Saturday Night – It’s your Birthday! – Part 3

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For dessert I picked up a Chocolate Caramel Cake as I wanted something with Caramel or Butterscotch in it for the pairing I had in mind. 

Years ago when we were down at Premier Group in NY Kathy put a 375ml bottle or half bottle in the cart.  The wine was a 2003 Schloss Johannisberger Beerenauslese Riesling.  I was curious about this and then saw the price and nearly choked  as it was $250 US (around $375 Cdn) and it was a half-bottle!  I mention this to Kathy but she didn’t care, she wanted to try it so I didn’t argue that much about it.

For the last few years, this pricy bottle has been taunting me everything I opened the wine cabinet but I needed a very special occasion to justify opening this wine.

Pouring out the wine, I was shock at colour as it was a dark amber colour that reminded me of tawny port.  The nose on the wine was a disappointment as I was expecting the same powerful and vibrant nose that Canadian Ice Wines have.  You really had to swirl the glass to get something off of it but once you did there was a pretty nose of lychee, roses, and a slight medicinal aroma.   Tasting the wine you quickly realize why this wine was so expensive as it was so incredibly smooth.  Honey and black currant flavours dominate this wine.   The wine was very sweet but the lively acidity kept this wine from being anywhere even remotely close to being cloying.  This is a wine where after a single sip the first word out of your mouth will be ‘wow’.  It paired nicely with the cake.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 90, Mark - 90, Kathy – 90, Amy – 90, Overall – 90.

This wine was very enjoyable to try and I would have rated it much higher than 90 except for two things – price and the lack of power on the nose.  I really liked this wine but won’t be rushing out to get another one anytime soon.  I will add that if you have a bottle of this, you don’t need to be in a rush to open it as by its structure this wine still be amazing twenty years from now.

It was one heck of night, some of the wines maybe didn’t live up to my hopes but none of them were anything to sneeze at.  The food was great and only surpassed by the company.  Happy Birthday Kathy!

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – It’s your Birthday! – Part 2

The main course was grilled middle loin lamp chops with a side of my special potatoes.  The potatoes I boiled earlier in the day and then pan fried them with onions, corn, cherry tomatoes and arugula.  I paired this with a 2006 Bear Boat Pinot Noir.  Mick was kind enough to grill the lamb for me while I cooked the potatoes.

The lamb and the wine were both special.  The lamb was from Cumbraes in Dundas (http://www.cumbraes.com/).  I’d picked up two of middle loin lamb chops in January and Kathy and I had them for dinner one night; Kathy raved about the lamb for weeks after so I knew I had to go with these as our main course tonight.  The lamb is locally raised and the middle loin cut has to be at least two inches thick so I find it reminds me more of beef tenderloin than lamb due to its size. 

The 2002 Bear Boat Pinot Noir was a favourite of ours -

http://zippysauce.blogspot.ca/2008/01/saturday-night-pats-packers-pinot-and.html

and after having it I searched for more and couldn’t find it.  Last year I found the 2006 version of this wine and grabbed a couple of bottles of it and was looking forward to seeing how it was compared to the 2002.

The nose on the 2006 Bear Boat was huge strawberry aromas with some raspberry, cigar box and vanilla aromas in the background.  The nose was very aromatic and you certainly didn’t have to swirl your glass to find it.  Tasting the wine, I was caught off guard as half expected that strawberry nose to follow through on the taste but instead found it had a much darker taste than I expected.  Black licorice was the dominate flavour with some black cherry notes in the background.  The structure of the wine was good with nice acidity but it need a little more fruit to make it come alive.  It worked as a pairing for the lamb but it wasn’t the magical 2002 Bear Boat I fell in love with.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 88, Mark - 88, Kathy – 87, Amy – 87, Overall – 87.5.

This was picked up in the US for around $20-22 US (so about $33 after duty, exchange, etc.).

Mick did a great job with the lamb and grilled it medium-rare.  The lamb was as good as I remembered it to be.  The potatoes were very good too as I was surprised that Amy went back for more of them as by this time we were all getting quite full.

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Saturday Night – It’s your Birthday! – Part 1

This past Saturday night we got together for dinner to celebrate my lovely wife’s 40th birthday.  I wanted to do something special as it was the big ‘four oh’ and picked a number of different wines for the evening.  The wines were special due to price point or because they were past favourites and it ended up being a killer line-up of wines.

The first course was a blue cheese and bacon dip with crackers.  I paired this with a 2002 Cristal Champagne.

We first tried Cristal at New Years and it was stunning –

http://zippysauce.blogspot.ca/2012/01/saturday-night-happy-new-year-part-1.html

The one from New Year’s was a 2004 and the 2002 was rated higher so I was very much looking forward to trying this one.

The nose on the Cristal was interesting as it had aromas of apple, peach, cinnamon and smoked salmon.  I thought the smoked salmon aroma was odd but I swear it smelled the same as if I had just cut open a package of my favourite smoked salmon.  Tasting the champagne it was a nice mix of green apple and lime with some spice on the mid-palate.  The structure on the champagne was good with racy acidity and a lovely lingering finish.  I will be honest here and say I was a bit disappointed as it was not as creamy as the 2004 was but the 2002 did become more creamy as it started to warm up more.  I found that the more the wine warmed up the better it got.  On the plus side, it was a stellar pairing with the blue cheese dip. 

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 91, Mark - 89, Kathy – 89, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine -

CRISTAL BRUT CHAMPAGNE

VINTAGES 268755
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 286.95
Wine, Champagne
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Champagne Louis Roederer
Release Date: N/A

At close to the $300 a bottle this is obviously not an everyday wine (well, unless I win the lottery sometime in the near future); I thought the 2004 was worth the money but didn’t feel the 2002 was worth it.  I enjoyed it and am glad I tried it but won’t be rushing out to get another bottle of the 2002.  I do have a bottle of the 2004 on the rack and will be saving that for another special occasion in the future.

For the second course Mick braved the rain and grilled up his famous Prosciutto wrapped curried shrimp.  I paired this with the number one White Wine on the Zippy Sauce Top Ten White – a 2005 Wegeler Kabinett Riesling.  I had two bottles of this which I had been hoarding and thought tonight was a night worthy of using one of these up.  I was also a little nervous as the last time we had this was February 2009 so it had been over 3 years since we last tried it.   I was praying it was still as good as I remember it being.  The nose on the wine was still big and aromatic and as soon as I took a sip I smiled as it was just as wonderful as it was three year ago.  We didn’t rate this wine as it was covered three years ago but I will add that it was a great pairing with the shrimp.  Mick grilled the shrimp perfectly and we really need to have this dish more often.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – Return of the Spice Weasel – Part 2

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For the main course Mick did Piri Piri grilled beef sirloin with green beans and paired this with a 2002 Chateau Souverain “Alexander Valley” Cabernet Sauvignon.

The nose on the wine was mild with eucalyptus, cedar, vanilla and faint cherry in the background.  Tasting the wine was surprising as it reminded me more of a Merlot as it was very smooth and lacking that tannic bite that I like in a Cab. The main flavour to the wine was wild Raspberry.  The wine’s finish also didn’t linger for long.  It was very drinkable but a bit nondescript but it was a good pairing for the food.

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

There was no listing for this wine at the LCBO but I recall it being in the $20-25 price point.

The Piri Piri grilled beef sirloin was good, the beef and how it was grilled was melt in your mouth perfection. 

Amy picked up a Truffle Royale cake for dessert which made a nice finish to the evening.

All three of the new dishes Mick did were very good.  I was surprised however as Mick was fairly gentle on the Spice Weasel this evening as I was a little worried at the beginning of the night when Mick mention the theme that I be getting ‘teabagged’ hard by the Spice Weasel all night long.   

Next Saturday will be Kathy’s Birthday dinner and I’m not sure who is looking more forward to it - her or me, as I have some stellar wines on planned for that night.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Return of the Spice Weasel – Part 1

Mick volunteered to host dinner this Saturday as next week is Kathy’s birthday dinner which is at my house so the rotation was going to get messed up either way.  Mick had three new dishes on tap for the night with common theme – Spicy.

The first course was spicy bean dip served with grilled pitas and tortillas.  Mick paired this with a 2005 Seghesio Zinfandel.

The nose the Seghesio was a rich mixture of cedar/pine, dark chocolate, cherry tobacco, licorice with hints of blackberry in the background.  The flavour to the wine was interesting as it started pure black cherry but at the mid-palate there was some orange zest there too but then it finished pure black cherry.  There wasn’t much tannin to be found on the wine so it gave the wine a thinner mouth feel than it had back a few year ago.  I really liked this wine and it was a good pairing with the bean dip as well.  My only complaint with it was it felt like it has lost something as it wasn’t a lush and vibrant as it was when we tried it a few years ago, still very good Zinfandel though.

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 89, Mark - 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 88, Overall – 88.25.

Mick bought this down in the US at about $20 so it would have been about $33 CDN with duty, exchange, taxes, etc.

The second course was beer-battered shrimp with a spicy Thai mayo dipping sauce.  Mick also put some Chipotle Mayo and Cocktail Sauce on the side for us to try as well. 

Mick paired this with a 2008 Bouchard Pére & Fils Mâcon-Lugny Saint-Pierre.  We have reviewed this wine before so I won’t be going into it again. 

http://zippysauce.blogspot.ca/2010/06/saturday-night-sea-all-that-food-part-2.html

It was a decent pairing for the shrimp.  The shrimp were very good and Mick deep fried them perfectly.  I found the cocktail sauce was my favourite sauce to have with them.

Click here for Part 2

March Wine Club – Alsace

This past Thursday, Wine Club looked at 3 different wines from the region of Alsace in France.  The last time we looked at Alsace was June 2008 so we were more than due to take another peak at this wonderful wine region.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wines -

TURCKHEIM HENGST GEWURZTRAMINER 2007

VINTAGES 259705
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 24.95
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : M
Made in: Alsace, France
By: Ernest Preiss
Release Date: Mar 3, 2012

Tasting Note - Gewurztraminer is grown around the world, but the most famous expressions of this exotically spicy grape are found in Alsace. This example offers a great flourish of peach, pear, citrus, spice, rose-petal and lychee aromas. The palate is moderately sweet and deliciously lives up to the promise of the nose. Very appealing, and simply lovely. (VINTAGES panel, April 2011)

KUEHN FLORIMONT RIESLING 2009

VINTAGES 260257
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 22.95
Wine, White Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : MD
Made in: Alsace, France
By: Vins D'Alsace Kuehn S.A.
Release Date: Mar 3, 2012

Tasting Note - Perfumed aromas of exotic spice introduce a persistent off-dry stream of ripe fruit flavour moderated by a wonderful sweet and tang aftertaste. This is medium bodied with a generous mouth feel. Sweet pear, apple and spice mingle with lemony citrus on the palate while the mid-length finish layers on yellow plum and a refreshing dollop of key lime showcasing that magical yin and yang that pairs so well with spicy Asian dishes like pad Thai. Score - 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5). (Vic Harradine, winecurrent.com, June 25, 2011)LCBO Information – Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris Réserve 2005

JOSEPH CATTIN HATSCHBOURG PINOT GRIS 2009

VINTAGES 260240
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 19.95
Wine, White Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : M
Made in: Alsace, France
By: Cattin Freres
Release Date: Mar 3, 2012

Tasting Note - Richly textured wine, full of ripe and spicy fruit, the acidity just a hint behind the dried honey and watermelon flavors. It is full-bodied, ripe, packed with intense fruit flavors. A wine for aging over 3-4 years. Score - 93. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, Dec. 2011)

Pouring out the wines, I was amazed to see the different hues to the wines.  The Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer were a golden yellow (the Gewürztraminer was slightly darker than the Pinot Gris) in colour whereas the Riesling was more a pale yellow with some greenish tint to it.  The nose on all 3 wines were very different from each other – The Pinot Gris had a moderate nose of rhubarb, pear and nutmeg, the Riesling had a weak nose with aromas of lime, petrol and green apple and the Gewürztraminer had a powerful nose with lovely aromas of roses, lychee and orange zest.  Tasting the wines was fun as they were all very different from each other too.  The Riesling had lively acidity and had a racy green apple flavour to it.  The Pinot Gris had interesting flavours of honey and peach but the acidity wasn’t that high which made the wine seem almost cloying.  The Gewürztraminer had powerful flavours of kiwi and white grapefruit and that usual bitterness in the mid-palate that I have come to expect from Gewürztraminer.

Tracy, a Wine Club member, did Buttered Chicken and served it with fresh sliced baguette.  I really like the Buttered Chicken and asked her for the recipe and she laughed and showed me the President’s Choice jar it came from.  I thought this was cool as that makes it super easy to make… just go buy a jar of it!  The Riesling was the clear winner with the food and it made an amazing pairing.

I loved the Riesling but wasn’t blow away by the other two wine, though the nose on the Gewürztraminer was awesome. 

Next month we’ll be looking at a Cab-blend from Australia and Cabernet Sauvignon from California.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday night – Batting .500

Mick and Amy were hosting dinner this past Saturday night.

Mick for the starter did mussels with lobster, bacon, tomato and leeks in a cream sauce and paired this with a 2007 La Crema Chardonnay.

As he poured the wine out he wasn’t happy at seeing a dark yellow almost amber like colour to it.  We tried it and it wasn’t off but it was close as it had a really strong butterscotch/burnt caramel flavour to it.  Mick was very disappoint as he said the last time he had this wine it was really good – light oak, lots of fruit and good acidity.  I asked about reviewing it and we decided it wouldn’t be fair to do as it wasn’t in its prime.  On the upside it was an OK pairing with the mussels and the mussels were excellent.

For the main course Mick did grilled flank steak stuffed with feta, garlic and sundried tomatoes served with a side of oven roasted potatoes.  Mick paired this with a 2002 Robert Mondavi Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon.

We review this wine last summer but it looks time or a different bottle has changed this wine - http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2011/08/saturday-night-micks-mom-joins-us-for.html

The wine from summer had lots of fruit to be found whereas the bottle we had this Saturday my biggest compliant about was the lack of fruit.  The nose on the wine was a mix of eucalyptus and dark chocolate with some barely detectable fruit notes in the background.  The heat or alcohol was also noticeable on the nose as well.  The fruit was more obvious on the taste as raspberry flavours were there but it was the secondary flavour behind the dominant dark chocolate flavour.  The structure to the wine was the same as the one from summer with soft tannin, good acidity and a lingering finish.  It was very good as a pairing with the stuffed flanked steak.  This wine was very enjoyable but if you have a bottle of it on the rack, I would suggest drinking it sooner than later.

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 89, Mark - 89, Kathy – 89, Amy – 88, Overall – 88.75.

This wine hasn’t been carried by the LCBO in a while but it was at a $60 price point.

Mick’s stuff flanked steak was very good but the center pieces of meat could have been cooked just a tad longer but that is almost to be expect when doing a dish like this as the outside will always cook faster than the inside.

For dessert Amy picked up a Red Velvet cake which was the same dessert we had in the summer when we last had the 2002 Mondavi; I thought that was an amusing coincidence.  

So to sum up - the Chardonnay was a bit of a miss but the Cab was hit so we ended batting .500 for the night on the wines but on the upside both of Mick’s dishes were walk off home runs.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and already looking forward to next Saturday.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Two cases later – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course I decided on beef tenderloin as Mick and Amy had been in Cuba and I heard beef is the one food that is not in good supply down there.  As it happened, the resort Mick and Amy stayed at was well supplied with Alberta beef so they weren’t lacking in that department on their vacation.

Earlier in the week we got a cheese promotion flyer/magazine in the mailbox that had a bunch on interesting recipes in it.  There was one for a potato salad with crab and Swiss cheese that looked pretty tasty so I decided to do it as a side dish.

As we were going with Grilled Beef Tenderloin as the main course, I need a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Bordeaux-style blend as my pairing.  I decided to make it an all South African night and went with a 2006 Vilafonté Series M as my wine pairing.  I picked this up 4 to 6 months ago and remember paying $40-42 for it.  The LCBO usually doesn’t carry much South African wine over $20 so I was really curious to try this as I find South African wine is usually a great value for money.  The Series M is a Bordeaux-style blend red wine.  Vilafonté is a joint venture between South African and California wine makers.  Here is a link to their website - http://www.vilafonte.com/framework/index.asp 

The nose on this wine was easy to find with lovely aromas of tobacco, cherry, raspberry, smoke and evergreen.  Tasting the wine, cassis, juniper, raspberry/blackberry notes dominate this wine but the wine finishes with a dark chocolate flavour to it.  The wine’s structure is a well-crafted blend of super fine tannin, nice acidity and alcohol.  Even though the alcohol is 14.5% it certainly doesn’t come across as hot.  It was very good on its own but I really loved this wine paired with the beef tenderloin.  I will note that was a lot of sediment (see picture below) in the wine and would recommend decanting this wine first.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 91, Mark - 91, Kathy – 91, Amy – 91, Overall –  91

Here is the LCBO information for the wine –

VILAFONTÉ SERIES M

VINTAGES 7757
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 34.55
Wine, Red Wine
14.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: Region Not Specified, South Africa
By: Vilafonte
Release Date: N/A 

The price on this wine has been reduced since I bought it as I firmly remember it being in the $40-42 range.  At $35 dollars a bottle this wine is an exceptional deal and I have order a case of it.  Mick said it best during the night when he commented “There are $100 bottles of wine that I would put this against and pick it over them…”  The Overall rating of 91 puts this wine in a tie for 6th on the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Reds.

Amy really liked the potato salad with crab and Swiss but we all agreed it was more of a summer time dish. 

For dessert I picked up a Carmel Brownie Cheesecake which went over well. 

To sum up – two decent new recipes, two Top Ten wines and Mick and Amy back for a normal Saturday night… life is very good.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Two cases later – Part 1

Mick and Amy were back from vacation and it was my turn to host dinner this past Saturday night.  One of our local supermarkets had a few different types of pre-made pesto that Kathy and I have been trying and enjoying with Gnocchi.  I decide to start the night with Gnocchi but to make a pesto from scratch and see if I could do better than the pre-made ones.

I did a quick web search and found this - http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/ and decided to give it a go.
 
The pesto didn’t take too long to whip up but then my next question was what to pair with it.  I was leaning toward a Chardonnay but decided to do some web searching again and a number of sites were recommending Sauvignon Blanc instead of Chardonnay. I went with their advice and paired the first course with a 2010 Graham Beck Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa.

The nose on the wine was classic Sauvignon Blanc with cut grass, gooseberry and some cat’s pee in the background.  I was surprised at the strength of the nose as a number of Sauvignon Blancs you really have to swirl the glass to get any nose off the wine whereas this one no swirling was needed as it had very easy to find aromas.  The colouring was also very typical of a Sauvignon Blanc as well as it was a very pale greenish-yellow in colour.   Tasting the wine you will find a pleasant combination of white grapefruit and gooseberry running the length of the wine.  Structure on the wine was good as it was a very clean, crisp wine that was very drinkable.  It was good on its own but was a great pairing with the pesto.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 88, Mark - 89, Kathy – 92, Amy – 88, Overall –  89.25

Here is the LCBO information for the wine –

GRAHAM BECK SAUVIGNON BLANC 2010

VINTAGES 948620
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 13.95
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Region Not Specified, South Africa
By: Graham Beck Wines
Release Date: Oct 15, 2011

Tasting Note - [The 2010] shows nettles, limes, with dusty pebble finish. Well judged, solid and elegantly balanced. Score - 31/2 Stars (out of 5). (Greg de Bruyn, Platter's South African Wine Guide, 2011)

The 89.25 just puts this wine in a 10th place tie on the Zippy Sauce Top 10 White Wines.  The other thing I did want to point out is the $14 price which makes this wine a heck of a deal so much so that I have ordered a case of it.

As to the homemade Pesto recipe, it was slightly better than the store bought stuff as it was richer tasting.  Mick and I discussed the recipe and both thought that upping the pine nuts from 1/3 of a cup to 1/2 a cup would be a good idea as it would make the pesto sauce a bit more ‘meaty’.

Click here from Part 2