Archive for October, 2009
Varietal: Table Wine (Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay)
Region: California – Napa – USA
Cost: $22
Dark pink coloring with a bit of cranberry and floral on the nose. Fresh ripe fruit and strawberry on the palate. Pair with spicy food, BBQ, dishes that could pair with either a red or white.
Recommendations: Anybody that knows me knows that I have an aversion to pink wines. Because of this, my wife was very surprised when on our recent vacation to California I actually very much enjoyed the Peju Provence. A very dark pink wine that should be served chilled, the blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay works to create a refreshing wine that is more tart than anything, even with 1.4% residual sugar.
Paired with a meal of Potato Lasagna (which is delicious and everybody should ask me for the recipe. Go ahead and ask), it was a perfect compliment to the mix of red potatoes, spicy sausage, spinach, and mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, and was enjoyable well before and after the meal was completed.
Whether you order it online, visit them in person, or find it in a store, I can honestly recommend picking up a bottle of this table wine. While I can’t promise that this will be the only time I recommend a pink wine, it’s a safe bet that it won’t happen any time again soon, so mark this date down.
Check out Peju at: http://www.peju.com .
While my wife and I are back from our vacation to San Francisco, I’m just now getting around to writing about our trip, mostly because we were having so much fun I didn’t have time to sit down and write. Fortunately, I take good notes.
While we spent the first three days in the city, on Tuesday we finally ventured out to wine country, starting off with Napa. The drive out there was beautiful, much like the weather we had the entire time we were on the West Coast (much to the chagrin of all of our friends back home on the East Coast).
Our first start was Trefethen Family Vineyards where we tried four different wines. Their 2007 Chardonnay was nice and light and very refreshing, with flavors of apple pie and a nice crisp finish. After that we tried their 2006 Cabernet Franc, which I found to be much smoother than the Cabernet Franc that we have in Virginia, with silky tannins following hints of white pepper and chocolate covered cherries.
Our third taste was their 2006 Double T Red Wine, a Bordeaux blend made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. This wine had a great body and my wife and I actually bought a bottle to bring back to Virginia with us. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Chianti/Sangiovese
Region: Italy
Cost: $29
Ruby red in color with aromas of red berries. Smooth on the palate with a medium body, and great tannins on the end. Flavors of cherry and a bit of spice.
Recommendations: My wife, parents, and some extended family went to lunch in San Francisco at Tony’s Pizzeria Napoletana, and it soon fell to me to select wine for our meal. Wanting something a bit more dry to pair with the brick oven pizza, I quickly moved to the Sangiovese section of the wine menu.
I was a bit hesitant about selecting a wine from a TV show, but given that it’s an estate wine from Tuscany, I was hopeful that it would deliver. It did.
At $29 in the restaurant (about $15 in stores), it’s a great value for a chianti, especially one that will pair so well with pasta or pizza. Nice ruby coloring with aromas of red berries and flavors of cherry and spice with a great tannic finish make this a great wine to keep on hand.
If you’ve seen this and have been hesitant about picking it up because of the Iron Chef affiliation, go ahead and grab it. It’s worth it.
My wife and I fly out to San Francisco later today, so needless to say, there will be visits to Napa and Sonoma. I’ll try my best to keep up with this site as I’m on vacation, especially after we go and visit some wineries. If there’s anybody out there in SF that’s interested in meeting up, please feel free to leave me a comment or tweet me @thegoodwineguru .
Check back for lots of pictures, video, and wine reviews.
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California – USA
Cost: $10
Deep garnet coloring with a slight floral aroma. Smooth on the palate with flavors of ripe fruit. Pair with pasta, steak, or well seasoned salmon.
Recommondations: I picked this up because it’s from California and my wife and I are going to California on vacation in just a few days. I’ve had Smoking Loon wines before, but had yet to try their Pinot Noir. The color on it was very nice – not too dark, but certainly not light. The aromas were mostly alcohol, but I did get a bit of a floral scent coming through. The flavors were smooth, with fruit flavors being the most prominent, though certainly not overwhelming in the way that some California reds can be, and lead into alcohol finish. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Zinfandel
Region: California – USA
Cost: $10
Deep purple in color with an abundance of fruit on the nose. Subtle flavors with plum being the most prominent and a hint of pepper and alcohol on the finish. Pairs with BBQ, pizza, and pasta.
Recommendations: I had seen Gnarly Head on various store shelve and never picked it up, but my wife and I decided on this as we thought a Zinfandel sounded good, and the price was too good to pass on. Aromas of fresh fruit were prevalent on the nose, but not on the palate, where the flavors were subtle, with hints of plum.
A pepper finish had just a slight bit of alcohol, a very small bite considering the wine is 14.5% by volume. Paired with a pizza, this was a perfect wine. If you’re looking for something with a bit more pepper you might want to pass on this, but for a nice middle of the road Zinfandel to pair with a simple dinner, you really can’t miss with the Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel – especially for the price.
Find Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel Here
