Oh, Chateau

Posted on February 23, 2015 by melsmosaic

A couple years ago I visited Sonoma and one of the wineries my friend and I checked out was Chateau St. Jean. After the initial tasting, they of course give you the rundown of their Wine Club. My friend told me to treat myself and sign up. Their wine is amazing and I deserved it.

So last weekend there was just bad weather going on and I decided to open up a nice bottle of wine, just because. There was nothing happening, there was really nowhere to go/there was no way I was going to go do anything. I pulled a bottle of Chateau St. Jean (2009) Syrah out of my wine rack. I opened it. It had a nose of berries and bark — yes, bark, ok, maybe some would say wood, but I got bark. The taste just made me stand still. I can barely explain how good it was. Raspberries, blackberries, that bark, and tiny bit chocolate. Some darn, darn good wine. The best part is that I know exactly why I have the bottle and enjoyed it all the more because of it. Cheers!

Do you have a favorite bottle for some reason? Do you remember a bottle you bought for a specific reason?

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Anejo & Vino

Posted on October 26, 2014 by melsmosaic

The other night I went out to celebrate a friends 40th birthday at The Lounge at Bourbon Steak in Georgetown, in DC. Quite the place. I had never been there and it’s always nice to check out something new. And, it was amazingly nice for late October so we were able to sit outside, fully aware that they had those huge heaters for when it cooled down. The lounge had quite the menu and instead of going straight for wine, several cocktails caught my eye and I opted for the Morning Dew to begin. Not quite a margarita, but close. It was a perfect blend of anejo (tequila), fresh grapefuit, lemon and ginger on ice.

When that was done and more people arrived and wine was in full force, I went to California for some great vino. I found a Zin I’d never heard of, Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel. Fruity, leathery, very nice. Looking it up, it can range from $20-$25. I’m going to grab a couple bottles.

New California Pinot

Posted on January 26, 2014 by melsmosaic

Was checking out some wine tastings yesterday and had a (red) wine recommended to me that was not on the tasting menu. As we got to talking about great grapes and new world wine (my favorite), the pourer/sampler/whatever you’d like to call them, recommended Meiomi Pinot Noir from California. The grapes are from 3 regions in the state — Monterey, Santa Barbara and Sonoma. Quite unique — definitely a light color (very Pinot), but was tough to nail down the flavors at first. Got a bit a spice, then some light vanilla/candy, and a bit of fruit. Also, a vintner who’s using screwtops, if that’s something that catches your attention. Worth trying. At the great store of Rodman’s in DC (a wine lover’s pitfall, among two others in the area) it was $16.

Christmas Dinner

Posted on December 26, 2013 by melsmosaic

Last night we enjoyed quite a nice dinner of surf and turf, and of course some of great sides. The menu included salt-cake rib roast, salt-cake snapper, grilled Brussels Sprouts, popovers and Pinot Noir.

For the rib roast, cooking time was a few hours so that was planned well in advance. The ‘cake’ surrounds the roast and then it sits on the grill to cook to perfection. When done, you get to crack, break, peel it off.

The fish was one I’ve made several times the past couple months and that shared the oven with the popovers. We think it might have affected the popping of the popovers because they were pretty much just mounds of bread-like things.

For the Brussels Sprouts, we used an Alton Brown recipe. You microwave the sprouts for about 3 minutes then toss them in dry mustard, paprika, garlic, salt and olive oil.

You skewer them then put them on the grill for 10 minutes, turning once.

Final product of everything —

We enjoyed Pinots from Chile and (Sonoma County) CA with dinner, as well. The Chilean wine was Apaltagua and the CA one was Banshee. Both very nice pairings to match the surf and turf.

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.

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.