Wine Club 49: ¡España!

Date: July 11th, 2013
Host: Kim
Served: Chilled cucumber soup, fish tacos
Bonus bottles (from the host's personal inventory): Los Dos, New Age Rosé

Juvé y Camps Reserva de la Familia Brut Nature Gran Reserva Cava 2008 (Spain) 12% alcohol, $17 at Waterford

Kim says (12.5): Grin... Christine brought a bubbly! Funny, because Andrea mentioned that she was hoping one of the pairings might be a sparkling wine! The aroma was intoxicating and delicious- peaches and grapes. A bit of a disappointment since it tasted nothing like it smelled... very tart, not smooth, no fruit. I originally penalized it for high acid and low sugar but as Christine said, it's a brut and expected to be dry. Paired with the fish tacos, it seemed to soften a bit.

Andrea says (14): A pale champagne color. The smell was delicious! The taste was not. Smelled of pear, honey, white grape and mineral. For the taste, I got a little bit of honey and green apple. I think it was too dry for my taste. But good with the fish tacos.

Christine says (16): Light pale gold. Smelled like lemon, white grape juice, buttery toast and minerals. Great mouthfeel with a nice mousse. Dry and refreshing, with a mineral taste and tart lemon note. It did not cool the hot pepper heat in the soup, but was good with the tacos. Overall, it didn't live up to the hype in my mind. But it was still good.


Condes de Albarei Albariño 2011 (Rias Baixas, Spain) 12% alcohol, $13 at Waterford

Kim says (15): Very faint aroma... flower petals and stems, like crushed rose petals. Nice, full body and a tart finish. Well balanced as it seemed to hit every part of the palate but distinctly stronger on tart/bitter. A good match with the food!

Andrea says (15.5): Light, pale, lemon color. I liked the smell. A honey, floral, banana smell. Very sweet smelling. After swirling I even got a vanilla, even a cake smell? Surprising taste. Tart! More acidic than I expected. Lime and green apple flavors. Unfortunately it did not TASTE like cake....

Christine says (18): Light lemony yellow. Oooh! Did it smell good. Sweet and floral, perfumey, peaches and white cake. It also smelled like beer as it opened up more. Nice medium body, soft and round, with tartness and a short finish. I tasted some oak or brown stems, too. It was kind of lacking mid-palate. Overall, I thought it was complex and good! Great with the soup; awesome with the tacos. I'd definitely buy it again.

Wine Club 48: Beef on the Grill

Date: June 26th, 2013
Host: Christine
Served: Gouda and crackers, beef tenderloin, potatoes, salad with grilled veggies, chocolate orange cheesecakes

Grifone Primitivo Zinfandel 2010 (Puglia, Italy) 13% alcohol, $8 at Trader Joe's

Christine says (16): Ruby claret color. It smelled very red, with aromas of raspberry, currant and cherry tobacco. Tasted like cherries; lighter body. Some tobacco notes. Pretty good!

Kim says (17): The wonderful aroma of nice tart cherries that smelled like mash... fermented. Very intense. Yum! And it tasted just like it smelled. Not as "sturdy" as I was expecting for a Zin but very good... although I think I may have liked 7 Deadly Zins a bit better (can't truly compare as we were using a different version of our score sheet at that time).

Andrea says (16): Dark ruby red and a little transparent. Loved the smell! Scent of berries, grape, cranberry and currant. Taste was nice. High tannins but nice and not overpowering. Tasted like cherry and grape. Nice with Christine's delicious tenderloin!



Blue Fin Petite Sirah 2011 (CA, USA) 12.5% alcohol, $5 at Trader Joe's

Christine says (17.5): Wow! Plummy garnet/purple color. Cassis smell, and blackberries, black currants and dried strawberries. Thin body. Tannic grip that was nice and palate-cleansing. Food-friendly! It was good with the Gouda. The wine tasted like figs as it opened up more. Super for the price.

Kim says (15): Smelled of grape jam, strawberries, very berry but not too sweet. Very tannic... I found that slightly distracting. Gold Star with Christine's incredible tenderloin!

Andrea says (16.5): Interesting color, more of a purple, even hints of blue. Looked like blueberry pie. Fruity smell, blueberry, blackberry and raisin. Nice taste! I liked the tannins and the body. sort of a nice tangy taste on the back of the tongue. Also went well with the meal.

I rubbed the beef with the garlic, herb and oil mixture and let it marinate overnight. I salted it just a while before putting it on the grill.

Wine Club 21: Supersize. Sterling Zinfandel, Chateau Ste. Michelle Syrah

Date: September 8th, 2012

Host: Christine

Served: pizza pinwheels, pizza burgers, green bean-mozzarella salad, grilled oranges with raspberry sauce and ice cream

Bonus bottles (from the host's personal inventory): sangria, J.W. Morris Riesling, Cupcake Red Velvet, Cupcake Moscato d'Asti

This was a special "Goodbye, Summer" wine club on Labor Day weekend. My sister Donna was in town as we'd gone to see The Boss at Wrigley Field the night before. It was a beautiful but cool and windy day. So, in the interests of protecting our forms from the wind and in preserving wine club as we came to know and love it, we kicked off the day indoors with two wines Andrea brought and some hot pizza pinwheels.

 

Sterling Vintner's Collection Zinfandel 2008 (Central Coast, CA, USA) 13.5% alcohol, $11

Christine says (16): Blood red color with darker edges. Lots of legs! Smelled like raspberry preserves and strawberry jam, with taste being the same. It was slightly tart up-front, so I docked it on acid. Still, a big berry taste to this wine. I liked it.

Andrea says (18.5): I really enjoyed this wine to start off a great Labor Day party. It had a dark red color. Smelled very fruity! Strawberry, plum, and raspberry. It had a very concentrated, jammy scent. The taste was also quite jammy and tart, tasted like strawberry. Nice tannins, good finish, delicious!

Kim says (18): I thoroughly enjoyed this wine! I've never paid attention to Zinfandel before but I plan on rectifying that. Smelled of plum, deep spices and was somehow masculine, while the flavor was bold, black pepper and unapologetic. Definitely worth revisiting!

Chateau Ste. Michelle Syrah 2007 (Columbia Valley, WA, USA) 13.5% alcohol, $9

Christine says (16): Dark maroon; looked like grape juice. The bouquet was berry and definite grapes, plus other sweet fruits (not sure what) and slight earthiness. Taste was grapey, with plums and cherry pits. Longer finish.

Andrea says (15): This wine had a dark, purple and opaque color. The flavor that I could most smell and taste was grape! I docked the wine in aroma, bouquet and appeal. But overall, I liked this wine. I think it went well with the pizza wheels and would work well with other foods too.

Kim says (12): Yikes! It's possible that this wine suffered in the shadow of the Zinfandel... it scored exactly one point in every single category, meaning it was (amongst other things) slight, normal, ordinary and average. Dark purple in color and tasted of grape juice.

Chilling out.

Donna, Christine and Andrea.

Kites flying high over Veteran's Park.

Next up, phase 2. We moved the party outside for a meal on the grill, with a batch of sangria to keep us company!



Viva Sangria!

Berry Lemonade Sangria
Makes 1 gallon.

2 bottles inexpensive white merlot (such as Sutter Home), chilled
3 cups lemonade (such as Minute Maid), chilled
1-1/2 cups Triple Sec, chilled
2 tangelos or oranges, halved and sliced
1 lemon, halved and sliced
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 liter sparkling berry lemonade (such as Trader Joe’s), chilled 
2 cups frozen raspberries

Combine the wine, lemonade, Triple Sec, tangelos, lemon and strawberries in a large container, or divide between two 2-qt. pitchers with lids. Chill for at least 1 hour.


Just before serving, stir in the sparkling lemonade and raspberries. Oh my, is that good!
Note: Bring a ladle so you can serve it up with plenty of fruit in each glass.

         Womanning the grill.            Pepperoni on the burgers, soon to be covered in melty cheese.             The tasty results!

Grilled oranges with raspberry sauce
and ice cream. Oh, yeah!

Sisters.

The schooner Denis Sullivan
on Lake Michigan.

A rare sighting of our talented
photographer!

Time for Phase 3: to hit the pool and hot tub, enjoy some bonus bottles (and bonus berries), thank Pretty Cat for her hospitality, and break out some pizzas. What a wonderful day!

Honorary wine club member. Her
signature purple ribbon.

Popping some moscato to
enjoy in the hot tub.
Frozen strawberry bonus!

Back upstairs. Bonus time.

 

Christine says (10) : I score this day a perfect 10. It was filled with food, wine, friendship and fun! A good sendoff to summer.  

Andrea says: What a great day! The pizza burgers, salad and dessert were great! The sangria was phenomenal! I've got to make that this summer. We had so much fun! Our longest, and most fun packed wine club yet!

Kim says (10): An amazing time! We started at 11am and went into the wee hours of the morning but it was so full of food, fun, wine and laughter that 15+ hours flew by in a flash!