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Bouké White (Long Island)

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 | Long Island, New York, White Wine, Wines Under $20 | 2 Comments

I’m not a huge fan of Long Island wines, and I’ll spare you my usual explanation of why. Suffice it to say, generally I think they taste weird and cost too much. That doesn’t mean I don’t try them, though. Last fall I received a sample bottle of Bouké 2007 White Table Wine ($18). (Don’t forget that sassy accent mark over the “e”). Since I was newly pregnant and not drinking, I stuck it in my wine fridge, waiting for early summer.

A couple of weeks ago I made some jerk-spiced chicken and grilled some garlic-scape-infused summer squash with it. (How’s that for fancy sounding?) I thought that this wine, a blend of 40% Chardonnay, 32% Pinot Gris, 18% Sauvignon Blanc, and 10% Gewurztraminer, would pair well. While our dinner cooked outside, Drew uncorked the bottle and poured us each a glass. The nose was citrusy with a bit of tropical fruit there, too. Quite promising. I took a sip and gave myself a moment to think about the flavors and it hit me: this wine tasted like lemon-scented Mr. Clean. That sounds a lot worse than it was. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but Drew agreed that there was a vague cleanser taste to the wine and it was a little odd. Not a great start.

Luckily, with a little time and the glass and with the food, the wine was quite enjoyable. The flavor evolved to a nice cleanser-less citrus taste, combined with a little Granny Smith apple and bright acidity. The flavors mellowed even more the next day and it held up well. So all in all, I thought this was a fairly decent wine, though not one I’m sure I’d pay $18 for. Personally, there are other similar whites that I like better. If you’re looking specifically for a Long Island wine, though, this one would not be a bad pick.

Brotherhood Winery Blanc de Blanc

Monday, July 6th, 2009 | Chardonnay, Food & Wine Pairing, Hudson Valley, New York, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wines Under $20 | 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I love all things bubbly… seltzer, tonic, soda, and of course sparkling wine. Last summer at Bounty of the Hudson we purchased two bottles of this Blanc de Blanc from Brotherhood Winery, located right here in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Blanc de Blanc sparkling wines are made from 100% Chardonnay grapes. The grapes in this bottle are all from the Hudson Valley. We thought it was a great accompaniment to our steamed lobster tails. It’s dry and crisp, but certainly not bone dry. I have to admit that I was wracking my brain for the best way to describe this wine for you. Obviously I’m out of practice and, truthfully, while reading wine blogs as a non-drinker during the last several months, I became painfully aware of how snooty some of the descriptions sound. I suppose there’s really no way around that, but I really will try not to sound too obnoxious.

The nose had a hint of white fruit on it. Drew first mentioned peaches, but then decided it was more like apricots. The wine itself had a vague citrus taste to it, making me think of grapefruit pith (but in a good way. It was very easy drinking and a good choice for a warm summer evening on the deck. (At least we thought so!)

At $10.99, it’s a very affordable option when you want to drink something like champagne, but don’t want to shell out the bucks for the French stuff.

What The Pregnant Lady Will Be Drinking

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 | California, Chardonnay, Cocktails, Germany, Holidays, Non-Alcoholic, Riesling, Wines Under $20 | 1 Comment

The holidays can be difficult for someone like me who loves wine or a cocktail and wants to celebrate along with everyone else, but happens to be in a situation where she can’t drink. But being pregnant or having a health issue that prohibits you from drinking doesn’t mean you can’t raise a glass of cheer — you just have to pick something non-alcoholic.

A couple weeks ago, we were at The Christmas Tree Shops and I saw a bottle of non-alcoholic Chardonnay (which I have since lovingly nicknamed “Chardon-not”). I joked to Drew that I’d be drinking the St. Regis Alcohol-Removed Reserve on Thanksgiving. At a mere $3.99 a bottle he suggested I give it a try. So we left the store with two bottles — one to try that evening and one for Turkey Day, provided it wasn’t terrible.

St. Regis is produced by Inglenook. It is made in California and has an APV of less than 0.5%. To my surprise, it was actually decent! There were floral notes on the nose, as well as hints of apricot and apple. Upon tasting I detected mostly apple flavors as well as a bit of grape (which didn’t surprise me). Overall it reminded me of flat champagne. Drew thought it reminded him of some of the Australian whites he had tasted. Now, obviously you can’t compare a bottle of alcohol-free wine to a bottle of regular wine. To try it with the same expectations is ridiculous, honestly. If I weren’t pregnant I wouldn’t be drinking this, but for the price it ain’t bad and I will happily chill a bottle for myself for tomorrow. I’ve had worse “real” Chardonnay, and I find this to be an acceptable substitute.

Another problem I’ve had to solve is the pre-dinner cocktail. In our family, we always like to enjoy a drink while we nibble on cheese, crackers, and sausage. Under normal circumstances, my go-to drink is a gin and tonic. Luckily, this one is easy to solve. I simply mix together tonic water, a twist of lime, and some sweetened lime juice. I used to prefer Rose’s lime juice, but recently I discovered Master of Mixes lime juice. I find it to be less sweet. (As a bonus, if you’re plagued by leg cramps later in your pregnancy, this make a mighty fine remedy as the tonic water contains quinine, which helps alleviate the cramping.)

My other favorite cocktail is a whiskey sour. By chance, last night I discovered a drink that comes pretty darn close. I simply mixed Cuervo margarita mix with ginger ale (I think I did I one-to-one ratio). Again, it has no alcohol in it so it’s not as potent, but hey — when you only have so much to work with, you make the best of it. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry or two and enjoy.

Tomorrow we’ll be bringing a bottle of BEX Riesling to have with Thanksgiving dinner, so I am planning on tasting and spitting and seeing if it tastes any different to me now than it did when I tasted it a few months back.

To all my American readers, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Please remember to enjoy responsibly.

Fat Bastard Wines Wear Pink Ribbon For 6th Year

Thursday, August 28th, 2008 | France, Wine News, Wines Under $20 | No Comments

For the sixth consecutive year, Fat Bastard wines will be donating a portion of its sales during the months of September and October to help in the fight against this disease. During these two months Click Wine Group will donate 25 cents from every bottle sold in retail stores and restaurants up to a total of $75,000. Over the past five years, the company has donated nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the cause.

In the past, money donated by Click Wine Group has helped pay for 25 months of rent, utilities and nutritious food for breast cancer patients in Southern California. It has also allowed the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to participate in one of the largest breast cancer prevention trials ever conducted.

During September and October, Fat Bastard wines will have special “Live Large, Spread Hope” neckers around the bottle with an attached enamel pink ribbon pin for consumers to wear in show of their support. The wine retails for around $10.99 and are widely distributed.

2006 Domaine Brusset Côtes du Ventoux Les Boudalles

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 | Food & Wine Pairing, France, Red Wine, Rhone, Wines Under $20 | 1 Comment

One night last month I was trying to figure out how to use up some of the delicious vegetables we’d received from our farm share. I thought I’d try making a vegetable tart with zucchini, squash, tomato, and gorgonzola. To make things easy on myself, I simply used a refrigerated pie crust as the base. I couldn’t decide what wine to drink with it. Drew suggested the 2006 Domaine Brusset Les Boudalles ($10). He thought the Rhone blend would go well with our light dinner.

The 2006 Domaine Brusset Les Boudalles is 60% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre 15% Carignan, and 10% Clairette. Its APV is 13%. On the nose we found dried cherry, a hint of cheese, and a good bit of earthy scents like leaves and twigs. The wine was quite thin and watery — it almost seemed diluted (but not in a bad way). When we tasted it, the earthy flavors dominated, but were countered by tart cherry. The finish was quick and dry, but pleasant.

For the price, we agreed that it was a nice wine. It went really well with the vegetable tart. The earthiness balanced out the creamy gorgonzola cheese and made for a perfect summer dinner.

Here is the recipe for the tart. It’s a great way to make use of your garden’s bounty.

Summer Squash & Tomato Tart with Gorgonzola
(inspired by a recipe from Woman’s Day magazine)

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb mixed summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash, etc, cut into 1/4-inch rounds)
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 tso, chopped garlic
fresh ground black pepper
1 refrigerated pie crust
4 oz. gorgonzola cheese
1 large tomato, sliced and seeded
1 large egg, beaten
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add squash and onions and sautee for 7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from heat, stir in thyme, garlic and pepper to taste, cool to room temperature. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (a silicon sheet works great, too). Unfold pie crust on the parchment and roll out to approximately 13 inches. Crumble half the cheese over crust to within 2 inches of edge. Arrange squash mixture and tomato slices on cheese; fold edge of the crust over filling and brush crust with egg. Bake 35-40 minutes or until pastry is golden. Slide onto a wire rack to cool. Crumble remaining cheese over top. Cool to room temperature before eating.

WBW #48: Back to Your Roots

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 | Bordeaux, France, Wine Blogging Wednesday, Wines Under $20 | 2 Comments

Four years ago Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS had a neat idea called Wine Blogging Wednesday. It was essentially a virtual wine-tasting event. These days most wine bloggers are familiar with it, but 48 months ago it was just starting out - a tiny grape on the vine, if you will. It is only fitting that Lenn hosts this special anniversary edition: Back to Your Roots.

We’re all wine lovers, but we have gotten where we are today in a variety of ways on a variety of paths. These long, windy paths are littered with wines the world over. I just want you to pick one of the wines from the beginning of your journey, taste it again for the first time in a while, and tell us about it.

I turned 21 during my senior year at UMass, a school well-known for its… erm… appreciation of potent potables. Even back then, however, I was eager to learn about wine and every couple of weeks treated myself to a bottle of something “nice” in between the jugs of Carlo Rossi Burgundy. One evening a couple friends and I stopped at a package store in Sunderland, MA near our apartment and I picked out a Bordeaux: 1994 Baron Philippe de Rothschild Mouton Cadet. A friend of mine who had graduated from the Culinary Institute of America had at one point talked to me about Rothschild wines and I’m sure that’s why I bought it — the name stuck out.

Back then I would soak wine bottles in a sink full of cold water (after the wine had been consumed, of course), and then carefully peel off the label. After it dried, I’d make notes on the back: the date, who I was with, food, and any other pertinent information. Who knew it would come in handy someday? I drank this particular bottle (in its entirety, yes), on March 1, 1997 while feasting on Pasta Roni (I believe it was the white cheddar and broccoli flavored version), round about 2 AM. I’d been out with some friends and while one promptly fell asleep upon our return home, the rest of us stayed up laughing, talking, and of course enjoying some wine and beer.

I suppose that’s part of the reason I chose this particular wine for WBW. Wine is as much about the company and the experience as it is the wine itself. You can have a crappy bottle of wine and still have a good night out with friends. However, even the right bottle of wine can’t always reconcile an evening with people you can’t stand. That’s not to say I didn’t like the wine because I do remember enjoying it very much, and it set me on my way to explore the region of Bordeaux, which is one of my favorite wine regions today.

It had been ages since I had last tasted this wine. I wasn’t even sure what to expect. While out and about on Saturday, I swung by Liquorama in Hyde Park, NY hoping they’d have my sought-after Mouton Cadet. And they did. Since it was pretty much impossible to recreate the exact circumstances under which I’d originally had this wine (Stay up until 2 AM? Yeah, right!), I set about instead to focus on the taste. The 2005 vintage is a blend of 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Cabernet Franc. It is 13% APV. The wine was predominantly woody all around from the nose to the flavors. I also detected some cherry. It’s a dry, earthy, “Old World” style Bordeaux. While I didn’t find it to be anything really special, for $8.99 it is certainly decent. Perhaps decanting it would have brought out more of its nuances. Or perhaps I just needed to pair it with some Pasta Roni.

I’m not sure I’ll be picking up another bottle anytime soon as there are other inexpensive Bordeaux wines that I prefer, but in a pinch I’d grab it. I think that back then I did OK when choosing it, considering all I knew about wine was what I liked!

I can’t wait to see what everyone else chose (and learn about what we all were drinking in our salad days). I’ll be sure to post a link to Lenn’s round-up once he’s completed it.

Wine Questions Answered, Part 3

Saturday, July 26th, 2008 | Wines Under $20 | 3 Comments

My poor friend Paula has been so patient as I finally get to answering her questions. Here they are!

What are your recommendations for good wines under $10? We typically go for Yellowtail’s line and especially like their chardonnay - how does that rate in the wine world?

First let me say that you can’t always let popular (or unpopular for that matter) dictate what you buy. Yellow Tail is often the butt of jokes in wine circles because it’s mass-market wine, it is inexpensive, and honestly — a lot of people are really snobby and have high expectations. While it is true that as you learn more about wine, stuff like Yellow Tail will become less interesting to you, if you like it - drink it! Personally, I don’t have a big problem with Yellow Tail. It’s not my “go to” wine, even in the budget price range, but I have certainly tasted worse (and often they cost more money). My favorite wine in the under $10 category (and go ahead fellow wine bloggers — laugh all you want) is Crane Lake. I have only tasted their Cabernet Sauvignon and their Chardonnay, but I find it to be a great value brand. Perhaps the wine is not particularly nuanced, but for an everyday red or white it fits the bill. (In fact, we have a case of the Cab in our basement.) Columbia Crest is great for around the $10 range (it might be more like $12 in some places — as you know, New York and Connecticut prices tend to skew higher). And I think that Stimson Chardonnay is respectable as well. When we had the store, it was probably our most popular wine in magnum-sized bottles. And don’t be afraid to ask someone at the wine shop for a recommendation. I was always happy to show people that there is good wine out there for every price range!

Can you explain basic wine terms, like “nose”, “bouquet”, etc. and why they are important?
Every industry has its own jargon and the wine world is no different. Instead of listing all the important wine terms, I’m just going to point you to an online glossary of terms. They’re important because some of the terms relate to specific aspects of wine tasting. But you don’t need to know them to enjoy the experience.

I think I recall a rumor that you are not to wash wine glasses with soap, just hot water - is there any truth to that?
I’ve heard that too and I’m sure there are people who don’t use soap, but as someone who is slightly germophobic, I do. I don’t do anything special. I use my regular dishwashing soap, but I do make sure they are rinsed well. Soap can leave a residue which may alter the way a wine tastes (thus the advise to avoid it). I’ve also heard that you should always let your glasses drip dry because laundry soap residue from a towel could transfer to the glass. When I am tasting a wine and taking notes, I do take care to make sure my glasses are free from potential residue, but I don’t worry about it for day-to-day drinking.

2005 Twisted Oak Verdelho

Monday, June 23rd, 2008 | California, Lodi, Verdelho, White Wine, Wines Under $20 | 2 Comments

Back in December I bought Drew a couple bottles of wine as last-minute Christmas gifts. I was really eager to try a couple of the offerings from Twisted Oak, as well as give WineQ a try. One of the bottles I chose was the 2005 Twisted Oak Verdelho ($15.99) and this weekend we finally got around to opening it. The APV is 13.1% and it was aged in stainless steel for two months. Twisted Oak produced 800 cases of this wine.

When my order arrived, I noticed some chunky white sediment floating around. Now, as someone who drinks plenty of wine I figured that this was nothing of importance, but I have to admit it was a little unsightly and you wouldn’t want to get a mouthful of it. (It’s happened to me before with other wines and though the flavor certainly isn’t affected, it’s just not pleasant to feel the crystals in your mouth). I decided to e-mail the fine folks at WineQ just to be sure. They forwarded my question to Jeff Stai, owner of the winery. His official response made perfect sense, and was pretty much what I figured:

It’s actually not sediment, it is sodium tartrate crystals. If the wine gets cold tartaric acid will start to fall out of solution, forming these crystals. This could have happened through shipping or storage. These are the same crystals you will sometimes find on the bottom of a cork.

Since these crystals are made of stuff you would be drinking they are totally harmless. Just let the shoulder on the bottle catch them while you are pouring.

That was good enough for us, and I have to say that I really appreciated the quick response not only from Marshall Sontag at WineQ, but from Jeff Stai as well. There’s nothing better than good customer service.

To save ourselves a little aggravation and to keep the tartrate crystals from floating around too much, we opted to decant the wine, which worked out perfectly. The wine was a very pretty shade of light yellow and the nose was unbelievable. It smelled of honeydew melon, apricot, and unscented candlewax all wrapped around flinty slate. There was something that evoked honeysuckle, too. I kept sticking my nose in the glass over and over again to breathe it in.

The wine itself had a nice acidity to it and was very balanced. Again we picked up a bit of a rocky flavor along with citrus and kiwi. Drew noted that the wine gave him the sense of chewing on a piece of kiwi skin –the skin strips out the sweetness, but you still taste the fruit. I think that people who enjoy Sauvignon Blanc would certainly enjoy this wine.

We didn’t drink this with a meal, but did have a few snacks along with it. Walnuts seemed to tone down the acidity and paired really well. The cocktail sauce we had with our shrimp, however, was too spicy for this wine and stripped down all the fruit. If we have this again, I’d probably serve it with soft, mild cheeses, fruit, and bread or crackers. It’s delicious on its own.

The 2005 Twisted Oak Verdelho has won several awards including Four Star Gold Award, White Varietals, Orange County Fair; Best of Show, White Varietals, Orange County Fair; and Best of Class, Lodi, California State Fair. The 2005 vintage is still available at WineQ and probably some other fine wine sellers, though  the 2006 is available now as well.

Rancho Zabaco Sonoma Heritage Vines Zinfandel 2005

Monday, May 12th, 2008 | California, Sonoma, Wines Under $20, Zinfandel | No Comments

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, so the wine for dinner was my pick last night. A few weeks ago, Drew had purchased a bottle of Rancho Zabaco Sonoma Heritage Vines Zinfandel 2005 at Arlington Wine & Liquor in Poughkeepsie. I was in the mood for a Zin, but didn’t really want to open up one of our pricier bottles, so I thought it would be fun to try this wine.

The wine was a dark garnet color and had cherry and plum aromas with the scents of cedar and spice wrapping itself around the fruit. It smelled exactly like you’d expect a Zinfandel should. Upon my first taste I yelled out, “Chocolate covered cherries!” Drew thought I was grasping a little bit, but that really is the first thing that came to mind. The wine has a lot of sweet cherry flavor with a bit of chocolate on the finish. However, after another taste where I lingered a bit longer, there seemed to be a chemical taste. It’s wasn’t unpleasant, but it made me think of artificial sweetener (perhaps those were sugar-free chocolate covered cherries?) or some kind of household cleanser like Windex. The tannins were well-balanced, and considering the APV of 15%, the alcohol seemed well-integrated. It was kind of your standard, jammy Zin. For $14.99, it is a pretty decent value. However, I think I would rather pay the extra $2 or $3 more for the Dry Creek Zinfandel which has a little more pepper and seems a little more refined to me. Nevertheless, we did enjoy it.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #44: French Cabernet Franc

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 | Cabernet Franc, France, Loire Valley, Red Wine, Wine Blogging Wednesday, Wines Under $20 | 5 Comments

The topic for this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday was picked by Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV. The topic he chose for WBW #44 is French Cabernet Franc.

Cabernet Franc grapes are grown mainly in the Bordeaux region, where they are blended into the wines. However, the only terroirs that produce pure Cab Franc wines are in the Loire Valley: Bourgueil, Chinon, and Saumur-Champigny. At least in the United States, the Loire Valley might be better known for its Vouvray, and perhaps that’s because the reds might be difficult for some palates to love. Unlike the fruitier Cabernet Franc wines from the West Coast, French Cab Franc tends to be a little more… how shall I say it? “Rustic” perhaps? And I mean that in a good way. It is refreshing to get away from super-fruity wines and enjoy something that challenges your taste-buds a little bit.

I sent Drew on a mission to seek out a Loire Valley Cabernet Franc and he had little difficulty finding one. He purchased a bottle of 2002 Olga Raffault Chinon “Les Picasses” ($18.99) at Arlington Wines & Liquor in Poughkeepsie, NY. Winemaking in  Olga Raffault’s vineyard in Savigny-en-Véron has been a family tradition for over 60 years. Olga passed the vineyard onto her son Jean, and it is currently maintained by Olga’s granddaughter Sylvie and her husband Eric de la Vigerie, who is also the winemaker. Of the 25 hectares of vineyard, 24 hectares are planted with Cabernet Franc. The other hectare is planted with Chenin Blanc.(Trivia: These two grapes are credited as being “parents” to Cabernet Sauvginon.)Here is a bit of information on Les Picasses that I found at The Wine Doctor:

Lastly comes Les Picasses, undoubtedly the most classic and ageworthy wine from the domaine, and some would say also one of the finest examples of the whole appellation. Naturally it comes from a limestone terroir, a lieu-dit where the vines have reached a respectable fifty years of age. The fruit is hand-harvested and the final yield is typically in the order of 30 hl/ha and after fermentation, which is again carried out in stainless steel controlled to less than 30°C, followed by a maceration of 25-30 days, the wine that results goes into large foudres where it will rest for between 12 and 14 months before bottling.

We were very excited to taste this wine. In the glass it is a dark, deep red, and brown-tinged around the edges. It was rather watery, which is characteristic of the wine. The complex nose might have been the most interesting part of the wine for me — it was unlike most wines I drink. There was something metallic (almost bloody) about it. I also was reminded of pine mulch. Imagine standing in the woods in very late fall, or even now in early spring and scooping up a handful of dried pine needles off the ground. After a while I got a hint of marigold, too. Again — a very earthy scent. There was a tiny bit of alcohol on the nose as well, which surprised us as the wine is only 12.5% alcohol.

This is a light-to-medium bodied wine. The metallic scent carried through to the palate and we immediately thought of iron when we tasted this wine. I think Drew put it best when he said that the wine “tastes like a good butcher shop smells.” I know that doesn’t exactly sound delicious, but trust me — it was. After some time we detected sour cherry and unripe raspberry flavors as well. The tannins were present, but certainly not overwhelming, and there was a suggestion of ash on the finish. I found it to be a delicate wine, but Drew argued that “delicate” implies “dainty” which the wine surely is not. Perhaps “elegant” or even “graceful” would be a better a description?

I originally intended to serve the Chinon with roasted pork tenderloin (which would have been great with the wine, I think). However, we’d gone out to lunch on Sunday and were much too full for another big meal. Instead we opted for a snack tray that included Herbes de Provence salami, garlic and red pepper olives, goat cheese rolled in parsley and lemon zest (full credit to Jenn at Last Night’s Dinner for this idea), grapes, honeydew melon, and French bread with butter. I was surprised to find that I thought the wine paired best with the goat cheese bites. The lemon zest brought so much flavor out of the wine and I didn’t expect that. While I think this wine is drinking well right now, I think it will hold up quite well over the next several years. I might pick up another bottle, myself.

Thanks to Gary for hosting. Rumor has it that this might be the WBW with the highest participation level to date, which is exciting. I’m eager to read everyone’s posts. Wine Blogging Wednesday is the brainchild of Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS.

Loire Valley Map Image from Brittany Ferries