Archive for the ‘Sonoma County’ Category
Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Region: Sonoma County – California – USA
Cost: $20 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Straw, yellow-green in color with aromas of crisp coconut, pear, and citrus. Richly expressive with great mouth-feel, good acidity, and a touch of butter. Pairs well with Lobster ala creme, seafood lasagna, braised chicken, gnocchi with brown butter, Fontina cheese.
My Review: It was a helluva weekend around my house, and while I won’t go into details, suffice it to say that Saturday called for some wine. So when my wife and I decided that our dinner would be a mix of some cheese, crackers, and somosas, a crisp white wine sounded like a great idea. Fortunately we happened to have one chilled in the fridge.
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon (81.7% Cabernet Sauvignon; 7% Merlot; 6% Petite Sirah; 2.8% Malbec; 2.5% Petit Verdot)
Region: California – Sonoma – USA
Cost: $15
Garnet in color with aromas of black cherry, black olive, mocha and vanilla. Medium bodied showing flavors of mocha, raspberry, mint, plum, and tobacco. Pairs well with grilled meats.
Recommendations: So on Friday night my wife went out with some of her friends which meant I stopped at the store on my way home for a steak and bottle of wine. Sometimes a guy has to treat himself. My steak on the grill (after a comedy of errors involving having to run BACK out to the store to get my propane tank refilled), I opened up the wine to try a small sip. It really made me want my steak to cook faster.
While I didn’t really get the olive aromas that Sebastiani claimed (I’m not really a fan of olives, so maybe I just blocked them out), I did get the black cherry both on the nose and a bit on the palate. Flavors of mocha and tobacco were a great pairing for my steak once it came off the grill, and the tannins on the finish weren’t terribly big and bold, but they were enough to balance the grilled meat, and that’s really what I was looking for. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California – Sonoma County – USA
Cost: $21
Lighter red in color with aromas of cherry and flavors of rose petal, pomegranate, and cherry. Time in French Oak barrels adds a hint of toasted spice on the finish. Pairs well with lamb, pork, chicken, steak, mild cheese…pretty much anything.
Recommendations: Ah Pinot Noir…my one true love (of wine – I love my wife very much). I’m always in the market for a good Pinot, and back in July, during a tasting at my local wine shop, I had the opportunity to try, and then buy, this Rodney Strong pinot noir. To be honest, I had almost forgotten it was on my wine rack until the other day when grilling some pork chops and I kicked myself for forgetting about it.
Nice and light in the glass, aromas and flavors of cherry were the most noticeable to me, with just a hint spice on the end. When paired with the grilled pork chops, the wine held up well, adding Read the rest of this entry »
