Saturday Night – Italy vs. Spain – Part 2

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The other wine we had with the two courses was the 2010 Fattoria le Fonti Chianti Classico from Italy.

 

The nose on the wine was pretty, with aromas of cherry, pine needle and vanilla but some heat was noticeable as well. The main flavour of the wine was cherry but it was more subtle than I was expecting from a Chianti. For the structure of the wine, heavy acidity with very faint tannin caused the balance of the wine to be off and it came across as hot on the finish. Unlike the Rioja, this wine was better on its own than with the food; with food the wine developed a bitter bite at times on finish which I didn’t like.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark – 86 Kathy – 87, Amy – 87, Overall – 87.25.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

FATTORIA LE FONTI CHIANTI CLASSICO 2010

VINTAGES 295162
750 mL bottle
Price $ 15.75
CLEARANCE SALE
Was: $ 19.95
Now: $ 15.75
Save: $ 4.20
Made in: Tuscany, Italy
By: Societa Agricola Fattoria Le Fonti
Release Date: Sep 14, 2013
Wine, Red Wine
14.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Full-bodied & Smooth
Varietal: Sangiovese
Sugar Content: 4 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note - Black cherry and iris aromas with sweet chocolatey oak. Nice fresh fruit and refined tannins on the palate; quite round and soft for the vintage, but good tangy finish with sweet berry fruit. Drink: 2012-2015. Score - 90. (Richard Baudains, decanter.com, Nov. 2, 2012

Looking at the results, it seems like we have a tie in our Italy vs. Spain wine competition as both pulled the 87.25 overall rating. The Chianti at full price was more expensive than the Rioja but with the sale going on, it is now actually cheaper than the Rioja so was have a tie there as well. I would say this will come down to personal preference – you like fruit and acidity – grab the Chianti, you like a red with a dark flavours and tannin – grab the Rioja.

As for the food, the “Breechetta” was amazing as always and I really liked the style in how Mick did the pork chops as they were breaded but he did them in such a way that they didn’t feel starchy or heavy which was awesome.

For dessert we had a Caramel Crunch cake and paired this with a bottle of 2006 Dr. Loosen Beerenauslese Riesling.  We have reviewed  this wine before - http://zippysauce.blogspot.ca/2011/08/saturday-night-blackout-dinner-part-3.html so won’t be reviewing it again now.  I will add however that it was a lovely pairing with the Caramel Crunch cake and hope Mick has another bottle tucked away somewhere.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and to Mick for all his hard work in making all of that wonderful food.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Italy vs. Spain – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting dinner this part Saturday night and Mick decided a little wine competition was needed for the night. He had a 2005 Hacienda Lopez de Haro Reserva Rioja from Spain and a 2010 Fattoria le Fonti Chianti Classico from Italy as his pairings for both courses for the evening.

 

The first course was a barbequed Bree with a bruschetta topping (or "Breechetta" as we lovingly call it) with toasted baguette slices for dipping.

The main course was breaded Pork chops (some with basil pesto and the others with sundried tomatoes) with red pepper risotto and baked asparagus.

I will review the Rioja here in Part 1 and then do the Chianti in Part 2

The nose on the Rioja was big and dark with tobacco, moss and a hint of blueberry aroma in the background. Tasting the wine, raspberry was the main flavour with cocoa and green pepper overtones. The structure was interesting as the wine had good tannin levels and lively acidity but wasn’t very fruit driven so it gave the wine a narrow mouth-feel. On its own the wine was OK and came across very dry, but paired with the foods this wine really shinned as the tannin was neutralized and fruit came more to the forefront. As the fruit was lacking at times, this is not a wine I would suggest aging and it would be best to drink now.

 

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 88, Mark – 88 Kathy – 87, Amy – 86, Overall – 87.25.

 

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

 

HACIENDA LOPEZ DE HARO RESERVA 2005

VINTAGES 357335

750 mL bottle

Price $ 17.95

Made in: Rioja, Spain

By: Vintae

Release Date: Jan 18, 2014

Wine, Red Wine

13.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Style: Medium-bodied & Fruity

Varietal: Tempranillo Blend

Sugar Content: 5 g/L

Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

 

Tasting Note - The 2005 Hacienda Lopez de Haro Reserva is a blend of 90% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano and 5% Garnacha aged for 20 months in French and American oak. It has a beautiful, rounded, sensual bouquet with hints of over-ripe Satsuma and gravel. The palate is medium-bodied with a touch of piquancy on the entry. It has crisp acidity and taut tannins on the dry, dusky finish but it remains extremely well-focused. Drink now-2025. Score - 92. (Neal Martin, erobertparker.com, Aug. 2012)

 

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Saturday Night – New Year’s Eve lite – Part 2

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For the main course I did Beef Oscar (grilled beef tenderloin topped with grilled shrimp and Béarnaise sauce) with sides of yellow beans and baby potatoes. I paired this with a 2004 Robert Mondavi "Napa Valley" Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

 

The nose on the wine was big with aromas of cherry, tobacco, black pepper, blackberry, cedar, eucalyptus and coffee. Tasting the wine, flavours of dark raspberry, eucalyptus and coffee dominate the wine. The structure on this wine was great with super fine tannin, good acidity and enough fruit to easily balance out the alcohol levels. The wine wasn’t that complex but it was smooth and easy drink and made a very good pairing with the meal. A very solid wine that was a joy to drink and I love how consistently good the Robert Mondavi "Napa Valley" Cabs have been year after year.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark – 90 Kathy – 90, Amy – 90, Overall – 89.75.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

ROBERT MONDAVI CABERNET SAUVIGNON (V)

VINTAGES 255513
750 mL bottle
Price $ 34.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Robert Mondavi Winery
Release Date: N/A
Wine, Red Wine
14.3% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Full-bodied & Firm
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Sugar Content: 5 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

*Note – It doesn’t list a year but I’m going to assume that it is probably 2010 and not the 2004 reviewed here.

The one key I find to the Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabs is to put them down for a few years and you will be rewarded with a much smoother and refined wine. If it is the 2010, I would buy it but hold off drinking it until sometime after 2018.

 

For dessert I picked a La Rocca chocolate marble truffle cake for dessert. I liked the dessert but the vanilla layer in the cake caused the Mondavi to get funky at times. The Mondavi was a much better pairing with the beef than with the dessert.

 

It would be nice to do Cristal and higher end French Bordeaux wines every weekend but the economics are against me doing that anytime soon. On the other hand, we had two very nice wines at an eighth of the price of our New Year wines and I certainly didn’t feel like we were suffering too badly J

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

 

Saturday Night – New Year’s Eve lite – Part 1

I very much enjoyed our New Year’s Eve dinner with Mick and Amy so I was looking to do something similar but with much more reasonably priced wines. I wanted a Champagne to start and a Cabernet Sauvignon to go with the main course.

 

The first course was Caesar salad and I paired this with a Non-Vintage Gardet Brut Champagne.

The nose on the wine was mild but aromas of yeast with hints of floral and orange blossom can be found. Tasting the wine, it starts with big flavours of orange zest and ginger but quickly fades away. The Champagne was more creamy than crisp but it did have good acidity levels. I was a touch surprised as the Champagne got better as it warmed up a bit as the nose and taste became bigger and more pronounced. It was a decent pairing with Caesar salad. It wasn’t overly complex but was still a very enjoyable and very drinkable French Champagne.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark – 89 Kathy – 85, Amy – 87, Overall – 87.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

GEORGES GARDET BRUT CUVÉE SAINT FLAVY CHAMPAGNE

VINTAGES 924654
750 mL bottle
Price $ 37.95
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Gardet & Cie Champagne
Release Date: Apr 13, 2013
Wine, Champagne
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Rich & Complex
Varietal: Sparkling
Sugar Content: 11 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note - While lacking in excitement, Georges Gardet has long been a source of consistent, immensely appreciable champagne. Light straw-lime in colour, the Cuvée Saint Flavy reveals beautiful scents of fresh yeasty biscuits, lemon citrus, white grapefruit, pears, and a hint of pistachios and spice. Complex, sporting marvellous frothy fruit, balanced acidity, and a lingering, well-rounded hint of yeasty biscuits and lemony overtones on the finish. Generous, crisp, and inviting. Now-2016. Score - 90. (Julian Hitner, winealign.com, Oct. 12, 2012)

At less than $40 a bottle this is one of least expensive French Champagne we’ve tried and at its price it is a very good deal.

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Saturday Night – Getting Figgy with it – Part 2

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The main course was rack of lamb with a hazelnut and garlic crust and a Merlot reduction with sides of mashed potatoes and green beans. Mick paired this with a 2010 Gallo Family "Two Rock" vineyard Pinot Noir.

 

 

The nose on the wine was big and easy to find with aromas of overripe strawberries, tar, pepper, clove and mushroom. Unfortunately you could also smell the ‘heat’ of the wine too as the alcohol was very noticeable on the nose. Tasting the wine strawberry was the dominate flavour with some eucalyptus in the background. The wine was so overdone it was stupid as it was jammy and hot and there was nothing subtle about this wine. Mick called it "Zinot Noir" as it was more like a Zinfandel than a Pinot Noir and he was dead on with that call. Thankfully it was ok with the food as the garlic and hazelnut crust was very rich and this wine was big enough to stand up to it. I really wasn’t a fan of this wine on its own.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 86, Mark – 83 Kathy – 85, Amy – 86, Overall – 85.

 

Here is the LCBO information on this wine –

 

GALLO FAMILY VINEYARDS TWO ROCK PINOT NOIR 2010

VINTAGES 342972

750 mL bottle

Price $ 19.95

Made in: California, USA

By: E. & J. Gallo Winery

Release Date: Dec 7, 2013

Wine, Red Wine

14.1% Alcohol/Vol.

Style: Medium-bodied & Fruity

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Sugar Content: 6 g/L

Sweetness Descriptor: D - Dry

 

Tasting Note - For those about Two Rock, we salute you with this big, fleshy Pinot that serves up ripe strawberry, beetroot, earth and vanilla. Smoothly textured and joyously easy to drink, it'll provide serious pleasure with lamb stew or mushroom burgers. (VINTAGES panel, March 2013)

 

Mick’s lamb was cooked to perfection, proving that he is not a one trick BBQ pony as both dishes tonight from the oven/stove were very good.

 

For dessert Amy picked up a salted caramel and chocolate cake which was very good. I loved that the salted caramel worked in harmony with the chocolate cake vs. regular caramel where the sweetness of it overpowers everything.

 

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and to Mick for all his hard work in creating three very good dishes.

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

 

Saturday Night – Getting Figgy with it – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting this past Saturday Night’s dinner and Mick had three new dishes for us to try and two new wines. This was an interesting dinner as Mick went with three indoor dishes vs. using the BBQ to make any of them, so we were certainly taking the "Grill Master" out of his element and it will be interesting to see if he is up to the challenge.

 

The first course was pan fried shrimp in a mild sauce (I can’t remember the exact name of the dish, but I was stunned by the number of different herbs and spices in the dish). The sauce came out in an angry looking orange-red colour which when I first saw it my first question to Mick was "how hot are these puppies?" He said that they shouldn’t be too spicy and he was right they were fairly mild, the funny thing is the spices made the shrimp taste like they were wrapped in bacon. I joked that Mick should grab some Tofu and cook it exactly like the shrimp and he would have made perfect bacon free bacon. The shrimp dish was very good. Mick paired a 2011 Dr. Loosen "Red Slate" Dry Riesling with this dish.

The nose was very faint but aromas of pineapple, lemon and peaches could be found. Tasting the wine really caught me off guard as I missed the "Dry" on the label and assumed this would a Kabinett done in an off-dry style. Once I adjusted to the fact that it wouldn’t be sweet, I found flavours of grapefruit and candied ginger as the two main ones. I found the wine too thin and bitter at times and really didn’t like with the shrimp dish as a pairing. We had this wine with the next course and it was a much better pairing with it.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 84, Mark – 86 Kathy – 86, Amy – 86, Overall – 85.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

DR. LOOSEN RED SLATE RIESLING DRY 2011

VINTAGES 295923
750 mL bottle
Price $ 16.80
Made in: Mosel, Germany
By: Weingut Dr Loosen
Release Date: Oct 27, 2012
Wine, White Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Riesling
Sugar Content: 9 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: D - Dry

Description - A study in terroir, this estate-grown dry Riesling is sourced from red slate vineyards in the steep Mosel valley (as opposed to the famous blue slate vineyards of the same region). It has intense minerality as well as floral, spice and crisp apple notes. Vibrant and well-balanced, this juicy wine would pair beautifully with fresh lighter seafood dishes, roast turkey or rotisserie chicken.

The next course was a Camembert, Prosciutto and Fig Salad in a light oil dressing. As I mention earlier the pairing worked much better with this dish then with the shrimp. The figs really gave this dish a nice pop and overall it was a very good dish.

Click here for Part 2

New Year’s Dinner – Part 2

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For the main course I did a roasted beef tenderloin with a port and shallot sauce with sides of mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and a side of green beans. To pair with this, I went with a 2000 Chateau Pichon Longueville "Comtesse du Lalande" from Pauillac in Bordeaux France.

 

The nose was big and easy to find with aromas of forest floor, black pepper, green pepper, cedar, raspberry, vanilla and mushroom. Tasting the wine, raspberry and green pepper flavours are the dominate ones with hint of nutmeg and artichoke in the background. The structure of the wine caught me off guard as it was more acidic than tannic and reminded me more of an Italian red than a French red. The tannin was extremely fine and silky and this wine came across super smooth and very drinkable. It was a good pairing with the meal but I’d have preferred something a little more masculine and big bodied vs. subtle/smooth feminine style this was to go with the food. This wine was however a very nicely crafted wine and I’m very glad we tried it.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 92, Mark - 90, Kathy – 92, Amy – 91, Overall – 91.25.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

CHÂTEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE COMTESSE DE LALANDE 2005

VINTAGES 505875
750 mL bottle
Price $ 215.00
Made in: Bordeaux, France
By: Veyret Latour
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Wine, Red Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Bordeaux
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note - In recent years, Pichon Comtesse has developed an elegance all its own, with great style, smoothing out the real intensity of the wine. This 2005 continues in that tradition, a spice, fruity wine, which has restraint as well as hidden power. Score - 95. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, June 2008)

Note this LCBO listing is for the 2005 vintage and not the 2000 reviewed here.

With the 91.25 rating this wine sneaks onto the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Reds and it is a deserving entry. It was very good though to be honest with how stunning the 2005 Cristal was it feels like a bit of letdown. Mind you, if a really good bottle of red isn’t as good as an exceptional bottle of Champagne is my biggest problem with the night, I guess things can’t be too bad. J

Dinner was very good, it has been a while since I have done mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and I had forgotten how good they can be. The meat was cooked to a perfect medium-rare and I could have easily taken away the steak knives and replaced them with butter knives as the beef was that tender.

For dessert I picked up a La Rocca Lindt Swiss Chocolate Flan for dessert which was very good. The wine was a good pairing with it (for those of us who still had some left).

 

There is a reason I look forward to this meal all year long and I’m already hoping next New Year’s Eve will get here soon. To all my readers – have a happy and safe 2014.

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

 

New Year’s Dinner – Part 1

If there is one meal I look forward to all year long it is our annual New Year’s Eve dinner with Mick and Amy. As this is our big dinner of the year, we go all out and usually have a couple of high-end wines and this year’s dinner was no exception to that rule.

 

The first course was a bacon blue cheese dip with cracker and I paired this with a 2005 Cristal Champagne.

We have tried the 2002 and 2004 Cristal; the 2002 was very good but we loved the 2004 and it currently is the number one spot for Top Sparkling and Dessert wine here. I was curious to see if the 2005 would be more like the 2002 or the beloved 2004.

The first thing I noticed is Cristal has redesigned their packaging as the box now has a nice solid metal clasp holding it closed with 2005 Cristal engraved on it vs. the 2002/2004 packaging which just was a sticker with the year on it that held the box closed. It is a nice improvement as the sticker had a bad habit of peeling away/opening on its own.

The nose on the 2005 Cristal was powerful with easy to find aromas of nutmeg, yeast, gingerbread, frozen strawberries and licorice allsorts. Tasting the wine, green apple and ginger were the two dominate flavours with a lemon zest finish. Initially I found the wine to be delicate but as it opened up it became much more powerful. It was minerally yet it also had a creaminess to it as well. The structure on the wine was beautiful with crisp acidity balanced nicely against the fruit and alcohol. It was a fabulous pairing with the dip as it cut through the rich flavours of the dip with no issues. Truly a stunning wine.

 

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 95, Mark - 94, Kathy – 95, Amy – 94, Overall – 94.5.

 

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

 

CRISTAL BRUT CHAMPAGNE 2005

VINTAGES 268755

750 mL bottle

Price $ 287.95

Made in: Champagne, France

By: Louis Roederer

Release Date: Aug 31, 2013

Wine, Champagne

12.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Style: Rich & Complex

Varietal: Sparkling

Sugar Content: 11 g/L

Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

 

Tasting Note - Vibrant and mouthwatering, this offers a range of patisserie pear and apple fruit, candied lemon zest, pastry dough and marzipan notes set on a finely detailed texture, which imparts a great deal of finesse. The lasting finish echoes a smoky mineral note. Drink now through 2025. Score - 94. (Alison Napjus, winespectator.com, Nov. 30, 2012)

 

At a 94.5 Overall rating this wine has just become the highest rated wine on Zippy Sauce ever. My rating was the same as the 2004 at 94 points but Mick, Amy and Kathy all bumped their ratings a point higher than the 2004. This wine was amazing; I do flinch at the close to $300 a bottle price point and always wonder whether it is worth it or not. We did crack a bottle of the standard Roederer ($65-70 per bottle) after finishing the Cristal and I really like the Roederer but when you have it after a bottle of the flagship Cristal it is so badly outclassed it is silly. The 2005 Cristal is simply an amazing bottle of wine that is worth every penny of its price point.

 

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