Saturday Night – Prime Rib – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

 

The other wine we had with the Prime Rib was a 2004 Château Pontet-Canet.

 

The nose on the Château Pontet-Canet wasn’t as powerful Château de Beaucastel but there was a lot happening with it, as aromas of buttered popcorn, plum, mushroom, thyme, licorice, black pepper and “Cherry Halls” cough candy were to be found.  Tasting the wine sour cherry, black licorice and eucalyptus were the main flavours to the wine.  Structure-wise the wine was a touch tannic.  The wine seemed fairly simple but easy drinking.  It worked as an OK pairing with the food.  This wine also got better as it sat for a bit and opened up and I would suggest decanting it an hour before drinking.

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

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

CHÂTEAU PONTET-CANET 2008
VINTAGES 137299
750 mL bottle
Price $ 129.00
Made in: Bordeaux, France
By: Alfred & Gérard Tesseron
Release Date: May 12, 2012
Wine, Red Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content: 4 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Description -  TASTING NOTE: A candidate for the 'wine of the vintage,' Pontet Canet's 2008 boasts an opaque purple color as well as copious aromas of sweet blueberries, blackberries and black currant fruit intertwined with lead pencil shavings, subtle barbecue smoke and a hint of forest floor. Full-bodied, with fabulous richness, texture and tremendous freshness, this first-growth-like effort is more developed than the uber-powerful 2010. Give it 5-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following three decades. Bravo! Score: 96 (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, May 2011)

*Note the LCBO listing is for the 2008 vintage and not the 2004 reviewed here.

As for the food itself, the Prime Rib was good as it was very tender and flavourful.  The big hit for the night was the roasted carrots as they had a wonderful freshness and sweetness to them and next time I will make more of them.  The ‘miss’ for the night was the gravy as it came across as a little bland; I’ll work on that the next time I attempt Prime and already have a couple of ideas on how to tweak it.

For dessert I picked up a Reese ice cream cake from Dairy Queen which went over well.  Mick definitely has a weakness where ice cream cake is involved. 

It was a fun night as I enjoyed trying to cook Prime Rib and it was cool to try two very different French red wines. 

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Prime Rib – Part 1

This past Saturday, it wasn’t our turn to host originally but Mick needed to get some work done in the garden this weekend and asked if we could switch weekends.  Thankfully my weekend was fairly open so I didn’t mind hosting this week.  On the other hand, I had no idea what to do for dinner.  After pondering for a bit I decided to attempt a Prime Roast for the first time ever.  The main reason for my Prime Rib attempt was I had a bottle of 2004 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape that I thought would be a great pairing with it.

So the main course was Prime Rib roast, mashed potatoes, oven roasted carrots and onions, Yorkshire pudding and gravy.  I paired this with a 2004 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape but to make this interesting I also paired a 2004 Château Pontet-Canet with the meal as well.  I figured a little Rhone vs. Bordeaux action would be fun.  I will review the Château de Beaucastel in part 1 and then cover the Château Pontet-Canet in part 2.

The nose on the Château de Beaucastel was big and initially mushroom was the dominate aroma but as the wine sat and opened up, strawberry, licorice, cotton candy, marzipan, pipe tobacco and vanilla aromas were very noticeable.  Tasting the wine, it started off very dark chocolate/cocoa but as it opened up it developed a lovely black cherry flavour to it.  The structure to the wine was great with big and chewy mouth-feel and had a nice balance of acidity, tannin, fruit and alcohol.  The finish on the wine lingered for quite a while.  It was a great pairing with the Prime Rib and most of the other items on the plate, though it got a bit sharp against the sweetness of the roast carrots.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 91, Mark – 91, Kathy – 90, Amy – 90, Overall – 90.5.　

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL CHÂTEAUNEUF DU PAPE 2010
VINTAGES 711317
750 mL bottle
Price $ 89.95
Made in: Rhône, France
By: Vign. Pierre Perrin
Release Date: Nov 24, 2012
Wine, Red Wine
14.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Grenache Blend
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note  -  The Chateau Beaucastel 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape is a classic blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise and the balance other permitted varietals. Surprisingly ripe and soft with a dense ruby/purple color as well as lots of blueberry, scorched earth and blackberry notes intermixed with hints of roast beef and bouquet garni, this wine has structure, but the fruit dominates at present. By the standards of most top vintages of Beaucastel, this cuvee will be drinkable earlier than the normal ten years. I suspect it will put on more weight, so give it 5-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following three decades. Score - 92-94+. (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, Oct. 2011)

* Note the LCBO listing is for the 2010 vintage and not the 2004 reviewed here.

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend of grapes is usually not a red that lights me up but this one was very good.  I was surprised as even though the wine was 9 years old, I would say it was leaning to the young side of things and I have no doubt that the 2004 vintage we had would drink well for the next 15 years without an issue.   I’m usually not a big fan of decanting but this wine would have benefitted from it as the longer it sat the better it got.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – Keeping it simple

It was my turn to host this past Saturday night’s dinner but Kathy and I just got back from Las Vegas on Friday so my goal was to keep the menu simple. I decided on Steak Fajitas and picked up dessert from the grocery store. I did the Steak Fajitas for Kathy and I about a month or so ago and they were very good and since then I have been meaning to do them for Mick and Amy.

 

Mick and Amy picked up a bottle of 2006 Clarendon Hills Syrah as a birthday present for Kathy 39^th birthday and Mick has been looking forward to trying it since then. I thought it would make a good pairing for the Fajitas.

The nose was a rich mix of eucalyptus, cocoa, plum, blackberry and coffee. You could also detect the heat/alcohol on the nose which wasn’t surprise as the alcohol content was listed as 16.1%. Tasting the wine the main flavours were chocolate, concentrated raspberry juice with hints of coffee and marzipan. The wine had a huge mouth-feel to it which I really liked. Good tannin and acidity levels but the wine still came across a slightly hot. The wine was also unfiltered as there was quite a bit of sediment in all of our glasses which isn’t unexpected as more intense filtering would have taken something away from this wine. It was a good pairing for the fajitas as it was big enough to stand up to all the flavours such as salsa, sour cream and guacamole that were heaped on to the fajitas.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 90, Mark – 89, Kathy – 89, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.25.　

There was no LCBO information on the wine as it was purchased over a year ago. Mick said it was around $89 at the time. I do want add that this was certainly one of the better Australian Shirazes I’ve tried probably because it reminded me more of a high end California Cabernet Sauvignon than an Australian Shiraz as I’m not the biggest fan of Australian Shiraz.

For dessert our local grocery store had a new La Rocca dessert – Swiss Chocolate Flan with Lindt chocolate that I picked up for dessert. By this time the Clarendon Hills Syrah was long gone so I cracked a bottle of 2005 Altair which is a Chilean Bordeaux style blend. We have reviewed this wine before so I won’t go into too much detail other than to say it was a very good pairing with the dessert. The Swiss Chocolate Fran was also one of the better La Rocca desserts we’ve had in a while too.

 

Thanks to Mick and Amy for the great company and for picking up the Clarendon Hills Syrah as it did make a great focal point for the night.

　

Cheers!

　

Mark

 

Saturday Night – Return of the Spice Weasel – Part 3

Click here for Part 1

 

The main course of the evening was a new Chicken Salad recipe Mick got from his Weber cookbook or as he likes to call it the ‘Weber Bible’.  The Chicken Salad recipe had a very Tex-Mex type of feel to it with the grilled corn and spices.  Mick paired this with a 2010 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis.  I had fun with this wine as the name remind me of Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek Next Generation, so I could resist adding a “Make it so” to Mick when he was pouring out the wine.

 

The nose on the wine was a combination of limestone, pink grapefruit, perfume and lime.  Tasting the wine, pink grapefruit, smoky bacon and caramel were the main flavours to it with a touch of tropical fruit in the background.  The wine was very nice balanced and even though it was a Chablis which means no exposure to oak it had that creaminess you get from an oaked Chardonnay.  If I was tasting this blind, I would have guessed it to be from California rather than France.  It made a very good pairing for the Chicken Salad.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark – 88, Kathy – 86, Amy – 86, Overall – 87.25.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

JEAN-MARC BROCARD MONT DE MILIEU CHABLIS 1ER CRU 2010
VINTAGES 265348
750 mL bottle
Price $ 27.95
Made in: Burgundy, France
By: Jean Marc Brocard
Release Date: Apr 27, 2013
Style: Light & Crisp
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Chardonnay
Sugar Content: 5 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note -  A ripe, fresh and moderately exotic mostly yellow fruit nose that exhibits plenty of seaweed and oyster shell influences, both of which can be found on the rich, dense, powerful and quite serious medium weight plus flavors that possess excellent dry extract where the focus is maintain by a firm acid spine on the dry, intense, balanced and beautifully long finish. Sweet spot outstanding. Drink 2016+. Score - 91-93. (Allen Meadows, burghound.com, Oct. 2011)

For dessert Amy picked up a ‘Saturday’ Chocolate Cake (see picture) which was enjoyed by everyone but me.  I skipped dessert as by this time I was at the “Not even a wafer thin mint” stage as I was stuffed to the gills.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and to Mick for three wonderful dishes.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Return of the Spice Weasel – Part 2

The second course was Crab Dip with crackers and tortillas.  Mick paired this with a 2011 Murphy-Goode Fume Blanc.

 

The nose on the this wine caught me off guard as cedar was the first aroma I noticed which isn’t something I usually find in a white wine.  There were also aromas of peach, hay, vanilla and a touch of tropical fruit.  The flavours on the wine were also different as it was an interesting mix of lemon zest and burnt caramel.  The acidity was much softer than I would expect from a Fume Blanc but it made it a very easy drinking wine.  The burnt caramel/toasted oak flavour really showed up on the mid-palate and it made the wine awkward at times.  It did make a good pairing with the crab dip but I think a more acidic wine would have made a better pairing.

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

Here is the LCBO information on the wine -

MURPHY-GOODE THE FUMÉ SAUVIGNON BLANC 2011
VINTAGES 721092
750 mL bottle
Price $ 18.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Murphy-Goode Winery
Release Date: Apr 27, 2013
Style: Aromatic & Flavourful
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon
Sugar Content: 2 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Description - Easy-drinking Savvy, and a natural match for seafood, but get playful with the smokiness and try it with some Cajun-styled fish or shrimp.

Tasting Note - (94 percent sauvignon blanc, 6 percent semillon): Hint of oak from barrel fermenting, ripe peaches from semillon, rich and crisp. Recommended. (Fred Tasker, dailygazette.com, Sept. 16, 2012)

There was Cayenne pepper in the Crab dip but this time Mick lovingly caressed the Spice Weasel and the heat was perfect; just enough spice to let you know it was there but not enough to overpower all the other wonderful flavours of the dip.

Click here for Part 3

Saturday Night – Return of the Spice Weasel – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting this past Saturday night’s dinner.  Mick had two new recipes and three new wines on tap for us to try.

 

The first course however was an old favourite recipe – Prosciutto wrapped curried shrimp grilled on the barbeque.  Mick paired this with a 2010 Schloss Schönborn Kabinett Riesling. 

The nose on the wine was a pleasing mix of pear, apple and lilac.  Tasting the wine green apple and mandarin were the two dominate flavours.  The wine was fairly straight forward and simple, crisp but a touch sweet as the acidity was good but it could have used a touch more to help offset the sweetness.  The wine also had a very short finish which disappeared very quickly.  It was very easy drinking and made a decent pairing with Prosciutto shrimp but it didn’t help much too alleviate the spicy burn unlike Fume Blanc and Spicy Shrimp.

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

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

SCHLOSS SCHÖNBORN HATTENHEIMER PFAFFENBERG RIESLING KABINETT 2010
VINTAGES 70946
750 mL bottle
Price $ 18.95
Made in: Rheingau, Germany
By: Karl Graf V. Schonborn
Release Date: Nov 10, 2012
Wine, White Wine
9.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Riesling Kabinett
Sugar Content: 44 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: M - Medium

Tasting Note - Young and fruity-tasting, with apple and pear flavors that feature good cut and vibrancy. The crisp finish features plenty of fresh acidity. Drink now through 2020. Score - 88. (Kim Marcus, winespectator.com, Web Only, 2012)

The Prosciutto wrapped shrimp were good but were way too spicy as the burn of the spice tended to overpower all the other flavours of this dish.  Mick is an exceptional cook but his one small flaw is that he tends to squeeze the Spice Weasel a little too hard at times and the problem is once you have added too much spice there isn’t a heck of a lot that you can do about that.

Click here for Part 2