Tis The Season!

December Wine Night was all about comfort...winter wine, cozy cocktails and special snacks. And boy did we deliver!

Brandi made delicious fondue and everyone else brought meats and bread to pair with it.

Our first drink of the night was a delicious sparkling:
Chateau de L'Aulee - $17.00
Cremant de Loire Brut
Chenin Blanc is a principal grape with others that could include chardonnay, pinot noir, and cab franc. We thought this was delicious! Juicy and creamy with citrus, apple & yeast expected from a Loire bubbly.

Next up:
Astoria Prosecco - $11.00
We shouldn't have followed the Cremant with the prosecco but it arrived later than the others and we knew what we were going to taste later in the evening so we snuck this in the lineup. It didn't do the prosecco any favors. It was light and dry like you want a prosecco with peaches and pears with dry acidity and light body. but it was hard to taste after the creaminess of the first.



I can't continue with out commenting on our ambience.

Thanks to Eileen, we had a crackling fire complete with carols. Thanks for helping to set the perfect mood!


Our third sparkling was a rose:
Simmonet-Febvre $18.95
Cremant De Bourgogne Brut Rose
A sparkling wine from Chablis made of 100% pinot noir grapes. We found it fruity, crisp, dry, acidic, tart, citrus, cranberry, gooseberry, yeast with a creamy mouth feel.

Then we moved very smoothly to Beaujolais:
Domaine Berrod 18.99
2009 Beaujolais Villages
Delicious, light and fruity. A perfect beaujolais. It was a nice light red color with a skunky nose of ash, powdered white pepper. Blueberries, smoky, leather.

After decanting we tasted:
Travaglini $29
2004 Gattinara
This was absolutely delicious! perfectly balanced Nebbiolo with a bit funk, barn yard, earth, mold. Full bodied with cherry fruit.





And finally it came time for dessert!
i forgot to mention our 1970's theme. It started with talk of fondue and cozy father sweaters... so i decided to make the dessert i grew up eating. And my mom was kind enough to send the cups and spoons she's collected over the years for serving.
Pot de Cremes!




Which paired perfectly with Brandi's Rum Cocktail!
Homemade almond milk, vanilla, simple syrup, maple syrup, bitters, nutmeg with aged rum garnished with star anise and a cinnamon stick. It was delicious and belly warming.

And since the party was still going i went ahead and opened one more bottle of wine...
Gassier Nostre Pais Rouge $15
2007 Southern Rhone
A Blend of grenache, carignan, mourvedre, cinsalt, syrah. Nose of truffles, earth, blackberries, full-body and soft tannins.

We had a wonderful evening. It was great to be together with new and old friends and to be surprised by an out of town guest. Here's a little slideshow of our evening.

Happy Holidays!
See you 2011 where we'll start by exploring Austria!

Good Wine, Good Food, Good Friends

We're baaaaack! It's been far too long and I've missed you all.

November's Wine Night didn't have a theme. We had one Roussanne and one ice wine so we decided to meet at The Greene Grape to select bottles to taste in between those. We ended up with a nice journey through white, rose, red and dessert.

Greene Grape was having a Port tasting so we sampled Quinta do Infantado Tawny and Ruby Ports. Both delicious with hints of chocolate, tobacco and plum.

Then it was on to dinner at Umi Nom where we ordered a bunch of small plates & one entree:
house pickles
asian market greens
sauteed sweet sausage
dai bao sliders
spring rolls
pork belly adobo
charred beef rice vermicelli

Since there weren't actual courses, we just ate, sipped wine and enjoyed ourselves. No specific wine pairings with the food.

Now to what we tasted:

Kelly was kind enough to share a bottle of her father's
Rockledge Roussanne Saralee's Vineyard Roussanne $35
2006 Russian River Valley
it was delicious and smooth and buttery, similar to a chardonnay. here's a quote i found: "Easily the best pure Roussanne made in America by the very talented Mike Hirby. Loads of complexity and a gorgeous, lengthy finish."

Michael Gassier Nostre Pais Blanc $15
2008 Rhone
90% Greanche blanc, 5% Roussanne, 5% Vionier
light and citrus, crisp. lemon, floral, soft finish, mineral

Laurent Miquel Rose - $9.50
2009 Languedoc
Cinsault 70% Syrah 30%
this one didn't wow me so i can't remember! here's what greene grape says "This lively rose has a big funky nose that leads to pleasing soft red fruit. Its refreshing acidity binds it all into an easy drinking gulper "

Rondan Crianza $14.50
2007 Rioja
90% Tempranillo 10% Grenache
cherries, blackberries, pepper, smooth, well balanced, oaky hints

Then we headed for Brandi's for a tour of the new home with Umi Nom's warm thai chili chocolate cake to go and cold Ice Wine.

Peller Estates Vidal Blanc $79.00
2005 Canada
smooth, honey, floral, delicious and rich.

This is a brief slide show of Brandi's home - i didn't get a shot of the living room but you'll appreciate the space and all the work that's gone into it so far!

All Things Liz!

Last night's Wine Night was a very special one.
Three years ago when I threw out the idea of Wine Night, Liz was the first to respond and most excited. She is an original member of the group who has expanded our posse to include some fantastic women. She's hosted some highly educational and highly hilarious evenings. And when Liz is around, it's always a great time with great food, great wine and great shoes.

Liz and her family are moving back to Chicago and we will miss them terribly!

So for her last Wine Night we decided that the theme will be All Things Liz! We brought food and wine that reminded us of her, knew she'd love or find interesting. And as you'll see from the pictures, it was a huge success.
Let's talk about the food:Liz made toasts with ricotta cheese, heirloom tomatoes and fava beans. They were delicious!
I made sausage balls. Yes, the Bisquick, cheddar cheese sausage balls. Because on our first Wine Night, Liz brought over fig membrillo (i had no idea what membrillo was!) and I made sausage balls - that should tell you something about both of us! Anyway, Liz was totally appalled, tasted one and loved them! We've come a long way since then, what with chefs cooking for us and all. But the sausage balls needed to make a reappearance for this occasion. They're still really good!Jen made brie toasts which is a Liz recipe. It's toast with mustard and brie that is broiled until bubbly and melted. I had forgotten all about these - I'm so glad that Jen remembered!Of course there was plenty of cheese to go around. You can't go wrong with cheese!Brandi made a fabulous dessert of apricot short bread with lavender whipped cream. It was light and fluffy and perfect for the summer evening.

And now to the wine! My notes will be very brief because we knew all the bottles were great and our conversation was more about us with the occasional comment on the wine.

We started the evening with champagne with Brandi's homemade watermelon and hibiscus puree. It was so refreshing and a great warm up for our palates. I didn't get the details of the bubbly, sorry!

Next we moved to Argyle Sparkling $60.00
1999 80% pinot noir 20% chardonnay from Willamette Valley.
Strong flavor that stands up to food. Delicious!

Quinta de Aveleda Grinalda Vinho Verde $11.00
2008 from Portugal
Refreshing, acidic, perfect summer sipper!

Coalescence $14.00
2008 Shinn Estate - North Fork, Long Island
54% chardonnay 23% sauvignon blanc 13% viognier 10% merlot
"Fruit nose, smells like a pretty hotel bathroom with flowered wallpaper, and candle burning. But they won't tell you what the scent is because it's their signature scent." Grapefruit, lemon, peach, bitter after taste - tanins from the skins.

Clos del Pinell $11.00
2009 Garnatxa Blanca
Delicious, crisp. We LOVED this!!!

Movia $45
2007 Lunar from Slovenia - ribolla gialla
This wine is left to make itself "they tried to produce a wine basically without the touch of humans except at harvest". Cloudy color because it's unfiltered, orange nose, acidity. Big mouth feel. Exotic, Moroccan spices, apricot skins. Thick, wet mouth feel. Nice acidity and perfect balance. Paul Grieco of Terroir and Hearth calls this a "fucked up wine".

Ca' Del Solo $18
2008 Muscat from Monterey, CA.
tastes like soap, perfumy, mucus, tastes like a Torrontes.

Wolffer Estates Rose $17.00
46% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 33% Chardonnay
i have no notes on this at all. So here's something i poached from the internet: "The acidity is well balanced by the fruit. Notes of blueberries and grapefruit, with a long, lip-smacking finish. Dry, light and very refreshing but complex enough to make it a great companion with food."

Favorite quote of the night: "If i was married to a donger like that i would spend all his money too!".

And that's it. It was a wonderful night. Here's a slide show of the 80's music jam, dirty tutus and fabulous hats. We sent "The Director" off with a bang. We will miss you very much!!


Remember: Wine night. Chicago. 2011. February!

Torrontes

I never thought a time would come when we didn't like the wine.

It was a beautiful spring day, we were in Liz's backyard complete with grilled pizza, guacamole, hummus and spicy thai food...a perfect set up for a great white wine. And yet with every bottle of wine we were disappointed. Torrontes.
The only grape considered indigenous to Argentina.

Primarily from Salta and Mendoza: Salta produces wines that are less imposing, but tend to be more crisp, and those from Mendoza are intense and 'bigger' wines. Both regions are working on crispness (which will help my opinion of it!)

Here is a quote that perfectly describes our experience:
"Pulling the cork on a Torrontés can be like opening a bottle of Eau de Cologne: there is a Muscat-like exuberance, with heady floral and herbal notes. But as aromatically intriguing as it is, Torrontés has often failed to deliver on the palate, with a rather dull and sometimes flabby character." -Tom Cannavan

Good food pairings are smoked meats, strong cheeses and spicy food.

Santa Julia $12.00
2008 Mendoza
Nose: apricot, peaches, wildflower, bubble bath, floral nose, lilacs. Taste: easy, not as good as the nose.

Don Cano $8.99
2008 La Rioja
Nose: honeysuckle, less floral than the first, butter. Taste: very wet, popcorn, like drinking cream, heavy, no acidity, cloying.

Crios $15.99
2009 Salta
Most recognizable label. Nose: citrus, lemon. Taste: soap, doesn't taste like it's in the same family as the other two. More lemony, grassy, but still cloying.

Yellow & Blue $13.50
2008 Salta
Butter again! Tastes like soap too. Phlemy. No nose, tastes dull. We called this a picnic wine. It's got a bit more acidity.

Bodega Uno $14.00
2008 Mendoza
Earthy nose, mineral, wet asphalt, wet rocks. Tastes: peachy, apple skins that went brown, sour, citrus.

Don David $16.00
2008 Salta
Nice nose, citrus, floral not perfumey, lily of the valley, "not like the body sprays Jen's kids wear", Tastes: lemon, tart, raspberry seed, lemonade that isn't sweet enough. Not balanced but it's refreshing in comparison to the others.

Our top three:
1. Don David
2-3. Santa Julia and Crios (tied)

Once our voting was finished we quickly switched to different wine. This could be the first time we had wine left in ALL of the bottles.

Pros: reasonably priced, it stands up to spicy food.
Cons: cloying, the nose is much better than the taste.
This could be a perfect wine on a boiling hot day this summer. But I'll only want it if the wine is ice cold and I'm sweating in the sun.

Chateau d'Yquem

We are an amazing group of women. I look forward to this wine night every month. And this month was even more exciting than usual because Kelly graciously wanted to share her
Chateau d'Yquem with us!

I didn't totally comprehend why Chateau d'Yquem was so special until I arrived at wine night and was fully briefed. And then it all made sense.

I will not do this justice so please feel free to add/amend details or notes as you see fit.

Chateau d'Yquem
*The "greatest wine of Sauternes" according to the 1855 classification of the entire Bordeaux region. "Almost immortal". It is the only Sauternes winery classified as Premier Cru Supérieur (Superior First Growth).
*Made of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, the grapes are pressed three times and transferred to oak barrels to mature over a period of three and a half years.
*Unlike other Sauternes, this is not sold until it is in the bottle.
*I loved this fact (copied from wikipedia): On average, only 65,000 bottles are produced each year. In a poor vintage, the entire crop is deemed unworthy of bearing the Château's name; this happened nine times in the 20th century (1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, and 1992).

Brief historical highlights
--Yquem once belonged to Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, the property being just part of her extensive holdings. It was brought under the dominion of the French crown in 1137 by her marriage to Prince Louis Capet, soon to be King Louis VII of France. This marriage lasted fifteen years, ending with an annulment by Pope Eugène III on the grounds of adultery. This left Eleanor free to marry Henri Plantagenet, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. And so Chateau d'Yquem was, until the end of the Hundred Years War in 1453, a most royal and British estate.
-- Thomas Jefferson - a well known lover of French wines - ordered several hundred bottles of the 1784, as well as securing some 1787 for George Washington.

Tasting Notes on Chateau d'Yquem 2003
Alcohol nose, burns a bit - 11-14% alcohol (most dessert wines are 8-9%).
Smells: vanilla, honey, raisin.
Beautiful, clean finish. No cloying viscosity. Silky mouth feel.
Once the alcohol blows off it smells herbal.
Defining characteristic - smoothness. Not sugary. Beautiful bouquet, clean. Other Sauternes are more gritty, not as a elegant.
"This is a smooth circle".

We then discussed and tasted Inniskillin (I'll create a new post because there is a lot of information) but kept coming back to the d'Yquem and experiencing more and more layers.
It changed with each sip -- especially as it warmed up. It morphed from a typical dessert wine to a full, layered, complex wine with mineral, vegetal qualities.

Thank you for the once in a lifetime experience!

Inniskillin

We tasted this wine the same night as the Chateau d'Yquem but we learned so much about ice wine that I thought it deserved a post of its own.

Let's talk about ice wine!
Brief history: ice wine is a dessert wine that originated during the Roman times but was forgotten. It was rediscovered in the late 1700's and produced in Austria and Germany.

In the 1980's Karl Kaiser created the winery Inniskillin and started making ice wine in Canada. His first crop in 1983 was eaten by birds but in 1984, Kaiser used nets to protect Inniskillin's grapes and was able to produce the winery's first ice wine. By 1989 his ice wine using vidal grapes won the Grand Prix d'Honneur at Vinexpo.

Ice wine must follow strict guidelines:
*grapes are left on the vine to freeze - which means they're ripe and have been on the vine for months past the regular harvest.
*grapes must reach hard freeze (17° F or colder) for three consecutive days.
*grapes must be harvested while frozen - which means harvesting in the middle of the frozen winter night.
*cannot be refrozen once they are off the vine - so must be pressed immediately. Squeezing frozen grapes yields about 1/25th a regular harvest (another reason for the expensive price).

And now to the tasting!





Inniskillin 2006 Vidal
The aromatics hit you in the face. 9% alcohol. Nose: lychee , rust, honey, smells really sweet. Tastes: acidity, mandarin oranges. Makes you want more.

Inniskillin 2006 Riesling
Acidic and sweet at the same time. Ideal example of a Riesling. Smooth and round, coats the mouth. Perfectly balanced.

Inniskillin 2004 Oak Aged Vidal
Only available at the winery. The oak adds vanilla and caramel. It's a little effervescent, it dances on the palate. Light on the tongue, forward mouth feel. Complex. Leaves you wanting more.

Thank you, Kebra for bringing the wine and for the education. It was such a rare treat!

Valpolicella

I picked Valpolicella for March's wine night because there were a lot of us and we tend to shop at the same wine stores. So i thought that we'd be able to find a few different bottles in our price range.

I started drinking Valpolicella when i was just discovering wine. It was cheap, it had good flavor and it sounded exotic. Well that's basically what the rest of the world thinks. In fact i found a great quote that said it has a reputation for being a "light, fruity red wine with little character or finesse".

But that is changing. Valpolicella is making a comeback!

Here are some facts:
Valpolicella is in the Verona region in Italy.














It mostly consists of Corvina Veronese, Rondinella and/or Molinara grapes. And there's a variety of styles to choose from including sparkling, dessert wine and Amarone.
It tends to have similar characteristics as a beaujolais.

Types to look for:
*Valpolicella Classico (basic table wine),
*Valpolicella Classico Superiore (must be aged a minimum of 1 year in wood and reach a minimum alcohol level of 12%),
*Reicioto Della Valpolicella ("is one of Italy's greatest and oddest wines" 14% alcohol)
*Reicioto Amarone (the dry version of reicioto)

Here are the wines we tasted...

1. Viviani $20.00
2007 Corvina & Rondinella (classico)
really drinkable, heavy black pepper.

2. Le Salette $16.00
2008 (classico) 55% Corvina, 35% Rondinella, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Croatina
musty, jammy nose, bright cherries, strawberries, tastes old, more concentrated fruit. pepper, dusty, hits the nose,raisin.

3. Solane $15
2007 (classico superior) Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara
nose - buttery, cooked pasta, buttered popcorn (butter must be from the oak), deep red fruit, coaterier, slickerier. and yes those were my actual notes - the last two words were not in my handwriting!

4. Ca La Bionda $18.00
2007 (classico superior) 70% Corvina, 20% Corvinone, 10% indigenous varieties like Molinara
jammy! peppery, alcohol, spicy, leathery, dusty nose. full body, dry finish, mouth watering, strawberries, vegetal quality.

5. Le Ragose $19.00
2006 (classico superior) 60% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 20% other local grapes.
smells like peaches, cork, grass. tastes tart, tangy, sour, a little funk to it. "funky b.o." puckery mouth feel.

6. Tommasi $9.99
2007 (classico) 43% Corvina, 32% Rondinella, 25% merlot
very drinkable, bitter dark chocolate, black licorice, chocolate nose. a little more refreshing, mild, nose is more vibrant than the taste. easy, balanced, full & deep.

And as for our favorites:
1. Solane (also the most popular in the wine shops)
2. Le Salette
3. Tommasi