Foodie Confidential

Tonight we paired Peter Michael 2008 La Carriere Chardonnay with our Chicken Avocado Mango Salad.  (see food blog).  Peter Michael is a mailing list wine in Sonoma California and their wines are spectacular.  Peter Michael hand picks the grapes, de-stems by hand and crushes the grapes gently to avoid introducing too much tannin.  The color was somewhat standard and fairly light - nothing like the Kistler I described a few notes ago.  The nose was interesting and both Oz and I thought we could detect freshly laundered linen.  A strange but comforting smell that I have never called before.  The taste was a buttery, oaky vanilla that was smooth and essentially like a really good, but "regular" chardonnay.  A definite minerality quality like wet stone.  Perfectly balanced.  Definitely an excellent chardonnay, but head to head against the Kistler, the Kistler wins this bout.  Other bouts would have gone in Peter Michael's favor, but not this one.  A nice bottle of wine but really did not offer any surprises and so it lacked some excitement.  The pairing with the food was okay and brought out some of the pumpkin seed flavor but on the whole it was an average pairing.  Both Oz and I would would give this 92 points although I believe so other sources rated it higher (94-96pt range).

1/17/2011

As posted previously I am reading the book "Secrets of the Sommeliers" and finding it quite interesting.  I don't intend to do a book report but I will give you some general info so you can decide if you want to read it.  The authors do a great job of taking you through some history of Sommeliers and naming some American icons: Larry Stone, Kevin Zraly, Daniel Johnnes and Fred Dame.  They then go onto talk about wine tasting in general terms.  I like the way they do this because to me the take away is that you have to develop your own opinions and the confidence to stand behind them.  Its more as if they are coaching you than dictating how to do it.  They provide an excellent description of some of the mainstream varietals and examples of "iconic", "classic" and "value" examples.  They give some general guidelines and tips that make for very interesting reading and little tidbits to keep in your back pocket for your next bottle.  The next chapter is "Buying and Storing Wine".  I will keep you posted....

1/16/2011

For our lunch today we had clams, turbot flounder and asparagus.  The only reasonable white we had available (meaning not a white that we would not want to use for cooking) was Eroica Reisling which was already chilled in the fridge.  Typically we would think about Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc to pair with this dish but we took what we had and thought of it as an adventure.  The reisling is one which we have had before and knew that it was good, but we knew it was an unusual pairing.  We cooked the meal as noted in the food blog and enjoyed the wine as we ate.  Essentially this was a perfectly balanced reisling that was not too sweet.  I will run through the different types of reisling and their sweetness on another blog but for today I will just say that although strange, it worked.  A lot of citrus was used in the clams and later on the fish so the balanced, sweet resiling was an interesting contrast.  It really defines the meaning of "balance" when speaking of wine anyway - doesn't it?  Acid and sweet.  So there you have it.

1/14/2011

We chose this wine to pair with chicken in tarragon sauce.  The pairing was interesting in that the taste was the same with or without the food.  Usually wines change with the food which we always enjoy - interesting  and kind of like getting two wines in one, but this one did not deliver in that regard.  Don't get me wrong - it likely was the food, not the wine.  Some people might choose to call that the perfect pairing although I would not.  I love a wine where it tastes even better with the food (and vice versa).  This wine was light in color reflecting its young age.  It was not buttery.  This is a mailing list wine but one in which we were offered immediately.  So if you are just getting into mailing list wines you might give them a try.  Although the wines are good they are not at the top of our list.  However, the prices are reasonable and its a good wine to have for spontaneous occasions like tonight.  On the nose, I had the odd perception of chlorine, like I was about to dive into a swimming pool.  It was otherwise pretty citrus with some fresh granny smith apple notes.  Not too much oak here.  On the whole a good wine with perhaps a bit unbalanced on the acid side.  I would give this 89 points.  I enjoyed it but nothing spectacular.  I would give them a try however and they make excellent syrah.  They are starting to get a lot of press including Saveur, Food and Wine, and the NY Times.  You can check out the "Press" section or sign up for their mailing list from their webpage: http://www.arnotroberts.com/index.html.

1/7/2011

Tonight we opened a Pinot Noir by Black Kite to eat with our Mahi (see Food Blog).  The meal was light (fish on arugula) and so we thought about a white wine.  After tossing around numerous options we decided on a red.  This was partially because we felt as if we had had our fill of white wines recently.  We are usually partial to reds and so sometimes we choose one even when inappropriate!  We do what we want.  However, if you have been reading the blog the past couple of pairings were misses.  We consider the wine as an intergral part of the meal - not an afterthought.  So, we do attempt, even if choosing something unconventional, to pair things that will work well together.  The Black Kite 2007 Pinot Noir from the Redwoods Edge vineyard in the Anderson Valley was perfect.  This is a typical light colored Pinot Noir with the typical candy apple nose.  Oozing sweet red fruit.  On the palate the wine was not too sweet and was well balanced.  This was one of those wines where every sip held our interest.  It was a combination of "wow - that's really good" and trying to name the various tastes included on the palate.  Although I could name this red fruit and that red fruit, lets just call it light, red fruit.  Not as candy apple as the nose would make you think - thankfully it was not that sweet.  I would give this wine 93 points.  We really enjoyed it.

Black Kite is a small winery located in northern California.  They produce less that 900 cases/year.  The Redwoods Edge vineyard is their highest elevation vineyard and the climate there is cool.  They sell mostly to mailing list clients but they do sell to some restaurants and wine shops in California, NY and NJ.  You can read more about them from their website here: http://www.blackkitecellars.com/.  This is one of our favorite Pinot Noirs and if you are a person who likes to have something delicious and unique, I would consider signing up for their mailing list.  Relative to other mailing list wines these are very reasonably priced.  You can read about the Anderson Valley here on the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association page: http://www.avwines.com/index.php.