Saturday night – Thank you, come again! Edition

Mick and Amy were still on vacation this weekend, so my parents took pity on us and invited us for dinner on Saturday. Dad chose East Indian cuisine as the theme for the evening. The menu for the night included chicken curry, shrimp biryani, onion bhaji's and cold cucumber & onion salad in a creamy dressing.

"Prep Zone"

The only item Kathy and I were to bring to dinner -- as our small contribution -- was the wine. Indian and Asian cuisine can be very tricky to pair with so I had to give this some thought. I was debating between a Riesling, Pinot Gris or possibly a Gewurztraminer and was perusing the wine rack when I came across a bottle of “Symphony” by Ironstone Vineyards. Symphony is a grape developed back in the 40’s by Dr. Olmo (University of California, Davis). It is a cross of Muscat of Alexandria and Grenache Gris.

"Deep fried onion goodness!"

I had picked this up awhile back as it is always fun to experience a new grape but hadn’t figured out what to have it with. The last line on the description on the back label was “…excellent companion to spicy Asian dishes.”, so Symphony made the cut to go with dinner.

"Table ready to go!"

I was a little concerned about going with something I had never tried before so I also grabbed a bottle of Pinot Gris from Alsace as well.

Dad was pretty much ready to serve as we arrived so I added a second glass to the table for everyone and poured out both wines.

"Tonight's competition"

Here is the LCBO information –

Ironstone Vineyards Obsession Symphony 2006
Vintages 355784
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 14.95
Wine, White Wine,
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : MD
Made in: California, United States
By: Ironstone Vineyards
Release Date: Apr 26, 2008

Description - Originally created at the University of California at Davis, Symphony is an aromatic grape variety that is a cross between Muscat of Alexandria and Grenache Gris. The latest vintage of Ironstone's popular Obsession is as fragrant as ever, soft and round with a touch of sweetness that makes it an excellent companion to spicy Asian dishes.

"More than just rice..."

There was no LCBO information for the Schlumberger Pinot Gris; if I recall correctly it was around a $25 price point.

The LCBO did have a 2005 Schlumberger Riesling listed in inventory and reading the description on that was interesting as it was rated 90 by the Wine Spectator and made their Top 100 Wines for 2007 list. I will be picking up a couple of bottles to try. I might be able to convince Mick to make something this Saturday to go with it.

"Country Captain styled curry"

Before I get back to the wines, let me say that dinner was first rate; everything was cooked to perfection, and all the different flavors of all the dishes work really well together.

"Something new"

I’ll start with the Symphony -- it was pale yellow in colour and had very fine bubbles to it, not enough to class it as a sparkling wine but they were present. The nose was extremely floral and pleasing. It was semi-sweet with soft rounded acidity and very easy drinking. The Symphony managed to hold its own with the food and was a good pairing. The closest thing the wine reminded me of was an Italian Prosecco. For its $15 price tag, this wine was a pretty good deal.

"The second place finisher"

The Domaines Schlumberger Pinot Gris Alsace Les Princes Abbés 2003 was a deeper yellow almost gold in colour compared to the Symphony. The nose wasn’t as strong as the Symphony and had a floral element with a note of vanilla. The acidity was higher than the Symphony or more noticeable due to its dryness. There was a slight tartness when paired with the food that distracted you from the wine. This wasn’t a bad pairing but the Symphony was the preferred choice of the two.

Mick and Amy will be back next weekend so we’ll get back to our regular Saturday night schedule. But, for this night, the food, wine and company was an excellent substitute.

Cheers!

Mark

Wine Club – Two out of three ain’t bad

We had a bonus tasting for our Wine Club this past Thursday and decided to do something different – a blind tasting. I picked up three different white wines. The goal for each person was to identify the grape, whether it was Old world or New world, and if possible country and region.

"The star of the day!"

"Forgettable"

Here is the LCBO information on the 3 wines –

Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay 2005

Vintages 369686
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 19.95
Wine, White Wine,
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: California/Californie, United States
By: Kendall-Jackson
Release Date: May 24, 2008

Tasting Note - Eighty-nine percent of the 2005 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay Jackson Estates is aged 6 months in barrel with malolactic fermentation, which is pretty amazing considering the quantity and the sources. It is all coastal vineyards owned by Jess Jackson, with Monterey and Santa Barbara fruit composing three-fourths of the blend, and the rest from Mendocino. 2005 continues their streak of top-notch wines. Loads of tropical fruit, surprisingly deep texture, medium body, and wonderful purity results in a crisp, elegant, dry Chardonnay. It is ideal for drinking over the next 1-2 years. Score - 89. (Robert Parker Jr., www.erobertparker.com, Dec. 2006)

Pascal Jolivet Pouilly Fumé Les Griottes 2006

Vintages 27631
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 31.70
Wine, White Wine,
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 1
Made in: Loire, France
By: Pascal Jolivet
Release Date: N/A

Schloss Johannisberger Riesling 2006

Vintages 70961
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 27.95
Wine, White Wine,
11.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 2
Made in: Rhine Rhinegau, Germany
By: Schloss Johannisberg
Release Date: May 10, 2008

Tasting Note - Classy, aristocractic Riesling with aromas of pear, quince, lime zest and mineral. Off-dry with a nice acid crispness that adds a touch of dryness. Creamy/ nutty tones to add complexity. Light-to medium-bodied with a medium long finish, this polished wine is a great sipper or an excellent choice for grilled white fish. It will also cellar nicely for up to four years. (VINTAGES panel, March 2008)

The group was told the wines would be three of the five following grapes – Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer.

The first wine we tried was the Chardonnay. The colour was a deeper yellow that is common with Chardonnay and the aromas that were noticeable were pineapple and toast. I think the majority of the group had this one figured out before even tasting it. All went with New world but were split 50/50 between California and Australia.

The second wine was the Pouilly Fumé (Sauvignon Blanc), this one gave a number of people fits. It wasn’t a great representation of a Sauvignon Blanc. It was a pale yellow in colour and there wasn’t much smell to the wine, just a very faint aroma of cut grass and a slightly floral smell to it. Tasting it, it has the typical acidity of a Sauvignon Blanc but there was a bitterness to the mid-palate. This bitterness caused a couple of people to guess it was a Gewurztraminer though the lack of nose on this wine should have eliminated it as an option. The Old world/ New world guesses were also split 50/50 but I did have a couple people guess France.

The final wine was the Riesling. This one people nailed right away. It was a beautiful example of a Riesling and probably one of the nicest ones I have ever tried. There was a number things to like about this wine; it was very smooth, the sugar content of 2 gave the wine a nice sweetness without becoming cloying and it had a wonderful complexity to it that just made you want to keep drinking it to try and figure it out. Pretty much everyone guess Old world, but just missed on the region/country as most guessed Alsace instead of Germany.

I think the group did quite for their first blind tasting and a number of people were surprised at how well they did do. It was interesting to try a different format for a change and we’ll have to do one of these again. Maybe the next time I’ll go with Red wines and see how everyone does.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday night – Enjoy the rain in Montreal Edition

Mick and Amy are on vacation this week so Kathy and I are on our own for the next couple of weekends. They are motorcycling out to the East coast and passing through Montreal on the way.

Every time they go away I apologize in advance for all the rain they are going to get due to my rain dance / wishing that they have awful weather on their vacation so in future they’ll decide not to go away and we won’t be deprived of their company. To any of my readers on the East coast of Canada, start building an Ark now as there is so much rain in your future for the next week you’ll need it.

Since we were on our own Saturday, I decided we might as well make the best of it. I picked up a couple of marinated Salmon filets, a kebab of scallops and vegetables and three kebabs of shrimp and vegetables and a side potato salad. I grabbed a Dufflet (http://www.dufflet.com/home.asp) Carmelita Cakelet which is a small 5.5” x 3.5” cake with layers of chocolate sponge and caramel mousse topped with toasted almond meringue; drizzled with creamy caramel.

"Flame on... Flame out"

I had a chilled bottle of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay in the fridge and decided that it would be a nice match for the Salmon. I have covered this wine a number of times on the Blog as it is pretty much a staple of my wine drinking for years. The wine is good $20 Chardonnay which tends to be consistent year after year. Recently though my tastes have been changing and I’m probably now leaning more towards the Louis Jadot “Bourgogne” as my “go to” Chardonnay. The Jadot is slightly cheaper and seems to pair with more things than the KJ.

LCBO Information – Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay 2005

Vintages 369686
750 mL bottle

Price: $ 19.95

Wine, White Wine,

13.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : D

Made in: California, United States

By: Kendall-Jackson

Release Date: May 24, 2008

Tasting Note - Eighty-nine percent of the 2005 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay Jackson Estates is aged 6 months in barrel with malolactic fermentation, which is pretty amazing considering the quantity and the sources. It is all coastal vineyards owned by Jess Jackson, with Monterey and Santa Barbara fruit composing three-fourths of the blend, and the rest from Mendocino. 2005 continues their streak of top-notch wines. Loads of tropical fruit, surprisingly deep texture, medium body, and wonderful purity results in a crisp, elegant, dry Chardonnay. It is ideal for drinking over the next 1-2 years. Score - 89. (Robert Parker Jr., www.erobertparker.com, Dec. 2006)

I mentioned to Mick the other day that the propane tank on my BBQ seemed to be bottomless, well I shouldn’t have said anything. In the middle of grilling my seafood fest, it ran dry. Thankfully I had a backup tank on hand and quickly switched it out.

The salmon turned out very good, my wife had the scallops and said they were good as well, the shrimp weren’t the greatest. The problem was trying to do shrimp and vegetables on the same skewer. The outside of edges of the shrimp were over cooked and the shrimp parts closest to the center of skewer were under done.

The KJ paired nicely with all the food and was terrific with the salmon. The biggest aroma I was getting off of the KJ was pineapple. The KJ is a good full bodied Chardonnay with a creaminess to it with large fruit notes.

The dessert wasn’t bad, it was nice and fresh but the flavor combinations of it didn’t blow me away.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday night – Noah’s Ark Edition

It was raining all day Saturday and things weren’t looking promising for our BBQ in the evening. Mick stepped up and stated that he’d be grilling rain or shine. This summer has been wettest summer on record for southern Ontario.

Friday, Kathy and I picked up NY Strips that were on special at our local butcher. The cost savings were nice but the main reason we picked them up is they looked amazing. We were both drooling at the counter looking at them.

The other reason we picked up the NY Strips is we have an August tradition with Mick and Amy which we call “Blackout day”. A few years back, the power grid went down for a good part of eastern Canada and the US. The day that it happened, was grocery day for Kathy and I so we had nothing in the fridge to eat. Everything was closed due to the power being out so we were stuck. I suggested that we walk up to Mick and Amy’s and see what they had for planned for dinner. We arrived just as Mick was getting home and he laughed when we told him of our food state and said he had 4 huge NY Strips that he was going to grill up and use over the next couple of days. He was glad that they wouldn’t go to waste and happily invited us for dinner. We said we’d bring the wine.

"Too good for words!"

That night we stuffed ourselves on steak and BBQ’d corn and killed a couple bottles of 1998 Mondavi Coastal Cabernet Sauvignon. For an impromptu evening, it was a really good time. Every August since we usually have NY strips, corn on the cob and a 1998 California Cabernet to celebrate that night. This year I grabbed my last bottle of 1998 California Cabernet off the rack for this dinner – a 1998 Robert Mondavi “Oakville” Cabernet Sauvignon.

We showed up with the steaks and the wine at Mick and Amy’s; Mick was busy prepping up an appetizer. The appetizer was a new recipe, blackened grilled scallops with avocado relish and tortillas. I had mixed feeling upon hearing about the appetizer as I’m not a huge fan of scallops and avocado isn’t something I jump for joy about either. Mick had a mystery white wine decanting in the fridge to go with the grilled scallops.

"Mystery wine!"

I ask what type of grape the white was and Mick quickly replied Sauvignon Blanc. He finished grilling the scallops and served them up and then grabbed the decanter from the fridge. I raised an eyebrow as he brought the decanter out from the fridge as the colour was very wrong for a Sauvignon Blanc which is usually a pale straw with a slight greenish tint to it and this was a deep golden colour, more like a Chardonnay.

He poured out the wine and I nosed it, my confusion really started growing at this point as the most predominate aroma was apple. Usually with a Sauvignon Blanc cut grass, gooseberry or cat’s pee are common aromas with it. Suddenly the lights went on and I asked, “This isn’t a pure Sauvignon Blanc, is it?”

"Rain Man :)"

Mick at this point admitted it was a blend and his reason for decanting it was he didn’t want any preconceived notions about the wine. This is because he knows I passionately hate white blends, of the number of white blends we’ve tried there has been one that I liked the rest were awkward messes of a wine that ranged from awful to mediocre at best.

The problem with white blends is I find that they bring out the worst characteristics of each of the grapes used in making the wine.

The mystery wine was a 2005 Beringer Knight's Valley Alluvium Blanc and tasting it on its own matched all my previous experiences with white blends – awkward with an identity crisis. The acidity was very soft and rounded though “blunted” would be a better way to describe it. The wine had flavors of citrus, grapefruit and vanilla.

On the upside, the wine was a good pairing for the food, though I’d be curious how a pure Sauvignon Blanc with razor sharp acidity would have been with it as I suspect it would have been better.

The scallops were really good and the combination of the avocado relish and tortillas just made this dish. I ate them like a man on mission and found myself asking for seconds as they were that good. That is high praise from a person who wasn’t keen on two of the main ingredients.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 86, Mark - 83, Kathy – 86, Amy - 86, Overall – 85.25.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

05 Beringer Alluvium White

Vintages 403188
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 25.75
Wine, White Wine,
14.2% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: California, United States
By: Foster'S Wine Estates Americas
Release Date: N/A

As the LCBO description is somewhat lacking here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about it –

Beringer Alluvium Blanc Knights Valley 2005

Smoky, spicy and toasty aromatics frame the mineral, citrus and pear flavors. Good intensity and persistence on the finish, with a light body and juicy acidity. Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay, and Viognier. Drink now. 4,455 cases made. –MW

Score – 88, Price - $16.

Hopefully Mick will do this dish again and we can try it with a Mondavi Fume Blanc or a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley in France.

"Huge meat!"

For the main course we had the NY strips, corn on the cob and Zippy sauce with a 1998 Robert Mondavi “Oakville” Cabernet Sauvignon. The steaks tasted as good as they’d looked and Mick grilled these to absolute perfection. They were so good that I think if we had NY strips every night for the next year, you probably wouldn’t be able to beat how good these were.

"1998 - We'll miss you!"

1998 was not known as a banner year for California Cabs, 1997 and 1999 were much more highly rated and sought after. Yet 1998 California Cabs have been some of our favourites. The 1998 Mondavi “Oakville” had a great nose of leather, cherry, cedar and tobacco.

The taste of the wine was good, but not the best of the 1998’s that I’ve tried; it had nice acidity, soft tannin, the fruit was lacking and leaned more towards herbaceous. Mick was detecting "candied cherry” but we are all starting to wonder about him as he seems to be detecting “candied cherry” in almost every red we’ve tried recently or as Amy so nicely put it "candied cherry mixed with the crack he was smoking".

"Blackout dinner!"

The wine did go very well with the steaks and Zippy sauce.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 88, Mark - 87, Kathy – 88, Amy - 86, Overall – 87.25.

Oddly enough the LCBO has a listing for this wine, but of course no stock –

Robert Mondavi Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 1998

Vintages 687343
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 59.00
Wine, Red Wine,
14.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: California/Californie, United States
By: Robert Mondavi Winery
Release Date: Oct 24, 2007

Tasting Note -Not second to its 1999 mate by very much, and probably a little bigger and fuller on the palate, this very attractive wine is a bit less fruity overall and reveals a somewhat pushy toasty, leathery edge that lends a fair bit of complexity. Its underlying structure is supple and balanced with well-integrated tannins for grip. It can age for a few years yet. Score - 89. (Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wines, Dec. 2002)

Here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about it –

Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 1998

Nice up front currant, plum, herb, toasty oak and cedary flavor, supple and rich, but on the finish it turns a bit herbal and tannic. Drink now through 2010. –JL

Score – 88, Price $50

Amy had picked up a chocolate truffle cake for dessert but I passed on it as I was so full I couldn’t have even eaten a “wafer thin mint”.

The evening was a good tribute to the original “Blackout” meal and I’m already looking forward to next August!

Cheers!

Mark

Friday night – Guy’s night

The wives were out Friday for dinner for a ‘girl’s night’ out (which hopefully Amy will be blogging about soon – hint, hint) so Mick and I were on our own for dinner. Mick had a craving for sausage (insert your crude or sexual based humour here ). So surprise, surprise our guy’s night turned into a sausage-fest (once again insert crude or sexual based humour).

I grilled up a bunch of Italian and Honey Garlic sausages, and picked up a vinegar-based coleslaw and a creamy potato salad with roasted garlic as sides. A bottle of 2002 Rutherford Hill Merlot was chosen to accompany the meal.

"Uncorked and ready to go..."

Merlot is a funny grape, as wine from it can be made in very different styles, this is true of just about all grapes but Merlot seems to have the most range for a red. Stirling is a winery in California that make a very thin precision driven Merlot with very subtle flavor. Rutherford Hill is the other end of the spectrum, big, fruity, tannic and powerful with nothing subtle about it. If you poured a glass of each out and tried them side by side, I believe most people would think they were from two different grapes.

I not saying one style is better then the other, for me it depends on what foods you are pairing it with as I enjoy it both ways (the one liners this article is generating are starting to get out of hand). Items with good fat such as NY strips, sausage, heavy pastas, etc. a bigger Merlot such as the Rutherford Hill are a great match. Fish, more delicate pastas, chicken, lean pork a thinner subtle Merlot like the Stirling are a better match.

"More details"

The colour of the Rutherford Hill is what a Merlot should be – a deep, dark purplish red hue. The aroma of the Rutherford was eluding me, black berry and smoke would be my best guess. Don’t get me wrong, there was a big aroma off of the wine, I just couldn’t pin it down.

Tasting the Rutherford Hill, was what I expected - big and powerful with a huge mouth-feel. It was very nice but a tad harsh on the finish. It paired nicely with all of the food but really shined when paired with the garlic potato salad.

Mick had a half bottle (375ml) earlier in the week of the 2003 Rutherford Hill Merlot with steak and commented to me how well it went with it.

We don’t have the ladies in on this rating so it might be a tad off without them to balance the rating up –

Mick – 90, Mark 91, Overall – 90.5

Here is the LCBO Information –

Rutherford Hill Merlot 2003

Vintages 959338
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 27.75
Wine, Red Wine,
14.2% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: California, United States
By: Terlato Wines International
Release Date: Jan 19, 2008

Tasting Note - This house has long specialized in merlot, fashioning it into a serious, substantial age-worthy style. So expect a deeply coloured, big, complex red with ripe black cherry, chocolate, leather, smoke and tea notes. Full bodied, dense and chewy with a good sense of proportion. Excellent length. Best 2008 to 2011. Score - 91. (David Lawrason, Wine Access, The Lawrason E-Report, March 31, 2007)

*Note – this is on 2003 not the 2002 covered in the article.

Here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about it –

Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley 2002

Complex, with perfumed plum and black cherry fruit flavors that are supple and polished, with good intensity, depth and length. Fine-grained tannins show through on the finish, along with a touch of cedar and herb. This tightly wound youngster has room to grow. Drink now through 2009. 72,000 cases made. –JL

Price - $25
Score – 88

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday night – Mixed Grill

Mick and Amy were away for the long weekend, so Kathy and I had a Saturday night free. My parents called and invited us to dinner on Saturday so we didn’t end up on our own for Saturday after all. I talked about the dinner with my father and we hashed out a dinner menu for the evening – Caesar salad to start, mixed grill as the main course and a cheese tray for dessert. I offered to pick-up the meat for the mixed grill and bring the wine to go with the courses.

That Friday night, Kathy and I went to a local butcher and picked out the meat for the mixed grill – 3 beef tenderloins, 2 marinated pork center loins, and 2 basil and sundried tomato sausages. Once we got home, I marinated the beef tenderloins in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Montreal steak spice and stored them in the fridge.

I then hit the wine rack to try and figure out which wines to go with the three courses. I decided to go with old favourites instead of going with something new. I avoided going with a new wine due to Mick and Amy being away (didn’t want them to miss out). I picked a 2006 Louis Jadot Bourgogne to go with the Caesar salad, a 2001 Joseph Phelps “Napa Valley” Merlot to go with the mixed grill and a Yalumba Antique Tawny (Port) to go with the cheese tray.

"Caesar in the making."

Saturday afternoon we packed up the car and headed over to my parents. Dad had everything prepped and ready to go for dinner. We decided to eat sooner than later and soon were sitting down with a nice glass of white Chardonnay and plate of Caesar salad. I have covered this wine 3 times already on this blog so I won’t go into much detail on the wine.

"Table ready!"

The Louis Jadot Bourgogne is $19 a bottle Canadian (LCBO product # 933077). It is a nice crisp, precision driven Chardonnay that is a good pairing for Caesar salad. I would highly recommend picking up a few bottles of it as it is a very good wine at a pretty decent price point.

"A fired-up grill!"

The main course was the 3 beef tenderloins, 2 marinated pork center loins, and 2 basil and sundried tomato sausages plus my father did up green beans and baby potatoes as sides. The beef and the pork were good but the star of the show were the sausages; they were extremely flavourful and I was upset that I didn’t get more of them.

The 2001 Joseph Phelps “Napa Valley” Merlot was its usual excellent self. The wine is an experience unto itself, from the uncorking of the bottle with cork being stained at the bottom with a deep rich dark purple hue, the heady aroma, the full and balanced mouth-feel to the smooth lingering finish of the wine. I love this wine. It is $44 US (about $71 CDN a bottle) and worth every penny. It was a great pairing with all of the different main course items.

In case anyone reading this is thinking, “Man, is this guy being paid by Joseph Phelps to write this stuff?” The answer to that is no, heck I don’t even have any ads on the blog.

In case anyone from Joseph Phelps is reading this Blog – I would happily spend the rest of my days blogging about Joseph Phelps wine and finding food pairings that go with them. Just send me a mixed case on a monthly basis and I will be your Blogging PR pimp for life!

"Say cheese!"

The cheese tray and Yalumba Antique Tawny were a nice way to finish the meal. The Yalumba Antique Tawny is a great port. I have covered pairing before on the Blog, like the two other wines listed, so I won’t go into much detail. All of the previous reviews can be found on the “Wine List” to the right of the page. The Yalumba was bought in the US and I think worked out to around $30 CDN for a 375ml bottle. This price point makes it slightly cheaper than the Taylor Fladgate 20 year old port. In the past when we have compared the two, the Yalumba was the preferred choice.

It was good of my parents to have us over for dinner, especially since we have extremely limit kitchen facilities with the renovations going on. These renovations are certainly crimping our home entertaining style, though I probably could write a whole article on wines that pair well with drywall dust!

Cheers!

Mark