Totally fell off the 30 days of California on Day 2 - went to a fondue party to celebrate MKB's bday and ended up having a night of Washington and Chilean wine. Two in particular paired beautifully with the three different cheese combinations so I thought I would share our finds for the night regardless. This crew takes their fondue seriously - we had a curried gouda, traditional gruyere, and a wisconsin trio that had chunks of blue cheese in it. YUM! So amazing with veggies and pumpernickel bread.
Onto the Washington Wine!
1. ANC 2008 Estate Viognier (Alexandria Nicole Cellars). Consistently delicious - honey notes with a nice light finish to it. We got a screaming deal on this one but it typically retails for $20 (we found it for half off by watching their sales). Just amazing with the salty cheese and fruit. Would have picked their '07 as our wedding wine if it wasn't sold out! Consistently good varietal for this vintner.
2. Brian Carter 2005 Byzance. What can I say - BC's blends always receives a minimum of 90 points from Robert Parker. Just consistently beautifully blended - big bold Southern Rhone varietal that if it were a little less expensive - I could happily drink every night. I prefer this wine with food - especially with strong flavored food like beef. We paired the '06 with Boeuf Bourguignon and it held up well. We were surprised that this paired well with the Wisconsin Trio.
Fantastic evening had by all - the birthday girl insisted on making her own birthday cake - Boston Cream Pie in cake format. Heavenly - none of us had any room for chocolate fondue afterwards. After an hour of forced crafts (MKB wanted to know why adults aren't forced to craft at their birthdays) and a bit more wine - we meandered home. Spent the rest of the weekend wine free and running around trying to get ready for the week.
Monday Night!!
Long day at work and long week ahead of us - decided we should dig into a little unoaked chardonnay from Coquelicot - one of our favorites from our most recent Santa Barbara trip. Paired perfectly with grilled halibut - very citrusy and not at all reminiscent of the big and buttery chardonnay that most folks think of with any California Chardonnay. Very bright and served best extra cold. If you are in Los Olivos - this is a must see tasting room - charming staff and just making fantastic wine using sustainable farming techniques.
Well I best head off for the night...stay tuned for the next installment. I promise I will try to stick to California!! So many tasty varietals in my backyard its hard to stick to California! Oh and our muscat grapes are finally ripe!!
No comments:
Post a Comment