Saturday Night – Curried Mussels and some other stuff – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting this past Saturday night’s dinner.  Mick had four courses and three wines lined up for us.

 

The first course was steamed artichokes with drawn butter.  Mick paired this with a Henriot Champagne which we have reviewed recently so I won’t be covering it in much detail.  The second course was Vietnamese beef rolls with a sweet chili sauce.  We had the Henriot with this course too.  The Henriot Champagne was ok to good with first course but really good with the second one as a pairing.  The Vietnamese beef rolls were a new recipe and were very good and I hope to see it back on the menu again in the future.

The third course was clams casino and they were paired with a 2012 Concha Y Toro Gran Reserva Chardonnay. 

The nose was big and easy to find with aromas of buttered toast, marshmallow and vanilla with a touch of lime zest lurking in the background.  Tasting the wine, lemon zest and toasted oak were the two main flavours.  The balance was out of whack as the wine came across very hot.  On its own, there was too much oak and heat for me to enjoy it very much but with the food it was much better.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 85, Mark – 85, Kathy – 85, Amy – 86, Overall – 85.25.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

Concha Y Toro Serie Riberas Gran Reserva Chardonnay
VINTAGES#: 287995
$15.95
750 mL bottle
Alcohol/Vol -14.0%
Made in: Rapel Valley, Chile
By: Concha Toro S.A.
Sugar Content:3 g/L
Varietal: Chardonnay

The clams casino were very good and I was almost licking my plate at the end of that course.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – It’s Viognier time – Part 1

It has been a touch quiet on the blog recently as our usual Saturday night dinners haven’t been so usual due to vacations, illness and our schedules.  Thankfully this past Saturday night we got back into the groove.  Mick and Amy were hosting and Mick decided to make the evening a “Viognier night” as he had three of them for us to try with three different courses.

 

The first course was grilled crab cakes with a peach salsa.

I will review the 3 Viogniers by price, going from lowest to highest, so this means the first one up is a Cono Sur Viognier from Chile.

The nose on the Cono Sur was medium strength with rose, petrol, tomato vine and lychee aromas to be found.  Tasting the wine, under sugared lime Jell-O was the main flavour with a hint of grapefruit in the background.  The wine was nicely balanced but had the oiliest texture to it of all three of the wines.  I really wasn’t a big fan of this wine on its own, but it got much better with the food and was my favourite pairing of the 3 wines with our last course of the evening.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 88, Mark – 87, Kathy – 85, Amy – 86, Overall – 86.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

CONO SUR BICICLETA VIOGNIER
LCBO 64287
750 mL bottle
Price $ 9.95
Made in: Region Not Specified, Chile
By: Vina Tocornal
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Aromatic & Flavourful
Varietal: Viognier
Sugar Content: 7 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note - Pale gold colour; tropical fruit aromas with melon, peach and orange blossom notes; dry, medium bodied, with great acidity and flavours of grapefruit, peach, green apple and pineapple; good length on the finish.

Serving Suggestion -  Serve with stir-fry or wok-sautéed white meats, vegetables and creamy poultry dishes.

As I said earlier, I didn’t like this wine on its own but I do think I would be a pretty “food friendly” wine and you can’t complain about the price point, so if you are looking for a white wine as a pairing this might be a very good choice.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – Amy, in the Kitchen, with the Wine Bottle – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course Mick did a mix grill of steak and sausage with grilled veggies and baked potatoes. He paired this with a 2008 Concha y Toro "Terrunyo" Carmenere.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the bottle was impressive due to its weight but it was also nicely wrapped in branded tissue paper, the cork was also a higher quality one so I have to give bonus point here for great presentation.  The nose was big and easy to find with aromas of hot chocolate with marshmallows, green pepper and a touch of nutmeg.  Tasting the wine, cocoa is the dominate flavour with blackberry, green pepper and some earthiness in the background.  Structure-wise is where this wine breaks down a bit as the tannin levels were much higher than the acidity levels which made the wine comes across very dry.  Thankfully with the steak and the sausage the tannin was neutralized quite a bit so it made a pretty good pairing with the food.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark – 89, Kathy – 88, Amy – 89, Overall – 88.75.

There was no LCBO information on the wine, but a quick web search put the wine in the $24-44 range with the average price closer to $34.  For a $34 dollar wine this is a pretty good value as you usually don’t find the branded tissue paper, heavy bottle and high quality cork in a sub $60 wine that often, so from a gift giving perspective this wine would give you a lot of bang for your buck.  This is also a wine that cellaring for five more years or so will cause the tannin to soften some more and it will be that much better due to this.

 

I want to add that the steak Mick did was cooked and marinated to perfection.  Mick grabbed the marinade recipe from a fajita recipe.  The marinade had cilantro, garlic, orange juice and spices and it really made the steak flavourful and tender; probably one of the better steaks I have had in a while.

 

For dessert Amy picked up a dark chocolate based cake.  The cake was an even better pairing with the wine than the main course was (for those of us who still had some left!). 

 

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and Mick for all his hard work in making three wonderful courses.

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

Saturday Night – Everything is Rosé – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

 

The main course was a new recipe which Mick found from the Beer Bistro Cookbook – Chicken wings in a honey brown ale sauce with fresh cut fries.  Mick paired this with a 2010 Montes Cherub Syrah Rosé from Chile.

 

The nose on the wine was a milder as you did have to swirl the glass a bit to bring it to life and were rewarded with a nice mix of nutmeg, cranberry juice, strawberry and ginger ale.  Tasting the wine, you’ll find flavors of strawberry, sage and pepper.  The structure on the wine was good, not overly acidic or tannic with a nice lingering finish.  The wine was pretty easy drinking but did come across slightly tart at times.  I was surprised at how good of a pairing the wine was with the wings as the cumin flavour on the wings was quite dominate but the wine handled it effortlessly. 

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

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

MONTES CHERUB SYRAH ROSE
LCBO 317982
750 mL bottle
SEASONAL/LIMITED QUANTITIES
Price $ 11.95
Made in: Region Not Specified, Chile
By: Montes S.A.
Wine, Rosé Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Rose
Sugar Content: 6 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

At $12 a bottle this wine is a very good value and with how well it worked with the wings, I could imagine a number of different food this wine would be a solid pairing for.

The wings were cooked to perfection, I liked the sauce but Mick has made better wing sauces so not sure I’d be in a rush to re-visit this particular one soon.

While Mick and Amy were away on vacation, I made cinnamon buns for the first time and Amy was a little pissed at me that she missed them.  As Amy is the official Zippy Sauce Photographer, I always want to keep her happy, so I agreed to make another batch for them.  I also brought my last bottle of 2005 Henry of Pelham Botrytis Affected Riesling to go with the cinnamon buns .  We have reviewed this wine before so I won’t go into much detail other than to say it has only gotten better with age and it was certain no slouch when we first tried it.

I really enjoyed the wide range of wines we had tonight and I am also thinking that I really should pick up some more Rosés in the near future as they are quite good in taste and price point. 

Thanks to Mick for the great dishes and both Mick and Amy for hosting another wonderful Saturday night dinner.

Cheers!

Mark

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

 

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 – Tomato Time!

Mick and Amy were hosting this past Saturday night’s dinner and Mick had a Tomato theme going for the evening.  Mick decided that every dish on the menu (thankfully except for dessert!) was going to have tomatoes from his garden in it.

The first course was Caprese salad with a 2010 Graham Beck Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa.  We have reviewed this wine before so I won’t be doing it again now.  I will add that it was a decent match with the Caprese Salad but we thought a Chardonnay might be a better match.

The second course was sliders with a cherry tomato salsa.  Mick paired this with a 2007 Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon.

The nose wine was big with easy to find aromas of cherry, cocoa, wood smoke, green pepper, coffee and mushroom.  Tasting the wine, it came across very French as it was herbaceous and loamy with dark chocolate and a touch of vanilla.  The structure was a little off as it was much more tannic than it was acidic and this caused the wine to come across as extremely dry on its own.  I wasn’t a big fan of this wine on its own but it really redeemed itself with the food and was a very good pairing with the sliders.   The sliders did a good job of neutralizing the tannin and bringing out the fruit in the wine.  

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick –89, Mark - 86, Kathy – 87, Amy – 88, Overall – 87.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine -

CONCHA Y TORO MARQUES DE CASA CONCHA CABERNET SAUVIGNON (V) 2009

VINTAGES 337238
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 19.95
Made in: Maipo Valley, Chile
By: Concha Toro S.A.
Release Date: Jul 25, 2012
Style: Full-bodied & Smooth
Wine, Red Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Sugar Content: 4 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry
Tasting Note  - A real beauty with graphite, minerality and rich, clean, exciting berry fruit and controlled oak aromas. Very pure and stylish Cabernet Sauvignon with fat but balanced cassis and sweet berry flavors. Big tannins lend structure and framework; young like a baby now; will be better and more evolved come fall, winter and over the next few years. Editors' Choice. Score - 91. (Michael Schachner, Wine Enthusiast, June 2011)

*Note – this LCBO listing is for the current release which is a 2009 and not the 2007 reviewed here.

The main course for the evening was Cherry Bomb Grilled Chicken with oven roasted fingerling potatoes.  The Cherry Bomb Chicken was a soak in a salt, sugar, cherry tomato and habanero brine before being grilled on the barbeque.  Mick paired this with a 2006 Seghesio Zinfandel.  We have had this wine before so we won’t be reviewing it again here.

The Cherry Bomb Grilled Chicken was really good; brine gave the chicken a sweet smoky flavour that was awesome.  The Seghesio was also a good pairing with this dish.

For dessert, Mick had picked up a decadent Chocolate cake which was enjoyed by all.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and to Mick and his garden for three wonderful tomato based courses.

Cheers!

Mark
 

Saturday Night – Happy Birthday Jan! – Part 3

For the main course we had Beef Tenderloin and grilled shrimp with Béarnaise sauce with sides of baby red potatoes and sugar snap peas.  I paired this with a 2001 Robert Mondavi “Napa Valley” Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2004 Altair (Cab blend from Chile).

e have reviewed the Altair before (It had a 90.5 rating which puts it on the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Reds list) so I will get into more depth with the Mondavi.

The Mondavi had a big wonderful nose of cherry, nutmeg, eucalyptus, leather, loam, Porcini mushroom and clove.  Mick absolutely loved the nose on this wine… he wants to figure out how to make this nose into an Air freshener scent so he can be around it 24/7.  Tasting the Mondavi, it starts with cherry, raspberry, cocoa, and finishes with a green pepper taste.  The structure on this wine is perfect; lovely fruit, good acidity, super fine tannin and the alcohol doesn’t come through as overbearing; in short an awesome Cabernet Sauvignon.    It was a good pairing with the food but the Altair was slightly better.   The Mondavi on the other hand was a much better wine on its own than the Altair.  The Altair was much more tannic and that was the main reason it worked slightly better with the food.  I just wish I had another bottle of the Mondavi on the rack but unfortunately it was my last bottle.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 93, Mark – 91, Kathy – 92, Amy – 90, Overall – 91.5

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

ROBERT MONDAVI RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007

VINTAGES 670463
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 139.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Icon Estates
Release Date: Feb 4, 2012
Wine, Red Wine
14.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Description  - James Laube of the Wine Spectator gave this wine a rating of 95, and designated it as a Collectible. (Sept. 30, 2010) .

Tasting Note  - The full-bodied, powerful, pure 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is another outstanding effort revealing notes of spring flowers, toasty oak, creme de cassis, licorice, and graphite. One would have to go back to the 1990, 1991, 2001, or 2002 to find a Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve this impressive. The 2007 should evolve for 20-25 years. Score - 95+. (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, Dec. 2009)

* Note the LCBO listing is for the 2007 vintage and not the 2001 reviewed here… but Robert Parker did mention it in comparison to the 2001 vintage :)

The 91.5 overall group rating puts this wine firmly on the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Reds.  I will be picking up some of the 2007 as if it is remotely close to the 2001 it is well worth the price.

Mick grilled the Filets and the Shrimp while I made the Bearnaise, Potatoes and Sugar Snap Peas and I would like to thank him for doing an amazing job on grilling both items.

Click here for Part 4

Saturday Night – It’s been too long – Part 1

Thanks to birthday dinners, Easter and a generally busy April schedule, our normal Saturday night dinners with Mick and Amy haven’t been happening.  Thankfully that all changed last night when we actually managed to head over to Mick and Amy’s for a Saturday night dinner.

Mick had a couple of new recipes on tap as well as a new favourite recipe and three new wines to try.

The first course was Baba Ganoush with grilled pitas which I asked for earlier in the week when he asked if I had any menu suggestions.  He paired this with a 2007 Amayna Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc.

The nose the Amayna was an interesting mix of vanilla, gooseberry and toast.  Tasting the wine you will find pineapple, mango and caramel flavours running the length of the wine.  The structure on the wine was nicely balance which created a very smooth and easy drinking wine.  Quite frankly this was one of the better Chardonnays I have had in a while – too bad it is a Sauvignon Blanc! The oak on this wine was subtly done and it was a great pairing for the Baba Ganoush but I really had trouble getting my head around the fact that this was a Sauvignon Blanc and not a Chardonnay.  If you are looking for a big crisp Sauvignon Blanc then this isn’t the wine for you.  On the other hand, if you are just looking for a very nice white/Chardonnay like wine that is easy to drink and super smooth then this just might be your wine.

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

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

GARCÉS SILVA AMAYNA BARREL FERMENTED SAUVIGNON BLANC 2007

VINTAGES 143511
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 29.00
Made in: Leyda Valley, Chile
By: Vina Garces Silva Ltda.
Release Date: N/A
Wine, White Wine

The Baba Ganoush was excellent.  Mick grills the eggplant for this recipe and adds Sun-dried Tomatoes to it which I think are the keys to it being as good as it is.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – Raising the Bar – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

The main course was Beef Tenderloin braised in red wine with a side of Gorgonzola polenta.  This dish was paired with a 2008 De Marino Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile.

The nose caught me off guard as plum was the main aroma I was detecting with tobacco, blackberry, black pepper and green pepper in the background.  The plum aroma was odd as I usually associate that with Merlot and not Cab.  Tasting the wine you’ll find flavours of black cherry, blackberry and cocoa.  The structure was a bit off for a Cab as the acidity was good but there was very little tannin there which gave the wine a thin mouth-feel.  It was easy drinking and it was a very good pairing with the meal but I kept feeling like this was a Merlot or a Carmenere vs. a Cab.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 87, Mark - 86, Kathy – 87, Amy – 87, Overall – 86.75.

I couldn’t find a LCBO listing for this wine but a quick web search puts this in the $15-20 price point.  This wine is a decent value at that price and if the LCBO brings in the 2009/2010, I would be tempted to pick up a bottle.

The main course was very good, the flavour to the beef tenderloin was exceptional and it was cooked to a perfect medium rare.

For dessert, Jan did a Banoffee pie which is a caramel and banana based cream pie.  I’m not a huge dessert fan but this was very yummy and a nice ending to the night.

I would like to thank Jan and Chris for the amazing food and for hosting the dinner.  I joked at the end of the night that the bar, from their efforts and Mick’s new dishes, is getting set too high and that when I host next time that I will be doing frozen chicken fingers as the starter and Kraft Mac and Cheese as the main course to set the bar back to a much lower standard.

Cheers!

Mark

Wine Club – April Bonus Tasting.

We finished up our normal Wine Club last month, so this month would be a bonus tasting with the money left over. Most bonus tastings I have anywhere between $150 and $300 to work with so we usually get something much higher end than our usual $20-25 a bottle price point. The time I only had $43 left to do the tasting. I decided a blind red wine tasting would be fun but I really want to add the 2005 Altair as one of the reds. Unfortunately at $65 a bottle the Altair was a touch out of my price range. I discussed this with Wine Club members and everyone decide to pitch in $5 to help make this happen.

So my three reds for the blind tasting were a 2005 Altair, 2008 Chateau St. Jean Merlot and 2004 Robert Mondavi ‘Carneros’ Pinot Noir.


I was pleased that Wine Club members took no time in figuring out which of the 3 red wines in front of them was the Altair. It’s rich and full bodied Cab blend was very distinctive from the other two wines. I was also very happy that everyone loved the Altair and thought it was worth the extra $5 they put in to try it.

Everyone correctly guessed that the second wine was a Merlot and a couple even guessed that it was from California which I thought was impressive. The last wine was a mixed bag as about half guessed Pinot Noir and the other half guess Chianti. Chianti wasn’t a bad guess about the Pinot Noir as we tried Chianti in a recent Wine Club meeting and both of them had that thin colouring that Pinot Noir has and there were some flavour characteristics they both had in common.

It was a fun session and I was pleased Wine Club did so well in picking out which wines were which. Next month we will start a new six month session of Wine Club which will be the 43rd time we have gotten together to try wines. It is fun looking back at all the different regions and grapes we have tried so far during these meetings and look forward to seeing where the next 6 meetings will lead.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Six makes it a party!

Last Saturday night we added Pat and Jack to our usual Saturday night dinner with Mick and Amy. I had a new Chilean Viognier that I wanted to try so my first course was hummus and pita which happens to be a great pairing for Viognier. I also did a Tomato and Feta salad to go with this course as well.

"Hummus, Tomato and Feta"

The nose on the 2009 Anakena Viognier was pretty with gooseberry, peach, lychee and cut grass. Tasting the wine you’ll notice a grapefruit flavour running the length of the wine. The mid-palate and finish of the wine had a slight bitterness to it that I wasn’t keen on. It was a decent pairing with the food.

"Not a bad little wine for $14"

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 85, Mark - 84, Kathy – 85, Amy – 85, Overall – 84.75.


Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

ANAKENA SINGLE VINEYARD VIOGNIER 2009


VINTAGES 45138
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 13.95
Wine, White Wine
13.7% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Chile, Chile
By: A.F. Arco Iris S.A.
Release Date: Jan 8, 2011

Tasting Note - Very pale with a green tint; peach and honeysuckle nose; sweet peachy fruit, lively acidity. Full-bodied. Score - 89. (Tony Aspler, www.tonyaspler.com, A Wine Lover's Diary, Sept. 14, 2009)

"A Zippy Sauce Top Ten White"

The six of us killed this bottle pretty quickly so I opened a bottle of D’Arenberg "Hermit Crab" Viognier I had on hand. After a sip or two of the D’Arenberg Viognier it was very apparent why it is on the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Whites and the Anakena is not as it was an absolutely stunning pairing with the food. (Click the link in the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Whites for the earlier review of this wine).

"Mmm... Shrimp, Lobster and Steak"

For the main course I did Beef Tenderloin with lobster and grilled shrimp topped with Béarnaise sauce and baby white potatoes and sugar snap peas as the sides. I was in the mood for a big yummy Cabernet to go with this dish and was originally leaning towards something from Bordeaux but then came across the 2004 Altaïr from Chile (see Zippy Sauce Top Ten Reds for earlier review) and went with it instead. This wine was even better than the first time I had it and was so good that I cracked a second bottle to get us through dinner.

"A Zippy Sauce Top Ten Red"

I still have two bottles of the 2004 Altaïr left on the rack and look forward to trying them in a few years as this wine still tastes a bit young and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if it is even better down the road. The 2004 is no longer available at the LCBO but the 2005 Altaïr is listed on Vintages Online. The 2005 has the same 94 Wine Spectator rating as the 2004 did so hopefully it is just as good. I will be ordering myself a few bottles of the 2005 and will review it once it comes in.

"No Drunken Review on this one folks!"

For dessert we had a selection of dark chocolate and I opened a 2001 Phelan Vineyards "Napa Valley" Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a nice fruit forward Cabernet that went well with the chocolate. I didn’t make notes on this wine so unfortunately there is no review for this wine. There was also a bottle of Yalumba Antique Tawny (Port) that I opened which was good at the time but my pounding headache today thinks that might have be a mistake on my part.

"Brix 70% Dark Chocolate"

"Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate"

"Good Port = Bad Hangover"

It was great seeing Pat and Jack again and thanks to Mick who grilled the Tenderloins and the Shrimp for me while I was busying in the kitchen with sauce, veggies, lobster, etc. as he did an awesome job with both.


Cheers!

Mark