Saturday Night – It’s a sign – Part 2

Click here for Part1

 

The main course was middle Lamb loin from Cumbrae’s with sliced garden tomatoes with feta and basil and green beans with butter and parmesan cheese.  I paired this with a 2004 Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

 

The nose on this wine was easy to find with huge aromas of cherry, herbs, mushroom, pine needle, sulfur and cedar.  Tasting the wine, you will find black cherry, raspberry with a hint of mint in the background.  The structure on the wine was phenomenal with acidity, silky tannins and alcohol all being in perfect balance together with a long finish.   The wine was a bit cloudy but didn’t show any bricking around the edges which was surprising considering its age.  It made a wonderful pairing for the lamb but was also very good with the tomato and green bean sides.  I’m not normally a huge pinot fan but this wine was big, complex and there was very little I could find fault with and I was sad when the bottle was empty.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 91, Mark – 92, Kathy – 91, Amy – 92, Overall – 91.5.
Bonus Rating – Chris – 91, Jan – 92.

There was no LCBO listing on the wine which isn’t a shock as I bought this down in NY state years ago.  Doing a quick web search puts the bottle price at $27-32 a bottle.  The 2011 is the current release so that shows it has been a few years since I bought the 2004.  This is one of those bottles that had I known it was going to be this good, I would have bought a case without even thinking about. 

For dessert I picked up mini Angel food cakes and topped them with a fresh berry medley, raspberry coulis and fresh whipped cream.  I really couldn’t resist doing something berry based as they are all in season and so inexpensive at this moment, it would have been a crime not to do this type dessert.  I opened a bottle of Henry of Pelham Late Harvest Riesling to go with the dessert (I have reviewed this before so won’t go into much detail).  The first time we had the 2006 Late Harvest Riesling we rated it a 86; this one certainly tasted better than that but I was disappointed on the nose of the wine as dessert wines usually have an amazing nose and this one was a bit funky so maybe the 86 isn’t too far off the mark.  The berry based dessert was also a good choice as I think we were all pretty full at this point and this lighter styled dessert was a great way to finish up.

 

Even though we didn’t get to go out for dinner, in the end, it worked out for the best as I believe any restaurant out there would have been hard pressed to match the quality of the food and wine of last night’s dinner.  It was great having Chris and Jan added to our usual Saturday night dinners and I am already looking forward to the next time we get together.

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

Saturday Night – Mick gets Curried Away – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting this past Saturday night’s dinner.

 
Sometimes when writing up this blog, coming up with a clever title is the hardest part but for today’s article there were three different ones I wanted to go with. 

 

My second choice for a title was “Mick makes an out of this world dinner” as dinner was awesome and we took a small break in the middle of dinner to watch the International Space Station (ISS) fly over.  NASA has a service (http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/) that you can subscribe to (no cost) that will e-mail you whenever the ISS is going to pass over your city.  Saturday night’s sky was crystal clear so we stood out on Mick and Amy’s driveway and watched it pass overhead which was very cool.

My third title for this blog entry was “Goldilocks and the three Chardonnays” as Mick found something pretty cool – a winemaker (Bachelder) who is based in Bourgogne, Oregon and Niagara and he had a Chardonnay from each of those regions.  Mick poured out all three and made three different courses to pair with them.

The first course was fried shrimp and oysters served with a sweet Thai chili dip and Chipotle mayo dip.   The two dipping sauce were fun as both added a very unique flavour to the food, I’d preferred the Chipotle mayo but the Thai chili was a very close second.

 

We’ll take a look at the Niagara Chardonnay now and review the others in part 2 and 3.

 

The nose on the Niagara one had the strongest intensity of the three and had aromas of vanilla, cheap perfume, wet oak and nutmeg.  Tasting the wine, you’ll find apple, pear, oak, pineapple and vanilla.  The balance on the wine was OK but the acidity was lacking and the wine became awkward on the mid-palate, it was also heavily oaked.   Really didn’t like this wine on its own but it was my favourite of the three with the shrimp and oyster course.

 

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 86, Mark - 83, Kathy – 80, Amy – 84, Overall – 83.25.

 

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

 

BACHELDER NIAGARA CHARDONNAY 2010
VINTAGES 302083
750 mL bottle
Price $ 29.95
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Les Bougognes Delaney-Bachelder
Release Date: N/A
Wine, White Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Chardonnay
Sugar Content: 3 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

 

At $30 for this Chardonnay, I will be passing on buying this wine as there are a number of $20 Chardonnays that are much better.

 

Click here for part 2

Saturday Night – That’s Amore – Part 3

Click here for Part 1

 

The final course of the evening was an amazing homemade lemon tart that Jan and Chris made and they paired this with a 2008 Inniskillin Riesling Ice wine.

 

The nose was a powerful mix of lychee, pear, green apple and pineapple aromas.  Tasting the wine, lime and canned peaches were the two dominate flavours to this wine.  Structure-wise this wine was beautiful as the fresh acidity balanced out the sweetness of the wine.  The wine wasn’t cloying at all which isn’t something you can say about an Ice wine on a regular basis.  It was a stellar pairing with the lemon tart.

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

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

INNISKILLIN RIESLING ICEWINE 2008
VINTAGES 558288
375 mL bottle
Price $ 69.95
This is a VQA wine
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Constellation Brands Inc.
Release Date: N/A
Wine, Icewine
9.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Riesling
Sugar Content: 234 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: S - Sweet

At $69 a bottle this is a touch high on what I expect to find an Ice wine for (usually I find $50 for Ice wine and $20-25 for Late Harvest Vidal is the ballpark) but it was easily good enough to justify that $20 premium. 

I want to thank Jan and Chris for the lovely dishes and great wine; I’m always blown away at how much effort they put into these nights and how good all the food is. 

This will be my last Blog post for 2012 and it is nice to end on a high note (once again thank you Chris and Jan!) and I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 5

Click here for Part 1

The final course of the evening was a selection of 5 different cheeses.  These were paired with a 2008 “Snow Angel” Riesling Ice wine by Angel’s Gate.

The nose on the Riesling was a lovely mix of orange zest, cinnamon hearts, and candied peaches.  Tasting the wine, an orange zest flavour dominates the wine but finishes more with a sweet orange pop flavour.  The acidity on this wine was much livelier than the Cab Franc Ice Wine and really helped offset the sweetness of the wine.  The finish was nice but it didn’t linger around as long as I would have liked.  The wine worked with all 5 of the cheeses and made a great finish to the night.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 87, Mark – 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 88, Overall – 87.75.

Both Ice wines were purchase directly from the winery and were in the $40-50 price point. 

So 4 out 5 of the VQA wines weren’t just drinkable but damn good wines that worked beautifully with the food.  I never thought I’d have a night of VQA wines where I would really enjoy 80% of them. 

I would like to thank Chris and Jan for a truly great night of food and wine and for all their hard work that made the night so good.  We’ll be getting together in August for dinner with them as we all own a bottle or two of the 2007 Robert Mondavi Private Reserve Cabernet and we will be cracking one of them to see how good it is compared to the 2001 version we tried at our last get together.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 4

For dessert Chris and Jan made a hazelnut chocolate cake that they jokingly called “Ferrero Rocher” cake.  This was paired with a 2008 “Snow Angel” Cabernet Franc Ice wine by Angel’s Gate winery.

The nose on the “Snow Angel” Cabernet Franc was just like the aroma you get opening a bag of licorice allsorts.  Tasting the wine, you will find mango, raisin, cranberry and candied apple flavours that finish with spice overtones.  I liked this wine as a pairing for the cake but did find it was a little cloying at times and wished for a bit more acidity to help balance out the sweetness of the wine.

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

I liked the “Ferrero Rocher” cake as it was rich but not overly heavy and I was starting to get quite full at this point.

Click here for Part 5

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 3

The 2009 Chateau de Charmes Cabernet Franc was the other Cabernet Franc we had with the sliders.

The nose on the Chateau de Charmes was very hard to detect, you really needed to swirl the glass just to pick up a hint of almond/marzipan and cherry.  Tasting the wine it started sour cherry and finished with a soapy/Thrills gum flavour to it.  Structure-wise, the flavour barely managed to cover the heat of the alcohol and it too was more acidic than tannic.  This wine was not very nice and didn’t work on its own and didn’t improve that much with the food.  I’m not sure if it was simply not very good or it was OK but against how good the Tawse Cabernet Franc was made this wine seem worse than it really was.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 78, Mark – 79, Kathy – 79, Amy – 78, Overall – 78.5.

Here is the LCBO listing on the wine –

CHATEAU DES CHARMES CAB FRANC EST BOTTLED VQA

LCBO 162602
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 13.95
This is a VQA wine
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Chateau Des Charmes
Style: Medium-bodied & Fruity
Wine, Red Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Cabernet Franc
Sugar Content: 3 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note - clear deep ruby with a hint of youthful violet at rim; forward ripe spicy blackberry fruit with a hint of earth; dry with medium body and fine grippy tannins; juicy plum and berry flavours on a lengthy finish .

* Note – I’m not sure if the wine listed above is the exact wine we had or not and I didn’t ask Jan the price on this wine.

I find it strangely reassuring that I can give the wine a low rating as I know Chris and Jan won’t take it personally.  I like the fact that we have become so comfortable with the both of them that we can be so honest in the reviews.  Normally if I wasn’t a big fan of a wine with someone other than Mick and Amy providing the wine, I wouldn’t bother reviewing it.

Click here for Part 4

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 2

The main course for the evening was Angus sliders with a mixed green salad.  Jan paired this with two Cabernet Francs – a 2009 Tawse Grower’s Blend and a 2009 Chateau de Charmes.

I will review the Tawse first and then cover the Chateau de Charmes in Part 3.

The nose on the Tawse was easy to find with green pepper, cherry, leather, strawberry, black pepper and clove notes.  Tasting the wine, fresh strawberry was the dominate flavour.  The structure was interesting as the acidity far outweighed the tannin but not to the detriment of the wine as it was very smooth.  The wine had a thin precise mouth-feel but its finish lingered around for a long time (in a good way).  In short a very easy drinking wine and worked very well with the sliders.

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

This wine was also a winery only purchase and not available at the LCBO.  Jan listed it at a $25 price point. 

Click here for Part 3

Saturday Night – I got VQA’d and I liked it – Part 1

This past Saturday night the four of us went to Chris and Jan’s for dinner.  Jan had a menu all planned out and went with all Ontario wines for the pairings.  As my couple of loyal readers of this blog probably know, I don’t get very excited about Ontario wines as rule.  I was however looking forward to trying all the wines Jan had picked out as it is always fun to try new wines.

The first course was a Wolfgang Puck Gazpacho recipe - 

http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/recipes/view/4004/Gazpacho

Jan paired this with a NV Trius Brut Rose.  After last weekend’s Champagne extravaganza, I was thinking to myself ‘uh oh VQA sparkling after trying four of the better Champagnes out there, this could be interesting…’

The nose on the Trius huge for a sparkling wine, as there was no need to swirl the glass to find the honey, strawberry, barnyard and watermelon aromas.  Tasting the wine you’ll find melon, lime, and an oaky flavour with a hint of very soft strawberry in the background.  The structure on it was good with lively acidity that was refreshing without being biting.  The finish was nice but very short and didn’t linger.  I liked this wine on its own but it really came into its own as a great pairing for the Gazpacho.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 89, Mark – 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 88, Overall – 88.25.

There was no LCBO listing as they do not carry it as Jan and Chris bought this direct from the winery.  Jan was nice enough to inform me that it was $30 a bottle.  At $30 a bottle this wine is a very good deal, especially with how well it paired with the Gazpacho.  I would also like to add that the presentation of the Gazpacho was stunning and one of the better looking dishes I have eaten in a long time.

Click here for Part 2

Wine Club November – Niagara Rieslings

This past Thursday’s Wine Club was a bit of treat for me as I wasn’t the one picking up the wines.  Adam and Erik were in charge of selecting the wines and Kathy was responsible for picking up the food.

"3 Niagara region Rieslings"

The 3 Niagara region Rieslings that they selected were as follows –

2009 Cave Springs “Dolomite” Riesling, $16.95, available only at Cave Springs (i.e. no LCBO listing)

2009 Fielding “Lot 17” Riesling, $25.95, available only at Fielding

2009 Tawse Riesling, $19.95, available only at Tawse

All of the Rieslings were off-dry in sweetness and all were screw top bottles. For most White wines I’m more of a fan of screw top enclosures rather than cork; easier to open and you won’t be aging most whites so the cork is of no benefit.

The Cave Springs Riesling had a big aroma of red apple with a hint of lime in the background. The flavour of green apples ran the length of this wine. The wine also had a long lingering finish to it which was really impressive. There was good acidity and it was the least sweet of the three Rieslings we tried. This was also my favourite of three wines without food.
The Fielding Riesling had an interesting nose of pear and smoke. I was surprised to find that peach was the dominate flavour to this wine, as that is not a flavour I usually associate with Riesling. It seemed the sweetest of the three but I found it had the least amount of acidity of the 3 wines so that might have made it seem sweeter than it really was. This was my least favourite on its own and with the food. I will note though that a number of Wine Club members picked this one as their hands down favourite.

The last one was the Tawse Riesling; this was the take home bottle for Wine Club members. The nose on the Tawse was half green apple and half lime; a very German nose to it. The flavours on this one matched the nose perfectly as it was green apple and lime. The acidity and sweetness was dead in the middle between the two other wines. This was my second choice before the food and became my favourite with the food.

Speaking of food, Kathy bought in an interest collection of goodies to sample with the wines. We had cheese and crackers, spicy pepperoni sticks and roasted red pepper hummus with baby pitas. It was quite a range of different tastes and I thought at least one would throw the wines for a loop but all of the food was at least a good pairing if not a great pairing. I was especially surprised at how good the spicy pepperoni sticks were with the Rieslings.

I am usually very harsh on VQA wines as I find they are over-exposed and over priced at the LCBO. I was a nice treat to try three VQA wines that I liked and in some cases like the Tawse, liked a lot.

We aren’t holding a Wine Club in December as that month tends to be stupid busy so our next one won’t be until January.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Back to Normal – Part 2

The second course of the night was another favourite that we haven’t had in a while – Blackened Scallops with Avocado & Corn Relish. Mick chose a 2004 Vineland Estates Dry Riesling as the pairing for this dish.

"Betcha you can't just eat one!"

This was another wine that we had to work at to find the aroma as it had a very mild nose with subtle notes of floral, orange and wet stone. On its own this wine wasn’t at all nice as it was very green and acidic with flavours of green apple, lemon and yellow grapefruit. The wine was better with the food but not by much. Thankfully the Black Scallops were so damn good you barely noticed the wine.

"Now almost drinkable!"

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick - 84, Mark - 79, Kathy - 82, Amy -82, Overall – 81.75.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

VINELAND ESTATES RIESLING VQA

LCBO 232033
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 13.95
Wine, White Wine,
11.8% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 2
This is a VQA wine
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Vineland Estate Wines Limited

Tasting Note - Medium straw colour; delicate floral, citrus, apple and peach aromas; peachy and citrusy flavours; light-bodied, medium dry with crisp acidity

Serving Suggestion - seafood chowder, glazed ham, Chinese food and smoked salmon.

* Note – Not a 100% sure this LCBO listing is the correct match; it was the only Vineland Riesling they had listed but the one we had was “Dry” and this is listing the sugar content as a “2”.

I think Mick was being very generous with his 84 especially considering he gave the Fumé an 87 as this wine was no where near being within 3 points of the Fumé. I’m going to assume he was still very drunk from said Fumé.

I will add that I’m happy we tried the Vineland Riesling as unless you try new wines you won’t find that ‘next’ amazing bottle.

Click here for Part 3

Saturday Night Combique - Part 4

Click here for Part 1

Fourth Course – Gorgonzola Chicken Breasts with Nutty Brown Rice and 2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

Alex and Zdenka’s course was Gorgonzola chicken breasts with nutty brown rice. The wine pairing to go with this course was a 2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

"Wicked Chicken!"

Alex’s found this recipe earlier in the week and decided to try it for the first time at the Combique. He is a braver man than I am as I usually do tried and true recipes for the Combique but his bravery paid off big time as the meal was great. The chicken was cooked to perfection, it was firm and moist and the Gorgonzola really brought this dish to life. His rice was very good as well as the flavour of the nuts in the dish made it seem like more than just a rice side dish.

"Gallons of Grapefruit!"

I have reviewed the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc a few times on this site so I won’t go into much detail. The main element to the wine was pink grapefruit – in the aroma as well as the taste. It was a very good pairing with the dish.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 90, Mark - 92, Kathy – 88, Amy - 86, Overall – 89

As there were two other couples, I will list their ratings of the wine here as well – Zdenka – 81, Alex – 88, Melanie – 87 and Steve – 87.

Here is the LCBO information -

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Vintages# 35386
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 19.95
Wine, White Wine,
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: New Zealand, New Zealand
By: Constellation Wines Nz
Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description - Vintage after vintage, the world-renowned Kim Crawford displays his winemaking prowess with Sauvignon Blanc. This version exhibits aromas such as gooseberry, asparagus, nettle, tomato leaf and citrus. Tantalizing with monkfish with tomato and fresh herbs, or steamed mussels.

"Out of focus Chocolate Cake... like our Photographer was when taking this picture!"

We finished up the night with chocolates, chocolates cake and a bottle of Henry of Pelham Late Harvest Vidal. I have reviewed this wine before so I won’t go into it, besides by that time of the evening and the amount of wine I consumed, I was having trouble even holding a pen, never mind trying to put together coherent notes.

"The always good Henry of Pelham"

The evening was a blast and thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting the night; they are probably still doing dishes at this moment! Thanks to Melanie, Alex and Mick for their amazing dishes.

Cheers,

Mark

Saturday Night Combique - Part 2

Second Course – Cheddar Apple Soup and 2007 Vineland Cabernet Franc

Melanie and Steve’s course was a Cheddar and apple soup garnish with fresh parsley and served with a slice of multi-grain bread. The wine was a 2007 Vineland Cabernet Franc.

"Working the cheese in!"

The aroma of the wine was a very strong candied cherry aroma with a hint of a mossy/green aroma. The wine had a thin precise mouth-feel with a strawberry and green pepper flavours. It had a slightly acidic finish to it but overall a light to medium body wine that was very easy drinking. There was a sweetness to the wine that leads me to suspect that the sugar was a one vs. being a bone dry zero.

"Lots of flavours!"

Melanie did a great job with the soup; the flavours combined to give the soup a hearty rich flavour. The sweetness of the apples was showing through the richness of the cheese. We talked about the idea of adding bacon to the soup to round it out a touch more. The multi-grain bread was terrific with the soup. The Cabernet Franc was a good pairing the slight sweetness of the wine playing well with the apples in the soup.

"Suprisingly good"

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 88, Mark - 89, Kathy – 85, Amy - 86, Overall – 87

As there were two other couples, I will list their ratings of the wine here as well – Zdenka – 86, Alex – 87, Melanie – 85 and Steve – 87.

LCBO Information -

Vineland Cabernet Franc VQA
LCBO# 594127
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 12.95
Wine, Red Wine,
12.2% Alcohol/Vol.
This is a VQA wine
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Vineland Estate Wines Limited

Tasting Note - Pale ruby/purple; aromas of black fruit, herbs and green pepper; light to medium-bodied, lively finish.

Serving Suggestion - Sautéed beef and pepper or vegetable risotto.

I’m not a huge fan of Canadian wines (except for dessert wines) as I stated before on this blog but for $13 a bottle this wine was quite good. A few more like this and I might be changing my opinion of VQA wines.

Click here for Part 3