Great Food+Great Wine+Great Friends=Terrific Times!

Is there any better way to start off your week than with a thrilling dinner party on a Sunday night? Of course not, that's why the week got off to a thrilling beginning last night. Amanda and Kevin were kind enough to have Katie and I as well as Noe and Amy over.

We started the night with some delicious appetizers. Katie made some homemade hummus and baba ganoush. Amy brought a baked brie with some sweet onion jelly and pastry. And Amanda made her amazing artichoke and spinach dip. But in all honesty, it's really just a spinach dip ;). Actually it's fantastic and may be it's own food group. Batting lead off for wine was Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough in New Zealand.

For the main course we had grilled pork with green beans and bleu cheese mashed potatoes. The potatoes were a hit, and so rich. I'm not typically big on mashed potato variations, but these were delicious and would also pair really well a nice juicy steak. For our second wine, Amy also brought Conundrum to follow the Nobilo. Conundrum is a proprietary blend white wine that never reveals its exact composition each vintage. This vintage had an intriguing spice to it, and as Kevin will tell you, mineral notes with a soft texture.

Desert was amazing home made lava cakes with Michael's Dairy ice cream. A terrific way to end the meal, and make a mess of my shirt. We also drank the Domaine Houchart Cotes de Provence Rose that we found at Thames River the other week. We also tasted the XYZin 10 year old vines. XYZin makes three Zinfandels from different age vines, 10, 50, and 100 year variations. The 10 year was very light bodied for a Zin but showed some terrific flavor.

Overall it was a fantastic evening, even with Guitar Hero substituting for Cranium. For another run down of the kick ass dinner party check out Amanda's Blog! Till next time..."Sounds like a case of the Mondays."--???

Back in the Saddle

Last night I went out wine tasting with Katie, Amy, and Amanda. Amazingly, there was little giggling. Not enough wine I guess. We met up at Thames River Wine & Spirits for their weekly pouring. With my allergies held slightly in check, I was able to actually smell and taste what turned out to be some good and some blah wine.

First up was a 2006 Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc by Fournier. Coming in at $11, it is a flat out steal. It's hard enough to find Loire Sauv Blanc around here, let alone at $11! A nice light wine, the nose wasn't overly impressive. And the first sip was a blast of lemon. But once everything settled down, it morphed into a beautiful little number. Nice crisp flavor and a tasty mineral finish.

Second was a Rose (there's supposed to be an accented e there, but I can't make it work today). Many Americans still believe that Rose is White Zinfandel. So you get quite a few jackasses who think they know something about wine, avoiding any and all Roses because "they're not real good wine." Well here's a tip, a well made, properly dry, European styled Rose is the perfect porch wine. They are nothing like the Sutter Home or Beringer White Zins, White Cabs, White Merlots, or whatever else they're making white these days. Rarely sweet, thanks to a low residual sugar, the best combine the light body of a white wine, with splashes of fruit like a red. But don't be mistaken, Rose is rarely made by mixing a white and red wine. Instead, red grapes are crushed but only allowed to sit on the skins for a few days. Then the skins are removed for the rest of fermentation. This creates a range of colors from light hues to deep vivid pinks. Last night's Rose was fabulous. Domaine Houchart Cotes de Provence Rose from 2007 retails for $11 and is worth every damn penny. This wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Cabernet, and Mourvedre. Essentially a Rhone blend with some Cab tossed in. The nose was very light with a int of red berries, I thought strawberries but can't be sure. The palate was delicous, light, and fruity. And most importantly dry. California wineries are getting into the dry Rose craze too. If you taste out Wwest, many wineries will have a Rose for sale only at the winery. When Mike and I tasted in Sonoma and Napa, we tasted numerous Roses, and the hands down winner was Rosenblum. Plus, the day we were there they dropped the price from $10 to $5, then we got Mike's industry discount. I think I paid $3.75 for it, and it was probably the best Rose I've had. So next time you feel adventurous try a nice European style Rose, and when all your wannabe wine loving friends start bashing you, shove it in there face by lecturing them on real Rose.

The third and fourth wines really aren't worth going into detail. One, Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet/Shiraz/Merlot from 2004 was, well it was, well, boring. It had a decent Cabernet nose with some cedar, then the palate was fine, some dark fruit but nothing blockbuster. But then the son of a bitch just vanished. Absolutely zero finish. I'm not sure Detectives Stabler and Benson could find it. The last wine was an Italian Red Table Wine, made of mostly Sangiovese. From the Montevertine estate, this wine was not a winner. I didn't like the smell or the taste. I've had much better Chinati's for far less than this one's $46 price tag.

Well, I also snagged a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir, but that's another story for another day. Till next time..."The question is, and this is the only question, who thinks that they can do what you do better than you?"--???