Three Good Whites & a Red Blend

03 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by Howard in Napa/Sonoma, Oregon, Spain

Tags

Artessa, Elements, Meritage, Oro de Castilla, Pinot Gris, Ponzi, red blends, Sancerre, Verdejo

I’ve wore out the ‘catching up” language on wine reviews but with these four, I’m caught up! Seriously! Until tonight, or maybe this afternoon!

It’s hard to measure the value of posting reviews and what one guy thinks of a bottle of wine but I do get occasional feedback from folks trying to find a specific bottle I’ve reviewed. More often, I talk about the varietal – as I will with one of these on this post – and someone will drop me a line wanting to know where to find it.

So reviews are worth the time if you’re going to blog about wine. But it’s just one opinion. If you scan any number of blogs you will find writers who alternately hate/love the same bottle. Hopefully, regular readers learn the writers’ palate – mine or anyone else’s – and that serves as a guide.

Oro de Castilla 2011 Verdejo – Spanish Verdejo isn’t all that difficult to find but you’ll have to go to a wine shop. Unlikely you’re going to find it in any grocery unless you’re in a high-end establishment.

The good news is that its almost always a very affordable alternative to Sauvignon Blanc or wines with some crisp acidity that really hit the spot in the summer months.

This had a great bouquet with a lovely crisp freshness. Certainly a grapefruit flavor with some nice floral components. I drink the Verdejo in the summer for the crisp acidity and refreshing mouth feel. Though it has acid and minerality, it won’t be as powerful as a NZ or California Sauv Blanc.

Oro de Castilla 2011 Verdejo, $10-$15 in most shops, Recommended.

Ponzi 2012 Pinot Gris – Gris is probably my favorite summer white wine for many of the same reasons I like Verdejo.

Ponzi is a big name in Oregon’s Willamette Valley but despite several trips out there I had never tried their wines. I found the Gris at a rock bottom $11.99 and grabbed one in an Indy wine shop. The winery was also one of the valley’s Pinot Gris pioneers.

It’s hard to put a label on this one but I’d call it good, really good actually but not great. I found green apple tartness and maybe something like white peach. By the way, I usually roll my eyes when I type sentences like the previous. Because if you taste the wine and find watermelon and rhubarb then it’s watermelon and rhubarb. But I digress!

This is nice wine for the price point. There are better and worse Oregon Pinot Gris on the market. It has nice aromas and I’d buy it again.

Ponzi 2012 Pinot Gris, $11.99 but closer to $17 in most markets, Recommended.

Domaine Jean-Paul Picard 2011 Sancerre – Sancerre is a region of France’s Loire Valley which produces Sauvignon Blanc – and great ones at that.

The difference between Sancerre and, say, New Zealand or California is a roundness and deft touch that wine lovers gravitate to more than the hammer and brick approach.

A delightfully round and soft mouthfeel is generally the characteristic I would use to describe the difference with Sancerre. This wine has a fresh-cut grass and mineral appeal I like. It’s dry it’s onl 12.5 percent alcohol.

Picard’s vines of this tiny area of Sancerre are nearly 30 years old. This is great wine.

Domaine Jean-Paul Picard 2011 Sanceree, $19.99-$22.99, Highly Recommended.

Artessa 2009 Elements – Big Napa Valley taste in a pretty darn good blend. I like the mix of 71 percent Cabernet, 16 percent Merlot, 5 percent Cab Franc, 5 percent Malbec, and 3 percent Petit Verdot. What did they miss?

For me, 2013 has been the year of really nice California Meritage, blends, kitchen-sink wines, whatever you want to call them – I like them.

The great thing about these wonderful blends, coming largely from California and Washington State, is they are great values.

This wine tastes big and it tastes expensive. But SRP from the winery is only $32 and you’ll often find it lower. As a matter of fact, I bought this wine off of one of the flash, discount internet sites for $17.99 and at that price its larceny!

This is typical California Meritage with big dark fruit, nice tannins, an herbal or spice base, and enough fruit to keep it all in balance.

Artessa 2009 Elements Meritage, SRP $32, Highly Recommended.

Nice Red Blend, Pot Roast Style Beef

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by Howard in Food & Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bacon, beef, Pot Roast, red blends, Sans Permis

Blends are the thing and there are plenty out there at incredibly reasonable prices.

Wine sells because of great quality, a name wine drinkers know, a nifty label, or a great story. Sometimes the great story is just an interesting one.

The story of San Permis is more of a good idea gone bad but the winery’s red blend was a big hit with wine drinkers while it was a round. I also enjoy a blend like San Permis with beef dishes that don’t quite come up to the level of a charred steak.

Sans Permis La Petite Colline Rouge is a Rhone style blend of Grenache and Syrah. On it’s first night it was rather light and fruity with very little detectible tannin on the finish. In other reviews, some wine fans say the juice varies from bottle to bottle. I liked the fruit much better on this wine, and even the finish, on night two.

It’s the story though of former Turley (known especially for it’s Zin) winemaker George Van Duzer starting the label in 2004. He wanted to make wine with minimalist intervention. A good translater will tell you Sans Permis is French for ‘without license.” And indeed, Van Duzer made his wines without filtering or fining agents.

A year after he got started, the winery went into bankruptcy. Now, why write about a wine that’s no longer made? Well, it’s an interesting story though there isn’t much out there on the internet about the Sans Permis venture. More importantly, inventory of the red blend rouge, several Chardonnays, and a pretty decent Pinot Noir remain on the market. Most of the wines are being peddled at ridiculously low prices by the popular online flash sites.

Most of the Sans Permis was originally ticketed, and widely praised by critics, at the $25-$40 price range. These wines have consistently turned up on the internet in recent weeks at $9-$15. If you see the label – buy some!

My Beef/Bacon Pot Roast Dinner

4-6 slices of bacon
stewing beef
Onion
Garlic
Thyme
Carrots
Beef Stock
… whatever else is in the fridge!

Look at those chunks of bacon on beef!

Forget quantities, it isn’t that difficult. Adjust what you need to the number you are trying to feed. Crisp up the bacon and set it aside. Brown the beef in the bacon fat. I salt/pepper the meat in advance, then sprinkle liberally with fresh or dried thyme as I brown it in the skillet.

I chop up plenty of onion and cover the bottom of a baking dish. Throw in the beef, carrots, and some beef stock and bake low and slow. I let it roast a couple of hours at less than 350 degrees.

This is something you can play with and fix differently each time. I like to keep it real moist with the broth and put it over egg noodles. Or with a little less broth I substitute fingerling potatoes for the noodles.

I like to give my version a splash of red wine vinegar about halfway through the cooking process. It adds a little brightness to dish that can be come almost too savory.

Another variation would be adding seasoned tomatoes to the mix. It’s fast and easy. I like Hunts diced tomatoes with Rosemary and Oregano!

Oh, that crispy bacon! Eat a piece or two because – well, it’s bacon. Then have at least one piece per serving to crumble over the stew. The bacon adds a wonderful crunch and bacon-y goodness.

Pop open that red blend, lock the doors, and watch your favorite guilty pleasure on the television!