Last Saturday night we added Pat and Jack to our usual Saturday night dinner with Mick and Amy. I had a new Chilean Viognier that I wanted to try so my first course was hummus and pita which happens to be a great pairing for Viognier. I also did a Tomato and Feta salad to go with this course as well.
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| "Hummus, Tomato and Feta" |
The nose on the 2009 Anakena Viognier was pretty with gooseberry, peach, lychee and cut grass. Tasting the wine you’ll notice a grapefruit flavour running the length of the wine. The mid-palate and finish of the wine had a slight bitterness to it that I wasn’t keen on. It was a decent pairing with the food.
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| "Not a bad little wine for $14" |
Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 85, Mark - 84, Kathy – 85, Amy – 85, Overall – 84.75.
Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –
ANAKENA SINGLE VINEYARD VIOGNIER 2009
VINTAGES 45138
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 13.95
Wine, White Wine
13.7% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Chile, Chile
By: A.F. Arco Iris S.A.
Release Date: Jan 8, 2011
Tasting Note - Very pale with a green tint; peach and honeysuckle nose; sweet peachy fruit, lively acidity. Full-bodied. Score - 89. (Tony Aspler, www.tonyaspler.com, A Wine Lover's Diary, Sept. 14, 2009)
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| "A Zippy Sauce Top Ten White" |
The six of us killed this bottle pretty quickly so I opened a bottle of D’Arenberg "Hermit Crab" Viognier I had on hand. After a sip or two of the D’Arenberg Viognier it was very apparent why it is on the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Whites and the Anakena is not as it was an absolutely stunning pairing with the food. (Click the link in the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Whites for the earlier review of this wine).
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| "Mmm... Shrimp, Lobster and Steak" |
For the main course I did Beef Tenderloin with lobster and grilled shrimp topped with Béarnaise sauce and baby white potatoes and sugar snap peas as the sides. I was in the mood for a big yummy Cabernet to go with this dish and was originally leaning towards something from Bordeaux but then came across the 2004 Altaïr from Chile (see Zippy Sauce Top Ten Reds for earlier review) and went with it instead. This wine was even better than the first time I had it and was so good that I cracked a second bottle to get us through dinner.
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| "A Zippy Sauce Top Ten Red" |
I still have two bottles of the 2004 Altaïr left on the rack and look forward to trying them in a few years as this wine still tastes a bit young and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if it is even better down the road. The 2004 is no longer available at the LCBO but the 2005 Altaïr is listed on Vintages Online. The 2005 has the same 94 Wine Spectator rating as the 2004 did so hopefully it is just as good. I will be ordering myself a few bottles of the 2005 and will review it once it comes in.
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| "No Drunken Review on this one folks!" |
For dessert we had a selection of dark chocolate and I opened a 2001 Phelan Vineyards "Napa Valley" Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a nice fruit forward Cabernet that went well with the chocolate. I didn’t make notes on this wine so unfortunately there is no review for this wine. There was also a bottle of Yalumba Antique Tawny (Port) that I opened which was good at the time but my pounding headache today thinks that might have be a mistake on my part.
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| "Brix 70% Dark Chocolate" |
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| "Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate" |
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| "Good Port = Bad Hangover" |
It was great seeing Pat and Jack again and thanks to Mick who grilled the Tenderloins and the Shrimp for me while I was busying in the kitchen with sauce, veggies, lobster, etc. as he did an awesome job with both.
Cheers!
Mark
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