Saturday Night – Seafood and Diablo Sliders – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

 

For the main course, Mick did Diablo sliders with sweet potato fires and mixed green salad.  He paired this course with a Sivas Sonoma Old Vines Zinfandel.

 

The nose on this wine was easy to find with powerful aromas of raspberry, leather, black pepper and cloves.  Mick and I both thought the nose on this wine was awesome as it was so big and had a very comforting quality to it.  The main flavour to the wine was strawberry jam with hints of clove and nutmeg.  The structure on the wine was very good but it was a touch hot at times.  I liked this wine as a pairing for the sliders as the two flavours worked very together.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark - 89, Kathy – 85, Amy – 88, Overall – 87.75.

Here is the LCBO information for this wine –

SIVAS-SONOMA OLD VINE ZINFANDEL 2009
VINTAGES 291096
750 mL bottle
Price $ 18.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Don Sebastiani & Sons
Release Date: Jan 5, 2013
Wine, Red Wine
14.9% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Zinfandel
Sugar Content: 9 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: D - Dry

Tasting Note - Intense Zinfandel with a zippy acidity making this into a multi-use crowd-pleaser. Look for aromas of elderberry, black cherry, blueberry, spice cupboard and woodsmoke. Dry and jammy at first, but then that really vibrant acidity comes into play. A great choice for back ribs, gourmet hamburgers or sausages, grilled steaks, or rich meat-based pasta dishes. (VINTAGES panel, Feb. 2012) 

I have to add that for a $19 Zinfandel this wine is a very good value and once again I think the LCBO is dead on with their food pairing suggestions.

I feel kind of spoiled between Chef Jono’s wonderful dishes on Friday and Mick’s amazing ones on Saturday, I’m certainly not living the hard life.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Seafood and Diablo Sliders – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting dinner this past Saturday night.  Mick had two new wines for us to review and paired them with two great dishes.

 

The first course was a mixed seafood platter of oysters, shrimp and Alaskan king crab.  Mick paired this dish with a 2011 Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa.  We’ve had the 2010 version of this wine before so I was interested to see what the 2011 would be like.

The nose on the wine was a mild mix of wet hay bale, lime and wet stone aromas.  Tasting the wine, the lime aroma carried over and lime was the dominate flavour to the wine but it finish with a zesty pink grapefruit flavour to it.  The structure on the wine was good as the acidity was decent but it could have used a touch more as it came across a little flabby at times.  It was a good pairing with the food.  I was a bit disappointed with this wine as we had some truly terrific South African Sauvignon Blanc and while this one was decent, it didn’t do anything to stand out from the rest.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 86, Mark - 85, Kathy – 85, Amy – 86, Overall – 85.5

Here is the LCBO information for this wine –

MULDERBOSCH SAUVIGNON BLANC 2011
VINTAGES 933424
750 mL bottle
Price $ 18.95
Made in: Western Cape, South Africa
By: Mulderbosch
Release Date: Nov 24, 2012
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Sugar Content: 3 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note -  A perrenial customer favourite, this Savvy brings crisp aromas and flavours of apple, citrus, garden herbs and freshly cut grass. Position this in your mind somewhere between the Loire and New Zealand style. Zippy and dry with a medium body, it's brilliantly refreshing. Quite food-flexible, this will shine alongside roast chicken, tuna steaks, herbed prawns or mild green curries. (VINTAGES panel, March 2012)

I can certainly see why the LCBO write-up called this wine ‘food-flexible’ as it was quite neutral and would work a number of different foods.

Click here for Part 2

Friday Night – Thanks Mom!

For Christmas of 2011, my mom bought Kathy and I a Groupon deal that entailed a professional Chef coming to the house and cooking a dinner for 4.  We kind of procrastinated on setting this up and didn’t get around to booking it until late August.  Between our schedules and Chef Jonathan’s, we ended up booking for Friday Jan. 11th 2013 as our date.

 

This past Friday was the date and we got together with Mick and Amy and Chef Jonathan came by to make us dinner. 

The first course was a wide range of foods, flavours and sauces so we decided to crack two different wines to accompany them.  The two bottles were a Roederer Champagne and a 2011 Darting Kabinett Gewurztraminer.

Here was the first course – Caesar bites wrapped in Proscuitto, Endive  topped with cream cheese, cranberry and pecans, beef skewers and rice paper wrapped vegetable medley.  They were served with a peanut sauce, a spicy mango sauce, spicy jerk sauce with mayo and very hot sauce which I don’t recall the exact name of.  As you can see, this is a very wide range of different tastes and I was concerned how the wines would pair.

 

We have reviewed the Roederer before so I won’t go into it again here but we did review the Darting.

 

The nose on the Darting was an interesting mix lavender, floral soap and lychee.  Tasting the wine, you’ll  find mango and pear flavours that run the length of the wine.  There was a slight oiliness to the wine but the fresh acidity did a nice job of cutting through it as well as the off-dry sweetness of the wine.  It was ok on its own but really shined with the food.  It was an exceptional pairing with the endive with cream cheese, cranberry and pecans and very good with any foods that were dipped in the spicy mango sauce.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark - 90, Kathy – 90, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.5

Here  is the LCBO information on the wine -

DARTING DÜRKHEIMER NONNENGARTEN GEWÜRZTRAMINER KABINETT 2011
VINTAGES 944181
750 mL bottle
Price $ 16.95
Made in: Pfalz, Germany
By: Kurt Muller Weinexport
Release Date: Aug 4, 2012
Wine, White Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Gewurztraminer
Sugar Content: 57 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: M - Medium

Tasting Note  -  Medium straw-gold colour with a youthful green tinge. Rich nose, featuring grapefruit, mineral, peach, melon, rosewater and spice cupboard. Medium in sweetness with excellent aroma replays on the palate. Textured and very flavourful, with an exotic spice that lingers on the medium-full bodied, fruit-packed finish. A great choice for spicy barbecued chicken or chicken vindaloo. (VINTAGES panel, June 2012).

Both wines worked really well with the starters, the Roederer I liked more with most items but anything that had a slight sweetness to it, the Darting was the better pairing.  As to the food itself, it was very good.  I really enjoyed how the four different sauces really change the experience of each of the foods.

The second course was Wedding Salad which was cucumber, celery root and apple and grilled shrimp.  I wasn’t overly excited about this dish when I read about it on the menu beforehand but really enjoy it.  It was a very lovely combination of flavours and the dish presented very well.  The Darting was a nice pairing with this salad and the Roederer wasn’t far behind either.

The main course we had our choice of four different dishes and pre-ordered the Beef Two Ways.  This dish was Beef Tenderloin and Braised Beef Short Ribs with potatoes, zucchini, beans and goat cheese.  I paired this with a 2004 Altair Red from Chile (Bordeaux-style blend).  We have reviewed this wonderful wine before so I won’t go into too much detail.  The wine was a good pairing with the Beef dish but we all thought a more fruit forward Californian Cabernet Sauvignon would have been a better pairing.  The Beef Short Ribs were simply mind-blowing; I usually lean towards Beef Tenderloin as my favourite beef dish/cut but I would have happily traded my Tenderloin for more Short Ribs as they were very tend and so flavourful.  That last statement was in no way a knock on the Tenderloin as it was very good too.  The goat cheese in with the vegetables was a lovely contrast to the beef and will be something I will keep in mind when doing vegetables in the future for my own cooking.

The final dish of the evening was Pot of Chocolate which was a very rich and sinful chocolate based dessert.  I could only manage a couple of bites of the dessert at this point as I was stuffed to the gills as the food portions were very generous; though my lovely wife didn’t have any problem finishing her dessert off and the rest of mine too!

 

I wasn’t sure how having a Chef come to the house would work as I didn’t know how I’d feel about someone taking over my kitchen, what the food would be like, etc.  After experiencing it, I’m happy to report it was a great time; Jonathan was professional and a font of knowledge which he was kind enough to share with us.  It was obvious that he had been doing for a long time and Mick and myself were in awe of the depth of his knowledge and experience.   My kitchen sparkling clean at the end of the night as well.

 

We discussed pricing with him, which I won’t cover here as that can be his prerogative to discuss with interested parties, but the rates were very reasonable.  I certainly have spent more going out for a nice dinner, especially when you add in cab fare to and from and restaurant prices on wines, Chef Jono prices really shine. 

 

It was an extremely fun evening; I would love to do this again in the future and highly recommend this service to any of my loyal readers.  I will update my Internet links on the right so there is a link there for Chef Jono’s website.

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

Saturday Night – Happy Delayed New Year’s!

Usually on New Year’s Eve, Mick, Amy, Kathy and myself get together for an elaborate menu of high-end food and wine.  This past New Year’s Eve, we were all really beat and decided to put it off until the weekend.  We still got together on New Year’s Eve but I just made a huge pot of lemon Prosciutto pasta and paired it with a couple of bottles of decent Merlot.

 

This past Saturday we got together for our real New Year’s Dinner.  The first course was spicy shrimp with mint sauce and I paired this with a 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fume Blanc.  The “To Kalon” was highest rated White here on Zippy Sauce in 2012 so it seemed appropriate that we finish of the year with a bottle of it.  It lived up to its rating and was a joy to have with Mick’s wonderfully grilled shrimp.

The second course of the night was a chilled seafood platter of shrimp, Alaskan king crab and oysters with homemade seafood sauce.  I paired this with a 2002 Moet Chandon Champagne.   As 2012 was pretty much the “Year of the Bubbles” here on Zippy Sauce, it seemed very fitting that the last review of year is a new Champagne.

The nose on the Champagne was very powerful and easy to find, probably one of the strongest noses I have ever found on a sparkling wine; mushroom was the dominate aroma with yeast, pear, vanilla and wet stone aromas in the background.  Tasting the wine you will find lime and grapefruit flavours running the length of the wine.  The wine wasn’t very complex but it was so crisp and clean that you overlooked that pretty quick.  The structure on the wine was good as acidity levels were great without being too much.  It worked very nicely as a pairing for the seafood dishes and the seafood sauce.  All in all a very solid Champagne and one of the better ones in its price point.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 91, Mark - 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 89, Overall – 89

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

MOËT & CHANDON GRAND VINTAGE BRUT CHAMPAGNE 2002
VINTAGES 69773
750 mL bottle
Price $ 81.95
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Moet & Chandon S.A.
Release Date: Oct 27, 2012
Wine, Champagne
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Blend - Other
Sugar Content: 2 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note -  In acknowledgement of the superior quality of 2002, Moët has released this wine well after the 2003. The decision is fully justified, for this is still young. It is impressive, intensely concentrated, mineral, showing tight grapefruit and apple flavors. Excellent aging potential. Score - 94. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, Dec. 2010)

For the main course we had beef tenderloin with green beans and baby potatoes with Béarnaise sauce.  I paired this with a 1999 Joseph Phelps “Insignia”.   This was my last bottle of it and the 1999 Insignia has the honour of being the highest rated Red wine (94.25 points) ever.  I was a little nervous about this wine as 1999 is getting a touch long in the tooth for a California red and I hoped that I hadn’t kept it too long.  Uncorking the wine bought a huge smile to my face upon seeing the dark purplish red colour of the cork.  More impressive was that not a millimeter of wine had seeped into the cork itself.  Even just sitting freshly uncorked in the bottle the nose was still huge.  Tasting the wine, it was still as wonderful and amazing as it was the first time I tried it and made a fabulous pairing for the beef tenderloin and even better one for the box of chocolate truffles we finished the night off with.  If I come across another bottle of the 1999 Insignia, I will be picking it up as this wine still has a lot of life left in it.

 

It was fun having two New Year’s Eve dinners and this might be a new tradition for the four us. 

 

Cheers!

 

Mark