Dinner - Home Cooked Meal

Steak Dinner With Wine/ January 21, 2012

After the tasting, Jude and I were craving steak and red wine so we decided to purchase wines at the Vintage Cellar that would pair nicely with steak for later that night.   We each purchased a different bottle of wine to share during the meal. Jude bought a High Vines, Pinot Noir, and I bought a blended Australian red which was 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Shiraz, 7% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec.

High Vines, Pinot Noir

Bleasdale, Langhorne Crossing Blended Australian wine

Menu:
Steak seasoned with roasted garlic & herb, pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning
Asparagus sauted in the same pan used to cook the steak with steak juices, leftover seasonings from above plus added lemon pepper zest and garlic & herb.
Mashed potatoes with butter and pepper.

Cooking the steak

Asparagus, before my master cooking skills were applied

Deliciously cooked asparagus!

Final dinner, ready to eat!

Brie Cheese on Bred, red grapes and wine.

 


Dessert:
Red grapes
Brie cheese
French bread rounds

This time, when tasting the wines, we decided to try and give them our own descriptions before reading the descriptions on the bottles. The Australian blend seemed full and smooth at first and then more spicy which impressively matched the bottle’s wording. Once paired with the dinner spices from the wine and steak began multiplying and complimenting each other, enhancing the wine to an even more enjoyable level. With our dessert, the spiciness of the wine settled and was not as noticeable.

The Pinot Noir tasted more like grape juice with a strong fruity taste at first and was not as full flavored as the blended wine. Jude and I both like’d this wine much better with food! It became much smoother and less bitter, but still not as full. Oddly enough, when paired with the cheese and bread, the bitterness returned just a bit.


Overall a successful dinner! So delicious!

Tasting - Moscato

Candoni
Moscato: 2011
Semi-Sparkling White/$14.95
Apulia, Italy (south)

Store Review: Low in alcohol, semi-sparkling, but remarkably fruity and fragrant it has an excellent balance of sweetness and acidity. Excellent with pastries, cakes, desserts, fruit, sushi, sashimi, and spicy dishes.

My Review: This tastes overwhelmingly like roses which could have been a result of the extreme sweet mixed with very fruity flavors. I would drink this wine alone my choice. It stands on it’s own as a dessert beverage without any added dishes. I can’t imagine eating it with sushi but would love to try it… hmm could be on the menu for my next dinner blog.

Tasting - Phases

Alta Luna
Phases: 2009
Blended Red/$9.95
Dolomiti IGT, Trentino, Italy

Store Review: 40% Teroldego, 30% Lagrein, 30% Merlot aged in small oak barrels for 12 months, then further refined in bottle before release. Deep ruby red Dark cherry, plumb and blackberry aromas combine with intriguing spicy notes. Rich, concentrated dark fruit character against powerful yet silky tannins and bright acidity. Excellent structure, with a distinctive freshness to the fruit that creates an elegant profile.

My Review: This wine is a combination of qualities which I always find attractive on their own, so combined in this one bottle was my favorite red of the day. Blended wines in general appeal to me more than varietal but the oaky flavor, blackberry aromas, and spicy flavor are always qualities that I search for in a red wine before I purchase it. I don’t quite know how to pick out tannins or how to describe them.

Tasting - Prosecco

Candoni
Prosecco: 2011
Sparkling White/15.95
Italy › Veneto

Store Review: Delicate and fruity with a hint of honey. It is crisp and clean in the mouth with a pleasant acidity that leaves behind a delicious persisted freshness with a dry, well-balanced taste.

My Review: This one really surprised me because for whatever reason, I wasn’t expecting it to be sparkling so took a slightly larger sip than I probably should have. The pleasantly stunning sparkle made me think of a spicy salsa dancer.. again not a valid descriptor but still the first thought that popped into my mind. It’s hard to say if I only noticed this because I read it on the store review, but I could definitely taste the “hint of honey,”and enjoyed that it wasn’t too sweet. This one, for me, was a stand alone wine, didn’t really see it pairing with food.

Tasting - Cote Du Rhone

Orasion
Cote Du Rhone: 2007
Red/$10.95
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône

Store Review: Full of spicy red fruit aromas, with cigar box and licorice tones as well. I the mouth it is rich and complex, while retaining its fruit flavors. Serve with barbeque, grilled meats, and hearty or spicy recipe.

My Review:  My first thought when tasting this wine was, “hmm, tastes like an old man wine.” Perhaps that is not a valid descriptor, but in my book cigars and licorice are also associated with old men, so I’m sticking with it. It tingled a bit which is what I always describe as spicy, so according to the store’s review, I’m on the right track. Although this was not my favorite wine, I definitely think it would be much more enjoyable with a juicy steak, but what isn’t more enjoyable with steak…

Tasting - Sauvignon Blanc

January 21, 2012: Vintage Cellar

What does every dancer want to do after two hours of company auditions with a fabulous wine hangover? More wine tasting, of course! Three dancers and a boyfriend pretending to have even the slightest idea about wine produced an afternoon of wine descriptions like: “WOW, this one tastes like a spicy salsa dancer.” In total, we tasted fourteen different wines and finally distinguished that “oaky” flavor, which we took as a huge accomplishment! I found that although I do not usually care for sweet white wines, I love a semi sparkling dessert white like Candoni Moscato I’ll describe below. Here are five of my favorite wines out of the fourteen:

Four Bears
Sauvignon Blanc: 2010
White/12.95
California, USA, (Sonoma Country)

Store Review: Rich and complex with aromas of ruby grapefruit, citrus and tropical fruit. On the palate, the combined flavors of fresh melon, fig and lime are balanced perfectly to form a crisp, mouthwatering texture and lingering finish.

My Review: This dry white was shockingly and deliciously mouthwatering right after swallowing which I would say was the lingering finish even though the store review describes them as separate sensations. Perhaps my palate sophisticated enough yet to tell the difference. I’m also still working on deciphering between the three different tastes in wine.  Although I could not pick out specific fruity tastes, I did taste an overall fruity flavor. Although i’m not normally a white wine lover, I had never tasted a Savignon  Blanc before and really enjoyed it without food.