Saturday Night - Return of the Sauce – Part 1

As I wrote in my New Year’s Blog, we would be at Mick and Amy’s for dinner this Saturday. Mick was going to use up the garlic cream sauce I made New Year’s Eve in a risotto. The risotto ended up being the main dish of the evening as we started with King crab legs.

"Meaty and perfect with just a touch of lemon!"

Mick pick a 2008 Chateau de Valmer Vouvray to pair with the steamed crab legs which were served with butter or lemon depending on preference.

Rant time – I get somewhat annoyed when people have hot liquid butter with Crab or Lobster. I mean if you are going to drown it in butter, why the hell are you getting Lobster or Crab in the first place. If you are going to use butter with either of those items, go buy a bag of freaking popcorn as you won’t be able to tell the difference anyways and save yourself $20 you would have wasted on good seafood! Rant over and now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

"Vouvray = Chenin Blanc = What the hell is that?"

Vouvray is a region in the Loire Valley in France and it means the wine is Chenin Blanc. If you next question is what is Chenin Blanc, here is the answer - Chenin Blanc is a grape that was popular before Chardonnay became king of the whites. Most Chenin Blanc I’ve tried tends to be highly acidic and somewhat bland.

The 2008 Chateau de Valmer Vouvray caught me a bit off guard as it was anything but acidic or bland. The nose was very mild but you got an interesting combination of pineapple, peach and eucalyptus as the main aromas. The wine was done in a sweeter style that at time I found almost cloying at times. You got a big mango flavour off of the wine and a finish that quickly disappeared. On the upside it was a very easy drinking wine that made an interesting pairing with the crab legs.

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 87, Mark - 85, Kathy – 90, Amy - 88, Overall – 87.5

Here is the LCBO information on the wine -

Chateau de Valmer Vouvray 2008

Vintages 140624
750 mL bottle

Price: $ 16.95

Wine, White Wine,

12.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : MD

Made in: Loire, France

By: Jean Battelier

Release Date: Oct 10, 2009

Tasting Note - A very true-to-type Chenin Blanc with plenty of fruit balanced by zippy acidity. Pear, orange rind, table grapes and McIntosh apple fill the nose and palate. This is one off-dry Chenin that will reward 3-6+ years in a cellar. If you are anxious to try it tonight, match it to spicy dishes, such as vindaloo chicken or green curry shrimp. Or give it a go with soft cheeses, such as brie and Camembert. (VINTAGES panel, May 2009).

Click here for Part 2