Friday Night – Yet another Champagne

Mick and Amy weren’t available for our usual Saturday night dinner this week so Kathy and Amy suggested that we get together for a Friday night dinner instead. 

Bollinger Champagne was mention a number of times in the book Fifty Shades of Gray which Amy and Kathy have recently finished, so Amy made it her mission to track down a bottle or two or of it.  Amy found a Bollinger NV Rose Brut Champagne this week and bought two as Kathy wanted one too. 

As it was a Friday, we decided to make things simple and Kathy wanted to try the Bollinger so we decided to order in Sushi to pair with it.

I over-ordered and we had a ton of Sushi to get through so I didn’t think one bottle of Champagne would be enough to see us through and added a bottle of Roederer Champagne as well.  We have reviewed the Roederer before so I will just focus on the Bollinger in this review.

The nose on the Bollinger was an interesting mix of orange zest, yeast, cranberry and blue cheese/iron aromas.  Tasting the wine, it was a combination of sour strawberry and lime.  The Bollinger also had fine bubbles, lively acidity and unfortunately, a short finish.  It paired very well with any of the salmon based sushi but was not that nice with the tempura as it developed a sharpness in the mid-palate with it. 

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

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

BOLLINGER BRUT ROSÉ CHAMPAGNE

VINTAGES 100503
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 91.95
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Champagne J. Bollinger
Release Date: Jul 7, 2012
Wine, Champagne
12.4% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Blend - Other
Sugar Content: 11 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

TASTING NOTE: This floral Champagne offers hints of malt and whole-grain toast, along with flavors of date, spiced plum and dried cherry. This shows fine balance and texture, and a mouthwatering finish of freshly ground spices. Drink now through 2016. Score: 92 (Alison Napjus, winespectator.com, Nov. 30, 2011)

I liked the Bollinger but the Roederer was $25 cheaper and is a more approachable champagne and paired better with the Sushi.  Amy commented that if this was $45-50 a bottle it would be great deal and I agree with that.  It was fun to try a new Champagne, but I’m starting to get worried that we have tried most of the Champagnes that the LCBO carries so it may be a bit before we try something new again.

We finished the night with an orange cream cake and an up-side-down chocolate cake which sounds fancy but in reality means Amy dropped the chocolate cake on her way home.  They were both very good so no harm done.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Fifty Shades of Dinner

While the last two weekends have been wonderful from a food and wine perspective, they have also been a little heavy in the food and wine area, so Kathy was looking so a simpler/lighter menu.  We discussed it and decided on Lamb burgers and Greek Salad and something for dessert.  I have been itching to do a homemade Greek Salad for a while and a few weeks ago Kathy and I had Lamb burgers which were awesome and I wanted Mick and Amy to try them.

That was the plan and then I got a text from Amy in which she mentioned that she had been reading the 50 Shades of Gray series and had a massive craving for Champagne.  It seems there is a lot of Champagne drinking in the books.  Amy even volunteered to provide the Champagne.  Not being one to turn down free Champagne, I agreed to do an appetizer course which would pair with Champagne.

Around this same time, Kathy’s sister Kelli said she would be in town on Sunday and wanted to do dinner together.  I suggested the three of us go out for Sushi which Kelli lit up to.  It had been a bit since I’ve had Sushi so I was looking forward to Sunday.  Unfortunately, something came up the next day and Kelli had to cancel for our Sunday Sushi-fest.

I was still kicking around ideas for an appetizer to go with the Champagne at this point and I decided to kill two cravings – order some Sushi to go with the Champagne as our first course.  Mick and Amy love Sushi so I knew that wouldn’t be a problem and Kathy isn’t a huge fan but was cool with it as the first course.

I ordered the Sushi from Spring Sushi on Upper James in Hamilton.  I usually go to Aijo Sushi which is downtown Hamilton but wanted to try something different.  I ordered 4 Dragon rolls – Red (Salmon), Yellow (Mango) and 2x Green (Avocado).  Amy brought a bottle of Perrier-Jouët Champagne to go with it.  We have reviewed this before - http://zippysauce.blogspot.ca/2011/12/saturday-night-champagne-and-sheian_11.html
so I won’t go into much detail.  I will say that the Sushi was very good as there wasn’t a single grain of sticky rice to be found at the end of the course so everyone enjoyed it and the  Perrier-Jouët Champagne worked very well with it.

For the main course I did Lamb burgers and Greek Salad and paired this with a 2003 Byron Pinot Noir from California.

The nose on the Byron was mild with a barnyard aroma and some cherry/strawberry notes in the background.  Tasting the wine before the food, I really liked it, black licorice with cherry notes that finished very smooth.  I really liked this wine with the food and on its own but I’m not a huge pinot fan and this reminded me more of a Red Bordeaux than a pinot.  Kathy and Mick love Pinot Noir and weren’t an enamored with this wine as I was as both thought that it needed more fruit on the nose and the taste and that I had done this wine a disservice but aging it as long as it did.  The fruit did come out more with the food just not to the level they would have liked.  On the other hand,  all of us finished the bottle with no problems and I don’t think anyone would have complained if there was another bottle handy.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick –87, Mark - 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 86, Overall – 87.25.

There was no LCBO information on this wine which wasn’t a surprise as I’m pretty sure I picked this up in the US a few years back for about $30 US.

For dessert I picked up a Key lime Crunch Cake which was nice lighter dessert to end the evening.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for providing the Champagne for the evening and looking forward to our next Saturday night dinner.

Cheers! 

Mark

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 5

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The final course of the evening was a selection of 5 different cheeses.  These were paired with a 2008 “Snow Angel” Riesling Ice wine by Angel’s Gate.

The nose on the Riesling was a lovely mix of orange zest, cinnamon hearts, and candied peaches.  Tasting the wine, an orange zest flavour dominates the wine but finishes more with a sweet orange pop flavour.  The acidity on this wine was much livelier than the Cab Franc Ice Wine and really helped offset the sweetness of the wine.  The finish was nice but it didn’t linger around as long as I would have liked.  The wine worked with all 5 of the cheeses and made a great finish to the night.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 87, Mark – 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 88, Overall – 87.75.

Both Ice wines were purchase directly from the winery and were in the $40-50 price point. 

So 4 out 5 of the VQA wines weren’t just drinkable but damn good wines that worked beautifully with the food.  I never thought I’d have a night of VQA wines where I would really enjoy 80% of them. 

I would like to thank Chris and Jan for a truly great night of food and wine and for all their hard work that made the night so good.  We’ll be getting together in August for dinner with them as we all own a bottle or two of the 2007 Robert Mondavi Private Reserve Cabernet and we will be cracking one of them to see how good it is compared to the 2001 version we tried at our last get together.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 4

For dessert Chris and Jan made a hazelnut chocolate cake that they jokingly called “Ferrero Rocher” cake.  This was paired with a 2008 “Snow Angel” Cabernet Franc Ice wine by Angel’s Gate winery.

The nose on the “Snow Angel” Cabernet Franc was just like the aroma you get opening a bag of licorice allsorts.  Tasting the wine, you will find mango, raisin, cranberry and candied apple flavours that finish with spice overtones.  I liked this wine as a pairing for the cake but did find it was a little cloying at times and wished for a bit more acidity to help balance out the sweetness of the wine.

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

I liked the “Ferrero Rocher” cake as it was rich but not overly heavy and I was starting to get quite full at this point.

Click here for Part 5

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 3

The 2009 Chateau de Charmes Cabernet Franc was the other Cabernet Franc we had with the sliders.

The nose on the Chateau de Charmes was very hard to detect, you really needed to swirl the glass just to pick up a hint of almond/marzipan and cherry.  Tasting the wine it started sour cherry and finished with a soapy/Thrills gum flavour to it.  Structure-wise, the flavour barely managed to cover the heat of the alcohol and it too was more acidic than tannic.  This wine was not very nice and didn’t work on its own and didn’t improve that much with the food.  I’m not sure if it was simply not very good or it was OK but against how good the Tawse Cabernet Franc was made this wine seem worse than it really was.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 78, Mark – 79, Kathy – 79, Amy – 78, Overall – 78.5.

Here is the LCBO listing on the wine –

CHATEAU DES CHARMES CAB FRANC EST BOTTLED VQA

LCBO 162602
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 13.95
This is a VQA wine
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Chateau Des Charmes
Style: Medium-bodied & Fruity
Wine, Red Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Cabernet Franc
Sugar Content: 3 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note - clear deep ruby with a hint of youthful violet at rim; forward ripe spicy blackberry fruit with a hint of earth; dry with medium body and fine grippy tannins; juicy plum and berry flavours on a lengthy finish .

* Note – I’m not sure if the wine listed above is the exact wine we had or not and I didn’t ask Jan the price on this wine.

I find it strangely reassuring that I can give the wine a low rating as I know Chris and Jan won’t take it personally.  I like the fact that we have become so comfortable with the both of them that we can be so honest in the reviews.  Normally if I wasn’t a big fan of a wine with someone other than Mick and Amy providing the wine, I wouldn’t bother reviewing it.

Click here for Part 4

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 2

The main course for the evening was Angus sliders with a mixed green salad.  Jan paired this with two Cabernet Francs – a 2009 Tawse Grower’s Blend and a 2009 Chateau de Charmes.

I will review the Tawse first and then cover the Chateau de Charmes in Part 3.

The nose on the Tawse was easy to find with green pepper, cherry, leather, strawberry, black pepper and clove notes.  Tasting the wine, fresh strawberry was the dominate flavour.  The structure was interesting as the acidity far outweighed the tannin but not to the detriment of the wine as it was very smooth.  The wine had a thin precise mouth-feel but its finish lingered around for a long time (in a good way).  In short a very easy drinking wine and worked very well with the sliders.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 89, Mark – 88, Kathy – 86, Amy – 88, Overall – 87.5.

This wine was also a winery only purchase and not available at the LCBO.  Jan listed it at a $25 price point. 

Click here for Part 3

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 1

This past Saturday night the four of us went to Chris and Jan’s for dinner.  Jan had a menu all planned out and went with all Ontario wines for the pairings.  As my couple of loyal readers of this blog probably know, I don’t get very excited about Ontario wines as rule.  I was however looking forward to trying all the wines Jan had picked out as it is always fun to try new wines.

The first course was a Wolfgang Puck Gazpacho recipe - 

http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/recipes/view/4004/Gazpacho

Jan paired this with a NV Trius Brut Rose.  After last weekend’s Champagne extravaganza, I was thinking to myself ‘uh oh VQA sparkling after trying four of the better Champagnes out there, this could be interesting…’

The nose on the Trius huge for a sparkling wine, as there was no need to swirl the glass to find the honey, strawberry, barnyard and watermelon aromas.  Tasting the wine you’ll find melon, lime, and an oaky flavour with a hint of very soft strawberry in the background.  The structure on it was good with lively acidity that was refreshing without being biting.  The finish was nice but very short and didn’t linger.  I liked this wine on its own but it really came into its own as a great pairing for the Gazpacho.

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

There was no LCBO listing as they do not carry it as Jan and Chris bought this direct from the winery.  Jan was nice enough to inform me that it was $30 a bottle.  At $30 a bottle this wine is a very good deal, especially with how well it paired with the Gazpacho.  I would also like to add that the presentation of the Gazpacho was stunning and one of the better looking dishes I have eaten in a long time.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – Insane in the Champagne – Part 3

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We finished Krug and then opened the 1997 Salon to go with the Baked Brie.  This put the Dom and Salon up against each other for this course but it wasn’t really a fair comparison as the Dom had warmed up quite a bit by this point and Salon was just out of the fridge.

The nose on the Salon was an odd mix of roses, barnyard and, wet stone and gooseberry.  Tasting the Salon flavours of lime, mango, butter, tropical fruit and oak were to be found.  I was surprised at all the different flavours to be found and at how young it tasted relative to its actual age (I wouldn’t have guess it was a 1997 due to its vibrancy.)  The balance and finish to this Champagne were lovely.  My only small compliant with it is due to its extremely fine bubbles it reminded me more of a high-end white wine from Burgundy than a Champagne.  It really made a great pairing with the Brie (and worked well with the next two courses as well). 

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 92, Mark – 91, Kathy – 91, Amy – 91, Overall – 91.25.

Here is the LCBO information for this wine –

99BLANC DE BLANC LE MESNIL(CHAMPAGNE SALON)

VINTAGES 704296
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 379.00
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Champagne Salon
Release Date: N/A
Wine, Champagne
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Sparkling (Champagne)
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

* Note – the Salon we reviewed here was a 1997 not the 1999 listed by the LCBO.  The 1997 Salon was purchase down in NY state at Premier Group for $349 US.

We finished the Dom and opened the 2004 Cristal to go with the next course - Singapore chili prawns (http://www.closetcooking.com/2009/06/singapore-chili-prawns.html) .  This was a new dish that I found when searching for Champagne pairings and sent to Mick as a suggested dish for the night.  He was nice enough to make it and I’m glad he did as it was very good and was a great pairing with both the Salon and the Cristal. 

The 2004 Cristal was the only one of the four wines we’d had before and it is also one of the highest rated wines on the Zippy Sauce blog and for good reason.  On the very first sip of the Cristal last night I was like ‘wow’ just ‘wow’ as it was even better than I remember it being the first time.  It had the liveliness of the Dom, the full mouth-feel of the Krug and the complexity of the Salon all in one glass and it was my hands down winner of the night.  Don’t get me wrong as I enjoyed the other 3 quite a bit but if I was forced to pick one it would be the 2004 Cristal.

The last course of the night was the crabbed topped scallops which we had with the remaining Cristal as the Salon was now a distant memory and it was a good pairing.  We decided to skip the cheese tray at this point and call it a night as we were all stuffed to the gills.

This wasn’t a normal Saturday night and I felt a bit guilty at having 4 bottles of pricy Champagne in one night as each of them could have been a feature bottle and we could have done this over 4 Saturday nights.  We discussed this at one point midway through the evening and made ourselves feel better about it by justifying that it is the only true way to compare them.  If we spaced these out over a period of a month on 4 different nights our ratings probably would have been different (weather changes, mood, foods, etc.).  This is probably not something we’ll do again anytime soon but it was a lot of fun.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and Mick for all the wonderful food.  Thanks to Sheian for dropping by and to my wonderful wife Kathy for making this an awesome birthday night!

Cheers,

Mark!

Saturday Night – Insane in the Champagne – Part 2

We tried the Krug NV Grand Cuvee at the same time as we were drinking the 2002 Dom Pérignon and with the same foods.

The nose on the Krug was stronger than the Dom’s nose with green apple, peanuts, caramel and ripe banana peel.  The flavours to the Krug were citrus, toasted marshmallow, butterscotch and a lime flavour on the finish.  It was softer and more approachable than the Dom and had a much more rounded and creamier mouth-feel to it.  The balance on the Krug was lovely as it had good flavours and fresh acidity and a stunning lingering finish on it.  It was decent with the pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages but the Chorizo did overpower it at times.  It was heavenly as a pairing with the Smoked Salmon.  I really liked the versatility of the Krug as a food wine, you get the impression that it would work as a pairing for a wide range of foods whereas the Dom will be more of a huge hit or complete miss.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 90, Mark – 91, Kathy – 87, Amy – 90, Overall – 89.5.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine -

KRUG 'GRANDE CUVEE' N.V. CHAMPAGNE

VINTAGES 349688
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 245.15
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Krug & Company
Release Date: N/A
Wine, Champagne
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Blend - Other
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

I would like to add one point about the Krug and say its packaging was my favourite out of the 4.  All the Champagnes came in special boxes and had an information card or booklet included.  The Krug box was very solidly built and I liked how it has a magnet on the flap to seal the box.

Click here for Part 3

Saturday Night – Insane in the Champagne – Part 1

It was my birthday this weekend, so the four of us decided to do something special for our usual Saturday night dinner.  Mick and Amy were hosting for the night and we were going to try 4 high-end Champagnes with a selection of different appetizers.

Just as the evening was about to kick off there was a knock at the door and I was very pleased to see Sheian.  She was dropping by to wish me a Happy Birthday but couldn’t stay as she had other commitments for the night.

The Champagne line-up for the night was a 2002 Dom Pérignon, a Krug NV Grand Cuvee, a 1997 Salon and a 2004 Cristal. 

The menu for the evening was as follows –

Pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages on skewers
Smoked Salmon on Kettle Chips with a cream cheese, horseradish and lemon dip
Baked Brie with Bruschetta topping served with sliced toasted baguette
Singapore chili prawns
Crabbed topped Scallops
Cheese Tray for dessert

We had the Dom Pérignon and the Krug with Pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages on skewers and with the Smoked Salmon on Kettle Chips with a cream cheese, horseradish and lemon dip.  Both Champagnes were very different from each other but both were very good in their own ways.  I will review the Dom Pérignon first and then cover the Krug in Part 2.

The nose on the Dom was very mild as you had to swirl the glass to coax the aromas from it but it was a pleasant nose with yeast, nutmeg, almond, Brazil nuts and white mushroom aromas.  The main flavours to the Dom were lemon and vanilla with some nuttiness developing as it warmed up.  The Dom was refreshingly crisp without being harshly dry on the finish and was beautifully balanced.  It worked very well as a contrasting pairing to the pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages but got a bit funky with the smoked salmon.  It was also better on its own without food than the Krug was; all in all a very solid Champagne.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 91, Mark – 90, Kathy – 89, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.75.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine -

DOM PÉRIGNON BRUT CHAMPAGNE 2002

VINTAGES 186676
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 229.95
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Mhcs
Release Date: Oct 29, 2011
Wine, Sparkling Wine, Other Sparkling Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Blend - Other
All other wines that match this varietal »
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Description  - Opulence in a glass. This legendary Champagne makes a stunning gift that will have jaws dropping and taste buds tingling. 96 points (Antonio Galloni, ?erobertparker.com, Dec. 2010)

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Saturday Night – Twice the Fumé, twice the fun – Part 2

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For the main course I did a summer favourite of mine; the dish has sliced NY strips, baby potatoes, corn, cherry tomatoes and arugula. I paired this with a 2003 Chateau Haut Sarpe from Saint Emilion.

We hadn’t done a French merlot in a while so I was looking forward to trying this wine.  The nose on it was big with rubber, black licorice, pine needles, eucalyptus, cherry and fresh mushroom.  Tasting the wine black licorice and black cherry were the two main flavours with a touch of cocoa mixed in.  It was well balance but finished very dry.  It made a good pairing and handled all the different flavours in the dish without a problem.  I liked this wine but wasn’t blown away by it.  The wine was also much better with the food than on its own.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 89, Mark – 88, Kathy – 87, Amy – 87, Overall – 87.75.

This wine was purchased down in the US a few years back and a web search is listing its price at about $51 (CDN.) a bottle.  At $51 a bottle, there are better choices out there for less money, so I won’t be rushing out to get another one.

For dessert I picked up a plain cheese cake and made a mango coulis to go with it.  I also picked up some fresh raspberries and blackberries to add some colour to the dish.  The berries and mango coulis made the cheesecake seem like a lighter summer type of dessert and we enjoyed it.  I was however a bit disappointed in the mango coulis, it was ok but I think a peach coulis would have been better as it would have been a bit tangier. 

Fun night, though two Fumé Blancs with just a shrimp starter is a very good way to get rapidly drunk. Thanks to Mick for prepping and grilled the spicy shrimp to perfection.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Twice the Fumé, twice the fun – Part 1

Last Saturday night we tried a bottle of 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fumé Blanc paired with chicken pesto on a bed of bean and corn salad and loved it.  We gave this wine a 90.75 rating which put it second on the Top Ten Whites.  Our usual pairing with Fumé Blanc is spicy shrimp with mint sauce and we decided to have the wine again to see how it did with it.  I grabbed a bottle off the rack opened and poured it and Mick made the comment “Napa Valley Fumé… what is this crap?”  I took a closer look at the bottle and realized that I grabbed a 2005 Robert Mondavi “Napa Valley” Fumé Blanc and not the 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fumé Blanc  I meant to open.  The “Napa Valley” version is the cheaper cousin to the “To Kalon” version but they are both in nearly identical bottle so it is easy to mistake the two wines.  So I grabbed the “To Kalon” and opened it as well.  What the heck, a little heads up Fumé Blanc competition could be fun.

As we reviewed the 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fumé Blanc last week, we are going to focus more on the 2005 Robert Mondavi “Napa Valley” Fumé Blanc for this review.

The nose on the 2005 was a little funky as a  ‘barnyard’ /blue cheese aromas were the most dominate with some peach, vanilla and pineapple aromas lurking in the background.  The peach, vanilla and pineapple aromas carried through to the taste as well.  The “Napa Valley” Fumé had huge razor sharp acidity to it and really got big in the mid-palette with the flavours but then quickly disappeared on the finish.  Compared to the “To Kalon” it was much sharper and seemed very one dimensional.  It was however a slightly better pairing with the spicy shrimp as it tended to alleviate the ‘burn’ better than the To Kalon did. Without the food pairing, the To Kalon was the clear winner between the two wines.

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

Here is the LCBO information for the wine –

ROBERT MONDAVI FUMÉ BLANC

VINTAGES 221887
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 22.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Constellation Wines U S
Release Date: N/A
Wine, White Wine
13.9% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Fume Blanc

I liked the Napa Valley Fumé, not as much as the To Kalon but it was a strong pairing and at half the price of the To Kalon a pretty good value.

Click here for Part 2