WineLife365

Archive for May, 2009

From: New Zealand

Price: $16.99

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I personally love Sauvignon Blanc wines – especially from New Zealand.  In my opinion, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is more lively and crisper than French and American Sauvignon Blancs.  So, now that you know my obvious bias towards the New Zealand way of doing things, what was the 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc like?

The 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is incredible!  It captures the strong citrus and acidic flavors that make you wonder what you’ve been missing from other white wines.  It grabs your taste buds and slaps them around silly and leaves them begging for more of this great, tasty white wine.  There’s a reason why this perennial favorite of mine shows up on just about every wine menu around the world, and why it shows up on the “best of” lists year after year.  It’s just that damn good!

I’m not sure if it’s the climate and soil conditions in Marlborough, New Zealand that make the difference or what.  Wikipedia says, “The climate in New Zealand is maritime, meaning that the sea moderates the weather, producing cooler summers and milder winters than would be expected at similar latitudes in Europe and North America.  Maritime climates tend also to demonstrate higher variability with cold snaps possible at any time of the year and warm periods even in the depth of winter.  The climate is typically wetter, but wine regions have developed in rain shadows and in the east, on the opposite coast from the prevailing moisture-laden wind.  The wine regions of New Zealand tend to experience cool nights even in the hottest of summers.  The effect of consistently cool nights is to produce fruit which is nearly always high in acidity”.

Whatever it is, the Sauvignon Blancs produced in the Marlborough region are just flat out awesome.  And the 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is a star that should be at the top of your list of wines to try from New Zealand.

I give it 4 Stars!  This wine is excellent year after year.  It would have easily made my “Dirty Dozen” list if it could be purchased for less $15.  Expect to pay about $20 a bottle for this gem of a wine. 

WineLife365 Rating: 4-Star

Here’s a question that I’ve been asked quite a bit:  Exactly how long will a wine stay fresh after opening it?

My answer- I don’t know.  No one can accurately answer that question because there are too many variables involved.   The only piece of valuable information that I can provide you with is that every wine begins to decline the minute that you open it.  Air is every wine’s worst enemy.  The more air that gets into it, the faster it will decline.  It’s best to immediately recork the wine if you’re not planning on drinking the entire bottle that day.

My rule of thumb is to drink both your white and red wines within 1-2 days after initially opening them.  It may not taste quite like the same wine on day 2, but it will probably still be pretty good.

Something else to consider is that grapes with high levels of acidity like Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Torrontes usually have the ability to hold it together a little bit longer than other types of grapes.  Additionally, sweet wines that are high in alcohol content like sherry and port are also strong survivors.

So if you have leftovers, here are a few things that you can do to prolong a wine’s life:

1.)    Recork and refrigerate all white wines.

2.)    Recork red wines as best you can, and I would recommend drinking it the very next day.  After that, consider it cooking wine.

3.)    If you’re really serious about trying to prolong the life of a wine, consider purchasing a  wine bottle vacuum pump or stoppers.  These wine gadgets claim to suck out air and prolong a wine’s life.  A commonly used pump and stopper gadget is The Vacu Vin Wine Saver .

Occasionally we all need a change of pace in our daily lives.  So today I felt like exercising my desire to write about something else besides wine.  Why you ask?  Because, change is sometimes good, and also because man cannot live on wine and cheese alone – right?  Well…maybe.

Today I had an itch to write about hummus.  I know…I hear you all laughing right now.  It might sound gross and possibly a little “foo-foo”.  But trust me – it tastes good and it’s good for you.  So before you blow off this post or start to make faces, pull up your chair and read some more.

Hummus anyone?  

What the heck is hummus?  Hummus is a traditional middle-eastern food that in most cases is either composed of chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, or great northern white beans.  Another key ingredient used in making a chickpea based hummus is called tahini.  Tahini is a paste that is made from crushed sesame seeds.

Hummus is a great and healthier alternative to cheeses that are much high in saturated fat and cholesterol.  Both chickpeas and great northern white beans are great sources of protein, potassium and fiber.  Furthermore, tahini is also a good source of protein, along with vitamin E which is an antioxidant.  So, together these ingredients make for a very healthy and tasty snack.

How do you eat hummus?

You just spread or dip hummus onto crackers, pita bread, or flat bread.  You can also cut up some cucumbers, red onions, and tomatoes and have them as well with hummus.  I’ve also used it as an alternative to salad dressing.  Just spread a little hummus on your salad plate, and pile the salad on top.  Basically, you have plenty of options.

Where can I buy hummus?

You can buy hummus in the deli department and sometimes around the produce section of the grocery store.  Most stores carry a bunch of different variations.  I’ve been on a Trader Joe’s hummus kick over the past few months.  A few of my current Trader Joe favorites are the White Bean & Basil Hummus and the Mediterranean Hummus.  The first one is composed mainly of great northern white beans.  The second hummus is primarily composed of chickpeas, or garbanzo beans.  Both are outstanding in my opinion.  Believe it or not, BJ’s and Costco have a pretty tasty tub-size (literally, it’s the size of your tub) tahini hummus from a brand called Sabra.  It’s not too hard to scarf down a king size container of Sabra hummus – believe me!

What do I drink with hummus?

Beer is pretty awesome with hummus.  But don’t go for the heavier style beers.  Pale ales, white/wheat ales go very well with different types of hummus.  Here are a few beers that I enjoy with hummus:

-          Blue Moon Belgian-style white beer

-          Saranac white ale

-          Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale

-     Magic Hat beer (a variety of ales)

And if you’ve got a little coin in your pocket, you might want to try a Allagosh White Belgian beer.  And if you really want to drop a pretty penny on a good beer, then Chimay Beer is the best of the best, my friend!

Finally, did you really think I could go without mentioning wine at all in this post?  Sauvignon Blanc is a match made in heaven with hummus.

How do I make homemade hummus?

Hummus is pretty easy to make.  All you need is a few key ingredients and a food processor is very helpful.  Follow this link for a fairly simple recipe from WiseGeek.com.

See, change can sometimes be good, and a little detour once in a while won’t kill you.  So stop laughing and making those “that sounds nasty” faces, and try a little hummus!

From: California

Price: $11.50

On February 20^th I shared with you my thoughts on the 2007 Pine Ridge Winery 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Viognier blended white wine.  I said that this blended white wine tasted nearly flawless to me.  

I’ve recently started drinking the 2008 version, and I have to say that it might be even better than the 2007.  This wine is just perfectly blended together.  It has a great crispness to it and great citrus flavors.  It’s made in a very “French” sort of way.

If you didn’t know beforehand that this wine was made in California, you might swear it was a French white wine.  I’ve shared the 2007 and the 2008 versions with all sorts of wine lovers in my life and they all say the same thing, “What is this? It’s really good!”

The Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier blend from California is quickly becoming one of my favorite “house” white wines.  And with warmer weather right around the corner, this wine is awesome with salads, grilled fishes, and chicken.

I give the 2008 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viogner 4 Stars!  It’s just as good if not better than the 2007.  This wine is awesome – it’s a real crowd- pleaser and a terrific value at $11.50 a bottle.  Pick up a bottle and try it for yourself this summer. 

WineLife365 Rating: 4-Star