WineLife365

Posts Tagged ‘4-Star’

There’s an old urban saying – Keep it 100!

Keep it 100 means to stay real and true to yourself, and to be honest…no matter what anyone else thinks.  I’m going to Keep it 100 when I tell you that it’s been one mighty tough year for red wines in the under $20 category.  If I’m keeping it real, true and 100% honest – many that I’ve tried so far in 2011 just haven’t been worth the time it took to pull the cork; let alone worth jotting down painstaking notes to tell the whole wine drinking world, “Hey people, this wine is the shiz…you really have to try this!”

The sad truth is that so many offerings, although drinkable, have just been rather boring and character free for me; and even fewer have been DELICIOUS like the 2008 Foppiano Vineyards Russian River Valley Estate Bottled Petite Sirah or even the 2009 Château La Clotte-Fontane ‘Mathierou’.

After powering through cases of mediocre red wine over the past few months, my friend Steve at Teller Wines in Lewes, DE came to my rescue.  On a recent visit, I asked Steve if he had anything that would rock my world for less than 20 bucks.  He proceeded to take me over to a spot where a totally inconspicuous bottle of red wine from Sicily was lying. Steve repeatedly told me, “You’ve got to try this wine.   It’s not a knock you over the head blockbuster, but it has a lot of finesse and outstanding fruit inside that bottle – it’s 100% pure goodness.”  He also mentioned that this 100% Nero d’Avola, made from organically-grown grapes, has been high on the list of his customers who are prone to red wine headaches:  they’ve had no problems drinking it and had no bad effects the next morning. 

I gave the 2009 Lamura Rosso di Sicilia IGT ($11 US) a shot this past Fancy Dinner Friday.  Rather than our usual Friday night fare of spaghetti and meatballs, I decided to go a bit more stripped down:  making a simple creation of sautéed minced garlic in olive oil, mixed with chopped up prosciutto and a can of crushed tomatoes on a bed of thin spaghetti, topped with fresh Basil from my herb garden.

Two words that best describe this wine and food pairing:  Bellissimo and Yummy!!

The 2009 Lamura Rosso di Sicilia IGT was packed with 100% fresh crushed, organically grown Nero d’Avola.   Bursting with pure, unadulterated, big red-berry fruit flavors and a soft flinty herbaceous component on the finish, this very approachable red has tons of juicy character!  It was awesome all by itself and delicious with a clean and simple pasta dish like we had that night.

4 Stars out of 4 for the 2009 Lamura Rosso di Sicilia IGT.  You can tell when something’s real:  THIS is the real deal at this price level!

If it’s gloomy…ok.  If it’s gloomy and stormy…alright.  If it’s gloomy, stormy and unusually bitter cold for a mid-April spring day…well that’s just turrible!  I am so ready for spring weather to finally arrive!  But, where is it?!  If you’re taking in some beautiful weather right about now – I’m just plain old jealous!!  The overall Spring weather conditions in my neck of the woods have been cold and gloomy with a 99.9% chance of ice-cold stinging rain.

Befitting this year’s version of Spring, it was certainly cold, dark, windy and rainy this past Saturday.  I felt Mother Nature’s pain at opening day little league baseball, then again at opening day soccer, and once more for an early-evening kiddie birthday party.  By the time that Pump It Up kid’s party was through, I wanted nothing more than to be lying on the beach of a warm deserted island, drinking piña coladas and listening to Bob Marley.  When I finally got home, I was greeted by the delicious aromas of finely chopped onions, minced garlic, ginger, coriander and fresh cilantro floating in the air.  My wife was preparing a special meal just for the two of us:  Shrimp in Coconut Milk over basmati rice.

I decided to partner this Thai-inspired meal with the 2009 Leth Reserve Hofweingarten Roter Veltliner from Austria (Sample, MSRP: $19 US).  Leth is a family winery located in Fels, directly on the terraces of the Wagram River.  This Austrian white exudes confidence and finesse much like a fine white Burgundy.

The 2009 Leth Reserve Hofweingarten Roter Veltliner dazzled our taste buds with its flashy-sweet apple and pear flavors that brilliantly intermingled with subtle spices to produce a long, refreshing and elegant finish. 

4 Stars out of 4 for the 2009 Leth Reserve Hofweingarten Roter Veltliner.  This Roter Veltliner was spectacular all by itself, but with this special dish, my dining room was transformed into a three-star Michelin restaurant. 

Since we were enjoying this Austrian wine and food pairing so much, we decided to hit up Austria for one last visit.  We ended the evening with the 2009 IBY Horitschon Blaufränkisch Classic (Sample, MSRP: $20 US).  Blaufränkisch is a red varietal commonly associated with Austria, though it is also grown with much success throughout Eastern Europe and in parts of the Pacific Northwest in the US.

The 2009 IBY Horitschon Blaufränkisch Classic lulled us into submission with its soft, yet energetic, juicy raspberry flavor, and delighted us with its very approachable velvety-smooth tannins.  If you’re a fan of Old-World Pinot Noir and have never tried an Austrian Blaufränkisch before, this ‘Classic’ should sing a sweet tune for you!

3 Stars out of 4 for the 2009 IBY Horitschon Blaufränkisch Classic.  The back label suggests decanting this wine for 0-3 hours.  We drank less than half the bottle on the first night and put a piece of Saran wrap and aluminum foil over the decanter opening.  On day #2, it was even better!

To learn more about these and many other delicious Austrian wines be sure to check out http://www.austrianwineusa.com/.

It all started with a peaceful Tuesday evening.  Yes, you read that right…TUESDAY!  By some twist of fate, there were no evening activities for the kids, their homework was done and they were sufficiently occupied.  Oh yea, we fed them too.  Anyway, it had been a while since I last had more than 20 minutes to whip up an incredible meal.

Carpe diem…into the kitchen I bolted!

Luckily, my wife reminded me that we had two lamb chumps (or lamb chops) sitting snug as a bug in the freezer that didn’t get put to good use at a recent swanky dinner party.  SCORE!

I marinated those two lamb chumps with lots of TLC.  I dowsed them with fresh-squeezed orange juice, pepper, sea salt, and minced garlic; allowing them to rest for an hour before cooking.  Note to self: some fresh lavender sure would have been swell for this marinade, too!

After we put the kids to bed (on time!), I ran back downstairs like a madman and started pulling things out of the refrigerator and pantry:  carrots, zucchini, red onions and roasted red peppers.  I also discovered some capers, chicken stock, minced garlic and a single box of Near East Whole Grain Blends “Roasted Garlic.”  Yes!  My plan was developing, and I could actually take the 30+ minutes needed to bring it all together – there was plenty of time to spare.

Taking a stainless steel cooking pan, coated with some olive oil, I seared the pieces on the stovetop then moved it into the oven to cook on a low fire [325°F] for about 30 minutes.  While the lamb chumps were cooking, I fired up another pan with some olive oil and sautéed the minced garlic, carrots, zucchini, red onions and roasted red peppers (all diced).  I then added the capers and chicken stock to keep the medley moist, and added a dashed of kosher salt with some Victoria Gourmet’s Herbes de Provence dry seasoning.

I was really hoping to find the “perfect” bottle to go with this meal, so I decided to give it a go with the 2008 Foppiano Vineyards Russian River Valley Estate Bottled Petite Sirah (MSRP: $20, Sample).

How do I adequately describe how this wine tasted?

It was AMAZING!

And I will drink it in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
It is so good, so good, you see!

This wine was remarkable all by itself:  it was silky-smooth, bursting with massive blackberry, blueberry, chocolate – all beautifully complimented with a beautiful aroma of anise, eucalyptus and white pepper spice.  With the meal:  it was off the charts!  The 2008 Foppiano Vineyards Russian River Valley Estate Bottled Petite Sirah had my wife and me at Hello!  And so ends my story of a most superb Tuesday night.

4 Stars out of 4 for the 2008 Foppiano Vineyards Russian River Valley Estate Bottled Petite Sirah.  For under $20, it’s easily one of the most beautifully crafted red wines that we’ve tried so far in 2011.

Let’s talk about the S-word.  Say what?! Relax…not that S-word!  But I am about to talk about the S-word that gives some peeps a case of queasiness deep down in their bellies just by hearing it: Sushi! Sushi! Sushi!  Chances are though, you or someone that you know has a thing for eating fish without cooking it first.  This once uniquely Japanese dish is practically everywhere you turn with Western influences creating “fusion” variations to entice even more legions of followers.  Many of these purveyors of “fusion sushi” are able to please the spectrum of those eager to get their chopsticks on their first California roll, while satisfying the more adventurous sushi lovers with creations that include delicacies such as octopus and eel.  So what does this have to do with wine?  Well, my wife and I LOVE sushi and we’re always on a hunt to find the perfect wine to pair with it.  After picking up a mélange of sushi delights from our favorite sushi hot spot, Mikimotos, I grabbed two bottles (a white and a red) that I hoped would create a moment of rapture in our mouths.  Okay, that might be a bit much – but you get where I’m going with this.

We started with the 2009 Fritsch ‘Steinberg’ Grüner Veltliner (Sample, MSRP:$15).  Grüner Veltliner, Grüner or Gru-Vee as it’s been dubbed, is the flagship white wine of Austria’s wine industry. GROO-ner VELT-lean-er velt-LEEN-er has a variety of expressions that can range from a light bodied spritzer, to a edgy spicy white wine with tons of grapefruit, white flower and cracked pepper poppin’ around on the finish.  The 2009 Fritsch ‘Steinberg’ Grüner Veltliner provided an explosive attack on our taste buds from the first bite of our seaweed salad to the very last bite of our Double Fantasy sushi roll.  It’s a gorgeous Austrian white, bursting with crisp acidity and freshness that worked tirelessly through the seaweed salad (a nightmare for any wine) and the line-up of delicacies being passed from soy sauce to wasabi.  It was just an exceptional wine all–around, and a must try for any sushi lover.  The only thing that could possibly make this Grüner any better would be to super-size it to a 1-Liter bottle, like so many other Austrian wineries are doing. (4 Stars)

Our second wine of the evening, 2008 Zum Martin Sepp Zweigelt (Sample, MSRP:$14), had 3 things to Ooh and Aah over:

1.)   A generous 1-Liter bottle.
2.)   A bottle cap for a wine closure – that was a first for me!
3.)   ZWEIGELT: What the what is that, you ask?

Zweigelt is a red wine grape invented in 1922 by an Austrian researcher named Fritz Zweigelt. He created it by crossing one of his favorite Austrian red grapes called Blaufränkisch (sometimes called Lemberger) with a relatively unknown member of the pinot noir family, called St. Laurent  – and the rest is Austrian grape growing history.  So, now that I’ve told you that the bottle is Über-cool with its 1-Liter size, that it’s got a bottle cap for an enclosure, and familiarized you a bit with that groovy named red grape called Zweigelt, I’m sure you’d like to know how it actually tastes…

Well, it’s kind of like chewing on a savory piece of Hickory Farms Summer Sausage or like snappin’ into a Slim-Jim with juice.  It was just odd with its light effervescent pinot noir characteristics touched with a mouthful of cured meat.  It was a combination that unfortunately missed the mark for me, and left the remaining sushi longing for more of that terrific 2009 Fritsch ‘Steinberg’ Grüner Veltliner. (2 Stars)

If you have a favorite wine to pair with Sushi, please share!  I’d love to try something new on my next Sushi adventure.