Saturday Night – Yakiniku… huh? – Part 1

This Saturday it was Mick and Amy’s turn to host the usual Saturday night dinner.  Mick had 3 new dishes and 3 new wines lined up for us to try.

The first course was Santa Fe Popper made from peppers from Mick’s garden and filled with cream cheese and bacon.  Mick paired this with a 2009 Robert Mondavi “Napa Valley” Fumé Blanc.  If you look through the North American wine list link on the right side of the page, so will see we have been drinking this wine for years; a new vintage year is more like a returning friend than a something new but we haven’t reviewed it in a while so it was time to take a fresh look.

The nose on the wine was pretty with aromas of diced peaches, wet stone, melon, mango and vanilla.  Tasting the wine a grapefruit and smoke flavour dominates this wine.  It came across a little bitter on the mid-palate which I didn’t like and wasn’t a huge fan of this wine on its own.  With the food the wine got much better, which historically has been the case with this wine.  The food softened the bitterness and brought out more of the wine’s fruit to the surface.  The Santa Fe Poppers were much spicier than Mick figured and the wine really helped neutralized the burn of them.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 88, Mark – 86, Kathy – 86, Amy – 85, Overall – 86.25.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine -

ROBERT MONDAVI FUMÉ BLANC 2010
VINTAGES 221887
750 mL bottle
Price $ 22.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Constellation Brands Inc.
Release Date: Jul 6, 2013
Wine, White Wine
13.9% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Aromatic & Flavourful
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon
Sugar Content: 2 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note  -  Fumé Blanc is just another name for Sauvignon Blanc, and this is a delicious one. Dry and racy in acidity, it has deep citrus, tropical fruit and gooseberry flavors. At this price, it's one of the best Sauvignon Blancs on the market. Score - 90. (Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast, Oct. 2012)

* Please note that this listing is for the 2010 and not the 2009 reviewed here.

Fumé Blanc has always been an odd wine as it isn’t something that will pair well with millions of things but give this wine something citrus or cream based and that has a lot of spicy burn and it will shine.

Click here for Part 2