Mick and Amy were hosting dinner this past Saturday night which was a pleasant surprise because for most long weekends they are away. Mick had a couple of new dishes for us to try and two new wines.
The first course however was two old favourites – blacken scallops with avocado corn relish and 2009 Robert Mondavi ‘To Kalon’ Fume Blanc. The scallops were very good and there is a reason the 2009 ‘To Kalon’ is 2nd highest rated white wine on this Blog… because this wine is like heaven in a glass! This was Mick’s last bottle and I’m grateful that he was kind enough to share (I half expected him drink it in the basement in the dark while lovingly stroking the bottle and mumbling ‘My Precious’ as he loves this wine even more than I do).
The second course was both a new dish and a new wine – baked brie with a cherry almonds topping and a 2007 Parker Station Pinot Noir.
The nose on the wine was a busy mix of cherry, petrol, green pepper, clove, cedar and mushroom aromas. Tasting the wine, you’ll find tart cherry and sweet strawberry flavours. The balance on the wine was good as the acidity, tannin and alcohol all were fairly balanced. The issue with the wine was body and needing much more fruit, acidity and tannin to really make this wine into something special. I would describe this wine as ‘Pinot Light’ due to the lack of body but this lighter style did make the wine very easy drinking. It was also a very good pairing with the brie as the sweetness of the cherries didn’t throw the wine for a loop.
Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 87, Mark – 87, Kathy – 86, Amy – 86, Overall – 86.5.
There was no LCBO listings for this wine but Mick mentioned that it was in the $12 price range. At $12 a bottle this would make a very good ‘during the week’ wine as it was very good considering the low price point.
The baked brie was very good, but Mick does one with a Bruschetta topping that I prefer though this was a nice change of pace.
Click here for Part 2
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