Wine Recap

Posted on January 19, 2014 by melsmosaic

Over the past month, I’ve had a nice spread of new wines that I’m finally getting around to posting about. From red to white to bubbly, I love trying new happy grapes to add options to my wine rack.

#1 — Fire Road Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand. Citrus, apple, crisp, light, but still a nice weight to it. Price seems to range from $10-$16/bottle (when looking online).

#2 — Oakley Eighty-Two, California Red Wine. Who makes this one? One of my favorite vintners — Cline. Nice red blend that’s a bit heavier (jammy) and can pair with about anything. Great to have on hand to open and serve (or drink) whenever needed. Price is about $10-$12/bottle.

#3 — Diseno Old Vine Malbec, Argentina. Fruit and spice can make a wine so nice. Price is $8-$10.

#4 — Bleasdale Vineyards Sparkling Shiraz, Australia. I seek out sparkling reds. This one is better than some but a bit sweet. Was drinking it on New Year’s Day, though, so very fun for the occasion. Definitely worth trying. Price is $16-$20. Note, the picture in the link is different than the one below, they might have changed the bottle/label.

#5 — Alvarez de Toledo Roble, Spain. Just a nice red wine. I was at a friend’s place for dinner and it was out and it was so nice. Doing some searching looks like it’s about $8-$10 bottle.

Wente Chardonnay, Livermore Valley, California. Some apple, some tropical fruit. Aged in both barrels and stainless steel tanks it’s a very unique wine. Definitely a Chard I’ll add to my list. About $12-$14.

#6 — Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz, Australia. Berries, a hint of chocolate and smoke and a bit of pepper. Very nice. About $20-$25.

Give Me a Fiver

Posted on January 9, 2014 by melsmosaic

Who’s not always looking for a bargain, and a good tasting one at that? Just saw this great article/blog on epicurious.com about value wines under $5. Will definitely add these to my notes. Never hurts to have them around.

Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw (aka Two Buck Chuck)
Trader Joe’s Coastal
Whole Foods Three Wishes
Walmart Oak Leaf
ALDI’S Winking Owl

Source: epicurious.com

Wine Notes

Posted on November 22, 2013 by melsmosaic

I was flipping through my recipe binders last night searching for something to make for a gathering this weekend and what do I come across? Notes from a wine class I took in 2004. Hmmm…I knew nothing about wine back then. I remember drinking that bright blue bottle of super sweet Riesling and other quality stuff. I never sank so low as White Zin, though, fear not. I loved reading over some of this info. Lots of good notes to keep in mind.

Basic Rules (per the instructor):

-Drink what the locals drink — ‘when in Rome, …’

-Drink what you want to drink, not what somebody else tell you is the ‘right wine’

-Beware that some pairings will clash (like spicy Shiraz with angelfood cake)

-Main ingredient is important but…

-Accents in the sauce and seasonings are the focus of the flavors

-Time of day is important:
-afternoons – maybe whites or roses work best
-evenings – fuller-bodied whites and reds are more satisfying

-Season:
-hot summer afternoons
-cool to cold winter evenings
-instructor deep thought — air conditioning was probably invented so that red wine would taste better in the summer. Nice!!

-Temperature:
-cold dishes need cold wines, usually lighter wines
-warm/hot dishes need bolder flavors and bigger wines

-Length of time cooking:
-short cooking (stir fries, seared, etc) suggests lighter wines
-longer cooking suggest heartier wines

-What else is on the plate?:
-one bottle for an entire meal presents problems
-some meals, think Thanksgiving, offer a wide range of flavors that are tough to match

-Pick wine that matches the weight and ‘size’ (bigness of flavor):
-simple, fragile wines with simple, fragile flavors
-robust wines with hearty dishes

-Texture:
-best example of texture in wine is sparkling wine (or beer) with spicy Asian food
-consider this range of texture: filet of flounder, lobster tail, steak

-Cooking with wine:
-easiest rule: serve the same wine
-therefore: never cook with cheap wine

-Sweet wines are tough to match with main dishes, but not impossible:
-Americans are used to drinking sweet drinks (soda, iced tea) — why not sweet wine?
-the secret is in balancing sweetness and acidity

Great wine (vs food) for thought when hitting the stores this weekend and deciding what to pick up.

Wine Class #3

Posted on November 19, 2013 by melsmosaic

And I go back a class. In the third week we bounced around a little on what we learned about, but some of the main points I took home were:

-the ‘parents’ of Cabernet are Sauvignon Blanc and Cab Franc

-high tannins and acidity are the base for Bordeaux

-Cabernets and Chardonnays adapt to climate

-Syrah=crowd pleaser

We tasted quite the range of wines that night, darn!

2011 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand, about $13

2011 Willm Geurztraminer, Alsace, France, about $16

2009 Chateau les Grands Marechaux (Merlot), Blaye Cote de Bordeaux, France, about $24

2012 Milton Park Shiraz, South Australia, Australia, $9 — definitely lived up to the price

2012 Punto Final Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina, about $13 — almost ‘raisin-ed’

2012 Clos Le Vouvray (Chenin Blanc), Loire Valley, France, about $20

2011 Chateau de Chasseloir Muscadet, Loire Valley, France, about $12 — pair with salt

2011 Tres Picos Garnacha (Grenache), Borsao, Spain, about $18 — love this one!

2011 Karl Erbes Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany, about $18

Living (the) Social (Life)

Posted on November 6, 2013 by melsmosaic

Last weekend in DC, LivingSocial had a deal that looked good, almost too good. Per the email, for $39 you could get a luxurious 1.5 hour Wine & Chocolate Tasting AND 4 bottles of wine to take home? The tasting part included 6 tastings and nicely paired chocolates. Then 4 FULL SIZE bottles to take home. I figured even if they were roughly $10 bottles you break beyond even. Only Two (or Three) Buck Chuck would make it a bad deal if you’re that picky.

So, a few friends and I took the plunge and checked it out. It was nice! Gorgeous set up, you check in, get a nice tasting glass (plastic, ergonomic with finger ‘area’ and stemless — SMART!) and wine tickets. You travel from stations 1-6 and get a rundown on the wine and the taste, of course, and unique chocolate paired with it. The whole place was not too loud and very laid back.

The wines we tasted were 3 whites (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Moscato) and 3 reds (blend, Malbec, Merlot):

Before we left, we each turned in our last tickets and were handed a box of 4 random bottles of wine. They weren’t necessarily ones we tasted that night. Between my friends and I, each of us had at least one of the bottles we sampled. After some research, I found that the average cost of the bottles was about $9. Not bad considering the price of the event. Would love to see more of these come to town!

OR Winery Visits

Posted on October 16, 2013 by melsmosaic

After checking out the first Oregon winery, I was nice and warmed up. I checked out several others during the rest of my days in wine country.

Adelsheim Vineyard — Not what I was expecting, as in many whites. But, lots of reds, too…

Bergstrom Winery — Took/could taste a ton of influence from France.

Alexana Winery — First, fun road to get there/a little off the beaten path! Great variety of wines, hard to pick from (as in which was best).

Lange Estate Winery and Vineyards — that fishing lure of a logo pulls you in then you get the goods! I love Pinot land!

Sokol Blosser Winery — They just remodeled their tasting room, which was very nice to check out. I had never had a Rose from OR. There is a first (amazing) time for everything! They also make an ‘everyday’/table wine under the name of Evolution.

Great time, great wines, keep ’em coming Oregon!

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.

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.

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.

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.