was very distinctive with the asparagus notes! Definitely a wine from Chili. The French wine benefited from spending some time in the decanter and we enjoyed it much more with food. (Ratings are on a 1-5 scale with 5 being best.)

Pairings:

Merlot BellaVitano Cheese:  Delicious cheese that paired well with all the wines. It paired the best with the Santa Ema, and it really popped the French wine. Lovely with the Kendall Jackson as well, cherry and blackberry of the wine came forward.

Manchego Cheese:  Enjoyed this cheese best with Santa Ema Merlot. Pairing was fine, but not as enjoyable and the first cheese.

Candian Cheddar Cheese:  Enjoyed the cheese, but was a difficult pairing with the wines. It was the best match with the French wine.

Meatloaf:  Meatloaf made a nice pairing with the wines. It was difficult to pick a favorite between the Kendall Jackson and Santa Ema.

Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate w/Caramel:  Wonderful pairing, brought out fruit in the wines. Would definitely recommend this pairing.

Bissinger's Chocolate Covered Wine Grapes:  Not a wow like the dark chocolate with caramel, but a nice pairing overall. Better with the Kendall Jackson and Santa Ema than with the French wine.

Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate w/Sea Salt & Almonds:  Another nice pairing. It was interesting how it brought a nuttiness in the Kendall Jackson wine.

Conclusion:

Beth:  With the weather beginning to change it was nice to have a comfort wine/food night! Merlot sometimes gets a bad wrap as being to overly fruity, but that was not the case with these wines. My favorite of the evening was Santa Ema with the Kendall Jackson coming in as a second. Overall I felt it paired best with our meal. It also had such a distinctive nose with the aromas of asparagus. Thanks Lisa for a wonderful evening!
Lisa:  Wow!  Have Merlot's changed?  They were not what I was expecting.  Since Merlot's were what I first ventured into with dry reds many years ago, I thought they would be a little more fruity.  However, the  Kendall Jackson was the most fruit forward of the three on it's own but with food the other two did popped some fruit flavors too.   As a sipper on it's own, I think my favorite was the Santa Ema but with food I may lean a little bit toward the Kendall-Jackson.  Although the French wine was definitely the most interesting!   

Mary Jo:  I was thrilled to revisit an old favorite, and happily surprised that the quality just keeps improving!  My overall favorite was the Santa Ema.  What a great wine for a great price!!!  It really had a wonderful complexity on the nose with aromas like canned corn and asparagus, smoke, chocolate and vanilla!  Definite notes of red fruit, vanilla and spice on the palate.  To me, the Santa Ema paired the best with the food, with the exception of the chocolates.  The Kendall-Jackson was also very interesting on the nose with dusty, blackberry scents with hints of tart cherry, mocha and spice.  This wine had a wonderful, medium finish!  The Le Jardin was earthy on the nose, with little to no fruit, and hints of leather and tobacco.  This wine paired well with the Merlot BellaVitano cheese and the cheese made the wine's fruit pop on the finish.  Each of these wines was distinct and were wonderful for comparison!  It definitely feels like fall!  Thanks, Lisa, for a great class!!

Wine School - Syrah/Shiraz Blind Tasting, September 12, 2013

 Theme:  Syrah/Shiraz-Can you tell the difference?

          With the summer coming to an end, I was ready to get back to reds so I wanted to try something we haven't done in a while.  I chose a wine that was the same grape but three different parts of the world-California, Australia, and France.  I wanted to see how  the difference in terroir would effect the wines.  Blind tasting was just going to let our senses take charge. Here we go!

The Wines

Qupé 2010 Central Coast Syrah

• Color:  Beautiful ruby colored, the lightest in color of the three wines.
• Nose:  Delicate nose with white pepper, subtle red fruit, earthiness with floral notes as the wine opened up.
• Mouth:  Medium bodied wine with light tannins, a long finish with pepper and mineral notes.
• Price:  $19.99
• Conclusion:  An enjoyable wine, definitely lighter in body than some California fruit bomb Syrah's out there. We all agreed this was our second favorite of the evening. It paired well with the majority of the evening's dishes.

 

Elderton 2008 Barossa Shiraz

• Color:  Dark inky purple wine with a hint of brown around the edges - the darkest of the three wines of the evening.
• Nose:  Very rich, dark luscious, red fruit that made our mouth water. Hint of chocolate as the wine opened up.
• Mouth:  A full bodied wine with tart fruit, and bigger tannins than the first wine as we expected by the appearance. A lovely long finish. Definitely a wine that will stand up to meat.
• Price: $21.99
• Conclusion:  Hands down this was the favorite wine of the evening. We all agreed we loved this wine alone as well as it pairing best with all of the food. We loved the luscious, dark fruit this wine displayed.

Chateau de Lancyre 2009 Coste d'Aleyrac Coteaux d Languedoc

• Color:  Dark purple
• Nose:  This wine had more musty, earthiness on the nose. Each wine's varied terroir has really come through on the noses of these wines.
• Mouth:  Medium body with big mineral and dark licorice on the finish.
• Price: $19.99
• Conclusion:  We enjoyed the mouth feel of this wine but felt it definitely benefited from being paired with food. At times we felt the minerality was too strong for our liking.

The Pairings

Cheeses

• Drunken Goat (Spanish):  Wow! This cheese was fantastic and definitely the best wine and cheese pairing of the evening. It was to die for with the Elderton Shiraz. Thank you Wine and Cheese Shop for recommending this pairing.
• Old Brugge (Belgium):  This cheese was delicious. It had a great nuttiness. We enjoyed it very much with the Elderton (not as much as Drunken Goat though) and with Qupé. Those overpowering mineral notes came through too much when paired with the French wine. 
• Five Year Gouda:  We enjoyed this cheese, but was our least favorite of the evening with these wines. Again it was the best with the Australian Shiraz, the fruit of this wine standing up to this strong cheese. It definitely was a no with the Qupé, but was a bit better when paired with the French Syrah.

Entrée

• BBQ Ribs:  Excellent choice for our entrée! We thought it paired best with the French wine, but Qupé was a close second. This was one of the only choices for the evening that we didn't enjoy as much with Elderton Shiraz.
• Mashed Potatoes:  Who would of thought mashed potatoes would be such a great side paired with these wines. We enjoyed with all three wines, it especially gave the French wine more complexity.

Chocolates

• Lindt Touch of Sea Salt Dark Chocolate:  Our favorite chocolate pairing of the evening-went will with all three wines.
• Ghirardelli Intense Dark Cabernet Matinee:  This chocolate did not work with any of the wines.
• Ghirardelli Twilight Delight 72% Cacao:  This intense, dark chocolate did not work well with the French wine, brought out the fruitiness in the Cali Syrah, and didn't work at all with the Aussie wine.

Conclusion

Beth:   What a successful wine class, cheers to Lisa! It is always a challenge to taste wines blindly. I find myself second guessing my answers like I'm back in school taking a test! This blind tasting really highlighted how terroir can affect the wine. The Australian, with warm sunshine, was big and powerful while the French and American wines had more of a savory aspect with spice and mineral notes coming through. I must agree with Mary Jo that my favorite of the evening was the Barossa Shiraz. It was luscious! And the Drunken Goat with the Barossa was out of this world.
Lisa:  Blind tasting is always fun- it's like a box of chocolates- you never know what you're gonna get!  Starting with the nose, each of the wines was sssooo different. From peppery to earthy to musty, the terrior made the difference.  Yes, the hands down favorite was the Barossa and we guessed that one right! As for the cheeses, the Drunken goat was the fav.  I was so looking forward to the aged gouda but was surprised it didn't pair very well.  The entree of ribs and mashed potatoes was best with the French wine.  We realized it wasn't a stand alone wine and the food sure brought out the best of it. Again, one chocolate stood out above the rest and it was the Touch of Sea Salt by Lindt.  All in all it was a fun night!
Mary Jo:  I love blind tastings!  It is truly a class where you have to really concentrate on what you have learned, to try to identify different characteristics that make up each wine.  It is also a time when you realize you might not know as much as you think you do!  These three wines were distinctly different.  My favorite of the three was the Barossa Shiraz.  I must stay, the Barossa paired with the Drunken Goat cheese was probably the best wine and cheese pairing I have enjoyed to date.  I was overwhelmed with how rich the wine tasted with this cheese.  It brought out a caramel/toasted flavor in the wine that was simply delicious.  It paired well with almost everything.  We have found that some of the cheeses, by virtue of their aftertaste, can sometimes make pairing difficult.  We definitely noticed this with the 5 year gouda.  The cheese is delicious, but the aftertaste does not go well with the wines.  The French wine paired very well with the ribs, and, overall, I felt this wine wasn't one that should be enjoyed without food.  The Qupe paired well with most of the foods and was the lightest bodied of the three.  It had a nice, lingering peppery finish, and was more earthy than fruity.  A wonderful class, with some great wines!  Of course, the company always makes it a perfect night!  Thanks, Lisa!!

 

Wine School, White Burgundies and Chardonnay, January 30, 2012

Wines

Perraud Macon-Villages White  2011

Color:  Pale, straw yellow

Nose:  Hints of lemon, lime zest, herbs, and wet stones.

Mouth:  Very crisp, light wine with nice minerality on a lingering finish with a hint of salt.
Price: $16.99

Conclusion: Enjoyed by all. Light, refreshing, would love to enjoy with a light meal sitting outside. 

Pairings

Cheese

• Havarti Cheese with Dill-went well with the herbs of the wine.
• Barber's 1833English Vintage Cheddar-not a match.
• Gruyere Cheese Roth Grand Cru-really enhanced the finish, made the cheese more vibrant.

Popcorn-just ok-now wow factor.
Crab Cakes-very good.
Smoked Salmon-just ok.
California Pizza Kitchen White Pizza-nice match.
Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk Sea Salt Escape-wonderful, definitely recommend.

Domaine J.M. Boillot Bourgogne 2011

 

Color:  Straw yellow                                                                                                                                   

Nose:  Creamy oak with a bit of nuttiness and a hint of citrus.

Mouth:  Wonderfully balanced wine, refreshing with a bit of creaminess and nice mineral finish.

Price: $22.99

Conclusion:  Overall this was another hit with the winos, a bit more full bodied than the first wine. It paired wonderfully with the crab cakes, Havarti Dill Cheese, and the White Pizza.

Pairings

Cheese

• Havarti Cheese with Dill-wonderful!
• Barber's 1833English Vintage Cheddar-brought out the oakiness of the wine in a nice way.
• Gruyere Cheese Roth Grand Cru-it enhanced the fruit of the wine, but didn't work with the finish.

Popcorn-Fantastic
Crab Cakes-very good!
Smoked Salmon-better than first wine, but nothing special.
California Pizza Kitchen White Pizza-very nice pairing.
Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk Sea Salt Escape-didn't work.

Gundlach-Bundschu Chardonnay 2010
 

Color: Straw yellow

Nose:  Very earthy in an unappealing manner, very musty.

Mouth:  The musty earthiness was present on the mouth too. It overpowered the fruit.

Price:  $20.99

Conclusion:  We feel that this wine was compromised in some way. It definitely had an old, mustiness on both the nose and mouth. It is our opinion that the wine was "corked". A wine is corked when a faulty cork, tainted with chemicals, leech into the wine. These trace chemicals aren't dangerous, but cause the odor that overwhelms the fruit of the wine. A disappointment, but it is estimated that 3-5% of all wines are "corked".

Final Thoughts:

Beth -  I was excited to compare the two French Burgundies to a U.S. Chardonnay, so I was disappointed when the U.S. wine was corked, but I think we still were able to get a sense of how the style of the French wines differ from U.S. Chardonnay. I enjoyed both of the French wines, and find it hard to pick a favorite. I loved the Perraud with the Ghiradelli Gourmet Milk Sea Salt Escape, but I found the Domaine Boillot best overall with our food pairings.

Lisa - This class was a great way to compare Chardonnays from very different soils-France and America.  I was looking forward to tasting the differences, however, agreed that the American was not up to par.  I'm sure we'll give it a try another time!  I think I had to favor the Domaine J.M. Bouillot over the other French wine (althought they were both delicious).  I preferred the cheeses with this one but who can resist the white pizza!

Mary Jo-This class was very interesting and I felt like I came away with so much new information!  As we know, the Winos like their reds, but the two French Burgundies were really wonderful!  Unfortunately, as Beth indicated, the U.S. Chardonnay we planned to compare the Burgundies to was corked.  However, it did provide us with a good lesson on what corked wine smells and tastes like!  I felt the Gruyere enhanced the finish of the Perraud and the Havarti with dill great with both the Perraud and the Domaine Boillot.  The English cheddar brought out the oakiness and creaminess of the Domaine Boillot.  As far as the chocolate, it was great with the Perraud.

Wine School, Zinfandel vs. Primitivo, January 17, 2013

Wine School, January 17, 2013

Primitivo, Zinfandel, Old Vine Zinfandel

Wines

 

Layer Cake Primitivo 2010

Color:  Opaque, ruby red

Nose:  Must, oaky, woodsy with white pepper. Mary Jo picked up a garden mixture aroma with a hint of mint too.

Mouth:  Fruit up front with minerality and a lovely mid palate. The finish drops off.
Price:  $15.99

Conclusion: A nice, easy drinking everyday wine. 

Klinker Brick Old Vine Zinfandel 2010

Color:  Dark, deep ruby

Nose:  Deep blueberry and blackberry notes with some mustiness, and a hint of smokiness.

Mouth:  Nice finish with notes of pepper, a balanced jammy fruit. Definitely a longer finish than the Layer Cake.
Price:  $19.99

Conclusion:  This wine was definitely the favorite of the bunch. We all loved the finish and it seemed to pair best with most of the food. We especially enjoyed it with the White Pizza and dark chocolate.

Rosenblum Cellars Appellation Series Zinfandel 2005

Color:  Brick red

Nose:  Fresh pumpkin, dark fruit, with underlying earthiness

Mouth:  Some tartness on the finish with big tannins, acidic with a bit of spiciness on the finish.
Price:  $17.99

Conclusion:  This wine seemed to be a bit chewy for all of us and the tannins seemed a bit out of balance. It may be that wine had already met its prime.

Pairings

Cheese

• Gouda
• English Cheddar

California Pizza Kitchen White Pizza
Mexican Layer Dip
Chocolate

• 72% Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate
• Lindt Chili Chocolate

Final Thoughts:

Beth -  I love Zinfandels so this was a great class and perfect for a cold, winter night! Klinker Brick was by far my favorites of the wines we sampled tonight. I loved its finish and it went well with most of the pairings. It was fantastic with the layered Mexican dip and the dark chocolate. The Layer Cake was a bit disappointing in its finish, but the finish did improve with the food.  The Rosenblum was interesting with lots of tannins. I could see pairing it with a grilled steak. It was also wonderful with the Lindt Chili Chocolate. My biggest disappointment was the cheese just didn't stand up to these wines.

Lisa - It's been a while since I've had a Zinfandel so I was ready for the class!  Starting with the Layer Cake which I have had a few times in the past was very good but I think older vintages were a little better than the 2010.  The Klinkerbrick was definitely my favorite! I've had it a few times and with its high alcohol content (15.8% yikes!) you could get too much of a good thing, so be careful.  Finishing with the  Rosenblum, the tannins were a little on the high side for me. As for the food pairings, Klinkerbrick was by far the best and the chocolates were my favorite!

Mary Jo-I was so excited to do this class.  I have been so into spicy wines lately!  I have to agree with Beth with my favorite wine being the Klinker Brick.  I have to admit, I have had this wine several times and love it every time.  I did this class because DNA testing in the late 90's revealed that the zinfandel grape was identical to the Primitivo grape of Italy.  I thought we would pair that with a zinfandel and an "old vine" zinfandel.  I can't say that the three were strikingly similar - as I thought they would be.  The finish on the Layer Cake Primitivo was abrupt, but the food pairings did help.  The cheeses, while recommended, did not pair well, but the chili chocolate was a delicious pairing.  Klinker Brick takes the prize for the evening!

My Heart "Wines" For You!

With Christmas and New Years are behind us, it is now time to think about the most ROMANTIC holiday of the year - Valentine's Day!  Are you looking for a nice wine or a wine-related gift to give your sweetheart?  Here are a few on-line stores that offer a huge assortment of wonderful items for that special person in your life.

There are a host of wineries and other gift shops that offer, not only deals on wines for this special day, but offer baskets that pair wines with various cheeses, chocolates and crackers!   Last year, I purchased a set of small bottles of Papapietro Perry wines that were paired with chocolates.  It was a very  nice way to try several PP wines, without going overboard!  It was our own little wine tasting!

During my research for the best wine gifts, I first found that winecountrygiftbaskets.com offers a variety of Valentine's Day wine baskets pairing wine (sparkling or non, red or white) and chocolate, crackers or a combination of both!  Also, for non-wine drinkers, they offer coffee and tea baskets, as well as baskets for breakfast in bed!  Chocolates include Ghirardelli and Godiva, and Oreos are offered too! Some baskets even come with a darling stuffed bear.  Depending on the basket, shipping may be free!

The next site that I found to have wonderful gifts was wine.com.  Through wine.com, you can buy single bottles or multiple bottles of wine, or gift baskets!  Chocolates available include, Godiva, Brix and Ghirardelli.  I found a beautiful decanter, pictured below, whose handle is shaped like a heart!  Also, with your first order of $49 or more, you only pay one cent for shipping!

If you would like a personalized gift, I would suggest redenvelope.com.  I have purchased several things from Red Envelope, and have always been pleased.  This company has unique personalized gifts, such as a personalized wine cellar sign, personalized lazy susan, or an all-inclusive picnic backpack, just to name a few.  Red Envelope also carries wine baskets, as well!

Interested in something really unique?  How about designing your own wine label for your honey?  If you go to personalwine.com, you can design your own wine label and select your own wine!  The web site seems extremely user friendly and production takes approximately ten days.  You can buy individually or in bulk, or you can just buy the labels!  In addition, etchinexpression.com will etch a beautiful design with your special message right onto a wine bottle!  This is a wonderful keepsake that makes a beautiful decoration after the wine has been enjoyed!

There are plenty of other wine-related gift ideas for the wine lover in your life.  A personalized wine tote with a heavy duty corkscrew would be a great idea!  How about a membership to a wine club, it is the gift that keeps on giving!

If you are the creative sort, make your own wine basket tailored to your special person!  Buy a bottle or  two of their favorite wine, crackers, chocolates, a candle, a couple of nice glasses and a red rose for good measure!  Put all the items in a basket, or a large wine box or tote and put a bow on it.  I guarantee that it will be a hit!

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Image from corkjoy.com)

Cheers!
Mary Jo

Wine Word of the Week



Brix - A scale used to measure the sugar content of grapes before harvest or unfermented grape must. This scale can help to estimate the alcohol level in the finished wine.