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Wine Hand-Me-Downs? They Can Be Great!

Wine Hand-Me-Downs? They Can Be Great!

My sister-in-law came over last night and brought me a partially consumed bottle of Chardonnay. “I didn’t like this, but I thought you might”, she told me. Hmmm. So tonight, I gave it a try.

I could see why she didn’t like it. She’s used to drinking big New World Chardonnays. Although this IS a New World wine, it has an almost Burgundian style to it. I’m a HUGE White Burgundy fan, so this makes me happy!

The grapes for the 2017 Vineyard Block Estate Chardonnay 807 Reserve are sourced from the Chalone AVA in California’s Monterey County. The soils here are rich in limestone, which brings that great minerality that helps make this New World wine seem a bit Old World in style!

The color is light straw. On the nose are Meyer lemon and apricot. The palate is well balanced with some green apple, tangerine, and a nice yeasty quality with results in a richness in the mouth, but not overwhelmingly so. There is no overpowering oak, and the finish has a nice light butteriness from the malolactic fermentation.

And the price??? Holy moly, what a great value! I found it online for anywhere between $17 and $27, which is great for a good Chardonnay

I love pairing Champagne and Chardonnay with popcorn, so I popped some up. Great choice. The corn brings out a nuttiness in the wine, and the butter on the popcorn pairs beautifully with the malo effect of the wine!

So, be on the lookout for this wine. I’m hoping my sister-in-law bring’s me some more “hand me down” wines she doesn’t love! If she does, I’ll let you know!

 

Pairing Your Childhood With A Wine? Heck ‘ya!

Pairing Your Childhood With a Wine? Heck ‘ya!

The other night I decided to pair one of my favorite wineries in Napa with a childhood favorite recipe.

I remember learning how to make a mini pizza with an english muffin in my junior high school home economics class. I took the recipe home, and my mom and I used to make them together.

I haven’t made them since. Fast forward 40 plus years. I was looking for some easy recipes to make on busy nights and could pair with a simple salad to make a meal. I remembered the English muffin “pizzas” I had made so long ago, and that they were pretty darned tasty and super easy to throw together. So, for a quick Sunday night supper I decided to give it another try.

I used whole grain english muffins for a healthy twist. I added some of my favorite marinara sauce, some onion, mozzarella and parmesan, and topped it off with some Italian seasonings and popped them in the oven. P.S. If you’ve never made these fun little tasty treats, be sure to toast the muffins first to keep them from getting soggy. Then add the sauce and whatever toppings you like, and put them in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes! As they say, easy as pie. Not that I think making a pie is necessarily easy!

Before beginning the “pizza” process, I had a bottle of 2015 Napanook decanting. Dominus is definitely one of my favorite Napa Valley wines. I’m a big fan of Bordeaux wines (who’s not???), so the Napa (New World) winery of Chateaux Petrus is definitely my style!

Napanook is Dominus’ second label. What is a second label wine? Well, top wineries and chateaux blend together their best grapes’ juice to produce their best possible wine for the Grand Cru or “first wines”.  What do they do with the remaining juice???  Many of them make a second wine. Usually made by the same winemaker in pretty much the same way as the winery’s famous wine, the big difference is that the juice for the second wine is often from younger vines or the second press. Although these wines may not be AS complex, balanced and sublime, they ARE a lot less expensive!  It’s a great way to try big name Bordeaux or other famous wines without the big-time price tag.

The 2015 is a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc. On the nose are plum, violet and notes of licorice. The medium plus body is silky and lovely to savor in the mouth. The plum is also on the palate, along with dark cherry, chocolate and a touch of spice. The tannins are super smooth and the wine is beautifully balanced. I could drink this wine every night!!!

Perhaps it wasn’t the perfect pairing with my childhood mini pizzas, but it worked. Plus, my husband and I had the rest of the bottle to enjoy as dessert.

There was only one thing better about the meal than this stunning wine; the memories I enjoyed of my mom and me making this cute little meal together. I only wish that she was still here so that she could have joined us!

To discover more about Dominus, Napanook and their wines, check out their website here:

http://www.dominusestate.com

 

A Great Day At Chappellet!

A Great Day at Chappellet!

Schewww! We just made it. In mid-February of 2020 we were fortunate enough to attend a fabulous long weekend of tasting in Napa with some friends. We tasted some of the best of the best that California has to offer. A few days after arriving home, the shit hit the fan. COVID 19. The world has changed. So many businesses have changed. The wine world has also changed greatly.

So, we feel blessed. We had one last great wine experience before the devastating pandemic that has killed so many people and changed so many lives!

One of the wonderful wineries we were fortunate enough to visit was the classic Chappellet! The gathering was delightful and memorable.

We’ve been opening a lot of gems during the pandemic, partly because we’re sad and also because we’re not going out and about to buy more wine. Tonight, we opened a 2010 Chappellet that we had in our cellar. What a lovely treat.

We decanted it for about 90 minutes. The blend is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot.

This wine is drinking beautifully now. On the nose is earth, tobacco, and some stewed dark fruit. If I was tasting this wine blind, I might think it was an old world. There is dark chocolate, plum and licorice on the palate. The fruit is holding up nicely as well. If you have any bottles of this 2010, go ahead and enjoy them. It’s in a really nice place right now.

Napa is slowly opening up again, so don’t be afraid to head their way. Now that the vaccination is out, I’m hoping to travel again soon, and can’t wait for my next wine destination. Until then … I’m enjoying some gems from my cellar!

To learn more about Chappellet, here’s their website: https://www.chappellet.com

 

 

 

Great Pairing With A Sunset? Ramey Chardonnay!

Great Pairing with a Sunset? Ramey Chardonnay!

Well, it’s that time of the year. The Florida weather is turning warmer and warmer … and my wine selection is growing lighter and lighter. Especially when we’re hanging out on the deck.

For dinner I made a Sweet Corn and Potato Chowder. What wine should I choose as it’s pairing? I had a Vouvray that I was really eying, but it’s a 1996 and I wanted to save that for another night. So, I went for Chardonnay. A 2014 Ramey Ritchie Vineyard to be exact.

This wine is fabulous! On the nose are Meyer lemon and white flowers. The palate is gloriously complex with pear, peach, honeydew melon and a touch of oak. There is definitely a richness, but the great acidity balances the wine beautifully.

The pairing??? Well not great, but that’s my fault. The corn was even sweeter than I’d expected and clashed with the acidity of the wine. Note to self: Taste the dang food before I chose the wine! What was I thinking? Apparently, I wasn’t.

The wine DID pair beautifully with the buttery, garlicy brioche croutons that I served on top of the chowder, so that was a plus.  And it will pair beautifully with a lot of other things, including just sitting on the deck and enjoying the sunset!

All in all, the evening was a success. The wine was fabulous and we finished the bottle while sitting on the deck after a long day’s work!

To learn more about this wine, David Ramey and Ramey Wine Cellars, check out their site here: https://www.rameywine.com

The 12 Wines Of Christmas … Solomon Hills Pinot Noir

The 12 Wines of Christmas … Solomon Hills Pinot Noir

I know my neighbors probably judge me a bit, but I’m still celebrating the holidays. The front porch still shines with green and red, my trees are sparkling their lights through the windows and the wine is still flowing.

Here’s the deal. It’s still the 12 days of Christmas. What happened to that tradition? Why do so many people strike the fun from their lives on January 2nd? Heck, some on December 26th???

In my world there are 12 days of Christmas, and by god I’m going to enjoy every single one of them. Sure, my family doesn’t exchange gifts every night as some people do, but we do consider these days and nights as special and we’re sure to celebrate them in one way or another.

So last night (the 10thday of Christmas) I made some pasta and decided to pair it with a new world Pinot Noir.

I really dig this varietal from the Central Coast of California, because although there’s a lot of fruit on these wines, there’s also some nice minerality and earthiness.

I selected a 2014 Solomon Hills from Santa Maria Valley. The Miller family (who planted the infamous Bien Nacido vineyard in the 1970s) has owned the Solomon Hills vineyard for years, selling their fruit to wineries producing some fabulous wines. It was a natural progression for them to begin making wine with their own fruit, starting Solomon Hills Vineyards in 2008.

This lovely Pinot Noir is very well balanced with fruity cherry and cranberry, a touch of cola, some sage and thyme and great acidity. I actually wish I’d opened a bottle of this for Thanksgiving, because it would have been a perfect match for those holiday flavors.

It did, however, work well with the pasta I made last night as well. It definitely complimented the roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato pesto that I used as a sauce! I’m going to be seeking out more of the Solomon Hills Vineyards’ Pinot Noir.

Sadly, it’s only a couple of days before Christmas is truly over for this season. Tomorrow we have friends coming over for the 12thday and one final feast. On Monday I’ll sadly begin taking all of the decorations down and packing them safely away until next time. And I undoubtedly with do that with another nice bottle of something to keep my spirits up!

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