Louise Strikes Again

So, Louise (my wife) has really earned her cooking stripes.  Nearly every night she makes a great dinner for us.  Last night it was Tilapia braised with tomatoes and basil (the boys didn't care for it, but we sure enjoyed it, with the rest of our Centine Bianco).  Tonight it was homemade Chicken Tikka Masala.  With no Indian restaurants near Potsdam, what a treat!  I've had bad luck matching wine with Indian food.  The books usually say to go with something spicy, like Gewurztraminer, to stand up to the flavors - most red wines just get washed out by the Indian spices.  Tonight I thought I'd try a Grenache, thinking the peppery flavors typical of the variety might go nicely - I was surprised in two ways.  First, the Tikka Masala was toned down a little (still plenty of wonderful flavors, just not so much spice) for the sake of our young boys.  Second, the Grenache I chose (Las Rocas 2007) was totally missing those typical peppery notes.  Instead it was a strong and somewhat fruity wine - relatively rich, with nice cherry flavors.  All in all, it went very nicely with the Tikka Masala, and is another great value.  Time to get some more! 

Our tastebuds work!

Tonight we tried the Banfi Centine Bianco 2008 that I bought the other day.  Louise said it tasted of Pear, I said it tasted of Apricot, and the label said it should taste of Pears and Apricots!!  That's pretty good, especially for us!  Overall, a very dry, not especially complex white, but a nice everyday sort of wine.  We had it with a mixed green salad with roasted pork tenderloin, grilled pineapple, and a lime-pineapple dressing.  Have I mentioned what a great cook my wife is?  Great, light, dinner. 

A nightcap

Well, this blog is nominally about wine, but I've talked about beer as well, so I may as well go for the alcohol trifecta, and talk about my other alcoholic love - Whiskey!  By blood I have a preference for Bourbon, although I've recently taken to Irish Whiskey as well (Bushmills or, even better, Tullamore Dew).  Tonight I finished off the night with a Bourbon though, and one of my favorites - Eagle Rare 10 year old Single Barrel.  Nothing better to finish the week.

A Trip to the Wine Store...for some everyday (cheap) wines

Went to T&R again today, and bought a case of everyday wines.  Louise and I have been drinking more wine recently, and I found that I was getting reluctant to pull out bottles, so I picked up some wines we can drink everyday without feeling guilty.  So:

Monte Antico Rosso 2006 (WS 90) - This is a wine I've been buying for years.  It is a nice solid Tuscan wine with the right price tag (about $11).  Very dry with just a hint of smoke and herbs.  Tonight we tried it after finishing a bottle of Goats do Roam that we had opened the other night. What a difference!  Both are wonderful, but it is always satisfying to taste the difference between different styles of reds.  The Goats do Roam is based on Shiraz and, as the name implies is styled as a Cotes du Rhone.  The Monte Antico is primarily Sangiovese, and has the characteristic lighter color, and herbal notes. 

Bogle Petite Sirah 2007 - I've talked about this one before - our house red!

Bogle Phantom 2006 - I happened on to this wonderful blend a few years ago and was afraid I'd never find it again.  Thankfully, I've found it!  I'm saving this for a rainy day!  Not as much as a bargain as the others, but a great bottle (or 2) of wine!

Banfi Centine Bianco 2008 - Bought this on a whim and based on the review above the bottle.  Looks like a nice white wine to have around, and, again, at a great price!

Tasting reports to follow as we drink these!

Duvel....BEER!

We were having meatloaf tonight, and that's not a dish that really screams for wine.  So, instead, we shared a 750 ml bottle of Duvel.  It is SOOOO nice, and one of the few beers my wife will enjoy.  One doesn't need to drink wine every night after all!

Regrets about one of 1001 wines

Paging through the book on New Year's Day, I discovered another one of the 1001 wines that I have had.  In my first year in graduate school at the University of Michigan a colleague came back from California with a bottle of Au Bon Climat Pinor Noir.  This was when I was first getting into wine, and, unfortunately, I did not yet appreciate what he had given me.  While I enjoyed it, and remember the bottle, I can't say that I can speak beyond that to the wine itself.  So another one I've had, but also one I need to have again.

Bogle

I've always been a big fan of Bogle Wines.  In particular, they introduced me to Petite Sirah, which is a grape variety that produces very dark, juicy red wines.  Bogle's version, the 2007 Petite Sirah, is a great value, often on Wine Spectators Best Values list.  I always keep several bottles of this wine in my cellar to drink at any time as my house red wine.  It may also be worth noting that it was the favorite wine at my school's recent blind tasting party (the big loser, not to be mean, was Chocolate Lab from the Pleasant Valley Wine Company). 

Bogle makes a lot of wines, including another terrific one, Phantom, a blend of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, and Mourvedre.  I try and keep this on hand as well, although I've had trouble finding it recently.  I also enjoy their old vines Zinfandel.

New Year's Lucky Dinner

To ensure our continued good luck for 2010, my wife prepared a pork roast for dinner on New Year's Day.  It was a great roast stuffed and glazed with an Apple-Dried Cherry-Riesling Relish.  To complement it, I chose, of course, a German Riesling.  In particular, a 2002 Joh. Jos. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett.  It was a light golden yellow, and had a wonderful crispness on the tongue.  It then opened up with wonderful fruit flavors, in particular, golden apples.  It is a fine example of a great German Riesling.