Cru Club Dinner
Filed Under Food & Wine
Just a quick post about last night’s Cru Club dinner at Marigold Kitchen. Great group of people showed up (as always), and we not only drank a number of exceptional wines, but enjoyed them alongside some great dishes. Wine highlights included the Olivier Leflaive 2006 Chassagne-Montrachet, Duhart-Milon 2000, Vernay Condrieu 2007, Shinn Estate 2007 Bordeaux-style blend, and a 2007 St. Laurent. The best pairing of the night, though, had to have been the Graham’s 40-Year-Old Port with the chocolate terrine. I’m ruined for dessert for the next several days, at least. Anything else will seem somehow unfair to my tastebuds.
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Hunting the Keith Monster
Filed Under The Wine World
A classy film from our recent trip to Bordeaux. I could have posted tasting notes, but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun.
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Wine 101: Intro to Wine, June 5th
Filed Under Wine Tastings
First Flight
1. Alkoomi 2007 Riesling, Frankland River (AS)
Second Flight
1. Villa Maria 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough (NZ)
2. Fonty’s Pool 2005 Chardonnay, Pemberton (AS)
Third Flight
1. The Four Graces 2007 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley (OR)
2. La Carraia 2007 Sangiovese, Umbria (IT)
Fourth Flight
1. Marco Real 2005 Garnacha, Navarra (SP)
2. Rolf Binder 2006 Shiraz “Hales,” Barossa Valley (AS)
Fifth Flight
1. Ghost Pines 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa and Sonoma (CA)
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Barossa and Beyond, May 29th
Filed Under Wine Tastings
First Flight: The Unexpected
1. d’Arenberg 2004 “Sticks & Stones,” McLaren Vale
2. Longview 2003 Nebbiolo “Black Crow,” Adelaide Hills
Second Flight: Americans in Australia
1. Oliverhill Winery 2006 Petite Sirah, McLaren Vale
2. Glaymond 2003 Zinfandel “Krause’s Berg,” Barossa Valley
Third Flight: A Mini-Vertical
1. d’Arenberg 2003 “The Laughing Magpie,” McLaren Vale
2. d’Arenberg 2007 “The Laughing Magpie,” McLaren Vale
Fourth Flight: Two Classics
1. Domaine du Coulet 2004 Cornas “Les Terrasses du Serre,” Rhone Valley (FR)
2. Dutschke 2004 Shiraz “Oscar Semmler Single Vineyard Reserve,” Barossa Valley
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Wine 101: Intro to Wine, May 9th
Filed Under Wine Tastings
First Flight
1. Mercer 2007 Riesling, Yakima Valley (WA)
Second Flight
1. Glazebrook 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough (NZ)
2. Catena 2006 Chardonnay, Mendoza (AR)
Third Flight
1. The Four Graces 2007 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley (OR)
2. Falesco 2007 Sangiovese, Umbria (IT)
Fourth Flight
1. Panarroz 2006 Garnacha, Jumilla (SP)
2. d’Arenberg 2006 Shiraz “The Footbolt,” McLaren Vale (AS)
Fifth Flight
1. Barnard Griffin 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley (WA)
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Wine 201, May 6th
Filed Under Wine Tastings
First Flight: Serving Temperature
1. Lois 2007 Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal (AU)
2. Lois 2007 Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal (AU)
Second Flight: Reading the Label
1. Five Rivers 2007 Pinot Noir (CA)
2. Buena Vista 2006 Pinot Noir “Ramal Vineyard,” Carneros (CA)
Third Flight: Considering the Vintage
1. Chateau Romefort 2005 Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux (FR)
2. Chateau Clarke 2004 Bordeaux, Listrac-Medoc (FR)
Fourth Flight: Let it Breathe!
1. Ghost Pines 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa and Sonoma (CA)
2. Ghost Pines 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa and Sonoma (CA)
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Wine and Cheese: A Special Pairing Class, April 25th
Filed Under Wine Tastings
Cheese
Asiago
Parmigiano Reggiano
Vermont Cheddar
Manchego
Wine
1. Castelroig NV Brut Cava (SP)
2. Xarmant 2007 Txakolina, Txakoli de Alava (SP)
3. Ad Hoc 2007 Chardonnay, Western Australia (AS)
4. Bodegas LAN 2005 Rioja Crianza, Rioja (SP)
5. Castello di Farnetella 2006 Chianti Colli-Senesi (IT)
6. Mercer 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Horse Heaven Hills (WA)
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Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d’Or Tasting at The Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, April 24th
Filed Under Wine Tastings
Champagnes:
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1998
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1997
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1996
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1995
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1992
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1991
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1990
Cuvée Palmes d’Or Brut Vintage 1985
Menu by Chef Rafael Gonzalez:
Stuffed Oysters with Caviar
Fois Gras Terrine w. Rhubarb Chutney
Smoked Salmon “Toad in the Hole”
Spring Pea Soup with Morels
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A Most Unusual Zinfandel
Filed Under Wine Reviews
Blueberries and spice and everything boozy and nice, right? I mean, that’s Zinfandel, isn’t it?
Well, not always.
Last weekend, at the Barossa and Beyond class, we tasted a most unusual Zinfandel–the Glaymond 2003 “Krause’s Berg” Single Vineyard from the Barossa Valley. Instead of rich, ripe fruit and gently mouth-tingling alcohol and spice, this bottling showed tar and black fruit and the slightest hint of flowers in the background. Kind of like what the lovechild of Cali Zin and Northern Rhone Syrah would taste like.
Unexpected? Perhaps. Addictively delicious? Without a doubt.
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Report from Bordeaux
Filed Under The Wine World
Just a quick report from Bordeaux…
We just returned to the farmhouse we’re staying in for the week (purple-teethed, all of us) after a day in St.-Emilion with the winemaker from Chateau Ausone and his brother, who owns an amazing wine shop in the town called Vignobles & Chateau. It was, to say the least, a breathtaking day, full of great wine, fantastic people who could not be more helpful, and a landscape as beautiful as any in the world.
And not only is the wine here as amazing as you’d hope, but the food is absolutely mind-boggling. For me, the Bordelais relationship with food can be summed up with this magnificent fact: We purchased a jar of foie gras in the lot we parked our car in this morning in St.-Emilion. That’s right: parking-lot foie. What a wonderful place.
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