California Dreamin’

All the leaves were brown,
And the sky was gray
We were drinking red wine,
From Califor-ni-ay
Napa and Sonoma,
And cab from Paso Robles,
California red wines,
I could drink them all day!

Yes, new world west coast wine lovers, the California wine tasting is now in the book, and a well written one at that.
The ensemble of guests were eager to try a new way of drinking that is fun, and since beer pong days are far behind all of them, a not-so-formal yet structured wine tasting seemed like the answer.  Based on the apparent thirst to learn which lead into the interactive wine experience, seems like we hit it right.

This is the newly minted panel of Cali wine experts (with mascot).

We started with a light, bright semi dry Chenin Blanc by Dry Creek.  The idea here was to pre-game on something that would be gentle on the palette and not overload the senses – Chenin Blanc fits the bill, an easy white that no one cannot like.
Part two of the white experience was to try something in contrast, therefore I selected an oaky, creamy Chardonnay that typifies this style from California, hence the David Bruce.  This was a brief taste just to present the differences between two great varietals.  All this while being treated to a wide array of specialty cheeses selected by our hostess with the mostess, FC, who was cutting the cheese for us all night.

Then we got down to the business of the day – the reds – let the games begin!
5 red wines plus an encore wine, all from California, each brought by a guest, put in brown bag and randomly numbered,  competing against each other for the top honors of the best wine.  With so much on the line, the tension was mounting.  below are the scores and how each wine ranked in ascending order:

5th place – Hansom Cabernet ’07, Napa Valley – This was a throw in at the last minute just to have something typical from Napa and to diversify the varietals.  A pleasant wine that is very good value at about $18.  61 pts.

4th place – Bargetto Lodi Zinfandel ’09 – This was the most enigmatic wine of the evening.  If it was based on nose, it would have come in 10th out of 5, but fortunately the palette was much different.  First impression of this wine on the nose was “fish”, or more generously described as sushi.  Quite unique.  The taste in the mouth, however, saved it and was rated as a respectable Cali Zin.  63 pts

3rd place – Preston of Dry Creek Zinfandel ’08 –  This is a good sampling of a quality Zinfandel from California.  It had all the expected spice, heat and boldness, but it fell slightly short of being a Wow, which is unfortunate because it is priced at $32.  Take it down about $7 and this would taste better.   67 pts.

2nd place – J. Lohr Cabernet ’09 – The Armstrongs hit it right on this, I’m a huge fan of J Lohr, IMHO their wines represent great bang for the buck and this was no exception.  Add that it came from the up and coming Paso Robles region and I’m even more impressed.  Great choice, great wine.   75 pts.

(Que up the drum roll please.)

The Zin for the win.

1st place – Green & Red Vineyard Zinfandel ’08 – the Scarpulla’s took home the grand prize with a little known Zin tucked up in the corner of Napa.  This wine was unanimously voted as the best across the panel, was great to see such consistency.  It presented the best characteristics of Zin, including ripe blackberry, licorice, spice, a little smoky flavor and lively tannins at the end.  The nose picked up a little pepper along with black currant.  Basically it was a total package and a great recommendation from Juan at Southdown Wines for about $21.  A whopping 84 pts.

Our encore wine was the BV Tapestry Reserve ’05 – which is Napa’s version of a Bordeaux blend.  This is an exquisite wine that combines Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot.  We loaded up this when it was available and selling for about $27.

And that’s how we wrapped it up.

Good wine, good food, good people … good night.

Already looking forward to the next one.

Call to the Bullpen

Sorry for the delay in posting this, but it took this long for my palette to calm down and get back to normal

It was Saturday morning and we were in the unique situation of having no plans for Saturday night. While Francine was probably balancing her first Lotus position in her yoga class, I received the call.  Ruthie (from previous postings here aka the Duchess), had a dinner party planned that night for 5 couples, but one of them had to bow out due to a family situation … would we be interested in taking their place.  Well the first word that came to mind was duhhh –  yeah, of course.  I mean how often do you get invited to one of the best cellars in the area.

But before committing to 100% ( I gave her 90%), I thought it prudent to check with management.  So I interrupted her yoga class, which under most circumstances is a hazardous move, but this was a special situation that needed immediate attention and I was confident she would agree, which she did, and confirmed we will be there.

So, what do you think are the key criteria required for a “great” dinner party?   Let me answer it for you – great food, great people, and great wine!  Throw in some great weather and that’s bonus.  Well, we had it all.  The roster of people included:  our hosts Ruth & Howie (aka the Duke & Duchess), Alan & Francois, Peggy & Ed, Fabio & Linda, Francine & myself.  This was one lively bunch of people who were filled to the brim with experience and stories, most of which were reflective and inclusive of their passion for wine and fine food, as tasted around the world.

Truffle hunting with Arnold in Central Park.

The stories flowed faster than the wine and included everything from travels to Brazil and avoiding the dangers, to truffle hunting trips in Europe at 4am.  BTW, an interesting side story told was that a well known NYC chef brought thousands of $ worth of truffles back here, buried the truffles in Central Park during the night for an event set up to demo how truffles are found by trained dogs (or pigs, depending on where you’re truffle hunting).  As it turned out, before the event started, the squirrels in the Park apparently knew delicacies when they smelled it, and they ignited a disastrous situation by digging up and eating  ALL the truffles before the event!

As I digress here, the evening was one interesting digression after another, chock full of informative worldly stories.

But let’s get to the heart of the evening that includes the other 2 main ingredients, the food & the wine.  This was not an ordinary dinner party.  We (they) actually hired a Chef that came to the house and prepared a multi-course dinner outlined below that was dee-lish.

Chef Mo with Lauren, the Duke & Duchess

Chef Mo and his Sous Chef, Lauren, prepared and presented and served the following:

Hors Dourves:

Moroccan Style Meatballs

Cracked snow crab claws

Chinese duck parcels in rice paper

Appetizer:

Coconut prawns,

Mango salad,

Honey miso aioli

Soup:

Cord Roasted Corn chowder with avocado mousse and red pepper coulis

Entrée:

Sesame soy glazed black cod with ginger scented jasmine rice and baby bok choy

Chateau Briand For the table to Share ( Family Style Course)

Dessert:

Angel Food cake with mixed berry compote

OMG!!!  So much delectable food.  Kudos to Chef Mo and Sous Chef Lauren.

Group shot - no one whined about these wines.

And then, never to disappoint, the Duke served his wine list.  It was his usual all-star line-up, in this order:

– Pierre Monceit Champagne – a starter

– Bourgogne Chardonnay ’06 – a follow up to the starter, or in my case it was the starter since I’m not a big Champagne drinker

– Paul Hobbs ’08 Pinot Noir – this was brought by Fabio, and it was sooo good, the Duke and I agreed it should have been served later.  Too good too soon.

– Capiaux .07 Pinot Noir – this was a great wine, but unfortunately it followed the Paul Hobbs.  It was like you could be a great R&R band, but if you perform after the Rolling Stones, good luck.

– Cote Rotie ’06 – a French Syrah, full bodied, jammy with hint of licorice, a great cross over to …

– Carraudes de Lafite Rothchild ’99 (Pauillac) – superb Bordeaux, see below.

– Les Forts De Latour ’99 (Pauillac) – another exquisite Bordeaux, which like the Carraudes above, is a “2nd label wine”.

Now here’s your hot wine tidbit of the week.  My understanding of second label wines is that they are a clever way to buy the Premier Crus of Bordeaux.  These wines, if you can find them, are legitimately from the Premier Chateaux, the only difference is they are from the younger parts of the vineyard, they are a bit lighter in style, and can mature more quickly.  And the biggest advantage is they are not as expensive as the first label Chateau.

A fun group who appreciate food, wine & life.

All in, this was another fabulous night with top grades for all the main criteria – interesting people, well matched high quality wines, and unique delicious food.  I tip my hat with gratitude to Howie & Ruth, and their guests for an unexpected great evening.

Cheers!