Vegas Baby! Part 1

Over the Thanksgiving long weekend, Mick, Amy, Kathy and I went to Las Vegas.  We flew direct from Hamilton Airport to Las Vegas via WestJet which was awesome.  We stayed at the Mirage while we were in Vegas and availed ourselves to a couple of their in-house restaurants.  On Saturday night we went to Onda, which is the Mirage's upscale Italian restaurant.  Below are some of Amy's photos for the night

The dinner was excellent and we ate way too much.  For wines we went with a Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre AOC of the Loire region of France and a Chianti from Italy.  I do not remember the brands for either but we did enjoy both.  Onda was voted best Italian restaurant in Las Vegas and after the meal we had there it was easy to see why.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – Mick’s grilling up a storm – Part 1

Mick and Amy hosted this past Saturday night’s dinner. Mick had a new recipe to try out and two new wines as well.

The first course was the new recipe; Prosciutto wrapped scallops on a rosemary skewer grilled on cedar planks. He paired this with a 2008 Domaine A. Cailbourdin Cuveé de Boisfleury Pouilly Fume (Sauvignon Blanc).

"Rosemary skewered Scallops"

The nose on the wine was easy to find with strong aromas of lime and floral notes. Tasting the wine, the lime theme continued but with green apple and vanilla mixed in. The acidity on this wine was quite sharp and noticeable but it was refreshing. The finish on the wine disappeared quickly. The wine was better on its own then with the food but it was an OK pairing with the food.

"Good, but worth $27?"

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 86, Mark – 86, Kathy – 85, Amy – 85, Overall – 85.5.

Here is the LCBO information –

DOMAINE A. CAILBOURDIN CUVÉE DE BOISFLEURY POUILLY-FUMÉ 2008

VINTAGES 163527
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 26.95
Wine, White Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Loire, France
By: Domaine Cailbourdin
Release Date: Mar 6, 2010

Description - The Wine Advocate's David Schildknecht called Domaine Cailbourdin 'a consistently reliable source of Pouilly-Fumé.' (www.erobertparker.com, Aug. 2007) The domaine was founded in 1981 and its 11 ha is planted mostly to Sauvignon Blanc. Cuvée de Boisfleury is the estate's most upfront Sauvignon: elegantly aromatic, pure, light and crisp, with characteristics of citrus, herb, white flowers, and acacia. Yields are kept low to ensure the high quality evident here.

I liked this wine but not at the $27 price point; if this was in the $17-20 range I would be picking more up. For $27 I’d go with the Henri Bourgeois "Les Baronnes" from Sancerre or save my money and get some Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc for about $20 instead.

The scallops were good but unfortunately Mick has set the scallop bar quite high with some of his other scallop recipes and I enjoyed those more than this one. That said, it was fun to try both a new dish and new wine.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night - Honey Ginger Shrimp Pasta

I hadn’t done my gorgonzola dip in long time, so that was my starter for the evening. I usually pair this dish with a Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc, but I had picked up a bottle of 2006 Henri Bourgeois “Les Baronnes” from Sancerre (Loire) France. I tried this bottle in February during Wine Club as a counter point to the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2008/02/wine-club-sauvignon-blanc.html

I really liked it then and thought Mick, Amy and my wife would like it too.

I’m finding French white wines don’t ‘blow me away’ or cause me to go ‘Oh my God! This wine is like heaven in a glass’ but instead tend to quietly grow on me as I drink them. The Henri Bourgeois is a perfect example of that. It was gently crisp and refreshing against the gorgonzola dip with a nice minerality to it. I was wasn’t knock out of my shoes by it, but kept going to back to it and enjoying each sip. The four of us killed the bottle very quickly and once it was gone I found myself looking longingly at my empty glass wishing for more.

"Steamy"

With a new recipe, I tend to be some what methodical in my approach. First do the recipe to its exact directions. If the recipe is good, I will break it down and try to make it mine by changing or modifying the ingredients. Case in point, the Honey Ginger Shrimp recipe I did last week –

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2008/03/saturday-night-my-turn.html

The recipe was good but after we had it, Mick thought it would be good as a pasta sauce by adding some coconut milk to it. I decided he was right and so that was our main course for the evening.

I picked some fresh Angel hair pasta. I did the recipe the same as I did the last time but added a ¼ cup of coconut milk to the recipe as the pasta sauce base. I want the sauce to be a dry sauce and not drown the flavor of the vegetables and shrimp. I cooked the pasta separate from the sauce but after straining it from the salt water, I added it to the skillet with the sauce and vegetables. The pasta absorbed the last bits of liquid from the pan so I got my dry sauce I was looking for.

"Tiny bubbles!"

The Pinot Gris was a good pairing last time but not perfect so I thought I’d take a shot at another pairing. I went with the Santa Margherita Prosecco Di Valdobbiadene I had at Wine Club this past Thursday.

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2008/04/april-wine-club-meeting.html

"You can see the flakes of crushed red pepper... spicy"

The flavour to the pasta was incredible. I couldn’t believe how much of the flavor the sauce the pasta had taken on. It was still extremely spicy, I thought the coconut milk would have help tone down the crushed red peppers but I didn’t seem to help that much.

Mental note - cut the teaspoon of crushed red pepper down to half a teaspoon for next time.

The Prosecco was a bit of a disappointment with the dish. I wasn’t bad but something in the dish was giving it issues and making it seem very sweet. I suspect the ginger or the spice the dish might be the culprits. I think the Cava or the Champagne that we had at Wine Club might fair better.

Trying new pairings is part of the fun of wine matching – not everyone is going to be a winner.

Cheers!

Mark