My Wine Education

WBW #58: Dean Martin and the Drink n Stick Syrah

This month's Wine Blogging Wednesday snuck up on me. I've been so wrapped up in work, travel, and family issues that it was just suddenly here. Thank goodness I was ready.

The theme, as put forth by Katie at the Gonzo Gastronomy blog, is pairing music with wine. Now, she specifically requested no Michael Buble, but here's the thing - I was a swing dancer for years and I'm still a ballroom dancer, with a love of foxtrot and quickstep. My ear is a distinctly retro ear, and my favorite music - the music that puts me in the mood for wine or sometimes a martini - tends to be somehow tethered to the Rat Pack.

I've always thought I was born in the wrong decade. 40 years earlier and I could have grown up listening to Frank, Sammy, and Dean while they were alive. I could have danced the Lindy Hop and Jitterbug the first time around, instead of the resurgence. (Although I believe Bob Hope sang that everything "is better the second time around.")

I have a collection of Dean Martin music, and I recently added a new CD, as in NEW - a Dean Martin CD released in the last couple of years. Oh, it has the standard classics on it, but it is beautifully remastered. And there's this black and white photo of Dean on the cover just cracking up laughing ... Sigh. I think Dean Martin is dreamy. Of course, I understand he was also a a drunk and a womanizer, which brings me to my wine.

In honor of Dean, and because there's something about this bottle that perfectly (PERFECTLY) fits with the Dean Martin music in the background, I chose the Drink -n- Stick Mataro/Syrah blend from Some Young Punks out of South Australia.

I was distracted for a full hour by just the bottle. If you flip through the Flickr slide show below, you'll see that there is a Bettie Page-esque pin-up girl on the label. There's also a plastic strip that you carefully unwrap to reveal that our Bettie is actually the equivalent of a paper doll. That plastic strip has all sorts clothing on it. I think I tried almost every possible combination on Bettie before settling on a ruffly shirt and crop pants. Ladies, there are even scarves and hair bows.

You know, the bottle appeals to both sexes, as I discovered in the store. Unwrapped, it's a Bettie Page pin-up in retro lingerie. The guys were all excited - it's a pin-up!  The ladies, on the other hand, were enamoured with the paper doll aspect. I mean, when is the last time you played with a paper doll? Like Dean Martin, it's a great trip down memory lane.

What's inside the bottle? It's a blend of 59% Mataro (think Mouvedre) and 41% shiraz. This wine needs to be decanted for a bit first, although we didn't. For future reference, we will. It is, of course, a crazy high-alcohol wine from Down Under at 14.5% AbV. It didn't taste as hot as I was expecting, and it didn't give me the instant headache that some of these Aussie powerhouses do.

The nose was earthy and not very fruity. The wine started out just a mouthful of tart cherries. As it took some time to breathe though (and just interact with the oxygen in general), it changed to more fruit, with earth on the finish.

Sticking with our retro theme, Kevin took a big ol' steak and marinated it in the Drink n Stitch. This was a fantastic idea, by the way. The wine and the steak were a fantastic pair.

For all its big alcohol and big label, it's actually a fairly subtle wine. Maybe that subtlety comes from having Dean Martin in the background. "Everybody loves somebody sometimes ...."
Our rating is a but had we decanted, that might be higher.  Hmm ... I wonder what it would have tasted like with Bon Jovi in the background. No, that just would have been wrong.

Some Young Punks Drink n Stitch Mataro/Syrah blend. Available at Party Town Turfway for $22.

Our thanks to Katie at Gonzo Gastonomy for hosting this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday edition.

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WBW #57: California Inspiration

Today's Wine Blogging Wednesday is sort of a memorial to Robert Mondavi, who passed away about a year ago. It's hosted by Jeff at The Good Grape, and he asks us to taste a California wine that was part of a memorable chapter in our life, and tell that story.

The easy route for this theme would be to taste a Mondavi wine, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Mondavi would have preferred an air of openness.  No good is accomplished by a singularity of purpose that acts as an exclusionary barrier for others.

Please go buy or pull from your stash, a bottle of whatever that California wine was that created a memorable chapter in your life, revisit the bottle, and share your story.

Well, I am taking the easy route - partly due to lack of time and partly because one of my favorite evenings ever took place at the Mondavi Vineyard summer concert series in 2005, with a lot of Mondavi wine. One wine, in particular, stands out for me.

In July of 2005, we stayed in Santa Rosa, which proved to be the perfect vantage point to access both Sonoma and Napa, and then enjoy a brewpub or sushi in Santa Rosa come evening. Because Kevin attended an annual conference in San Francisco, our trips tended to lead up to, and occasionally cross July 4th. On this particular trip, the Mondavi Summer Concert series was hosting the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and celebrating July 4th. (2005 Mondavi photos)

On the recommendation of the folks at Domaine Carneros, we stopped at the Oakville Grocery before the concert. Oakville Grocery is practically across the street from Mondavi and in the "front yard," so to speak, of Opus One. It's surrounded by vines. Inside, it was crowded with people and Kevin and I split up to pick up specialty sandwiches, yummy pastries, and cheeses, as well as a bottle or two of water. It all went into a box, and we wandered into Mondavi.

We spread our blanket out behind a young family. Turns out these folks lived there in Napa, which seems positively wonderful to me. What a great family! We all purchased our various wines in the Mondavi wine shop and we shared.We talked about the wine and enjoyed the wines with complete strangers as the uplifting strains of New Orleans jazz floated over the evening. In the back of the courtyard, tables were set up at the vineyard edge. Robert Mondavi and his wife, Margrit, were there. At times they were up and swing dancing, and looking very much in love. At the end of the evening, fireworks exploded in the sky, lighting up the vineyards and the mountains.

It was really one of the most perfect nights of my life. Vineyards, wine, beauty, music, history, and good company. I remember one of the wines the young couple shared with us, and I promptly bought two bottles.

Sorry Jeff, it's a Mondavi, but a suitably impressive one to fulfill the WBW qualifications, I hope.

2001 Robert Mondavi Stag's Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon, $55 @ winery

This wine was actually made by Robert's son Tim, but it shows that talent runs in the family. I know a lot of my friends associate the Mondavi brand with low-end wine, but the man (and his family) can make some great mid- to high-end bottles, without a doubt. After all, Mondavi was one of the guys behind Opus One.

This particular Cabernet was fruit forward, gravelly and volcanic. It was a bit sulfuric on the nose, but it blew off after a bit. I suspect two things: we should have decanted for a few hours (although we never think that far ahead) and our second bottle of this will age nicely for another couple of years.

Perhaps because I am emotionally attached to this wine, or perhaps I think it was my fault for not decanting in the first place, I still give this wine a .

WBW #56: Kosher Wine: Galil Mountain Barbera

So our monthly learning and tasting experience in the wine blogosphere, Wine Blogging Wednesday, occurs during Passover this year. Our host, the Corkdork, suggested that we put aside the Manischewitz bias and find ourselves some good Kosher wine.

I didn't have to go too far this time, as the kind folks at Yarden Wines had recently sent me a few samples. Last night we decided to pop open the Galil Mountain Barbera 2006, from Galilee in Israel.

Before I get to the wine review, however, let me explain a little about what makes a wine kosher. According to the Convenant winery web site, wine is considered a holy beverage in Jewish tradition.

The blessing over the wine—or Kiddish—is an important part of many religious ceremonies. For this reason, a kosher wine at its most basic level is one handled only by strictly Sabbath-observant Jews. In addition, kosher wine makers are forbidden to use any products, such as unauthorized yeasts or other potentially non-kosher ingredients that might fall outside the parameters of kosher convention. Kosher wine makers can, however, use natural, indigenous yeasts, such as those favored by many top winemakers in the U.S. and Europe.

Now, if the wine is to be designated mevushal, it gets a bit more complicated. In Hebrew, mevushel is defined as "boiled." Back to the folks at Covenant for the details:

Mevushal wines are nonetheless flash-pasteurized to a temperature that meets the requirements of an overseeing rabbinical authority. The technique does not necessarily harm the wine. In fact, a few well known non-kosher wine makers believe it may enhance aromatics.

But that is not why certain wines are made mevushal. For Jews, the technique simply alters the spiritual essence of a kosher wine, making it less susceptible to ritual proscription. That means anyone—whether kosher or not—can open a bottle of mevushal wine without altering its kosher status.

So that's a benefit, right? That means that I could pour wine for my observant Jewish relatives without removing the kosher status of the wine. If it's not mevushal, the minute I open the wine (as a non-Jew), it is no longer kosher. The same applies, interestingly, if a non-Sabbath-observant Jew opens the wine - it's not kosher any more.

Between the need for special ingredients, an extra process for creating a mevushal wine, and the need to observe Jewish holidays and the Sabbath, well, making Kosher wine seems exceedingly difficult. No wonder it's hard to find!

WBW #55: North v South

My friend Remy, at the Wine Case, was the host of this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday: North v South. I tried to get creative with this, but it didn't really work out the way I planned.

My grape? I chose the French-American hybrid Chambourcin, which seemed perfect considering where are wines are from.

Joseph's Estate 2004 Chambourcin
(Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada)
versus
Arrington Vineyards 2006 Encore
(Tennessee) 

The winner? None, because I ended up tricking myself.

You see, we started out trying this blind so I couldn't be partial to one or the other. Turns out, there was such as stark difference between the two that I had to run back to the bottles to find out why. The Encore is actually a Chambourcin dessert wine. I had no idea. Who packages 19% AbV wine in 750 ml bottles? Those are generally half bottles!  And the dessert wine classification? It was itty bitty in the lower left corner. Kevin and I both completely missed it.

When it comes down to it, we actually enjoyed both wines and since I was taken by surprise by the Arrington, we really can't compare to the two equally.

Full reviews of each wine are after the jump.

A Passion for Piedmont, Part 2: Once Upon a Time

Alright, so the second half of my belated Wine Blogging Wednesday post on grapes from the Piedmont region of Italy.  This is the wine I'm truly excited about. You see, Piedmont is known for its reds, but I'm going to be a little different and review a white - a wine made from the Cortese di Gavi grape, from the town of Gavi (or Gavia).

I also love fairy tales, and I think that's part of why I'm so enamoured with this wine. I like to believe that every glass of wine tells a story, from grape to glass to the memories created when drinking it. Principessa Gavia comes with a special story of its own.

2007 Vigne Regali (Banfi) Principessa Gavia (Cork and Bottle, $14.99)

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Gavia, daughter of King Clovis. Our fair princess fell in love with a lowly soldier. As their love was forbidden, Gavia and the soldier ran away, fleeing to a small town on the other side of the alps. They managed to elude the king's men for a while.

But one night, the soldier had too much of the local white wine (made from 100% Cortese grapes) and accidentally confided his story to the local innkeeper. Our innkeeper promptly sent word to King Clovis and collected a reward. (Why are innkeepers often the bad guys?)

Gavia and her soldier were rounded up and delivered back to the king for punishment. By the time they arrived back at the palace, word of their situation had spread across the land. Queen Alamansunta, Queen of the Goths, interceded on Gavia's behalf. Because this is somewhat of a fairy tale, the king took one look at his daughter, so obviously in love, and blessed the marriage. As a wedding gift, he gave them the small town to which they had fled and named the town Gavi, in honor of his daughter.

Today it is said that the romance of the Princess and the soldier lives on in each glass of the white wine from the town of Gavi.

I was trying this wine over the summer at a Cork and Bottle tasting when I read the back of the bottle, which gives a small synopsis of that story. I was sold. I admit it. The thing is, it's a fun wine - even without the accompanying tale.

This wine is 100% Cortese and is a pale blonde in color (perhaps like the hair of the Princess?). It has a lot of crisp minerals and lemony-freshness on the nose. In the mouth, it reminds me of sorbet. Sorbet cleanses your palate between courses and the Principessa Gavia had that effect on me. There was a lemon-lime flavor, and a lot of cleanness, like a flat rock overrun by a stream. In fact, it's a bit tart, and reminded me of a lemon tart pastry.

The wine tastes cleansing and fresh. I think it is a bit deceptive, as it tastes so light, but it does a nice job of coating your mouth. That said, I think it's more of a $12-13 wine than $15, but who am I to quibble with $2? The truth is, Kevin and I both found this wine to be light, refreshing, and enjoyable. It was an easy easy wine to drink - we powered through the bottle. At a lower price, I'd buy a case.

Our rating:

Thanks to McDuff's Food & Wine Trail for hosting this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday!

Part 1: Beni di Batasiolo Barbera d'Alba (Recession Wine!)

A Passion for Piedmont, Part 1 (Recession Wine!)

This post is a little late, but for Wine Blogging Wednesday the theme was Passionate Piedmont - wines from the Piedmont area of Italy. This is the first of two entries. (The other will go up rather late this evening.)

Beni di Batasiolo 2006 Barbera d'Alba

We started out with a Barbera, a very common grape in Piedmont. The Beni di Batasiolo is a 100% Barbera wine from the Alba area in Piedmont. I think I paid $8.99 (on sale from $9.99) for this bottle at Liqour Direct. For an $8.99 bottle, it's our Recession Wine of the week.

The color is a nice dark ruby. On the nose, we got a lot of blackberry. Kevin also got cedar, and I agree. I also got some cinnamon on there. These scents carried through on the tongue too. There was a lot of wood - but not really oak: more cedar and hickory. Those woody flavors were intermingled with dark berries, including a bit of sour blackberry on the finish. (That tastes better than it sounds.) I also found a lot of fun spices, first some cinnamon, but then a bit of oriental-style spices as well. Finally, there were nice, gentle tannins and as the wine opened up a bit, I even got a bit of chocolate in there.

For less than $10, this is a nice full red - I'd call it a steal.

Our rating:

Thanks to McDuff's Food & Wine Trail for hosting this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday!

Part 2: Once Upon a Time (Principessa Gavia Gavi)

Breakfast for Dinner, or, Battle of the Blue Bottles

It's time for Wine Blogging Wednesday and this time around (#53), it's hosted by El Jefe from El Bloggo Torcido / Twisted Oak Winery. Jeff requested that we pair wine with breakfast food. So we jumped on the Breakfast for Dinner (Brinner) bandwagon.

Now breakfast food is perhaps my favorite food in the world, but Jeff requested that we stay away from dessert wines, sweet wines, and sparklers. Kevin and I failed, sort of, but failed happily.

As we mulled this one over, we somehow landed on apple pancakes. Kevin found a fantastic recipe for Baked Apple Pancakes, which I'll publish after the jump. These things are yummy!

From the beginning, I had wanted to try a Riesling with breakfast. Kevin, however, is a fan of Moscato and wanted to go with that, even though it involved breaking the rules a bit. In the end, we went with both, and coincidentally, both were in blue bottles.

Bartenura 2007 Moscato, Party Town, $15: This paired the best with our "brinner." Of course it did - it's sweet. The wine itself really seemed to bring out the apples in the dish. It coats your mouth, and it feels thicker on the tongue, almost like honey. It had a tiny bit of carbonation but wasn't a true sparkler. The nose had honey, lemon, and pear and the taste had a lot of refreshing minerality. Kevin loved it, and I enjoyed it with the food. On it's own, it was a bit too sweet and heavy for me.

Paired: (Kevin & Shel)
Standalone: (Kevin)  (Shel)

Guntrum Riesling 2005, retails for $11: (I should first mention I recieved this wine as a sample from Destination Riesling. Who am I to turn away free wine?) This wine did not pair well with our brinner, proving once again that I am terrible at food and wine pairing. Love wine, love food, incapable of putting them together. This was a dry Riesling, and within that was a lot of dry apple. It would have paired beautifully with spicy foods, but no - I had to have it with our brinner.  However, I really enjoyed it on its own. I found it to be flowery with subtle citrusy notes, such as lemon and pear. Kevin picked up a bit of an oiliness he didn't care for.

Paired: (Kevin and Shel)
Standalone: (Kevin) (Shel)

WBW #52: Chilean Wines Under $20

I'm behind. We've been so busy that the last two or three editions of our monthly virtual tasting have flown right by me. This time, I vowed to find the time. After all, it's hosted by my friend and fellow Cincinnatian, Tim of CheapWineRatings.com. Still, I'm running behind. Usually, I taste a Wine Blogging Wednesday bottle way before Wednesday, with my post ready to go on Wednesday morning. Not so, this edition. So, here is your Wine Blogging Wednesday post - on Thursday.

When I realized, belatedly, that yesterday was Wine Blogging Wednesday, I checked our cellar. Nothing we have at home fits Tim's criteria for this edition: Chilean wine under $20, preferably under $10. We didn't even have a Chilean wine handy. So when we were out in the Turfway area last night, we picked up a bottle of Veramonte Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, 2006, for $9.99 at Party Town.

I chose the Veramonte because of Tim. On Election Night, Tim & his lovely wife invited us to a celebration gathering. Tim had a Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc that he'd received as a sample. We rather liked it and it stuck with me. So it was an easy choice to pick up the Veramonte Cab.

WBW #48: Getting Back to Our [Wine] Roots

This isn't at all the post I was going to write for Wine Blogging Wednesday this month. When I learned that this month's tasting was all about getting back to your wine roots, I approached it academically. I was going to tell you about the Bordeaux that first illuminated me on the concept of terroir. We even drank our second bottle of it for this event (1998 Chateâu Lafon-Rochet).

I was lying in bed thinking about another post I wanted to write, this one about Tobin James and his Cincinnati connections, and it hit me. Who cares when I learned about terroir? Getting back to my roots should be an emotional connection, not academic. And I knew exactly what to write about.

When Kevin & I first met, back in 2000, we both enjoyed wine but we didn't know much about it. We certainly weren't the hobbyists and collectors we are today. Our first date was at a restaurant in O'Bryonville called Chateau Pomije. For our first Valentine's day, in 2001, we braved a snow storm to trek out to the Chateau Pomije winery in Indiana. The owner, a rather fun and knowledgeable older gentlemen, would hold court in the outer lobby and gift shop, sharing tastes of his wines before everyone entered the restaurant proper. (The restaurant, by the way, had excellent barbecue.) 

At the time, I didn't live overly far from the O'Bryonville restaurant. We often grabbed friends and visited for wine tastings. I joined their wine club - my first ever - which introduced me to wines outside of my previous purview of Columbia Crest and Dynamite Vineyards. Kevin and I continued to head out to Indiana, buying a lot of the Chateau Pomije wines and enjoying the restaurant, with its views out into the vineyard. As our own relationship changed, Chateau Pomije changed right along with us. The O'Bryonville location dropped the restaurant and became a fantastic wine bar and wine shop. The vineyard itself was sold to an out-of-country group. It's not the same anymore.

But before the vineyard was sold, Kevin and I were married. It was probably right around 5 years ago that we showed up at their door on a Monday evening, not knowing they were closed. That older gentlemen let us in anyway and we purchased a lot of wine. In fact, Chateau Pomije Winery was the first place I ever purchased a case of wine. On that particular trip, we stocked up for the wedding. We purchased a bottle of amazing (to my memory) late harvest Riesling for each member of our wedding party. We also bought a half-case of sparkling wine, each bottle specially engraved, for us and for each set of our parents.

There are so many connections now to Chateau Pomije. I only recently realized that the young guy who helped me in the old wine shop/restaurant - and signed me up for the wine club - was probably Liquor Direct's Kevin Keith, now a good friend. Chateau Pomije was there for my first date with my husband and it was there for my wedding. We took a bottle of their sparkling to the Dominican Republic with us for the ceremony, and shared the other bottles at our reception back home. Since then, I've talked with Tim Shumrick a little. Tim runs the O'Bryonville wine shop. It was his dad who sold us our wedding wines. His brother is Toby James, of Tobin James Winery in California. Wine runs in their family.

Chateau Pomije is many wines to me. But it was the first winery that ever meant something to me. I've always associated music with particular events in my life. Chateau Pomije taught me that wine can bring on that same wonderful nostalgia. It's not always the wine that matters, but the memories that come with it.

Thanks Lenn, for hosting a great Wine Blogging Wednesday, and cheers to another four years!

S is for Summer - and Spain, Sherry, Saurus and Schroeder (and Wine Blogging Wednesday!)

S is for Wine Blogging Wednesday.

That's the fun theme for this month's group outing, brought to you by the fun folks at Grape Juice and the Letter S.

We started a little early, on Monday night, with some Sherry from Spain, and finished up on Tuesday evening with a Saurus Malbec from Familia Schroeder, paired with some Steak for good measure.

Bodega Familia Schroeder Saurus Malbec, Patagonia Select, 2004
San Patricio del Chanar, Neuquen, Argentina, Retail $17

We bought this wine in Walt Disney World. We were at the EPCOT Wine & Food Festival (a purely adult entertainment by the way) in November 2006. We had attended the Festival of the Senses, which is an amazing Disney adult party surrounded on all sides - and in the middle - by Cirque du Soleil. It was wonderful and odd in my memory. I met the winemaker for Bodega Familia Schroeder. At some point, I was assured that I couldn't possibly buy this wine in Kentucky, which explains why I paid most likely too much at the EPCOT Festival Wine Store. I bet it's cheaper than $17 in Ohio, but maybe not. It's a damn good wine.

It was a weird and wonderful night, that night at the Festival of the Senses. But I remember the winemaker telling me that when the winery was built, they unearthed the fossils of one of the largest dinosaurs on earth. Obviously, this inspired the name of their wines - Saurus. Of course, I add in a Disney element and picture a big happy dinosaur, a la Land Before Time, toting around a bottle of wine. When I heard "Sponsored by the Letter S" for this WBW outing this Saurus wine came to my mind before any other.

This wine was handpicked, and 40% of the juice spent its time in French oak for 12 mos before blending in with the rest. It paid off. The wine is smoky, without a lot of overpowering oak. That said, it's still a very new world style wine, with big fruit and big alcohol.

I have a built-in hot "high-alcohol" detector. Over 12% and I usually don't like the wines. However, most of those wines are poorly balanced. This particular wine came in at 14% and while I felt the alcohol's effect, I certainly didn't feel the wine was hot or unbalanced. The wine also brought in a large amount of plum, berry, and spice, complimented by leather.

We enjoyed this wine with a very tradition Steak dinner, seasoned simply with Salt, pepper, and garlic, as well as your traditional Steak dinner sides. The Steak brought out the fruit in the wine and the wine brought out the simple seaonsing in the Steak. It was a simple but perfect pairing. Our rating for this wine:

Bodegas Pedro Romero Cream Sherry
Full Sweet, DO Jerez

I love Sherry. I think it's because it's fortified, and it reminds me so much of brandy. I love brandy. So you see the connection. This particular Sherry we happened to have sitting around. I think we might have picked it up at Bigg's or Kroger. In other words, it's a run-of-the-mill Sherry that's easy to find. That said, you can't always discount run of the mill. It's a nice, easy drinking Sherry, although like any of its kind, it's high in alcohol, coming in at 18% AbV. Eat before you drink this wine - save this Sherry for dessert.

The Pedro Romero Cream Sherry has nice flavors of caramel and raisins, with what I like to call burnt marshmallows on the nose. I like burnt marshmallows, so don't read anything negative into that. We give the Sherry a because it's a common bottle, but it's still easy to enjoy.