Saturday Night – Three new wines – Part 1

Mick and Amy hosted this past Saturday night’s dinner. Mick had two new recipes on tap and three new wines to try as well.

"Mick's Insalata Caprese salad"

The first course was Mick’s version of Insalata Caprese salad, which is usually made from tomatoes, basil and Buffalo mozzarella, Mick’s version had these but he also added sliced red onion and sliced avocado. He paired this with a 2008 Amayna Sauvignon Blanc.

"Holy Heat Batman!"

The nose on the wine was a mix of lime, white grapefruit and cut crass. Tasting the wine the first thing you’ll notice is the heat or alcohol of the wine with some grapefruit and butter in the background. Mick described this wine as Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc with a shot of vodka and that is a pretty good description. I did however like this wine with the food but wasn’t as keen about it on its own.


Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 86, Mark - 85, Kathy – 84, Amy – 86, Overall – 85.25

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

AMAYNA SAUVIGNON BLANC 2008


Vintages 77693
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 17.95
Wine, White Wine
14.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Chile, Chile
By: Viña Garcés Silva
Release Date: Jun 26, 2010


Tasting Note - Very fresh, with bracing lemon peel, white asparagus and herb notes backed by a clean, salt-tinged finish. Deliciously pure. Drink now. Score - 90. (James Molesworth, www.winespectator.com, June 30, 2009)

I’m huge fan of Insalata Caprese salad and wasn’t sure about Mick’s changes to it, but after trying it I found it was a nice change of pace from the original recipe.

Click here for Part 2