Saturday Night – Hey Buddy, great 1000 Island dressing... sigh

This past Saturday Night, Chris and Jan joined Mick, Amy, Kathy and me for dinner. Dinner preparations ended up being a bit of an adventure as Mick was at home making his sauce for his chicken wings and I was making dipping sauce for my shrimp when both of our houses lost power at around 3:30pm. I was annoyed as I had fresh herbs, mayo and lemon juice in the food processor and was just about to puree them when the power went out. I left them there hoping the power would come back on but 30 minutes later no power. I ended up unplugging the food processor and going up to my office and used the battery backup for my computer to get enough power to finish pureeing the dip. Mick ended up moving the sauce pan from his now dead electric stove out to the backyard and used his BBQ to finish making the sauce.

Thankfully by 5:30pm the power was back on so the dinner was still on.

The first course I did poached pear salad and paired it with a 2007 Lingenfelder Kabinett Riesling. We have reviewed the wine before so I won’t do a full review of it. It wasn’t the greatest pairing as the sweetness of the poached pears was throwing the wine. If I do the poached pear recipe again, I will use a Spätlese Riesling as it will have enough sweetness to stand up to the pears.

For the second course Mick did two types of chicken wings, a cayenne based recipe served with sour cream and lime and my favourite wing recipe made from Dijon and marmalade.

He paired them with a 2008 Sebastiani Zinfandel.

The nose on the Zinfandel was huge and filled the room just after being poured out; Aromas of black licorice, chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg with a hint of black berry in the background. Tasting the wine I was surprised as it wasn’t as fruit forward like most Zins are, instead flavours or pumpkin, nutmeg were the main flavours with some currant lurking in the background. Structure wise it had good acidity but was a touch tannic. With the tannin and the flavours to the wine, if the French made Zinfandel this would be how they’d make it. I found it was too dry/tannic on its own but it was an amazing pairing with the chicken wings.

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


Here is the LCBO Information for the wine -

SEBASTIANI ZINFANDEL 2008

VINTAGES 672667
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 17.95
Wine, Red Wine
14.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: California, USA
By: Sebastiani Vineyards
Release Date: Jun 25, 2011

Description - Wine & Spirits magazine, and Tim Fish of the Wine Spectator, each scored this superbly priced Zin 88 points.

Tasting Note - Quite lithe and lively for Zinfandel with very engaging notes of red cherry, raspberry pie, plum and cinnamon toast on the nose. The palate is dry and medium-full bodied with a bright acidity and well integrated, balanced ripe tannins. Impressively structured with lots of fruit without being jammy. Very nicely made. Perfect for beef kebabs or lasagna. (VINTAGES panel, April 2011)

I really liked this Zinfandel for being a little different from the normal California ‘fruit bomb’ Zinfandels and at $18 this wine is a good deal and I may have to grab a bottle or two for my cellar.

Mick’s wings were really good and even though I love the Dijon and marmalade ones, I was finding myself going back to the cayenne ones just as much as I was going for my favourite ones.

For the next course I did grilled shrimp with herb mayo dipping sauce with a tomato and corn salad and blue tortillas. Mick was nice enough to grill the shrimp for me while I got the rest of the food made and plated. I paired this course with a 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. We have review Kim Crawford enough times that this blog could almost be called "Kim Crawford presents Zippy Sauce food and wine blog" so I won’t be reviewing again here. I will say that it was a very good pairing with this course.

Mick did a great job on grilling the shrimp. I was disappointed with my new herb mayo recipe; it had so many different ingredients (mayo, lemon juice, fresh parsley and oregano, cumin, chili powder, fresh garlic, salt and pepper) that I expect more from it. Instead it tasted exactly like 1000 Island dressing, not that there is anything wrong with 1000 Island dressing but after prepping all those ingredients it was disappointing to realize that I could have just gone out and spent $2 on some Kraft 1000 Island dressing and had the same results.

For dessert Jan and Chris bought a very nice selection of gourmet cupcakes and a bottle of 2008 Henry of Pelham late harvest Riesling. I didn’t review the late harvest Riesling, as I don’t like to rate wines that guests bring (excluding Mick and Amy of course). With this wine though, I should have reviewed as it was excellent as were the cupcakes.

It was a fun night and I would like to thank everyone for the foods and wines they added to the dinner and look forward to doing this again sometime soon.


Cheers!

Mark

July Wine Club – Sparkling Wines

This past Thursday, Wine Club got together to try two sparkling wines, here is the LCBO information on both -

SEGURA VIUDAS BRUT RESERVA CAVA SPARKLING


LCBO 216960
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 14.55
Wine, Sparkling Wine, White
11.8% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 1
Made in: Region Not Specified, Spain
By: Heredad Segura Viudas

DUFOULEUR PÈRE & FILS BRUT CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE 2007


VINTAGES 207993
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 17.95
Wine, Sparkling Wine, Other Sparkling Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: Burgundy, France
By: Dufouleur Pere Et Fils
Release Date: Apr 16, 2011

Description - All grapes grown in Burgundy are allowed in Crémant de Bourgogne, which is made using the traditional method and must be aged for at least nine months. This version comprises Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Aligoté. Vintage-dated Crémant de Bourgogne is relatively rare in our market. This one features lovely bread dough, citrus and apple aromas. Dry and fresh, with the breadiness balanced impeccably by the citrus. Quite flavourful, this is a great, well-priced, affordable indulgence for everyday enjoyment.

The Cava was the take home bottle and the Crémant de Bourgogne was the comparison bottle. I was excited about trying these two sparkling wines as I have been addicted to the Louis Roederer Champagne recently.

The nose on the Cava was of moderate intensity with lime, yeast, pear and faint floral notes in the background. Lemon and grapefruit flavors were the dominate flavors to the wine. The structure was good with lively acidity bringing the wine to life. Without food this was my favourite of the two but with food the Crémant was better.

The nose on the Crémant was weaker in intensity than the Cava with lemon and grass notes as the two main aromas. The main flavours were gooseberry and lime. This wine was much more fruit forward than the Cava. The structure on the Crémant was good with fresh acidity and fruit.

Kathy, one of our Wine Club members, did chicken skewers to go with the wines which made a good pairing for both of them though the Crémant was better with food than the Cava.

I liked both wines but wasn’t in love with either. They were fun to try but I don’t see myself rushing out to buy more of either.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Lobster, oysters, shrimp & Champagne... and that's just the first course – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the final course of the evening, I did Chimichurri Steak with a corn and tomato salad and side pitas. I paired this with a 2000 Chateau Franc-Maillet Bordeaux from Pomerol.

The nose on the wine was made up of mushroom, pine and blackberry. Tasting the wine you’ll find tobacco, dark chocolate and blueberry. The structure on the wine was off as it was too acidic and lacking enough tannin to balance out the acidity. The wine also had a short dry finish to it. I wasn’t that keen on this wine on its own but it got better with the food.

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 85, Mark - 84, Kathy – 83, Amy – 82, Overall – 83.5.

"Amazingly dark cork!"

There was no LCBO information on this wine as I purchased in the US years ago. I can’t remember what I paid for it but a web search put it between $30 and $47 US ($45 to $60 CDN after exchange, duty and LCBO markup). I will say for that price point there are much better Merlots on the market and would go with those instead.

We finished up the night with a LaRocca Lemon Tart for dessert which was a nice light dessert after all of that food.

It was a shame that Sheian couldn’t make it but it was a fun night with Mick and Amy never the less.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Lobster, oysters, shrimp & Champagne... and that's just the first course – Part 1

This Saturday Night we were supposed to have Sheian join us for dinner but due to a late flight home and an early morning shift at work she couldn’t make so it was just the four of us for dinner.

When Sheian is coming for dinner, I usually like to ‘step up my game’ on the food front and tonight was no exception. The first course was a Lobster, oysters and shrimp on a bed of ice with seafood sauce and lemon. I wanted to make the platter memorable so I used two different sized plastic containers to make a bowl out of pure ice for the center of the platter. I was sure how this would turn out but it ended up looking really good and the platter looked amazing.

I paired this with a bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne (which has been reviewed recently so I won’t be doing it here). I will say that the seafood and Champagne starter did go down very well together.

For the second course I did an Italian Anti-Pasto with Mozzarella di Bufala , Tomatoes, Basil and a side of cold cuts and olives and roasted red peppers. I paired this with a 2007 Cigliano Chianti Classico.

The nose on the wine was big as it filled the room just after being poured out into the glasses. Aromas of cherry, raspberry, cigar box and eucalyptus made up the rich nose. Tasting the wine you get cherry and black licorice flavours to start with and herbaceous notes on the finish. Mick liked the wine as it was versatile with all the different flavours of the dishes and not once did he find an awkward pairing and I can’t argue that as I found the same thing. It was a nicely balanced, easy to drink wine.


Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 88, Mark - 89, Kathy – 88, Amy – 89, Overall – 88.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

CIGLIANO CHIANTI CLASSICO 2007

VINTAGES 189803
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 18.95
Wine, Red Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Tuscany, Italy
By: Villa Del Cigliano
Release Date: Jan 8, 2011

Tasting Note - The Chianti Classico '07 is very natural in its expression and precision of flavour. It's classy, land-focused and shows the winery is on its way. Score - 2 Glasses (out of 3). (Gambero Rosso Italian Wines, 2010).

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – It’s my Birthday (woot woot) – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course Mick did curried Mussels served with freshly sliced Baguette. He paired this course with 2008 Bernkasteler Badstube Kabinett Riesling.

The nose on the Riesling was aromatic mix of honey, peaches and lychee. Tasting the wine peach is the dominate flavour with a bit of apple and caramel in the background. This seemed like an extremely sweet/cloying Kabinett but I believe this was due to the acidity which was sorely lacking. It is a shame that it didn’t have the crisp acidity I was looking for as the flavours and nose were very good and if this wine did have the acidity it would be amazing. It did, however, pair nicely with the Mussels.

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 87, Mark - 85, Kathy – 85, Amy – 88, Overall – 86.25.

The Mussels were up to Mick’s usual excellent standards and once we were done there wasn’t a Mussel to be found anywhere.

For Dessert, Amy picked up a Chocolate cake with a Happy Birthday greeting on it which made a nice ending to the evening… though at my old age I probably should have finished the night with a nice glass of prune juice :)

Thanks to Mick and Amy for a wonderful night and like a fine wine, friendships get better with age too!

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – It’s my Birthday (woot woot) – Part 1

The past Friday was my *cough* 40th *cough* Birthday which means I’m just as old as Mick now… sigh. Mick, being a fine old fellow, offered to make me a three course Birthday meal and I could pick 2 of the 3 dishes with the non-optional one being Spicy Shrimp with mint sauce. This was more than fine with me as I will never turn down Spicy Shrimp. I picked Clams Casino and Curried Mussels as my two choices.

The Spicy Shrimp were the first course and Mick paired this with a 2008 Beringer “Napa Valley” Sauvignon Blanc.

The nose on the wine was an interesting mix of pineapple, lime and honeydew melon. Tasting the wine you’ll notice a green apple and pear flavour running the length of the wine. The oak was also noticeable but not overly so. The structure to the wine was off as the wine was lacking acidity levels you’d expect from a Sauvignon Blanc. In spite of the lacking acidity it was still a nice wine to drink and went well with the shrimp.

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 87, Mark - 86, Kathy – 85, Amy – 88, Overall – 86.5

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –


BERINGER SAUVIGNON BLANC 2009

VINTAGES 394353
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 22.95
Wine, White Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: California, USA
By: Beringer Vineyards
Release Date: Jul 23, 2011

Tasting Note - Mango, mineral, candied citrus peel and floral are the prime aromas on display here. Dry, fruity and refreshing with a touch of well-handled oak. Medium bodied, medium finish. Enjoy tonight with grilled butter-brushed prawns, or for backyard sipping with soft cheeses. (VINTAGES panel, June 2011)

*Please note the LCBO is listing the 2009 and not the 2008 reviewed here.

The second course was Clams Casino and I bought a Louis Roederer Champagne to go with this course as I really enjoyed it the last time we got together and wanted it again - http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2011/06/saturday-night-sparkling-night-with-in.html

The first time Mick did the Clams Casino they were really good but as he grilled them on the BBQ the stuffing on top was soft. In the past when I have had them at other places, they are oven broiled so the tops go crispy. We chatted about this and he said he like to do them again and try broiling them so that was the plan for tonight’s version. They turned out beautifully as they had a nice crispy tops and were really flavourful. The Champagne was good with them but we actually enjoy the Champagne more just on its own.


Click here for Part 2