Saturday Night – We haven’t had that in a while…

This past Saturday it was my turn to host our usual Saturday night dinner and I had a couple of old favourites on tap and a new recipe to try.

 

I had a bottle of 2005 Mondavi Napa Valley Fume Blanc which I wanted to get rid of as Fume Blanc isn’t a wine you usually want to keep around that long.  As soon as I mention this to Mick, he said “Spicy Shrimp it is” as this is our favourite pairing for this wine.  He even volunteered to make the shrimp and marinade as long as I would do the mint sauce. 

I was relieved to see the Fume was still a pale/greenish yellow colour when I poured it out as this meant it was still good; when Fume Blanc has turned, it will go a deep golden/amber yellow.  I won’t be reviewing it here in detail as we have reviewed it before.  I liked the 2005 Fume Blanc as the acidity had softened and it had an easier to drink and rounded mouth-feel to it.  Kathy on the other hand was not impressed as she likes Fume Blanc when it has that razor-sharp-kick-you-in-the-teeth type of acidity.  It was good with the spicy shrimp but I will have to agree with my wife that with the shrimp, a Fume Blanc with more acidity would have been a better pairing.

For the next course I did smoke salmon with bagel crisps, cream cheese, capers, red onion, cucumbers and slice lemon.  I paired this with a 2009 Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay. 

The colour was that typical rich golden yellow you would expect on a California Chardonnay.  The nose on the KJ was a comforting mix of toasted caramel, marshmallow, butterscotch, vanilla and mango.  The caramel aroma carried over to the taste and was the dominate flavour with hints of pineapple and vanilla.  The structure on the wine was lovely and balanced but it was over oaked.  This wine is unapologetically a California Chardonnay with its big nose and taste; if you are looking for subtle go somewhere else.  It was a very good pairing with the salmon.

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 -

KENDALL-JACKSON GRAND RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2009
VINTAGES 59576
750 mL bottle
Price $ 27.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Jackson Wine Estates International
Release Date: Jun 23, 2012
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Chardonnay
Sugar Content: 5 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note -  Readers looking for more caramelized tropical fruit and honeysuckle characteristics as well as more opulence and flesh should check out the 2009 Grand Reserve Chardonnay (a blend of equal parts Santa Barbara and Monterey fruit). This 100% Chardonnay was aged 9 months in primarily French oak, and was put through 100% barrel and malolactic fermentation with lots of lees stirring. Kendall-Jackson's Chardonnay program has always been a reference point for how to get the most out of this grape and this cuvee highlights the buttery melon, tropical fruit and peach-like characteristics of Chardonnay. It also possesses medium to full body, well-integrated wood and a long, heady, rich finish. Score - 91. (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, Feb. 2011)

For the main course I did Chile-Lime Chicken Kabobs and paired this with a 2004 Comtes d’Isenbourg Pinot Gris (once again another white wine that I kept too long) from Alsace.  This time it came back to bite me as it was past its prime; it was drinkable but it had certainly lost a step or two.  As this wine was past its prime, we decided it wouldn’t be fair to review it.

Here is the link to the recipe - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chili-lime-chicken-kabobs/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=chili-lime&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20Hub

The marinade smelled terrific but tasting it, I wasn’t blown away.  I served the kabobs over rice and the flavour of the chili-lime was nice but almost too subtle; I found myself wishing for more sauce/flavour.  Mick said this would be a good ‘thru the week’ recipe but it was missing that certain something to make it a Saturday night feature dish.  I think he hit the nail on the head perfectly with that description.

We finished the night with Ice Cream cake. 

Thanks to Mick for making the spicy shrimp and being the ‘grill master’.  It was a fun night and I enjoyed getting back to a couple of favourite dishes we hadn’t had in a while.

Cheers!

Mark