Wine Club 56: Fall Brunch

Date: October 20th, 2013
Host: Andrea
Served: Pumpkin latte pancakes, fried eggs, sausage, caramel apple cider

The Seeker Riesling 2012 (Mosel, Germany) 10.5% alcohol, $11 at Otto's Wine Cask

Andrea says (16.5): Very pale wine, almost a mint green color. Smelled like honey, apples, and a dusty mineral smell. Smooth mouth feel, tart, nice body. taste of honey and lemon.

Kim says (16): Yep, I decided to let my geek flag fly on this one. In a nod to Terry Goodkind's Legend of the Seeker series and of course, dual recognition to Once Upon a Time and our own The Vine Diary, these two wines made my inner sci-fi/fantasy fan and wine geek smile! Anyway, this wine smelled perfectly of a crisp, autumn day... like granny smith apples and slightly dusty. The taste was a study in contrast- smooth, tart, acidic, sweet. Like Christine said- honey and lemons. Very well-balanced, even with the bit of pucker on the finish... yum! Unfortunately, clashed with breakfast.

Christine says (13): Very pale appearance, like water. Smelled like flowers, lemon, apples and maybe lime peel. Bright and green smell. A bit puckery, but had a rich, viscous mouthfeel. Tart finish.



Once Upon a Vine The Fairest Chardonnay 2011 (CA, USA) 13.5% alcohol, $8 at Otto's Wine Cask

Andrea says (14.5): I loved the title of this wine! Cute name. This wine was also very pale, but more of a lemon/lime color. Smelled like pear, floral and a little smokey. Also a little yeasty which sometimes I describe as a "baby food" smell. This wine was smooth and sweet, smokey, nice body, tasted like tart apple.

Kim says (10): Not the warm, rich, gold color I think of with a chardonnay- a pale, almost greenish cast. Something funky on the nose... sweet potato skin? Lacking in bouquet and body, I also found this chardonnay to be high acid and low sugar. How do I really feel about this one? Ambivalent.

Christine says (15.5): Light pale greenish gold, with very small bubbles. Smelled of yeast, pears, slight vanilla and a little sweat. Alcohol taste, viscous, green apples and a sharp taste (of oak?). Pretty long finish. It didn't taste frizzante, despite the bubbles. Good for the price!




I could eat breakfast food all day...

Always some wildlife at Andrea's!
Christine identified this guy as a cormorant.







Wine Club 54: Pretty Cocktails

Date: September 22nd, 2013
Host: Christine
Served: carrot soup, apple cider chicken & potatoes, pineapple upside-down cake
Bonus bottle (from the host's personal inventory): plum wine cocktails

Ménage à Trois Pinot Grigio 2011 (CA, USA) 13.5% alcohol, $7.50 at Woodman's-Appleton

Christine says (14.5): Very, very pale with a hint of lemon color. A strong and good aroma! Lemons, pears and green apple. Big body, strong streak of acidity. Tart green apple finish that was on the short side. We all liked this one better than the White Blend we tried last spring.

Andrea says (17.5): Clear golden color. Wonderful aroma! Floral, peach, honey, pear, and a little lemon. The taste was sweet, like pear and honey. Nice level of acid. Crisp and tangy. Very good, almost a love for me. Great with the meal.

Kim says (17.5): I think the name of this wine is meant to shock and seems a bit gimmick-y but I've had their Folie à Deux; and we've also scored their White Blend (Chardonnay + Moscato + Chenin Blanc) and I enjoyed them both. But it's this Pinot Grigio that impressed me the most... Andrea and I both scored this 17.5... a very serious score! The aroma was outstanding... strong and pleasant but I couldn't quite put a finger on anything except honey, and possibly very faint... green apple. Very pleased that this wine tasted just like it smelled!

Pine Ridge 2012 (CA, USA) 80% Chenin Blanc + 20% Viognier, 12% alcohol, $10 at Woodman's-Appleton

Christine says (18.5): Pale gold. First whiff was of cat urine and pine trunks, but not in a horrible way. Also apricots, flowers and minerals. Yum taste! Tart mid-palate, nice body, taste of apricot, honey, minerals. Sweetness, but with a delightful zing. And after tasting, I didn't smell anything unpleasant in the bouquet. Tart finish. Good with the soup. I liked it!

Andrea says (18.5): Almost exactly the same color as the first wine, clear and golden. A delicious fruity and floral scent... at first. After letting it breathe, it had an earthy, dried-leaf smell. not great, but brought out the mineral smells. When swirled the fruity floral smell came back. Christine mentioned apricot, definitely could smell and taste that. The wine was smooth and sweet, nice thick body, tasted like peach and apricot. Fantastic pairing with the carrot soup!

Kim says (17): Andrea knows us so well... she picked this wine because it's a blend of Chenin Blanc (one of Christine's favorites) and Viognier (one of my favorites)! Both of these wines had such a strong aroma that we could actually smell them immediately upon pouring... from five feet away! I think it was the Pine Ridge that smelled the strongest and the best... of peaches and fruit cocktail. But interestingly enough, in the (less than ten) minutes it took to score the first wine, something happened to this one. The smell turned somehow. Gone was the light, fruity aroma, replaced with the smell of pine sap and wet bark. And while I like those smells, this was not pleasant. Extremely vigorous swirling brought a little bit of the peaches back, but barely. And this wine was full of surprises... it looked frizzante but wasn't; it smelled fruity but was nice and tart; and amazingly enough... was an extremely good match with Christine's delicious carrot soup (which contained leeks, onions and hot sauce)!

Christine says: My goal with this meal was to use up as many vegetables on hand as I could. Check!--though I'm still eating the soup leftovers, which used a staggering 3 pounds of carrots. I doctored this soup to where it would be impossible to provide a recipe. I did document the chicken and spuds, though: It was a winner and one I'd make again. Here goes:

Apple Cider Chicken & Potatoes
1 c. apple cider
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. wine peppercorn mustard with seeds (I used Mrs. McGarrigle's)
1-1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning

Combine all; save 1/4 cup for the potatoes. Pour the rest into a large resealable plastic bag and add:

4 bone-in chicken breasts

Marinate overnight, turning occasionally. Drain and roast (on a foil-lined pan! for the love goodness, an absolute MUST for next time! makes one hell of a mess!) at 375 degrees until done. Meanwhile, cut up:

1-1/2 pounds red potatoes

Toss on a baking sheet with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. Add the reserved cider mixture; toss to coat. Bake until done, stirring occasionally. Note: I added the potatoes after 25-30 minutes of roasting the chicken. These were enormous chicken breasts, nearly a pound each, and roasted for 50-55 minutes total.

For each plum wine cocktail, I mixed 1-2/3 shots of plum wine with 1-1/3 shots of Pellegrino and 1 shot apple cider. Yummy with the cheater's dessert I bought at Whole Foods.

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!

Wine Club 30: Wisconsin Wines & Christmas Brunch

Date: December 15th, 2012
Host: Christine
Served: Cranberry salad, blueberry muffins, sweet potato-andouille hash, lemon meringue pie
Bonus bottle: Poinsettias!

Wollersheim River Gold NV (Prairie Du Sac, WI, USA), Seyval Blanc grape, 10% alcohol, $8 at Wollersheim

Christine says (16): Very pale; cool, silvery color. Smelled of must, pear and floral. Sweet, with a tart bite. Short finish. Bright taste. Pleasant, likeable wine.

Kim says (16): A pale silver color which I found odd but attractive. Musty (but not too bad) and honeysuckle on the bouquet that made me think of a hot, summer day. Flavor was sweet (high sugar), buttery and rich (nice body). Rather unique for a wine... I could literally just drink this like juice!

Andrea says (17): This wine was very pale, looked like water. Bouquet that smelled like pear, banana and flowers. The taste was sweet and smooth. Pear and green apple flavors. This wine complimented the spices in the hash. I really like both (the hash and the wine).

Wollersheim Prairie Sunburst Red 2011 (Prairie Du Sac, WI, USA), Foch grape, 13% alcohol, $9 at Wollersheim

Christine says (11): Plum/garnet color. Thin appearance, but pretty. Cherries and vanilla in the bouquet. Tasted thin. Burned in the nose when tasted. Some spice, and slightly acidic. It reminded me of Barbera d'Asti with its light body and streak of acid.

Kim says (9): Hmm. Well, I apparently didn't have much to say about this wine because I didn't actually write anything down! Tannins were correct, and I felt this wine had good balance, good appeal and overall was a good wine. Looks like the low score was a result of being slightly off in all the other technical categories (color, body, acid, sugar, etc).

Andrea says (13): Ruby color like cranberries. I also smelled cherry and vanilla and something a little smokey. Tasted cranberry, raspberry and cherry. But I agree with Christine, thin taste. It seemed very different from when I had tasted it at the winery.... Unlike the River Gold, I thought it really clashed with the hash, made it extra spicy and burned my tongue.

I mixed Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut Cava NV (Spain; $7 on sale at Whole Foods) with cranberry juice to make poinsettias. The humble hash doesn't look like much, but it tastes like heaven. What a delicious way to use up sweet potatoes! Top with a fried egg or two.

The salad is great for the holidays. I used 5 T. red wine vinegar instead of 3 T. balsamic. I subbed chopped green onions for the chives and shallots called for, and also tossed some green onions into the salad. Hold back some dressing to dress it to your tastes.