Burgers and Rhone…..something special

Tonight we had bleu cheese burgers cooked on the grill and a bottle of Perrin Rhone 2004 Reserve. The burgers were’ excellent, mix the cbleu cheese in when you are forming the pattys and get them on the grill. Finish on a whole wheat bun with tomatoes and onions.

When cooking make sure they are done but don’t over-cook them and dry them out.

The wine was really good and best of all… $12. It’s still available on retailers shelves in most places. I think we got ours at Sam’s Club! Big enough for burgers and smooth enough to sip. Nice.

Are the 2006 Bordeaux’s the disappointment of a decade?

One of our favorite wine writers (actually it’s a wine writing couple) has some unpleasant words for the ’06 Bordeaux. Check out the article here.

It’s summer, it’s hot and the white wines are getting better

Many Argentine wines are perfect for summer. They aren’t too tricky, you can chill them well, you can often find them for $12 bucks or soand enjoy them without over thinking them.

Our pick is the Torrontes grape. Just fruity enough and plenty crisp.

Our pick .. 2008 Crios de Susan Balboa Terrontes widely available for about $13.

Enjoy!

Passport weekend in Dry Creek Valley wine region

We just returned from the annual Dry Creek Valley Wine region Passport weekend. This event has about 50 wineries who participate and most have food events as well.

The results were mixed. The best of the 2 day fest was at Mauritson Wines, very interesting wines with great food. The oyster sandwiches were really special.

The most amazing food spread was at Rafanelli, it looked like a mid-night buffet on the Lido deck. The Zins were pretty decent, the 2006 handled itself well.

The best time was definitely at Bella Wines where they not only had decent food but good wines, ice cream and a circus act! All at the top of a lovely hillside.

Unti had a bare bones wine event, which was one of our favorites. The 2006 Reserve Syrah is a big, solid wine that is looking for a good steak! If you can find it, get it and store it well for a few years. You’ll be glad you did.

We stayed at a little B&B in Guernville that is trying to do things right but has a way to go. Dana and Brian run the Orchid Sonoma Inn and are there to help. The facility has really, really comfortable beds (at least the bed in the Sequoia room was great). The setting is too close to the road but pleasant enough and priced right.

A nice few days, not great but nice.

A Wine Worth Looking for….

Tonight we had a Blair Fox 2005 Purisima Vinyard Syrah. This full bodied Syrah went very well with our steak from the grill. The wine is big enough for any meat but balanced enough to sip. The fruit is not over-whelming and the style is more Rhone like. 

This wine gets a solid 9.3 score. We paid $29 for it and the production is not big but with a little google work I think you’ll be able to find some. I am heading to google right now to try to find some myself.

Enjoy!

Tonight’s Wine – 2005 MacRostie Chardonnay

Warning, I am not a chardonnay lover. It is rare that I find one that I like. In general chardonnay is very difficult for pairing with food, however, tonight the ’05 McCrostie Chard was just right. 

We had it with chicken and dumplings! My wife, who is a nutritionist by degree and practice, is an excellent chef. We had a low fat but very tasty dinner. Good…. and good for you.

Let us know if you’d like to see the chicke and dumpling recipe.

The McCrostie chard? An 8.9 on our 10 point scale. If you love chards, treat yourself, if you don’t love chards… you’ll probably at least enjoy this wine.

Enjoy!

Wine and Wisdom…..

Wine does not bring wisdom nor does it bring judgement but it can bring relationships closer.

Wine is unique in that respect. Often those who have a passion for wine do so because of an underlying philosophy of life. A philosophy that most beauty is encased in subtlety, that things can be different and equal and that good for one is not good for all. 

To many wine lovers the tasting of wine is not unlike a quick, short meditation. You need a total focus on a very narrow range of things you want to discover or identify. Tasting wine this way forces us to clear away all of the other things that are crisscrossing our minds when we are not totally focused. That ability to focus when tasting wine is a skill that can be applied to many areas of life, like focusing on other people exclusively, if only for a few minutes… that ability to devote attention is a very high compliment to the person receiving that attention and to the person devoting it.

So to those who love and respect wine……enjoy. To those new to wine, there are no secret rules or pathways. Just focus on the wine and it’s differences and you will find the similarities.