WineLife365

Archive for December, 2011

Hallelujah…we’re finally done our Christmas shopping!!  Wrapping those little buggers will be a whole different story…but that can wait until tomorrow!  Tonight’s post is about celebrating life’s small achievements – NOW!  On the 21st day of this Christmas countdown, what better way to end a nightmare day of standing in long lines, sitting in slow moving traffic, and having no damn place to park, than with some BUBBLY and your honey!

Woohoo!  Pop those corks, baby!!

Last night, we decided to celebrate the Tuesday before Christmas.  Why, you ask?  Why not, I say!

To ring in the New Day, I decided to pop open two badass sparklers from California:  the Mumm Napa Brut Prestige (Sample, MSRP:  $20) and the Mumm Napa Brut Rose (Sample, MSRP:  $20).  But wait…we need dinner too!

One of my favorite combinations of flavors is Sparkling wine and any foods that have an Asian flare.   I find that the wide range of spiciness, sweetness and textures of Asian-infused dishes, or even some Chinese takeout, really complement a refreshing glass of bubbly.  Each play well with one another and nobody is starving for attention.

In preparation for the gluttony to come in the next week, I decided to keep things clean, simple and light by preparing a tossed salad with a little twist to have with the sparkling wines:

• 1 Part Trader Joe’s “Champs Elysées Salad” *Green leaf lettuce, frisee, radicchio and carrots mixture 
• 1 Part Spring Mix Salad
• A sprinkle of fully-cooked lentils (Also from Trader Joe’s)
• Diced salad beets (Also from Trader Joe’s)
• A sprinkle of chopped walnuts
• A sprinkle of crumbled bleu cheese
• Drizzle with Trader Joe’s Asian Style Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette

The Mumm Napa Brut Prestige was absolutely brilliant!  An assemblage of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, it’s crisp and refreshing with flavors of pear, fig and sweet spices, enveloped by creamy vanilla.  This sparkler is fruity, spicy and delicious!

My favorite with the salad, though, was the Mumm Napa Brut Rose.

This bubbly, made from 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay – with its fresh and lively strawberry and zippy flavors – played terrifically off the Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette, beets and lentils in the salad,

Cheers to celebrating EVERY day!

Finding the perfect gift can be quite a challenge.  What should I get?  Can I afford it?  Will they like it?  The same holds true in my search for badass wines for the holidays, and sometimes this means asking for a little help – especially on Day 20 of my 25 Days of Christmas.

Hey Frank, I’m looking for a special bottle of red wine that will impress everyone when they see it and have them falling off their chairs after tasting it.  By the way…a first-growth Bordeaux and/or Opus One is not what I have in mind.  Do you having anything else that’s more reasonably priced?

It was my good friend, Frank Pagliaro, proprietor of Frank’s Union Wine Mart who rose to the challenge and pointed me in the direction of the 2009 Clark & Telephone Vineyard “Belle Glos” Pinot Noir.

Checkout the wax seal on this California Pinot Noir! That alone screams, badass!!

 Whoa!  This thing is dipped in wax!!  How often do you come across a wine bottle where you need to pry off a wax coating before you can even get to the cork?  Does this imply that the nectar of the gods is inside this lovely vessel?  Sure, I know it might be one big pain in the ass just trying to open it, but there’s got to be a huge reward, right?

Fortunately, there is a big payoff!

Aside from the impressive packaging, the 2009 Clark & Telephone Vineyard “Belle Glos” Pinot Noir ($50 US) crushes it with bright acidity, a wicked and forceful display of cherry, strawberry, cinnamon and ginger spices, along with hints of licorice, smoke, black currants and spiced tea.  It is the TOTAL PACKAGE…inside and out.

On this 19^th day of my 25 Days of Christmas, I present to you a really badass, New World style wine that will appeal to a wide spectrum of red wine lovers:  the 2009 PlumpJack Syrah ($50 US) from Napa Valley, California.  The Spirit of Christmas is about sharing and being together. This special red can bring together and unite lovers of Pinot Noir, and those that love bold and rich Cabernet Sauvignon.

This red wine also made me think of Christmas Past.  Well, not Christmas exactly…

It brought me all the way back to September 2000 – our second jaunt to Napa and Sonoma Wine Country – when we experienced a 5.2 earthquake.  Scared the living shit out us, I tell you! 

But it was also on that very same trip that I discovered and fell in love with PlumpJack Cabernet Sauvignon.  I could have drunk it morning, noon and night…if my liver, wallet and wife would have allowed me!  This particular trip to California Wine Country was extra special because my brother-in-law and another friend of ours were also there to help us drink and explore…one tasting room at a time.  On the last day of our trip, my brother-in-law presented me with a bottle of 1997 PlumpJack Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve as a special gift that he secretly purchased for me while we picnicked at PlumpJack Winery.  I gotta say, I’ve loved that guy ever since!!  And I still have that very bottle that just might get opened when he’s in town this weekend! 

Back to Christmas Present.

What makes the 2009 PlumpJack Syrah such a badass wine, is that it finds this halfway point where all the great things you love about Pinot Noir can cheer and sing with all the wonderful things of a Cabernet Sauvignon.  Like any great Cab, the 2009 PlumpJack Syrah is big, ooey-gooey rich and chewy inside.  Yet, this Syrah is very bright with a tad of tarty-sweetness, reminiscent of a fantastic Pinot.  It has the perfect amount of mouthful flavors – delicious plum, strawberry, licorice, black currents, clove, dark chocolate and vanilla – to pair with just about any holiday meal.  It will keep you puckering up and licking your chops from start to finish, and is sure to please all of the red wine lovers sitting at your table.

December 18, 2011

Dear Mr. Claus,

I know that you’re very busy right now getting ready for Christmas Eve and checking your list twice to see who’s been naughty and nice this year.   But I was wondering – if it’s not too much trouble – might you be able to fulfill one very selfish special wish for a guy who has been good and quite nice at times naughty this year?  He does all of the cooking (except for baking) and almost always cleans up afterwards (He’s got OCD issues when it comes to loading the dishwasher).

That really, REALLY swell guy happens to be me!

If you can, I wish for an entire bottle of 2008 Achaval Ferrer Finca Bella Vista Malbec ($100) from Mendoza, Argentina to share with my beautiful wife (she’s been really good this year, too!). Just to let you know, my wife and I tasted this badass totally kickass electrifying and elegant Malbec earlier this year and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it ever since!  In a nutshell, it was probably the most badass best red wine that I tasted in 2011!

I’m not sure if you’re into wine or if you’re possibly a wine collector, but if you’re either – this is really something special!  Only 980 cases were made of this old vine Malbec.  It’s pure gold with its bold dark fruit, dark chocolate, violets and fresh herb flavors.  Here’s an interesting tidbit about the 2008 Achaval Ferrer Finca Bella Vista Malbec:  it takes nearly a pound of grapes to make just 1/3 of a bottle of this wine.

I’m really sorry for rambling on, but I guess you’re used to it by now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Santa!

Love,

Mark

P.S. I hope you like the Domaine Du Margalleau Sparkling Vouvray NV and cookies that I’m leaving out for you.