Vacation in a Dry County - Save Me!

June 9, 2009

At the very tail end of spring, I’m finally getting out of town for a little vacation.  Yep, I’m leaving my garden and pets to the very tender ministrations of neighbors, relatives and friends and heading out to Arkansas to visit my family for a reunion.  My partner and I are making it a road trip, and so I’m bringing everything I can get my hands on.

And, yes, that does include wine, beer and liquor.  The county where my mother’s side of the family lives is dry - meaning that you can drink, but you can’t buy alcohol - and so I must haul any liquor if I want to imbibe.

Please!  It’s my vacation.  Of course I’m going to do a bit of imbibing.  I’m picking very carefully.

First, I have a case of wine.  Ialways try to experiment on vacation and test new things.  Some old favorites just have to sneak in though.

blurry-bottleThe Vacation Case:

  • Chateau Haut-Goujon Montagne-Saint-Emilion 2004 ($27) - 75% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon - A bordeaux I’ve been meaning to revisit for quite a while.  I know this one will go well whether we’re invited to a barbeque or a gourmet meal.  Of course, I may just drink it.
  • Etienne Pochon Crozes-Hermitage 2006 ($25) - 100% Syrah - Cotes du Rhone can only rarely go wrong, and this one does a lot right.  A beautiful nose with gorgeous fruit on the tongue.  This one will be yummy just by itself, but I’ll try to save it for a nice invitation.
  • Muga Rioja Reserva 2005 ($27) - 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo and Graciano - Not quite a porch pounder, this wine will match well with any sort of outdoor grilling.  Note the emphasis on outdoor grilling - I seem to believe that I will spend no time indoors during this trip to Arkansas where it’s hot, hot, hot!  Maybe this wine will be good for warming up indoors in the air conditioning.
  • Chateau Valcombe Signature Rouge Cotes du Ventoux 2004 ($14) - 60% Grenache Noir, 20% Carignan, 10% Syrah and 10% Cinsault - This particular wine went into the box because Justin, our wine buyer, handed it to me as it came in and said, “This will blow your socks off.”  Lord knows, I won’t need many socks down in Arkansas.
  • Le Galantin Bandol Rose 2007 ($23) - 50% Cinsault, 25% Mourvedre and 25% Grenache - They served this by the glass down at Bistro CV last year and I got hooked!  Fresh and lively, this wine should keep me awake on those hot summer evenings to chat with my old friends.
  • Zull Lust & Laune Rose 2007 ($16) - 70% Zweigelt, 10% Pinot Noir, 10% Blauer Portugieser, 8% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon - Okay, with all that Zweigelt, I thought this wine was going to be sweet and sticky, but it is refreshing, dry, crisp and full of summer flavors.  So yummy I couldn’t leave it out of the mix, especially heading down into temperatures rising into the 90s with the humidity to go with them.
  • Bieler Pere et Fils Rose 2008 ($11) - 15% Syrah, 25% Grenache, and 60% Cabernet Sauvignon - This is our newest rose and I am really looking forward to trying it.
  • Meinklang Prosa Sparkling Pinot Noir Rose 2007 ($17) - Another beautiful organic wine that I’ve been meaning to try and haven’t gotten around to.  I can’t wait!
  • Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2008 ($15) - One of my favorites that I just couldn’t leave without!  I love this dry reisling because of the balance of fruit to crispness.  I’ll be able to enjoy this one with my mother.
  • Venica Sauvignon Blanc ($30) - Floral on the nose and fruity in the mouth.  Perfectly balanced.  Perfectly beautiful.  How could I abandon it?
  • E. Guigal Condrieu 2005 - 100% Viognier - Classic viognier from the Rhone.  The last time I had it with homemade macaroni and cheese and it blew me away.  Hopefully I can hold myself back and wait for something fabulous to come along.
  • Domaine Pascal Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatieres 2005 ($70) - 100% Chardonnay - Stephanie loves the Puligny-Montrachet and who can blame her?  Perfectly balanced, this wine is a pleasure to drink.  Or so I hear.  I can’t wait to try this one!

Of course, I’m also bringing beer and liquor, but those are just my go-to drinks:  Hangar One Lime vodka, Milagro Reposado Tequila, Delirium Tremens, Port Brew Wipeout IPA, and a six pack of the Chucapa Chupacabres Pale Ale.

I think I’m ready to go!  Have fun for the next couple of weeks without me!  I’ll be doing the same.

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Gardening and Grilling - Finally!

June 1, 2009

Gardening PansiesI don’t know about the rest of the valley, but this weekend, I got my gardening and grilling in!  When the sun finally emerged last week, I rejoiced.  I’d spent the entirety of Memorial Day weekend wishing that I was able to get some gardening done and now my patience was rewarded by a beautiful sunny day!  My cousins brought over the flats of flowers I bought from their son for a school fundraiser.  I dug out my tools and set to work.

A couple of hours later, I sat on the ground, exhausted and surrounded by weeds I’d wrenched from the not-very-giving soil.  I needed a break.  The garden had me under seige.  A refreshing glass of something needed to be poured down my throat immediately!

After a big tall glass of water, I could make some rational decisions.  First, I remembered that I had a yummy bottle of our Yalumba Wild Fermented Chardonnay in the refridgerator.  That wine went into my glass as soon as I could get the top off!  Citrus filled my nose and the creamy texture of the wine eased my transition into the  evening.  I sipped and pondered my situation.

I could go back outside and get those flowers into the dirt.

I could start the marinade for the flank steak.

I could start the marinade and then go outside and get those flowers into the dirt!

Sometimes I’m amazed at my genius.

Or not.

I chopped cilantro, garlic, scallions and jalapenos and added some oil.  This went into a plastic bag with strips of flank steak.  All into the refrigerator.  Another pour of wine and back out to the garden!

I sipped and pondered and placed plants for another few minutes, started the grill going, and then played more with my flowers while the coals readied themselves.  (No, I don’t use a gas grill.  Charcoal only for me!  There’s just something about the wood and the meat.  Very primal.)

Impatiens, pansies, thyme, red nancy and one new columbine now lined my front porch.  Mulch, sip, mulch, sip and done!  Back inside to get the steak.

The coals were perfect, the steak marinaded and the salad bits all chopped.  Time to pick the wine to go with dinner.  With these steak tacos in mind, I’d grabbed a bottle of the Muga Reserva Rioja, and I opened it up to breathe while I grilled.

Tacos

The steak went on the grill and I sat and sipped another (final) glass of chardonnay with smoke filling my nostrils.  Quickly, we were done and I finished my glass while tossing the salad, slicing the steak and warming the tortillas.  My partner set the table and filled new glasses with our Muga.  I plated the dinner and we were set to go!

There’s really nothing like grilled meat and red wine.  The salad just gives your mouth a little breather and then you can get going all over again.  We barely spoke during the meal, but after we poured one final glass of red and went onto the front porch so that my partner could compliment me on my gardnening prowess.

I love this time of year.

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Start Your Grills!

May 20, 2009

Memorial Day weekend starts the grilling season in our house.  Even last weekend I heard and smelled the scent of charcoal and grilled meat throughout our neighborhood.  Yum!

grillin

With the advent of grilling season comes a variety of questions here in the store:  What wine should I pour with my grilled lamb?  (Pinot Noir.)  Where’s the margarita mixer? (By the tequila and at the front of the store.)  PBR, Fat Tire or Stella Artois to go with the ribs?  (Is this the beer you’re drinking or are you just cooking with it?)

So I thought, why not give some answers before we hit the floor?

For starting the coals and hanging out with my friends, I’ll either do white wine or a cocktail.  My favorite white wines for spring are the sauvignon blancs.  They feel and smell and drink like spring and summer: flowery, citrusy, crisp and dry.  I’m loving the Joel Gott and the Venica right now.   Both carry flowers on the nose (a true “bouquet”!) and taste of citrus on the tongue.

My cocktail?  I’m so easy.  Milagro reposado tequila, Izze grapefruit soda, and a squeeze of lime over ice gives me my Paloma.  I also call it the lazy man’s margarita.  You’ve got to use the reposado or higher quality though.  The tequila taste cuts right through the soda and nothing bad can be covered up.

With grilled meats such as steak and lamb, I like a red blend or a cabernet sauvignon.  We’re recommending The Show Cabernet a lot as well as the Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red.  Even a cowboy would put down his beer to taste these wines with a yummy T-Bone.  (Not that I don’t have beers that I would recommend to go with grilled meats!  I like a bottle of Smithwicks with my hamburger, and O’Dells Five Barrel Pale Ale makes my brat go down that much easier.)

Roasted chicken always seems to provoke a dilemma.  I say, if you roasted it on a beer, have a beer with it.  The O’Dells IPA with its strong hoppy flavor evokes summer just out of the bottle and would match really well with that chicken.  No beer can chicken?  Pinot Noir or a Rosé would be great paired with that bird.  Our Gruet Pinot Noir tastes of berry and dark fruits with a clean ending.  The Zull Lust & Laune Rosé is summer in a bottle:  juicy on the front and crisp on the ending.

Rosé and chardonnay would pair well with seafood and vegetarian dishes.  I’d suggest the Yalumba wild fermented chardonnay to go with salmon or bacon-wrapped scallops.  This chardonnay is wild fermented in stainless steel which allows the true nature of the wine to come through: crisp, acidic and full-bodied.  The Bandol rosé is light enough that it won’t overpower anything and has enough body that you can taste it throughout the meal.  I think it would go well with a freshly caught trout or veggie burgers equally.

For dessert, you can never go wrong with a little bubbly.  Of course, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know I love, love, love my bubbly so let’s all just pretend that I’m objective.

Or not.

Anyway, when I am serving a grilled dessert, such as grilled peaches topped with my homemade vanilla ice cream, I pair the Innocent Bystander moscato, a sweet bubbly from Australia.  The light sweetness of the wine complements dessert classically.

Are you hungry yet?  I am!  I think I’ll go get those coals started.

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Peachy Keen Rewards

May 11, 2009

BelliniFrom my simple perch way down here in the Cellar, I can see glimmers of sunshine.  This explains why so many mexican beers and limes have been exiting the store.  I know I enjoyed my share over the weekend after doing tons of yardwork.

Another refreshing reward with which I became obsessed over the weekend was the Bellini.  Do you know it?  This drink is composed of sparkling wine poured over peach puree.  I use peach freezer jam that I made last year from beautifully ripe organic peaches.  (The jam never jelled and became yummy peach syrup.  Sometimes mistakes are blessings.)  Bellinis are classic spring brunch drinks in Italy, and I think they know what they’re talking about.

The Bellini

1 750ml bottle sparkling wine (Prosecco is the traditional choice.)

1 cup peach puree (or syrup or juice or whatever you can find that will give you the freshest peach flavor)

Place 1-2 tablespoons of peach puree in the bottom of your glass.  Pour over sparkling wine to fill.  Taste and adjust as necessary.

What a refreshing way to enjoy all your hard work!

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What a Mother!

May 4, 2009

MomToday I’m trying to decide what to give Mom for Mother’s Day, and that turned my thoughts to all Moms.  Mine loves her sweet wine, but I just refilled her wine rack last week without thinking.  What will I do?

Most of the time, when I think of Mother’s Day, I think of flowery white wines like the Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc (which I believe tastes like spring) or a gorgeous rose sparkling wine like the Meinklang Prosa.  However, here in Steamboat, a chilled white wine is not what I find most Moms go for.  They look at me across the counter when I mention the infamous idea and say, “I only drink red wine” or “Wine?  I like my vodka!”

With that in mind, here are some ideas for getting Mom tanked this Mother’s Day:

1)  The Charbay or Hangar One flavored vodkas mixed with club soda would brighten up any gardening session.  We especially like the Hangar One kaffir lime mixed with Izze grapefruit soda.  Or the Charbay red raspberry shaken with a little ice and poured straight into a martini glass.  Oh yeah.

2)  Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal - “For Women Only…And…A Few Strong Men.”  Think of this as your “sipping tequila.”  Suggestions on the bottle include drizzling it over fruit for dessert or creating a margarita with only ice and fresh lime juice.  I’d say sip slowly with Mom on the front porch after that fantastic brunch.

3)  For sitting around the fire in the evening (let’s not kid ourselves - We do live in Steamboat), we recommend a scotch aged in sherry casks, such as the Aberlour 12 year, the Glenmorangie Lasanta, and the Benraich Pedro Ximinez.  The sweetness balances well with the  slow warmth inherent in the scotch for our cool spring and summer evenings.

Those are my ideas.  If Mom really would like some wine, we are having our wine tasting this Saturday between 3 and 6.  A lovely selection of our unique wines will be available for tasting and our wine expert will be on-hand to answer any questions.

Remember, the most important thing about Mother’s Day is that Mom is off her feet with a drink in hand.  I think everyone can agree on that.

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