Saturday Night – Mick’s Treasures from the Sea

Mick broke out an all seafood menu for our latest Saturday night dinner.

The first course was baked Crab Dip with a 2009 Tokara Sauvignon Blanc. We have reviewed this wine before - http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2011/01/saturday-night-old-favourites-part-1.html so I won’t be reviewing it in full again for this post.

I will say that it was a very good pairing with the Crab Dip; it was actually better with the food than it was on its own. The Crab Dip was very good too but Mick did go a bit heavy on the cayenne pepper so it was zippier than I thought it should have been.

The second course had both a new wine and new dish for us to try – Clams Casino and 2008 Chateau de Ligny Chablis.

The nose on the wine had faint aromas of peach and pineapple and a musty basement smell which I find common in a lot of French wines. Tasting the wine, you’ll find flavours or honeydew melon and lime. The structure on the wine was decent but the acidity on the wine was too soft. It was an easy drinking wine but at times it got lost against the rich flavours of the clams.

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 87, Mark - 86, Kathy – 85, Amy – 85, Overall – 85.75.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –


CHÂTEAU DE LIGNY CHABLIS 2008

VINTAGES 200105
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 18.95
Wine, White Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Burgundy, France
By: Jean Claude Fromont
Release Date: Jan 8, 2011

Description - International Trophy winner at the 2010 Decanter World Wine Awards.
 Tasting Note - Pretty pale straw-yellow colour leads to an attractive nose featuring apple, mineral/wet stones, lees and a hint of pear. Dry, simultaneously fresh and ripe with zippy acidity adding vibrancy. Medium bodied with a fairly lengthy finish. Match it to grilled tuna or swordfish. (VINTAGES panel, Nov. 2010).

Mick did up the Clams Casino on the BBQ and topped them with bacon and cheese. The flavours to the Clams Casino were excellent. My only issue with them was, when I have had them in the past they are usually oven broiled which makes a nice crust on the top which I really like. I discussed this with Mick and said he too would be interested in using the oven next time he makes these to see what kind of difference it makes to the flavour of the dish.

The next course was Mick’s Blacken Scallops with Corn and Avocado salsa and he paired this with a Bottega Brut Prosecco.

I screwed up as we didn’t review this wine; we’ve had it before so I assumed we reviewed but after checking on the Blog, we didn’t fully review it the last time. It was very good on its own but got a little funky with the food at times. This is weird as when we paired this with the Santa Margherita Prosecco di Valdobbiadene (http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2011/01/saturday-night-taking-pro-out-of.html) the last time it was a very good pairing and yet the Bottega Prosecco didn’t work as well as a pairing.

 

"The top of the Bottega bottle - Either drink or leave... can't argue with that!"

 The scallops on the other hand were awesome as always.

Amy picked up a Milky Way cake for dessert which finished the evening off beautifully. I’d like to thank Mick for all his hard work in making three very tasty dishes this evening and to both Mick and Amy for hosting.

Thanks,

Mark

May Wine Club – Rosé

This month’s Wine Club meeting kicked off the latest six month session of Wine Club. I was pleased that everyone re-upped from the last session, so hopefully that means everyone is enjoying it as much as I am. When I started this Wine Club a few years back, I was committed to trying as many different regions, grapes and styles of wines as I could. That commitment to diversity has paid large dividends as I have found many a grape/region that were wonderful that I wouldn’t have on my own. The wines that we were tasting today was a Rosé from Italy as the take home bottle and a Rosé from French as a comparison bottle.

Here is the LCBO information on the wines –


ZENATO BARDOLINO CHIARETTO 2010


VINTAGES 45203
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 11.95
Wine, Rosé Wine
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: Veneto, Italy
By: Azienda Vinicola Zenato
Release Date: May 14, 2011

Tasting Note - This delightful candy-apple-coloured wine is made from the same grape varieties as Valpolicella - Corvina, Molinara, and Rondinella. Lively aromas of cherry, strawberry and blood orange greet the nose, along with a nice minerality and a lifted floral note. Dry, medium bodied with plenty of zippy acidity, it offers tart and tangy fruit to start, but sweeter notes emerge mid-palate and throughout the medium-long, crisp finish. Enjoy with crab cakes, or portobello mushroom sandwiches with provolone cheese. (VINTAGES panel, March 2011)


CHÂTEAU D'AQUÉRIA TAVEL ROSÉ 2010


VINTAGES 319368
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 18.95
Wine, Rosé Wine
12.9% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Rhône, France
By: Jean Olivier, Prod.
Release Date: May 14, 2011

Tasting Note - Tavel, an AC located across the Rhône River from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, uniquely makes rosé wines its exclusive focus. This version offers up fresh strawberry, sweet cherry, rosehips, and spring flowers in abundance. Dry, light bodied, fresh and tangy on the palate with waves of vivacious acidity. The lingering finish sports a strawberry-rhubarb character embroidered by herbal and floral notes. Enjoy with salmon-and-cream-cheese appetizers, or turkey breast with paprika. (VINTAGES panel, March 2011)

I have been reluctant to try Rosé in the past as whenever I see it I think of White Zinfandel (or fun wine as I joking call it) from California.

I brought in a selection of Cheese and Crackers and some roasted Red Pepper dip to accompany the two wines.

Nosing the two wines, I was surprise to find the Zenato (the less expensive to the two) had the better nose. The nose on the Zenato had powerful aromas of grapefruit and strawberry whereas the Tavel had strawberry and gooseberry aromas though they were much softer on the nose and harder to find. Tasting the wines, the Zenato had flavours of lime and strawberry but the alcohol of the wine made it seem a touch hot. The Tavel on the tasting really shined with it apricot and herb flavours and its structure was much more balanced than the ‘hot’ Zenato. The fact that Tavel balanced the 14% alcohol better than the Zenato did with 12% alcohol probably accounts for why it is $7 more. I liked the Zenato quite a bit with the herbed Goat’s cheese, but it got a touch funky when paired with the aged cheddar. The Tavel worked very nicely with all the cheeses and both wines were good with the roasted red pepper dip.

I liked both of the wines, though I will give a definite edge to the French Rosé and could see myself happily killing a bottle or two on a warm summer’s day on the patio. On the other hand I wasn’t blown away by either and don’t see myself rushing out to buy tons more.

It was fun trying something completely new and I’m already looking forward to next month where we will be taking a look at two Spanish Riojas.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Wolfredo

After quite a break due to our schedules Mick, Amy, Kathy and I got together for a Saturday night dinner. It was my turn to host as Mick and Amy hosted the last dinner.

I had a ton of grated parmesan leftover from my TL lunch and needed to use it up. With this in mind I decided to do a Wolfgang Puck chicken fettuccine alfredo recipe or as the ladies affectionately call it ‘Wolfredo’.

I dread doing this recipe as it is very time consuming and the way Mr. Puck lays out his ingredient list is a pain in the ass. Most recipes will total up the same ingredient and list exactly what you need in total. Whereas Wolfgang will list the same ingredient (in this case fresh thyme) in four different places in the ingredient list which makes it very easy to miss one and leave yourself short.


I wanted to do an appetizer but my lovely wife vetoed that idea hard and insisted that as the Alfredo is so heavy it is more than enough food. So I went with her advice; I’m glad I did as it was very filling and there is no way I could have gotten through both an appetizer and the Alfredo.

I paired the Wolfredo with a 2006 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay. This wine is 2nd on the Top Ten Zippy Sauce White Wines. I figured that if I’m going to effort of making this dish, I pairing it with a killer wine. It was an awesome pairing with meal and it was also my last bottle of it. The wine was so good that we killed it before we were even half way through the dinner. At this point Mick and I decided that we needed another bottle of something.

A quick peak through the wine cabinet and I grabbed out at bottle of Chateau St. Michelle 2007 Chardonnay. It continues the theme of French sounding California wines I started with the Chateau Montelena. I was worried how this wine would stand up against the first one as it is around a $20 price point whereas the Montelena is $45 a bottle.

The nose on the Chateau St. Michelle was big with plenty of different aromas going on; sage, yeast, pear, pine and butterscotch were some of the aromas we found. Flavour wise it had a pleasing butterscotch and lime flavour happening with it. It was nicely balanced but there was a bit of a sharpness on the finish. The sharpness on the finish may have been more noticeable as we had just had the Montelena which was incredibly silky and smooth. It was a strong pairing with the ‘Wolfredo’ but not quite as good as the Montelena. Considering it was less than half the price of the first wine, I was very pleased with how good this wine was for its price point.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 89, Mark - 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 87, Overall – 88

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –


CHATEAU STE. MICHELLE CHARDONNAY 2008


VINTAGES 232439
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 17.95
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Washington State, USA
By: Chat Ste Michelle
Release Date: Dec 11, 2010

Tasting Note - Bright and jazzy, with pretty pineapple, grapefruit, elderflower and spice flavors that linger on the finish without excess weight. This just floats on for a while. Drink now through 2012. Best Value. Score - 90. (Harvey Steiman, winespectator.com, Feb. 28, 2010)

* Note – the wine listed is the 2008 and not the 2007 reviewed by us.

I really liked the 2007 Chateau St. Michelle and when I saw the LCBO write up for the 2008 was planning on picking up some of the 2008 up but unfortunately there is no stock left. I will have to make a note to look in December for the 2009.

For dessert, I picked up a Chocolate Carmel Ice Cream cake for dessert which was well received.

Thanks to everyone for a fun night and I’m already looking forward to next Saturday.

Cheers!

Mark