Wine Club 43: Hahn GSM 2011 & Caesar Salad Toast

Date: April 26th, 2013
Host: Kim
Served: Shredded Caesar Salad on Toasts, Hungarian Goulash

Domaine Robert Chevillon 2008 (Bourgogne Passetoutgrain, France), Pinot Noir + Gamay + other grapes, 12.5% alcohol, $13 on sale at Waterford

Kim says (14): Festive color and fairly translucent. Smelled like grape juice... mmm! But swirl at your own risk! I don't mind the "wet leaves in autumn" rot but swirling this wine brought out horrible decay and death rot smells. Very thin body and very high acid but overall impression of fruit. Appeal? I liked it.

Andrea says (13.5): Brick red in color, transparent edges but opaque in the center. My first smells I could pick up raspberry, jam, brown sugar, it smelled rich and smooth and I didn't smell alcohol. After giving the glass a good swirl I could smell the earthy stink that Kim was talking about. To me it smelled like bad breath, gingivitis. Definitely better before I swirled it...  The taste was tart and fruity like cranberry and pomegranate with kind of a minty, or chemical note? I thought it was thin in body and high in tannins. It went ok with the goulash, clashed with the salad.
 
Christine says (13): Reddish, somewhat murky appearance (thick-looking, like the Marginal we recently had, but not as thick. The Marginal looked like blood). It smelled rich, with red fruit, vanilla, peppercorns and earthy, slightly sweet beets. It was surprisingly tart! Thin body. Bracing for a Burgundy. Andrea picked up on pomegranate, and I agreed. Going back after tasting the other wine and enjoying some dinner, I also picked up on green pepper. Note: I didn't realize until later that Passetoutgrains is actually a blend of Pinot Noir, Gamay and other grapes...so of course it wasn't the elegant, graceful Burgundy I was expecting!


Hahn Winery GSM 2011 (Central Coast, CA, USA) 59% Grenache + 37% Syrah + 4% Mouvèdre, 14.5% alcohol, $10 at Discount Liquor

Kim says (15): Even more festive color, deeper and less translucent. Smelled like strawberry flavoring... strawberry Runts? Nice silky body and tannins were pleasantly strong. This went amazingly well with the shredded Caesar salad and Andrea's right... this seems like a very versatile wine. So while it may have suffered a bit in the technical categories, it shined in the subjective categories. I would definitely buy and serve this Hahn again!

Andrea says (18): Another Hahn wine I really liked, mark it as a win! A berry, fushia color, dark and opaque. I had the crazy glass this night that always make the wine smell different than it does in any other glass. Before swirling I really smelled licorice, somehow both red and black licorice, and some berry smell. After swirling it smelled a little like chemicals and plastic, smokey, but still kind of fruity. Tasted very smokey and earthy, sweet and strawberry. Well balanced, good body, nice tannins. Really good with the salad! I preferred this one with the goulash too.

Christine says (16): Intense deep berry magenta color. Smelled like Windex and crayons! After swirling, I could also smell "strawberries" ... as in strawberry roll-ups or strawberry flavoring. The wine was pretty tannic, but the tannins were nice. Good body. Smoky taste. Would be versatile with a lot of foods. Incredible amount of sediment (see the photo, left). Sugary sediment that dissolves between the fingers. Is it due to the wine's high sugar content? Because even though it's super-high in alcohol, the wine was still very fruity. Definitely a buy-again at $10. It was amazing with the garlicky Caesar salad appetizers. I think this was my favorite pairing so far!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Shredded Caesar Salad on Toasts although I might go a little light on the lemon juice next time... a definite keeper! On the other hand, the recipe for the goulash was promptly tossed in the recycle bin. If I wanted to serve an anti-climactic beef stew tonight, that's what I would have made.