Fly Away With More MD Wines

Posted on August 4, 2013 by melsmosaic

And the fun continued with more Maryland wines. This time I was fortunate to have them be only a block away with a tasting at Vino Volo (that’s where part of the title came from). The mostly airport-known wine chain is expanding and Bethesda, MD (suburb of Washington, DC) was the first town to be fortunate enough to not require a boarding pass, standing in endless lines (unless they are super packed), taking your shoes off, putting your bags in plastic bins, having everything scanned and walking through the security gates. So much better — you just get to enjoy wine right away! You don’t drink away the pain. You enjoy it just to enjoy it.

Every week they have a tasting, from well known vintners (tears were rolling down my cheeks in a good way when Silver Oak was there…) to medium size ones to local ones that are working to make a name for themselves. After visiting MD wineries last weekend, I was able to taste wines from another one that is less than an hour north of here — Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard. They sampled four varietals and all of them blew me away, white and red.

The first one sampled was the Pinot Grigio. Had some nice fruity notes — pineapple, grapefruit.

Next was a Viognier — crisp, sharp. I can’t put a finger on the flavor, I just liked overall how powerful, yet subtle, it was for a white. Another sip, please.

Now, on to the big business, reds! That is my favorite color. I didn’t know there was good reason for this when I was under 21. The first was a blend…AMAZING. Yes, bring me my wine! This was the best wine of the night…Comus. Five varietals packed a huge punch to give amazing flavors and tastes that surround your nose and mouth with endless wine happiness.

At this point as I write this, the great Tim McGraw song “Fly Away” comes into my mind because of how good wine is, those non-country lovers, just fly away with Vino Volo, and all of us, just love our wine! Go pour yourself a glass if you don’t have one, or at least picture yourself with one. Ok, back to grapes…

Last but not least was one of my least favorite varietals that I will say, is totally growing on me. Good things come with age, right? Both wine and intelligence, perhaps? Anyway, it was a Cab(ernet Sauvignon). Very deep and complex. The couple next to me was torn between this and the prior as to which was their favorite, but opted for the Cab. Many people were split. But as mentioned, when I find a Cab I enjoy, I love it and I could have had much more of this, so I was thrilled, Cab and MD? Dang!!!

So to wrap up, Maryland, you are setting a name for yourself! Two weekends in a row, I am beyond impressed. I am not a national reviewer or commentator but I haven’t normally been a fan of this area. This is not a political comment in any way, shape of form, but I might start leaning a bit right…geographically, when I drink my wine.

MD Wineries — Cheers!

Posted on July 29, 2013 by melsmosaic

Last weekend I stepped away from the norm and decided to do this thing I rarely do — drink local wine. I love our west coast — bring me Napa, Sonoma, Oregon (going in October!!!) and Washington. But, I live in Maryland and wineries are not far away. So, why not explore what’s a car ride vs. a plane ride (aka several hundred dollars before the wine purchase) away.

Friends slated 3 wineries for the day and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting nothing superb but ended up with wines that I will put on my regular list.

Our first visit was to Elk Run in Mt. Airy. For the simple tasting you had 7 pours — lucky number, right? There was a nice variety. I was quite surprised when the Cab was my favorite. That’s normally my last resort for a the wine to choose when picking a red.

For the entire menu, it was quite extensive should you want a regular pour. This was our first visit, so didn’t want to go too crazy.

Our next visit was about 5-10 minutes away at Black Ankle. Their grapes grow on rocks and therefore get no leaves. Per our wonderful ‘pourer,’ it’s very sad. They get about 2.5 tons of grapes per acre because of the ground. But let me tell you, GREAT wine, particularly for Maryland. We tasted 4 wines and they were phenomenal.

At Black Ankle, they also want you to come enjoy a picnic and relax, so everyone in the group brought food and we kicked back and relaxed for awhile.

Our last destination was Serpent Ridge in Westminster. I will qualify this as more Maryland wine. Not spectacular, but we had already been to 2 wineries. It was nice to explore another location in the area and see what they have to offer, though.

We ended the day by returning to Black Ankle and kicking back for a little bit longer as some storms rolled in. I just have to say Cheers! to local wineries for expanding their vineyards, wineries, production, etc, etc, etc and drawing in the locals, visitors and everything else. The expansion of the wine industry throughout the country over the past couple years has been quite interesting. From the Finger Lakes in NY to MD and VA, to MI and TX. This country is up for some fun over the next decade+. Though I know I will always love the West Coast, just like supporting the farmers at your local farmer’s market, the same will soon come with wine. On that note, what are you pouring tonight?

No-Cook Delicious Meal

Posted on July 22, 2013 by melsmosaic

Well, it’s still nice and hot here in DC. That makes turning on anything in the kitchen unappealing. For the last week I’ve been craving gazpacho and finally got it done today. My favorite recipe is beyond simple. It barely requires a knife. Though it’s not from my favorite chef, I’ll give ’em dibs on the amazing recipe. It’s called Macho Gazpacho.

I add garlic to the recipe because that’s just essential to life and this kind of soup, and I cheat with Tabasco vs. jalapenos. I also didn’t use the entire amount of cayenne and used a regular vs. English cucumber (just cleaned out the middle/seeds).

You just cut some of the ingredients into smaller pieces, throw everything in the food processor, blend, eat. Before the actual eating part, I added some pre-cooked shrimp.

I served this with Stacy’s Pita Chips, olives from the olive bar at Wegman’s (ahhh, bliss…), some hummus and a new wine that the two sommeliers at Wegman’s recommended…a nice, crisp white from Spain, the Valminor Albarino.

Despite the heat, my friend and I sat outside to enjoy the meal and watched a thunderstorm roll in. It was a perfect meal and nice way to wrap up a weekend. Cheers until next time.

Voulez-vous dîner avec moi ce soir?

Posted on June 23, 2013 by melsmosaic

Etes-vous intéressé? Il y a un nouveau restaurant français à DC.

And now to English we go. Was getting together with some long-lost friends the other day and they did the searching for where to meet. There was rumor of a new French place that just opened its doors a few months back in the 14th street/Logan Circle area of DC so we wanted to check it out. The name, Le Diplomate.

Tough to get reservations so we took the risk of walking in and got there early enough to not have to wait too long. Two of us got there before the other tw0 and grabbed a drink at the bar. My friend had a glass of wine and I had a house cocktail that can be served either straight up or on the rocks. The Romarin – Absolut, St. Germain, rosemary, and grapefruit. Very nice and refreshing!

Once we were seated, there were many options on the menu, traditional for French fare. I will say, while looking it over, I had a great time talking to the waiter in French. When I can, I’ll do it. Have to practice. While looking over the menu, they bring you AMAZING bread. Baguette, wheat, cranberry-walnut stuff…waiter…another basket. Dang, so so so good! Two of my friends opted for raw oysters for appetizers and another for some (french) fries. I waited for the main course.

Main course-wise, two at the table went for Steak Frites, another went for Lamb Shanks. For me, because so much french food has dairy, not having had it for so long, and the lack of ingredients in it, had to go for Steak Tartare. Also ordered some grilled asparagus.

Overall recap of the evening. Great place, highly recommend trying it. I would also recommend aiming for a reservation or getting there early. It was packed 20 minutes after we arrived (6:15pm). Also give yourself tons of time. It took us 15 minutes to get a bottle of wine and water. Raw oysters took 30 minutes. Raw… Main courses took awhile too. We were so busy talking we didn’t really notice. On the wine note, we had the Kim Crawford Pinot Noir. We opted for a well priced option.

But, after dinner we were meeting some others and went across the street. That’s where we found some wine I’d never tried or heard of. It’s the Prima from Spain. Check out their site — I can’t decide the exact name of the bottler/vintner because the names change a bit on the site so I don’t want to say the wrong one. I just know this is where to visit — bodegasanroman.com.

U.S. Open the Wine

Posted on June 19, 2013 by melsmosaic

The title just makes me think of Jeopardy! with the great ‘Before and After’ category. I can never get those right. But in this case, the scenario was nailed right on the head!

Last Sunday, golf! Annual U.S. Open on Father’s Day. If you can’t be at the event watching or playing (hit the course for 9 holes on Saturday), what better to do than watch at home while enjoying some good wine and food? Got together with my vino-loving friends to spend countless hours watching those little white balls fly through the air, go into the water, hit the high grass or sink into that hole.

The beverage menu for the day started with some nice Prosecco. After that, we opened my contribution to the day. It was from a winery I visited while in Sonoma last year. Small little place with huge flavor in what they produce — Scribe. We enjoyed the 2008 Syrah. And these guy put some tough-to-remove wax on the top of the bottles (1/4″ thick or so) — darn that was tough to open, but made the wine taste even better.

To pair with my wine I opted to bring non-normal snacks…not just some quick dips, etc. I was craving some asparagus so opted for Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus. Just lightly coat the asparagus with olive oil, wrap each piece with prosciutto then place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, remove quickly, turn, then continue roasting until crisp. Voila, delicious! Can serve hot or cold. Ok, remembered to take a picture when there was one left.

Then also made some Sauteed Mushrooms with Asian Flair and Persian Cucumbers. Just cut some mini Portobellos into cubes and tossed them with soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil. Put them in a pan on the stove and sauteed them for a bit and the sauce got a thick. Put some sesame seeds in there for flair. Good!!! Then took some of those little Persian Cukes and cut them into decent thickness slices and tossed with lemon juice and salt and served on the side.

And back to wine we go. Next one my friends pulled out was an amazing Pinot Noir from OR — Ken Wright Cellars. A great way to finish the wine.

Now end of the Open-wise, my favorite didn’t win, but there is always next year. Cheers, par, or whatever suits you best.

From Cake to Castle

Posted on May 7, 2013 by melsmosaic

Weekend=great wine. I met once again with my great friends who last time hosted the epitome of wine tasting. This time it was at my place so I had to work my wine rack magic to attempt to match what they offered.

Though none of us seek out whites, sometimes you just have to go off the beaten path. To attempt to match reds, I opted for the well-known name of Cakebread and the nice varietal of Sauvignon Blanc. A refreshing way to start the evening.

After the white, we moved onto the more important stuff (RED!) with Chateau St. Jean. The most important thing to remember is not to get fancy with the name. Yes, the first one is french for castle. But, for the last word, think of denim, don’t go french, make it simple! The red we enjoyed first was the 2010 Pinot Noir…nice and smooth!

I was initially going to serve another Pinot Noir but opted instead to stick with Chateau St. Jean and one of their blends. It’s Cinq Cepages. It brings together five of their varietals for an amazing taste. Can’t do it justice in writing!

And to pair with the wine, cheese it always nice. The other day at Trader Joe’s I found a lactose intolerant’s dream — a package of 3 cheeses that we can eat — the Tapas Sampler! Non-cow milk delights. One of them did have a part of cow milk (with two others — so it had to be minimal), and at least for me, I didn’t have a problem.

So, come the end of the night, had another great time of friends, wine and food.

Cooking…4,5,6…Lobster Tail

Posted on April 20, 2013 by melsmosaic

After making biscotti last night I wanted to treat myself to a nice dinner. A grocery store had lobster tails on sale so I couldn’t resist that! Decided to just steam one, saute some spinach with garlic, get some tomatoes and a nice baguette to dip in olive oil & balsamic with Artisan Salt and pepper. Served all that with a very nice Pinot Blanc from Chateau St. Jean. Perfect dinner for a Friday night.

Bartender, a Malbec please

Posted on April 17, 2013 by melsmosaic

It’s April 17th. Do you know what that means? It’s Malbec World Day! What a day to celebrate. Open that bottle, pour, or grab that bartender’s attention (quickly!) and enjoy.

You might have that one varietal that you are stuck to, that you won’t steer clear of. Unless you’re already a Malbec lover (which means you’re thrilled and had wine vs. coffee this morning), take today as your jumping off point to sample a new varietal. You never know…you might have a new favorite.

And, have you ever wondered how many varietals there are for you to try? Check out this list.

Happy Malbec Sipping.

Masters of Golf = Mistress of the Kitchen

Posted on April 15, 2013 by melsmosaic

What a game, what a game! Overall the Masters was phenomenal once again, but those last few holes were absolutely amazing. Both Scott and Cabrera deserved the Green Jacket but in the end only one can wear it. Congrats to the first Australian to win the Masters.

Backing up a bit, one must have good food to watch such a game. So yesterday, I prepared (and bought) a nice mix of treats to stay entertained for several hours while enjoying the amazing golfers. Last week, Whole Foods’ Friday special was halibut, so I found a Halibut Ceviche/Ceviche Verde recipe. Unreal! From the fish to avocados, tomatillos and green olives (do we sense the greens here…equating to the jacket…), it was delicious. I highly recommend it!

With this, we nibbled on some great BBQ chicken from Rockland’s, chips, salsa, veggies, crackers, peanuts and dark chocolate covered pretzel slims. The wine for the evening was Ferrari-Carrano’s Viognier from Sonoma (oh, had some New Belgium Dig while prepping). A nice pairing to everything and a great evening all around.

Visit to the West Coast

Posted on April 14, 2013 by melsmosaic

I was quite surprised at my wine tasting last night (that I was preparing the food for). I thought it would be all Oregon Pinots. Well, not quite.

As soon as I get there, I am served a Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington. My hosts are 90% Pinot drinkers and they said they were blown away by this wine. I had a sip…smooth, velvety perfection. Feather is the name, 2009 vintage.

Next, we moved moved down a state to where I expected us to be — Oregon! We had an amazing Pinot Noir. Penner-Ash is from Willamette Valley and we enjoyed the 2011 vintage. Nothing can describe this wine unless you drink it. Nothing.

Last but not least we took a trip to the most southern state on the West Coast. We sucked it up and visited Cakebread. Darn. We sipped the 2010 Pinot Noir. Life is good.