Saturday Night – A Special Occasion – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course, Mick did an old favourite – Grilled Chicken Quesadillas. He picked a 2005 "Paso Robles" Ridge Zinfandel to pair with this course.

"Very Yummy!"

The nose on the Ridge Zinfandel was big and complex with aromas of cinnamon, allspice, eucalyptus and dark berry. The structure of the wine was good but as the wine sat for awhile it did develop a sharpness to it that wasn’t there in the beginning. The dominate flavour to the wine was blueberry with some pepper in the background. It was a good pairing with the Quesadillas but there have been other Zins that have paired better with it in the past.

"A Solid Zin"

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

There was no LCBO listing for this wine so I’m assuming Mick bought this in the US. A quick web search and this wine seems to be in the $20-22 US range (about $33-37 CDN after duty, taxes and exchange rates).

"I've seen shorter novels"

The Chicken Quesadillas were very good, but this is not surprising, as we have always enjoyed them every time Mick has made them.

May is going to be a quieter month on the blog as Kathy and I are on vacation in early May and Mick and Amy have a couple of Saturday nights in mid May booked up so our usual Saturday dinners won’t be quite so usual. Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting tonight’s dinner.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – A Special Occasion – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting dinner this past Saturday. I got a call from Mick before the dinner asking if I had any Fume Blanc on the rack as he was doing spicy shrimp as the starter and Fume Blanc is a good pairing for it.

"Spicy Shrimp with Mint Sauce"

I checked the rack and saw a 2003 Robert Mondavi "To Kalon" Fume Blanc that I’d been saving for a special occasion. I informed that I did indeed have a Fume Blanc and would bring it. We had this wine back in 2008 - http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2008/07/saturday-night-amy-isnt-part-1.html and both Mick and I really enjoyed. I’d been keeping this bottle for a special occasion but with it being a 2003, I was getting concerned that it might be getting a little long in the tooth and figured now was a good time for it. As I grabbed it out of the wine fridge, I noticed that the colour seemed a little dark through the frosted glass bottle and was worried it was past its prime. I grabbed a 2004 Chateau St. Jean Fume Blanc out of the fridge as a backup bottle just in case there was an issue with the Mondavi.

"It was a good Fume..."

We got to Mick and Amy’s just as Mick was firing up the grill for the shrimp so I opened the Mondavi. As I poured the wine out, I knew I was in trouble, as the colour was a deep amber colour and not the pale straw yellow that Fume Blanc usually is. I nosed and tasted the wine and my fears were confirmed; the wine was toast. I grabbed the Chateau St. Jean, opened it and poured it out.

"Spicy Shrimp close-up!"

The Chateau St. Jean was much better; the colour was the pale straw yellow I was expecting and it had a faint nose of vanilla, pear and loam. Tasting the wine you were rewarded by a nice soft rounded mouth feel with a lime and vanilla favour running throughout. This wine was extremely easy to drink. It paired well with the spicy shrimp and we killed the bottle very quickly. My one small complaint about the wine was it could have been a touch more acidic.

"Back-up bottle kick's ass!"

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 90, Mark – 90, Kathy – 85, Amy – 88, Overall – 88.25.
　
My wife’s rating was much lower that Mick and my ratings as she likes and expects a Fume Blanc to have really good acidity in it, if that is not there then ‘no good rating for you!’.
　
Here is the LCBO information on the wine –
　
CHÂTEAU ST. JEAN FUMÉ BLANC 2008
VINTAGES 537639
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 20.95
Wine, White Wine
13.6% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: California/Californie, United States
By: Foster'S Wine Estates Americas
Release Date: Apr 3, 2010
　
Description - TASTING NOTE: Intense smoke and honeysuckle aromatics mingle well together, leading to crisp and refreshing lemon, tangerine and yellow apple flavors on a medium body, with good acidity. The smoke flavors persist on the finish. Drink now. Score - 88. (MaryAnn Worobiec, www.winespectator.com, Web Only - 2010)
*Please note that the wine listing is the 2008 and not the 2004 we had.

I was pleased about how good the Chateau St. Jean was but I was a little bitter about the Mondavi. Lesson learned – find a white that really I like, drink now and don’t hold it for a ‘special occasion’.

Click here for Part 2

Com-B-Q Baby!

We hadn’t done a Com-B-Q in awhile and we were so due for one. A Com-B-Q where we get together with three other couples and each couple is responsible for doing a course and pairing it with wine.

"Mixed green salad with apple and sharp cheddar"

Here was the menu for the night –

Alex and Zdenka – Mixed green salad with apple and sharp cheddar in a light oil dressing paired with a 2009 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Mark and Kathy – Smoked salmon with bagel crisps, cream cheese and other assorted goodies paired with a 2006 Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay

Mick and Amy – Diablo sliders with Zippy Sauce paired with a 2008 Yalumba "Patchwork" Shiraz

Steve and Melanie – Roast beef confit paired with a 2008 La Crema Pinot Noir

Dessert – A mango mousse paired with 2006 Henry of Pelham Late Harvest Vidal

"One of the best years ever!"

Alex’s starter salad was a great way to kick off the evening. The 2009 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc he paired with caught me by surprise; we had this wine earlier in the year - http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2010/03/saturday-night-radishes-grapefruit-and.html and quite frankly we were a little disappointed by it but this one was exceptionally good. Not sure if the bottle we first had was a little off or maybe the extra couple of months in the bottle changed the wine but Alex’s bottles were amazing, probably one of the better Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blancs I ever had.

"Smoked Salmon and assorted goodies"

The smoked salmon with KJ Chardonnay is one of my favourite wine and food pairings on the planet and it didn’t disappoint.

"Year after year, consistently good"

Mick’s Diablo sliders were hot and spicy and matched well with the Yalumba Shiraz.

"Tasty Diablo Sliders with Zippy Sauce!"

Steve’s pairing choice of the La Crema Pinot Noir with the roast beef confit was very good. I hadn’t tried any wines from La Crema before this evening and I have to say that their Pinot Noir was very good; fruit forward with a nice balanced structure.

"My Favourite Australian Wine Maker"

We finished the evening with a Mango mousse and Henry of Pelham Late Harvest Vidal.

"Roast Beef Confit"

"Chef Steve, hard at work"

"The mob in the background looking for food"

"Something new but good"

"Mango Mousse"

"2006 - the year of the Pelham"

"Zdenka's bottle"

You may have noticed that there was masking tape over the Henry of Pelham label in the pictures, that was me poking a little fun at Zdenka. At an earlier Com-B-Q, a friend at work gave me three different home dessert wines and I served them up at this Com-B-Q. They were in plain bottles with masking tape labels. Zdenka hit them a little hard to say the least and later in the evening Zdenka suddenly stood up and looking a little green, said "Alex! Time to go now!". It was funny as in all the years I’ve known Zdenka, she is not a heavy drinker so this night was most certainly the exception to the rule.

Looking back on this Com-B-Q, I was extremely impressed at how good all the food was, blown away at how perfect all five wine pairings were and most of all feel extremely blessed to know such great people and at how enjoyable their company always is.

Cheers!

Mark

April Wine Club – A pair of Douro Wines from Portugal

For April’s Wine Club meeting we sampled a couple of Douro wines from Portugal.

Here is the LCBO Information -

MIMO 2005

LCBO 147918
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 17.95
Wine, Red Wine
12.7% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Douro, Portugal
By: Rui José Xavier Soares
Release Date: Jan 9, 2010

Description - This wine was a Bronze Medal winner at London's prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2009.

Tasting Note - (Translated from the Portuguese) The wine is a blend of several traditional grape varieties. It was fermented in a lagar [a traditional stone trough] and aged for 18 months in barrels. Quite refined on the nose, it has lovely aromas of fresh red fruit and well-integrated oak. The palate reveals a wine of medium concentration and good structure, if not overly complex. Drink now. Score - 16 (out of 20). (Revista de Vinhos, Feb. 2009)

NOTE: Prices subject to change without notice. Prices include container deposit fees where applicable. All products may not be available in all stores. Please see store personnel for details.

QUINTA DO RONCÃO RESERVA 2006

Stock Number – 147942
Volume - 750mL
Price: $ 13.95
Wine, Red Wine
14.1% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Douro, Portugal
By: Maria Manuela
Release Date: Jan 9, 2010

Tasting Note - (Translated from the Portuguese) Shows a good aromatic presence with notes of jam and ripe plum, but isn't overloaded with fruit. Full bodied in the mouth, smooth and round; a dry wine with length typical of the Douro. Score - 15.5 (out of 20). (www.revistadevinhos.iol.pt, Undated)

Both of the wines were nice but the Mimo had a slightly bigger mouth feel and a smokiness to it that made it easily worth the extra $4. I wasn’t overly fond of either on there own as both seemed a touch sharp but with the roasted red pepper dip and the different cheeses with crackers both of the wines were very good.

As I was enjoying the wines with the food that Monica (Wine Club member) had brought in, I could see myself enjoying this wine on a warm summer’s night with a mixed grill and look forward to doing exactly that in the up coming months.

Cheers!

Mark