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 .

TasteCamp: Paumanok Vineyard

On Saturday we visited Roanoke, Paumanok, Shinn, Bedell, and Lenz, with a myriad of tastings in between and during each visit. I managed to still be taking notes when we got to Paumanok (only 2 wineries in). We also got a rather nifty barrel tasting at Paumanok, straight from the wine thief (which is a tool, not a person).  This German family-owned winery was one of our favorites that we visited.

Nifty tidbit: Paumanok was the first vineyard on Long Island to move to screwcaps for many of their wines.

Tasting notes are after the jump.

"Green Wines" for Earth Week: Alternative Packaging

For Earth week, Kevin and I decided to try two different wines in alternative packaging. One of these wines you'll appreciate, the other - not so much.

We started with the Bouchard Beaujolais Nouveau 2008 from Boisset. We picked this up because it's in a special PET plastic bottle. Why is this important? Because every year, tons of wine is shipped over from France in a hurry, and the weight of all those bottles is a drag on jet fuel. Beaujolais Nouveau takes a lot of heat for this, so this year, the producers went a little green. In fact, Boisset is a leader in the field of green packaging, having released a California wine in a PET bottle and they pioneered the French Rabbit tetrapak. According to the press release for this particular bottle,

"Were all of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau imported to North America similarly packaged in PET or other alternative packages, we estimate saving literally millions of pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from entering our atmosphere," notes Boisset. Life-cycle analyses conducted by third-parties have suggested that PET bottles produce 40% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a traditional bottle. For all the Beaujolais Nouveau imported to the US and Canada, this translates into an estimated reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of more than 2,000,000 lbs2. For the world’s total Beaujolais Nouveau production of 5 million cases, Boisset estimates savings of more than 37,000,000 lbs of CO2.

Not a bad wine for earth week, right? Well, not really. It's a bad wine. Happily, I think it's just the wine that's bad and it doesn't have anything to do with the packaging. We both found it to be a little fuzzy and having no finish. I also thought it was a little sour. We served it chilled, as directed, but I think I'd rather use this wine for Sangria than drink it on its own.
Our review:

Next we tried the Bota Box Old Vine Zinfandel. Yes folks, a wine in a box. Don't judge it - Franzia is no longer the norm. Off the top of my head, I'd recommend the Black Box Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon, the Rain Dance Shiraz from South Africa, or this Bota Box Old Vine Zin.

Are these knock-your-socks off wines? No, but they have a lot going for them. If you like an everyday table wine, but can't finish a bottle on your own, a box is perfect. It's the equivalent of about 4 bottles (3 litres) but you can take a month - sometimes two months - to work your way through the box. The wine stays fairly "fresh" the whole time. I have a couple of girlfriends who would benefit from having a box wine sitting around.

Our friend Mike, from The Naked Vine, recommended this particular box to us. He took it with him on a cruise (1 container of wine per cabin, you see). Since we're headed on our own cruise this summer, we thought we'd try it. Our verdict is that its not bad at all. It's got a lot of big fruit up front, very punchy and full of various dark berries. It has a full feel in your mouth, although it does have a fairly short finish. It's pleasant.

Our review:
Now, Kevin and I have a disagreement on this one. He gives it extra points just for being in a box, with his final assessment being a .
Alternatively, I look at it as I would any glass of wine. If I hadn't known it came from a box, I would have scored it a , so I'll stick to that regardless of from whence it came.

Happy Earth Week!  Go a little green, if you can!

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!

Pouring: Hahn SLH Pinot Noir

On Friday and Saturday this week, I'll be hosting a tasting at Liquor Direct. On Friday, you'll find me at the Covington store and on Saturday, I'll be at Fort Thomas. My theme, of sorts, is Spring Wines (or perhaps, Wines That Remind Me of Spring). All week I"ll be posting the tasting notes for some of the wines I'll have on my table. Come out to the tasting this weekend - I'd love to see you  and the tasting is free!
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So, because some of my choices weren't available, we're only going to have one red wine on the table this weekend (but a lot of great whites). If you scorn reds, that's okay. Mike will have a whole slew of them on his table at the opposite store.

Our lone red for this tasting is the Hahn Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir. I think a Pinot is perfect year round, but because it's not as heavy of a red as say a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Zinfandel, Pinot Noir is a pretty good choice for Spring as well.

Back in January, I got to meet Adam Lazarre, former winemaker for Hahn, at The Party Source. I was instantly smitten with the man and his wines, so it was a no-brainer to put one of his amazing Pinot Noirs on my table.

Here are my notes for this particular Pinot from that Party Source event:

Ah, pinot. I love a good pinot noir. According to Lazarre, making the wine is easy - it's growing the grapes that's hard. I think a good pinot noir can be sexy, of all things, and Lazarre's pinots get sexier by the bottle. This one is a blend of four different vineyards. I found the nose to be smoky, with a lot of recessed fruit that was begging to be let out. The taste had a lot of black cherry in it, sort of velvety. I bet this wine would open up even more, given the chance. In my head there was a black cherry in a short skirt, strutting into a smoky bar.

So it's a sexy Pinot, and I bet you'll enjoy it. I hope to see you this weekend!

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Don't forget to buy tickets for the 2nd Annual Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Dinner & Silent Auction. It's April 18, 6-10 pm. Buy Tickets Now. 

Pouring: d'Arenberg The Hermit Crab

On Friday and Saturday this week, I'll be hosting a tasting at Liquor Direct. On Friday, you'll find me at the Fort Thomas Covington location and on Saturday I'll be at the Covington Fort Thomas location. My theme, of sorts, is Spring Wines (or perhaps, Wines That Remind Me of Spring). All week I"ll be posting the tasting notes for some of the wines I'll have on my table. Come out to the tasting this weekend - I'd love to see you  and the tasting is free!
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The Hermit Crab from d'Arenberg, Viognier Marsanne 2008

I went to Liquor Direct several times last week to gather up various white Rhone varietals - Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne ... I wanted to have at least one, if not several of these on my table. (Turns out, I'm having trouble coming up with a second red for the "I only drink reds" drinkers.) One of the bottles I took home was The Hermit Crab.

What a funny name. In fact, they call it the Hermit Crab to encourage you to drink this with shellfish and seafood. I think it would also work fairly well with ham, but don't quote me on that. I tend to pair things terribly. Hermit Crab also short for Hermitage, the French appellation where Viognier is grown. But this Hermitage is from Australia, a combination of McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. The Hermit Crab is a blend of 72% Viognier and 28% Marsanne.

It's a nice pale straw / hay color. On the nose are a lot of peach and pear blossoms, lots of spring blooms and tulips. It continues to be a floral wine in your mouth as well. There is a little bit of fruit loops, which I love to find in any viognier, but it also tastes an awful lot like drinking flowers. Just because it's a floral white doesn't mean it's a wimpy wine though. The Hermit Crab is round and full, but is also nicely balanced with acidity and spices from the marsanne. It certainly disappeared quickly enough in our house.

Our review:

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Don't forget to buy tickets for the 2nd Annual Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Dinner & Silent Auction. It's April 18, 6-10 pm. Buy Tickets Now. 

McNab Ridge Wine Brunch @ Oceanaire

A few weeks ago, we wrapped up our Wine Festival weekend with a brunch on Sunday at The Oceanaire. (Editor's Note: We were comp'd the brunch from the nice folks at The Oceanaire.) The Sunday brunch featured wines by Rich Parducci, the winemaker for McNab Ridge and two of the Coro wines, all out of Mendocino, CA.

I'm not really a seafood girl, but every time I'm at The Oceanaire, I make it a point to try something new and I'm usually pleasantly surprised. I figure if I'm going to learn to appreciate seafood, a high-end seafood restaurant is probably the place to do it.

When we walked in on Sunday morning, we were greeted by Alli (her card reads Allison) who was an excellent server throughout the meal. In fact, we had two different servers, although I only got Alli's name, and both were friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable.

We started the meal with mimosas, followed closely by an amuse bouche of salmon with lemongrass on a crostini with a mint-infused grape (if I'm reading my notes correctly) and Bloody Marys. I'm not into Bloody Marys either, but Kevin said it was excellent - spicy and "his type of Bloody Mary."

Our first real course was the Oceanaire Porkopolis Breakfast, consisting of housemade goetta, sunny side egg, and creamed hashbrowns. This was paired with the 2007 McNab Ridge French Columbard. As far as the food goes, it was great. I tried the goetta and it ended up on Kevin's plate as well. I'm fairly convinced that goetta is an acquired taste in this town and you either love it or hate it.

2007 McNab Ridge French Columbard: French Columbard is a white wine that McNab Ridge is growing to "preserve history in the county." Not many people grow French Columbard anymore, but it used to be quite common. It's an off-dry wine with 1.8% residual sugar. It had natural, bright acid. I noted that it was sweet, light, aromatic, and refreshing. Kevin noted the intensely floral characteristics, such as white flowers and pansies. To my surprise, it added a bit of spice to the first course - or perhaps the food added the spice to the wine. It was certainly easy to drink and I've been inspired to seek out more French Columbard.
Our review:

Our second course was the Fisherman's Breakfast: grilled Norwegian salmon, baked shrimp, fried oyster, and bourbon-glazed Nueske's Bacon. The course was paired with the 2007 McNab Ridge Sauvignon Blanc. My only complaint with this course was that the bacon was so strong, it sort of overpowered the Sauvignon Blanc.

2007 McNab Ridge Sauvignon Blanc: This was obviously a California-style wine, right from the nose, which was full of tropical scents and candied fruit. From my first taste, I got big mangos, as well as honeydew and cantaloupe. This one was aged in stainless steel and did not see any malolactic fermentation. If you enjoy the bright, tropical California style Sauvignon Blancs (as opposed to grassy New Zealands), you'll enjoy this wine.
Our review:

Our third course of the morning was the hickory smoked Rushing Waters trout hash, with chorizo, sweet potato, poached egg, rosemary oil, and tomato concasse. The third course was paired with the 2004 Coro Mendocino Zinfandel Blend. This was a great finish to the brunch with a wine that deserved to be the last, as it was by far the best.

2004 Coro Mendocino Zinfandel Blend: Coro is a special project in Mendocino that really deserves its own blog post. Winemakers in Mendocino get together, blindly judge each others wines, and then go back and make changes to the blend based on the feedback. They've implemented all sorts of rules and restrictions in order to create the best wine possible representing the terroir of Mendocino County. Coro, by the way, means "Chorus" in Italian and only 12 winemakers participate out of the 70 in the county. That's really the short version.

As for the wine, I could have sipped on it all day. I got chocolate and bing cherries on the nose. It was followed by raspberries, cherries, and gentle tannins, and finally, a chocolate finish. This was such a luxurious wine that I hope I get a chance to try all of the wines in the Coro project.
Our review:

Our wine brunch wasn't quite over, however. As we enjoyed the last of the Coro, we got a chance to chat with Andrew of Oceanaire, Rich Parducci the winemaker, and Brandon from Tramonte & Sons (distributor). In the process, we discovered that Tramonte & Sons has partnered with McNab Ridge to create Zincinnati, a limited edition Zin just for our area. They were completely sold out except for City Beverage - a liquor drive-thru in Hyde Park - where Kevin and I headed directly after the brunch. I think we bought the last bottles in town. Andrew also gifted us with several bottles of Graziano wines, left over from the Graziano wine dinner the previous week. Thanks Andrew!

Overall, I was thrilled with The Oceanaire wine brunch. They offered enough food for picky eaters like myself, coupled with great food for slightly more adventurous foodies like Kevin. Oceanaire is thinking about having brunches for both Easter and Mother's Day. I think a seafood brunch followed by a walk around the square on a Sunday Spring morning would be a great way to start the day.

Wine Review: Oops!

In honor of April Fool's Day (yet in all seriousness), Kevin and I chose to review the Oops! Chilean wines sent to us by our friend Rob. With a label like Oops!, these were meant to be reviewed on a fun day.

Oops! is rather fun, from its heritage to its packaging. The label is among the most creative and most educational I've come across. Created to mimic an old-fashioned newspaper, it tells the story of how the Carmenere grape came to Chile -  a giant oops. According to the web site,

Carmenère root stock had been transplanted from France over a century ago before the particularly nasty root louse threatened its very existence. Soon forgotten, the Carmenère grapes grew freely with Merlot grapes and were assumed to be Merlot until, suddenly in 1994, viticulturist Jean-Michel Boursiquit revealed the mistake. Oops!

So there you go. Carmenere is the "lost grape of Bordeaux." The Carmenere grape is known for imparting flavors of plums, tobacco, coffee, and black pepper.

Both of these wines have a standard retail price of $12, but I bet you can find them for around $9.99.

Oops! Spicy Splendor Carmenere: This was our least favorite of the two. I found it to be a bit green - slightly herbaceous. The green-ness wore off a little but it never completely left. Kevin liked the mineral quality he found in the wine. It had a little bit of tannins, but was overall a pretty simple wine.
Our review:

Oops! Cheeky Little White Sauvignon Blanc: This wine is 85% Sauvignon Blanc and, interestingly, 15% Carmenere. We had this wine paired with Chinese food, and it was an excellent pairing. The nose was a bit astringent and lemony. It was a tart tart tart wine, filled with grapefruits, lemon, and lime, and obviously pretty acidic. This was a very easy to drink wine - especially with the Chinese food. We deemed it a porch wine for the summer.
Our review:

Wine Fest Recap: Michelle

Oh goodness. Friday was a day that had roughly 10 hours of tasting wine and that's a little much. Combine that with the fact I woke up and spent most of the day thoroughly out of sorts / discombobulated. I dropped things, tripped over things, forgot things.  ... so imagine me at the wine festival for a moment. Egads!  I even lost my digital camera somewhere between the festival and a wine warehouse.

My discombobulated-ness really came into play during our live blog experiment. Kevin did a lot better because he has a tactile keyboard on his Treo. I was using the iPhone and while I have always had a hard time with the darned thing, trying to walk, talk, taste wine, and live blog with a virtual keyboard? For me, it was a recipe for disaster. Add to that, the stupid phone rebooted itself twice for no reason. Sigh. That's why the live blog is mostly Kevin.  He did a spectacular job, by the way, even covering our trip through the Special Tasting Room on Friday evening.

As a note, the Special Tasting Room is quite nice. Is it nice enough to pay $100 for your ticket instead of $65? I'm not so sure about that. I would prefer if I'd had more than an hour in there, but for just an hour? Hmmm ... we probably won't be doing that again.

After the jump, I've recapped some of my favorite wines from the festival, no iPhone required.