Wine Club 36: Spa Day

Date: February 23rd, 2013
Host: Christine
Served: chips & salsa, slow cooker white chili, glazed roasted pineapple & butter pecan sundaes

Bonus: spa day!



Turning Leaf Riesling

Turning Leaf Sweet Riesling 2011 (CA, USA), 8% alcohol, $6.99 At Otto's

Christine says (8.5): Very pale; almost clear. It smelled like vomit. Yuck! Surprising zing of tartness to this wine, plus flavors of honey and Asian pear. It tasted better as it came up a bit in temperature, but I just couldn't get past the smell. Still, Riesling was a good pick for pairing with white chili. Kim took a gorgeous photo.

Kim says (11): Well, this smelled overwhelmingly of sour, musty vomit. Not sure what else I can say. As Andrea found out, if you swirled really, really hard, you might be lucky enough to get something else. For me, the relief came in the faint aroma of lilac and honey. I also picked up on something that seemed familiar for a Riesling... very far away, the delicious scent of pineapple! Surprisingly (despite the smell of vomit), I enjoyed the taste of this wine- good body, sweet and smooth. But the hard hits in color, aroma, sugar (way high!) and appeal was this wine's death sentence. Zero in all four categories but was a phenomenal match with Christine's hearty white chili!

Andrea Says (12.5): The color of champagne but very pale. At first I could only smell must, feet, and bad breath. However, like Kim said, when I really swirled it, I could smell green apple, floral, and honey. The taste was good if you like sweet wines. Fruit cocktail, pear and honey. Surprisingly it went well with the chili but clashed with the dessert.

Dry Creek Vineyards Fumé Blanc

Dry Creek Vineyards Fumé Blanc 2011 (Sonoma County, CA, USA), 13.5% alcohol, $10.99 at Otto's

Christine says (11.5): Very pale light lemon color. Looked frizzante, but it was not (sad face). Smelled really good, like fresh water/a river, grapefruit peel and slight honey. Very tart on the tip of the tongue; super tannic. Lacked finesse--a lot of edges--high and competing tannins and tartness. Opposite of the other wine: it smelled good and tasted bad. Though we did prefer it with the dessert.

Kim says (11): Extremely pale. A barely discernible cast of cool lemon that at first glance, just looked like water. Wonderful aroma of green apple, granulated sugar and (hard to describe but) your hands right after peeling a grapefruit. Mmm! Really enjoyed the bouquet but then... well, this wine was an outright offense. It tasted too bright, too sharp and was a jumbled, edgy mess of chaos in a glass. Horrible.

Andrea says (12): Almost clear in color. I enjoyed the smell! Floral, honey, citrus and pineapple, with some scents of alcohol and smoke. Did not enjoy the taste, hard to describe. Maybe some slight taste of grapefruit or honey, but almost hurt my tongue with the pile of flavors. It did go well with the dessert though...

I made a 2/3 batch of Slow Cooker White Chili. I soaked the cannellini beans overnight, decreased the cumin to 2 teaspoons and cooked it on high for 8 hours. This smaller batch worked well in my 5-qt. slow cooker. Serve with chips, sour cream and lime.

I made Glazed Roasted Pineapple, using only half of a pineapple, but leaving all the other ingredients at a full 100%. This ensured a good saucy mess! I served it with butter pecan ice cream, which is heaven with caramely pineapple.

Spa Bonus! We were blessed to participate in Spa Day at Church in the City. We were treated to amazing appetizers, cute treats and elegant flavored water served in champagne flutes. Best of all, we received complimentary facials, massages and manicures, as well as an inspiring gospel message to pamper our insides. What a wonderful gift this night was from the ladies at CITC. We felt like princesses!

Feeling beautiful inside and out!

Andrea is treated to a luxurious facial.

Andrea and Christine get manicures.

Next stop: facials for Kim and Christine, a massage for Andrea, then a fun night relaxing at Christine's.