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.

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Saturday Night – Insane in the Champagne – Part 3

Click here for Part 1

We finished Krug and then opened the 1997 Salon to go with the Baked Brie.  This put the Dom and Salon up against each other for this course but it wasn’t really a fair comparison as the Dom had warmed up quite a bit by this point and Salon was just out of the fridge.

The nose on the Salon was an odd mix of roses, barnyard and, wet stone and gooseberry.  Tasting the Salon flavours of lime, mango, butter, tropical fruit and oak were to be found.  I was surprised at all the different flavours to be found and at how young it tasted relative to its actual age (I wouldn’t have guess it was a 1997 due to its vibrancy.)  The balance and finish to this Champagne were lovely.  My only small compliant with it is due to its extremely fine bubbles it reminded me more of a high-end white wine from Burgundy than a Champagne.  It really made a great pairing with the Brie (and worked well with the next two courses as well). 

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

Here is the LCBO information for this wine –

99BLANC DE BLANC LE MESNIL(CHAMPAGNE SALON)

VINTAGES 704296
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 379.00
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Champagne Salon
Release Date: N/A
Wine, Champagne
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Sparkling (Champagne)
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

* Note – the Salon we reviewed here was a 1997 not the 1999 listed by the LCBO.  The 1997 Salon was purchase down in NY state at Premier Group for $349 US.

We finished the Dom and opened the 2004 Cristal to go with the next course - Singapore chili prawns (http://www.closetcooking.com/2009/06/singapore-chili-prawns.html) .  This was a new dish that I found when searching for Champagne pairings and sent to Mick as a suggested dish for the night.  He was nice enough to make it and I’m glad he did as it was very good and was a great pairing with both the Salon and the Cristal. 

The 2004 Cristal was the only one of the four wines we’d had before and it is also one of the highest rated wines on the Zippy Sauce blog and for good reason.  On the very first sip of the Cristal last night I was like ‘wow’ just ‘wow’ as it was even better than I remember it being the first time.  It had the liveliness of the Dom, the full mouth-feel of the Krug and the complexity of the Salon all in one glass and it was my hands down winner of the night.  Don’t get me wrong as I enjoyed the other 3 quite a bit but if I was forced to pick one it would be the 2004 Cristal.

The last course of the night was the crabbed topped scallops which we had with the remaining Cristal as the Salon was now a distant memory and it was a good pairing.  We decided to skip the cheese tray at this point and call it a night as we were all stuffed to the gills.

This wasn’t a normal Saturday night and I felt a bit guilty at having 4 bottles of pricy Champagne in one night as each of them could have been a feature bottle and we could have done this over 4 Saturday nights.  We discussed this at one point midway through the evening and made ourselves feel better about it by justifying that it is the only true way to compare them.  If we spaced these out over a period of a month on 4 different nights our ratings probably would have been different (weather changes, mood, foods, etc.).  This is probably not something we’ll do again anytime soon but it was a lot of fun.

Thanks to Mick and Amy for hosting and Mick for all the wonderful food.  Thanks to Sheian for dropping by and to my wonderful wife Kathy for making this an awesome birthday night!

Cheers,

Mark!

Saturday Night – Insane in the Champagne – Part 2

We tried the Krug NV Grand Cuvee at the same time as we were drinking the 2002 Dom Pérignon and with the same foods.

The nose on the Krug was stronger than the Dom’s nose with green apple, peanuts, caramel and ripe banana peel.  The flavours to the Krug were citrus, toasted marshmallow, butterscotch and a lime flavour on the finish.  It was softer and more approachable than the Dom and had a much more rounded and creamier mouth-feel to it.  The balance on the Krug was lovely as it had good flavours and fresh acidity and a stunning lingering finish on it.  It was decent with the pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages but the Chorizo did overpower it at times.  It was heavenly as a pairing with the Smoked Salmon.  I really liked the versatility of the Krug as a food wine, you get the impression that it would work as a pairing for a wide range of foods whereas the Dom will be more of a huge hit or complete miss.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 90, Mark – 91, Kathy – 87, Amy – 90, Overall – 89.5.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine -

KRUG 'GRANDE CUVEE' N.V. CHAMPAGNE

VINTAGES 349688
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 245.15
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Krug & Company
Release Date: N/A
Wine, Champagne
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Blend - Other
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

I would like to add one point about the Krug and say its packaging was my favourite out of the 4.  All the Champagnes came in special boxes and had an information card or booklet included.  The Krug box was very solidly built and I liked how it has a magnet on the flap to seal the box.

Click here for Part 3

Saturday Night – Insane in the Champagne – Part 1

It was my birthday this weekend, so the four of us decided to do something special for our usual Saturday night dinner.  Mick and Amy were hosting for the night and we were going to try 4 high-end Champagnes with a selection of different appetizers.

Just as the evening was about to kick off there was a knock at the door and I was very pleased to see Sheian.  She was dropping by to wish me a Happy Birthday but couldn’t stay as she had other commitments for the night.

The Champagne line-up for the night was a 2002 Dom Pérignon, a Krug NV Grand Cuvee, a 1997 Salon and a 2004 Cristal. 

The menu for the evening was as follows –

Pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages on skewers
Smoked Salmon on Kettle Chips with a cream cheese, horseradish and lemon dip
Baked Brie with Bruschetta topping served with sliced toasted baguette
Singapore chili prawns
Crabbed topped Scallops
Cheese Tray for dessert

We had the Dom Pérignon and the Krug with Pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages on skewers and with the Smoked Salmon on Kettle Chips with a cream cheese, horseradish and lemon dip.  Both Champagnes were very different from each other but both were very good in their own ways.  I will review the Dom Pérignon first and then cover the Krug in Part 2.

The nose on the Dom was very mild as you had to swirl the glass to coax the aromas from it but it was a pleasant nose with yeast, nutmeg, almond, Brazil nuts and white mushroom aromas.  The main flavours to the Dom were lemon and vanilla with some nuttiness developing as it warmed up.  The Dom was refreshingly crisp without being harshly dry on the finish and was beautifully balanced.  It worked very well as a contrasting pairing to the pan-seared Shrimp and Chorizo sausages but got a bit funky with the smoked salmon.  It was also better on its own without food than the Krug was; all in all a very solid Champagne.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 91, Mark – 90, Kathy – 89, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.75.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine -

DOM PÉRIGNON BRUT CHAMPAGNE 2002

VINTAGES 186676
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 229.95
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Mhcs
Release Date: Oct 29, 2011
Wine, Sparkling Wine, Other Sparkling Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Blend - Other
All other wines that match this varietal »
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Description  - Opulence in a glass. This legendary Champagne makes a stunning gift that will have jaws dropping and taste buds tingling. 96 points (Antonio Galloni, ?erobertparker.com, Dec. 2010)

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Saturday Night – Twice the Fumé, twice the fun – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course I did a summer favourite of mine; the dish has sliced NY strips, baby potatoes, corn, cherry tomatoes and arugula. I paired this with a 2003 Chateau Haut Sarpe from Saint Emilion.

We hadn’t done a French merlot in a while so I was looking forward to trying this wine.  The nose on it was big with rubber, black licorice, pine needles, eucalyptus, cherry and fresh mushroom.  Tasting the wine black licorice and black cherry were the two main flavours with a touch of cocoa mixed in.  It was well balance but finished very dry.  It made a good pairing and handled all the different flavours in the dish without a problem.  I liked this wine but wasn’t blown away by it.  The wine was also much better with the food than on its own.

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

This wine was purchased down in the US a few years back and a web search is listing its price at about $51 (CDN.) a bottle.  At $51 a bottle, there are better choices out there for less money, so I won’t be rushing out to get another one.

For dessert I picked up a plain cheese cake and made a mango coulis to go with it.  I also picked up some fresh raspberries and blackberries to add some colour to the dish.  The berries and mango coulis made the cheesecake seem like a lighter summer type of dessert and we enjoyed it.  I was however a bit disappointed in the mango coulis, it was ok but I think a peach coulis would have been better as it would have been a bit tangier. 

Fun night, though two Fumé Blancs with just a shrimp starter is a very good way to get rapidly drunk. Thanks to Mick for prepping and grilled the spicy shrimp to perfection.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Twice the Fumé, twice the fun – Part 1

Last Saturday night we tried a bottle of 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fumé Blanc paired with chicken pesto on a bed of bean and corn salad and loved it.  We gave this wine a 90.75 rating which put it second on the Top Ten Whites.  Our usual pairing with Fumé Blanc is spicy shrimp with mint sauce and we decided to have the wine again to see how it did with it.  I grabbed a bottle off the rack opened and poured it and Mick made the comment “Napa Valley Fumé… what is this crap?”  I took a closer look at the bottle and realized that I grabbed a 2005 Robert Mondavi “Napa Valley” Fumé Blanc and not the 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fumé Blanc  I meant to open.  The “Napa Valley” version is the cheaper cousin to the “To Kalon” version but they are both in nearly identical bottle so it is easy to mistake the two wines.  So I grabbed the “To Kalon” and opened it as well.  What the heck, a little heads up Fumé Blanc competition could be fun.

As we reviewed the 2009 Robert Mondavi “To Kalon” Fumé Blanc last week, we are going to focus more on the 2005 Robert Mondavi “Napa Valley” Fumé Blanc for this review.

The nose on the 2005 was a little funky as a  ‘barnyard’ /blue cheese aromas were the most dominate with some peach, vanilla and pineapple aromas lurking in the background.  The peach, vanilla and pineapple aromas carried through to the taste as well.  The “Napa Valley” Fumé had huge razor sharp acidity to it and really got big in the mid-palette with the flavours but then quickly disappeared on the finish.  Compared to the “To Kalon” it was much sharper and seemed very one dimensional.  It was however a slightly better pairing with the spicy shrimp as it tended to alleviate the ‘burn’ better than the To Kalon did. Without the food pairing, the To Kalon was the clear winner between the two wines.

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

Here is the LCBO information for the wine –

ROBERT MONDAVI FUMÉ BLANC

VINTAGES 221887
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 22.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Constellation Wines U S
Release Date: N/A
Wine, White Wine
13.9% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Fume Blanc

I liked the Napa Valley Fumé, not as much as the To Kalon but it was a strong pairing and at half the price of the To Kalon a pretty good value.

Click here for Part 2