Sunday Night – A little of this and a little of that

You may have noticed that the Blog has be a tad quite recently, this is due to Mick, Amy, Kathy and my Saturday schedules being busier than usual. No Saturday night dinners means no Blog articles. This past Saturday Mick and Amy had plans so we didn’t get together. Sunday afternoon I got a call from Mick asking what we were doing for dinner and the four of us decided to get together for an impromptu dinner.

"New recipe"

Saturday night I tried a new recipe for a chorizo sausage and shrimp soup. There was a quite a bit leftover so that was my course for the Sunday dinner. Mick did up some chicken enchiladas as his course.

One of the reasons I did the soup up in the first place was the suggested wine pairing was Rioja. I’ve been on a Rioja kick recently and find when I try a new style of wine I like to try as many of them as possible.

"Good but very filling"

I had a bottle of 2004 Baron de Ley Rioja that I’d never tried before and picked it as the pairing for the night.

"More Rioja"

The nose was quite aromatic with notes of cocoa, leather, earth, clove and some very faint strawberry in the background. The structure of the wine was OK but the acidity was a touch high which made the wine seem tart. The main flavour of the Baron de Ley was sour cherry with vegetal undertones. It was a decent pairing with the soup and an OK pairing with the enchiladas.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 87, Mark - 89, Kathy – 87, Amy - 86, Overall – 87.25

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

BARÓN DE LEY RESERVA 2004

Vintages 958868
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 21.95
Wine, Red Wine,
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Rioja, Spain
By: Baron De Ley
Release Date: May 23, 2009

Tasting Note - A classy, traditionally made Rioja -- 100% Tempranillo, 20 months in American oak, plus 24 months in bottle before release. It shows pretty aromas of blackberry, fig, raisin, and cedar. In the mouth, it's dry, medium-bodied with well-typed fruit flavours balanced by silky tannins, and completing the picture is a pleasing medium-long finish. Delicious with chorizo sausage, lamb skewers, or a selection of hard cheeses. (VINTAGES panel, Sept. 2008)

Cheers!

Mark