red or white wine?

please vote in the poll as to what you most typically drink, red or white wine. I realize that most of us really only drink reds, but I feel like we are missing out on some great white wines. My tastes in white are pretty much French only. I think that gives me a fun opportunity to try to expand my tasting to some interesting white wines. Let me know what you think by voting in my poll.

Cheers,
E

wine-ing with a little help from my friends

After the pirate invasion of Tampa Bay this last weekend a friend of the blog came over. He offered to blind taste a few friends on some steals he had come across. I don't have the exact prices or the names right this second. Truth is, we were already pretty snockered from the day's festivities. I am going to post this and then come back and do some editing as I pull all the details of the evening together. So here is what I remember.

1st wine I was way off on. It had a slight brick to the color an indicator of old world, but no rim variation another indicator of age and old r new world. I first thought french based on some color and earth. Then I decided it was South American, it had that kinda bell peppery thing going. I finally decided it was from Washington state and was a Syrah blend, probably a GSM. Then I thought, I am way to drunk to do this and I have no idea. I get a wonderful complexity with solid tannic structure and great finish. Turns out to be a carignan blend from Southern France costing about $10. We all agreed it was fantastic

2nd wine was bright colored dark ruby. Notes of min, eucalyptus and licorice. It had earth and was very mouth coating dry. I thought Italian, and again, I was wrong. This turned out to be the Foppiano Petite Sirah from Russian River Valley. Very solid wine, but I can't remember the price. I am pretty sure it is under $15.

On a day I had drunk way too much I was introduced to a couple of "steals". I will have these posts updated as soon as I can, I am just trying to write all I can remember of the evening. My notes are sparse and barely legible. Nonetheless, much thanks and respect to one of the great wine minds in my circle of friends. We call him "the spook" for his propensity to disappear at any time from any place. Thanks to him and all my readers and supporters. I appreciate the suggestions comments and ideas.

Cheers,
E

2007 Daglia Canyon Cabernet Rutherford

To all my readers, sorry I haven’t posted in a while. It’s been crazy here, between the Gasparilla festivals, the Warrior Dash, and starting a new job I haven’t had much time to write. I have, however, had plenty of time to drink. I wanted to try a wine that was recommended to me by an associate at total wine. Typically I don’t think they have a clue about anything there, but it was a '07 Napa cab, and it came from Rutherford, so why not?

2007 Daglia Canyon Rutherford Cabernet

Rutherford is known for producing very concentrated fruit, and many of the best cabernets in Napa call it home. I picked this up for $19.95, a little more than usual for me to review, but you pay for terroir. I opened and decanted this wine about 30 minutes before drinking to try to get the wine to open a bit. When I got to it, I noticed viscous concentration, dark ripe cherry, and the typical Rutherford dust. That dustiness is one of the qualities that embody the soil of the Rutherford sub-appellation of the Napa valley. The wine had notes of cassis, was very dry, and possessed a long lingering finish. I still found the wine to be very tight and decided to come back to it every half hour or so. The bottle says it is bottled in French oak, but I didn’t notice it within the first hour. I did notice a slightly off-putting metallic taste, almost irony, and thought it would continue to open up. After sitting in a decanter for 2 hours it developed some cedar notes, reminiscent of the inside of a cigar box. What I noticed at this point was that the wine had fruit, but wasn’t very complex, and it was extremely dry still. It was big, bold, robust, but the lack of complexity was disappointing. I returned 3 hours after decanting and started to get some of the vanilla notes that I associate with the use of French oak.

I have come to a conclusion on this bottle, and it’s not pretty. I would not call this a steal; it gets maybe 2 out of the possible 5 in my new rating system. It just never panned out. If you try this wine give it at least 2-4 years to mellow, and I would recommend decanting for 2 hours. This wine did open up quite a bit over 3 hours, and typically young Rutherford wines need that, but this just didn’t have the whole package. I would equate this wine to a one trick pony; it has power but no finesse. Oh, my original conclusion about the staff at Total Wine was correct. Clueless staff, but they do have a large selection of in-expensive wine. Trade-offs I guess. 

Cheers,

E

Stupid Ad Sense

I just realized there were advertisements on my blog. They have been taken down. I did put up a link to the Children's miracle network. Its a great charity, and I am proud to be able to support their cause.

Recipe pairing for the Anakena Pinot Noir

I have a great one in mind, but I am entering the recipe in a Super Bowl cook-off, so I will come back and edit this post with that recipe after the Super Bowl. Perhaps some of my loyal readers have a suggested recipe to post in the comments section? I will post another recipe, for you all to enjoy. This is my beer can chicken recipe, it is cooked in the oven and is very simple.

1 whole chicken
1 CAN of beer

RUB:
brown sugar
kosher salt
black pepper
paprika
red pepper flake
garlic powder
chili powder
onion powder

Directions are super easy. Find a home for 1/2 the beer (don't pour it out, that's alcohol abuse), cut the top off of the beer can, and poke a couple holes in the side of the can above the fluid level. The key to the chicken is to get it as dry as possible before rubbing it. This will make the skin crispy and delicious. Rub the chicken with the rub recipe above, making sure to pull back the skin over the breast to get the rub underneath. Add some of the rub to the inside of the chicken in the cavity. Place the chicken on top of the can so it is "standing up" and place the whole thing in a 350 degree oven. The beer in the can will turn to steam and keep your chicken very moist and tender. Cook till internal temp reaches 170 degrees F throughout. Be very careful removing the chicken from the can as it will be very hot. Wait at least 5 minutes before carving the bird to let it rest and reabsorb the juices. Serve with whatever you want on the side.

To try something fun you can brine the chicken for an hour or two beforehand. Also try different liquids than beer, perhaps a mixture of water and cheap white wine. I haven't tried that before, but imagine it would add another layer of flavor. Hope you enjoy this one.

Cheers,
E