Orchestral Wine - a Pairing Adventure

Mr. WineOH and I like to head down to Blossom Music Festival during the summer to sit on the lawn, eat gourmet goodies, and partake in a bit of the vitis vinifera while we listen to the Cleveland Orchestra in their summer home. It soothes the savage beast, as they say... or at least it soothes us after a hectic work week. Last weekend we gathered the WineOH eldest child, visiting from Maryland and most recently returning from a trip to Greece (there's Greek wine from that trip... can't wait to try it - Thanks, Ash!), and we headed out for a pleasant evening of music conducted by  Bramwell Tovey, one of the most convivial conductors I've ever had the pleasure of hearing - he actually talks to the crowd... very cool man. This set the mood for a most enjoyable evening.

Image Courtesy of Panoramio

I usually take particular care when putting my meals together for events like this. The music is particularly divine, and so the wine and food should blend seamlessly. I put together a picnic of salame, prosciutto, cheeses, chicken salad, pasta salads, mozz & tomato drizzled with balsamic, olives, a bit of basil pesto and an incredible old world baguette  - with Mr. WinoOH's brownies, of course. We paired this up with The Climber Chardonnay and a random bottle of pinot noir. The Climber is an interesting concept I first discovered at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, VA a few weeks ago. As much as we like to camp and hike, and prepare little meals to be enjoyed in places inconvenient for glass bottles, we were excited to see this packaging that, once emptied, folds up quite nicely to be hauled out of whatever location we have hauled it into, so it definitely intrigued me.

Clif Family The Climber Chardonnay

This is an unoaked chardonnay in a totally collapsible package with a non-drip plastic spout. Anyone who has tried to hike or camp with a buda bag knows that 75% of the time you are going to get leakage. This spout is actually, truly, non-drip - no leakage. This package is produced with an 80% lower carbon footprint than the equivalent bottles and produces 90% less waste. For us outdoor enthusiasts, that's always a bonus, and the empty weight is a breeze compared to humping a glass bottle off a trail for 5 miles. As a member of 1% for the Planet, CLIF family donates 1% of all Climber pouch sales to Trees for the Future. Another bonus for the environmentally conscious - and the fact that this pouch holds 2 bottles of wine makes any outing a value for $17 retail. 


So, we have nice, convenient packaging and an environmentally sensitive company... what else?

The wine itself is a pretty standard unoaked chardonnay with some sharp acidity on the palate and a crisp apple aroma. In the realm of unoaked chardonnay, in the price range, and with awesome packaging, I consider it a contender. If you are used to California oaky chard, this is NOT your wine. I paired it with some pretty indigestion inducing foods (namely some salads with peppers, spiced olives and at least one heavily seasoned and Italian dressing laced dish) These were not the best pairings for this wine. In the future, I'll go with fruit salads, crostini topped with cheeses and dried fruit, and other slightly sweeter dishes to balance out the acidity of the wine. Clif Family says its best enjoyed with good food and good company, I'll agree with that whole heartedly, just don't pair it with acid heavy foods.

Overall, this was a good wine to take to the lawn at Blossom. We enjoyed sipping on it once the brownies came out,  and not hauling an empty glass bottle was convenient for repacking our little cooler to trek back to the car. I do wish that the little plastic cap that comes off the top of the push button would actually go back on. Taking the wine in and out of the cooler, I was concerned that the button would get inadvertently pushed (and I'd have this concern in a pack as well) We were fortunate that the button is not that sensitive, but having the cap would definitely ease my mind in a hike-in situation. Wine down the back of your leg as you hike into camp, anyone?

I recommend this for value and packaging. Better than any boxed unoaked chardonnays. Nice QPR for the intended use.

Next weekend, we will be heading out with the Climber Cabernet. I'm thinking steak tartar and pickled beets? Ok, maybe not.

*wines provided by Clif Family for review.

#GDandBurgers - A Pairing Adventure

Food and Wine pairings are one of my passions. Putting the perfect morsel together with whatever wine I'm considering for the evening is a habit of mine that drives my other half crazy sometimes. But on a particular night in July when @winetwits paired up #GDandburgers – the man was oh so happy to indulge. French wine and sliders – he was in heaven.

It was all Eat. Drink. Love.

With a little wrangling, and more than a few tweets culminating in receiving our tasting kit in Charlottesville, VA at the Wine Bloggers Conference, without ever meeting the great guy who had hauled it all the way from New York – (sheesh, thanks for all your hard work with that – love Ohio shipping laws!) We brought home a box of Georges Dubœuf wines and some killer recipes from Chef Bob Waggoner. Ever the purist, I set out to purchase all the necessary ingredients from our local vendors to make slider representations of all 3 recipes to pair with the three wines... we invited a few neighbors over and it was on.

All wines were chilled for 3 hours before serving, and then set out to gradually warm. The Julienas was decanted and then chilled.

First wine paired was the 2009 Beaujolais-Villages, for which I prepared angus sliders stuffed with bacon, shallots, rosemary and New York aged sharp cheddar. This was the easiest “drinker” of the wines – and conversation flowed around the smoothness of the gamay and the price ($9.99 retail) – making this a crowd favorite for an everyday wine.

Winemakers notes on this wine.

The grilled portabella slider was the burger favorite – topped with eggplant, green onion and tomato after basting in some beaujolais, it was hard not to love this burger. I'm not exactly a mushroom fan, but have a feeling this one will reappear on my menus. When paired with the 2009 Brouilly, I found it to be absolutely divine. With a retail price of $13.99, this fitted into most “good dinner” budgets in the room. It was chewy, very berry and very much a stand out wine. Dubœuf believes this one can lay down for about 24 months – based on the tannins, I'd agree with that assessment, but I wouldn't go much past that.

Winemakers notes.

The last burger (wow... three huge and delicious sliders... I could already hear the elliptical downstairs calling my name) was a turkey burger with sundried tomato and basil sauté. This one also called for arugula and grilled red onion stuffed into a pita. While I had some trouble finding pitas that were not too big, and not too small (cue Goldilocks here....) I did find a work around and got all of that goodness stuffed into an appropriate package. This one was paired with the 2009 Julienas Chateau des Capitans which showed a spicy richness and tight tannins, along with pepper and licorice on the palate. Although we decanted this one for several hours prior to serving, it was still very tight and not the favorite of the evening. I left it decanted overnight however, and found it much more open and flavorful the next day. At $17.99 retail, it was closer to a “special night in with a steak” sort of wine for this group and with all the decanting needed, the consensus was that this was one to buy and keep for a few years to let it settle down.

Winemakers notes.

Preparing the burgers just before showtime was the key to making it all happen. I heartily encourage anyone doing a twitter tasting to dedicate someone to tweeting, recording and snapping pictures, as it is nigh on impossible to host an event and do any sort of substantive tweeting. We did manage to participate in the conversation, though our video feed of Chef Bob never did work properly - but it was a struggle even for my multitasking brain. 

Many thanks go out to our neighbor Becky, who provided positively scrumptious cheese filled dates wrapped in bacon as an appetizer. They paired very well with the Brouilly and the Villages wines we were sipping pre-gnosh. Compliments to the vendors from West Side Market in Cleveland for providing all my ingredients from one amazing local source – save the fresh herbs, which came out of my balcony garden. And also to Winetwits for getting this all together – absolutely loved the pairings and the idea.

Lets do it again!

Eat. Drink. Love. 

What you need to know about #OHwine at #WBC11

Southern Wine Trails is presenting Ohio Wine at the Other 46 Tasting tonight for the North American Wine Bloggers Conference. The winery we will be pouring is Ferrante Winery from Geneva, OH. 

Ferrante Winery is a family owned and operated winery. In 1937, Nicholas and Anna Ferrante established the winery in Cleveland's Collinswood area. In the 1970's, their sons Peter and Anthony built modern wine making facilities in the family's Harpersfield Township vineyards. In the 1980's, their families developed a thriving restaurant to showcase wine and food. 
         The menu then, as now, included Ferrante family favorites such as pizza della casa, spaghetti and meatballs, vitello scallopini and many more. All, of course, to complement the subtleties and nuances of the vintages from the cellar. 
         On November 4th, 1994, the operation was interrupted briefly by a fire. Gone were the dining and tasting rooms and many artifacts. Fortunately, a firewall saved the wine production facility, cellar and warehouse. 
          In early 1995, the Ferrante family pulled together body, mind and spirit to create the new home they have today. They are excited about the future of the Ohio wine industry and continue to develop award winning wines and fine dishes in the kitchen. 

The wines being poured tonight are: 


2010 Golden Bunches - Dry Reisling, Signature Series - Grand River Valley $14.99
1.54% RSV 
Awards: 
American Fine Wine - Gold
Finger Lakes International - Silver
Taster's Guild International - Silver
Pacific Rim International - Silver
Beverage Tasting Inst. - Silver
LA Wine - Gold
Winemakers notes: 
96% RIESLING (ESTATE GROWN-GRAND RIVER VALLEY)   4% VIDAL BLANC JUICE RESERVE . THE JUICE RESERVE IS A WAY OF ADDING SWEETNESS AND NATURAL ACIDITY.   FINISHED ANALYSIS: RESIDUAL SUGAR = 1.54%, TOTAL ACIDITY: .75GRAMS/ LITER, PH =3.26 AND ALCOHOL% = 12.5%. A WELL ROUNDED RIESLING WITH INTENSE VARIETAL AROMAS OF PEACH, CITRUS AND HONEYED NOTES.  VARIETAL RIESLING FLAVORS WITH GOOD BODY AND A CRISP LONG FINISH. 


2010 Cabernet Franc, Signature Series - Grand River Valley $15.99
Awards:

American Fine Wine - Bronze

Finger Lakes International - Gold

Taster's Guild International - Silver

Pacific Rim International - Silver

Winemakers notes: 
95% CABERNET FRANC (ESTATE - GROWN  GRAND RIVER VALLEY)   5%  CARIGNANE      FINISHED WINE  ANALYSIS.: RESIDUAL SUGAR = .4%, TOTAL ACIDITY : .57 GRAMS/ LITER, PH = 3.70 AND ALCOHOL % =13.0   THE WINE WAS AGED IN RADOUX COOPERAGE  BARRELS ( 70 GALLON ) FOR 4.25 MONTHS.  BARRELS USED ARE AMERICAN (MINNESOTA), MIDWEST HYBRID ( STAVES ARE MADE FROM MINNESOTA  WOOD, HEADS ARE FROM FRENCH WOOD), CENTRAL EUROPEAN (HUNGARIAN WOOD) AND TRADITION (FRENCH WOOD).  THE WINE IS A BLEND OF ALL FOUR BARREL TYPES USED.   THE WINE IS FRUIT FOWARD WITH BERRY AROMAS AND FLAVORS. THE OAK AGING GIVES COMPLEXITY TO THE STRUCTURE AND DEFINES THE CONCENTRATED FINISH.


If you have additional questions, please drop me a note, or a tweet - I'm happy to answer anything I can about Ohio Wines! Stay tuned next week for video from Nick Ferrante, wine maker at Ferrante Winery and Ristorante. 

Ferrante Wine and the #WBC11

Today I'm at the North American Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, VA to participate in a wine extravaganza - talking about blogging, wine, wine tastings - and to experience once again the amazing things that are happening with Virginia wine.

We'll also be pouring Ohio wine at the Other 46 Wine Tasting on Friday night. We've always been big proponents of the Drink Local Wine movement, encouraging our customers to embrace the excellent wines made in the state they live in, and Ohio wine is no different.

Look for the details about the wines of Ohio that will be poured at the tasting on Friday - until then:

Dinner this evening was a group affair at Maya Restaurant - 12 bloggers and industry folks sitting down to enjoy some great southern cuisine and conversation. The fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese sauce were delicious. I enjoyed Gabriele Rause Chardonnay (unoaked) with my meal. The wine list was well paired with the menu, although with as many great wines as are available in the area, I was disappointed to discover only the one Chardonnay from Virginia. This is a southern cuisine restaurant... they should be serving some of that great southern wine! Many, many thanks to Winebow for dinner. Y'all just generally rock, and are incredibly generous with all you do.

We later went down the open air mall to one of my favorite Charlottesville wine tasting spots.  Siips has a cool vibe, and a chocolate lava raspberry cake that is TO DIE FOR.

Blenheim Viognier, Keswick Vineyards Verdejo, Mountfair Vineyards Cabernet Franc and Pollak Merlot were on hand to be poured by the winemakers.

Each was lovely, and the winemakers who came out to meet us and pour, thanks to the efforts of George Benford, demonstrated incredible winemaking talent.

I recommend each and every one of these wineries when you visit Charlottesville. They all produce superior wine and each has an incredible commitment to customer service.

The conversations evolved throughout the evening, landing on topics like winemaking ingredients, how to swirl without swirling, marketing to millenials, and why Frank would volunteer me to be interviewed by the local tv station. If anyone sees that sound bite, I apologize in advance for looking all heat melty, and sounding incomprehensible. I'm honored to spend time talking to such intelligent and generous people - this is going to be a good weekend!

Drink well, my friends!

The 2011 HRevolution Wine Tasting

A group of wine lovers gathered at the Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta after a long day of challenging conversations at #HRevolution last Saturday. When a bunch (gaggle? murder? family?) of HR professionals and generally super smart people get together for thought provoking revolutionary style engagement, eventually we all must stop and take a breather. That breather was a wine tasting I organized for about 25 of us - wish we'd have had room for more.

These were the wines we tasted:

Sokol Blosser Evolution #9 – Oregon
Winery founded in 1971 – 85 certified organic acres

9 grapes. The Lucky Edition (#13, or not...) consists of Pinot Gris, Müller-Thurgau, White Riesling, Semillon, Muscat Canelli, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Sylvaner. While the grapes for the #9 are not published that I can find... tasting confirms a similar profile - though we don't know the exact blend.

The #9 has aromas of tropical fruit, orange blossoms, allspice followed by pear, peach and honey. The wine pairs well with Asian, Middle Eastern, and Spanish foods. I've also paired it with Caribbean style fish or sipped it on its own.

Its slightly off dry, with balanced acidity Best not too cold.

#9 has been found for as little as $10 per bottle, the 14th edition is available at $15. Still a great value for this wine.

Anselmi SanVincenzo Soave – Italian

80% Garganega, 15% Chardonnay, 5% Soave Trebbiano. Crisp and pure, with scents of minerals, apple, banana and lemon blossoms. Medium-bodied, dry and fresh, with notes of citrus fruit, pear, grapefruit and hints of hazelnut.

pair with Shellfish, Fish, Sole, Halibut, Salmon, Tuna, Poultry, Mild cheese.

10.99 retail, but not widely available

Gascon Malbec – Argentina
This winery is a Catena holding (see wine below) Founded in 1884

From their website:
Varietal Content: 95% Malbec, 5% Shiraz
Varietal Origin: Lujan de Cuyo and Uco Valley, Mendoza
Titratability Acidicity: 0.6g/100ml
pH: 3.7
Alcohol Level: 13.87%
Residual Sugar: 0.45g/100ml

A review of this wine from Tim Lemke at Cheap Wine Ratings:
There isn’t much intensity on the nose of this wine. I gave it a while to open up and it’s still tight. Although it lacks intensity, the aromas are pleasant with jammy blackberry and a soft, dusty earthiness. On the palate it has much more concentration to the flavors than the nose would indicate. This is a big wine that gives loads of blackberry and plum flavors up front, leading into cocoa that carries into a fairly long finish. Fine tannins and sufficient acidity give this wine reasonable structure.

10.99 – 15.99 retail

Cantena Malbec 2008 – Mendoza. Argentina
Bodega Catena Zapata (founded 1883)

100% malbec
Black fruit, licorice, vanilla, mocha, tobacco
Soft tannins, crisp acidity and a smooth finish
Aged 24 months in new french oak.
14% alcohol
Awarded 91 points from Robert Parker

16.00-20.00 retail

Tamas Double Decker Red 2008 – CA Central Coast

Appellation: Central Coast
Varietal Content: A proprietary blend of red wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Barbera
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vineyard: The grapes were harvested from select estate vineyards in the Central Coast appellation, whose topography, soils and climate provide optimal growing conditions for these varietals.
Fermentation: The grapes were fermented in upright stainless steel tanks at a cold temperature to retain aromatics and fruit flavors.
Aging: The components of this blend were aged separately in a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel tank.

8.99-9.99 retail

You can buy these wines from the winery websites where they are listed. I encourage you to look at your local wine shops for them as well to support local business. Or get them from places like Total Wine or use a tool like Wines.com to locate a merchant.

I'll have posts in the coming days on my everyday wines list, and notes and reviews of the wine apps for iPhone and Droid that have been most useful.

Thanks to each and every one of you for attending. I had a lot of fun, and more great conversation.

I'd love for those who attended to add their thoughts about their favorites (and not so favorites) in the comments below. And last I heard, that pourer was still trying to finish the service....