Washington Wine and Cheese

Menu

1. Vichyssoise (deconstructed)  - Wine: Grotta Del Sole Asprinio d’Aversa Spumante Brut - Italy - $14
2. Tuna Tartare - Tuna And Mache Salad On Flatbread - Wine: 2006 - Cantine Botromagno Gravina - Italy - $12
3. Chicken Florentine Tartlettes - Wine: 2006 - Vina Leyda Pinot Noir  - Chile - $23
4. “Lobster” Newburg - Wine: 2004 - Sebastiani Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel - California - $22
5. Lamb Wellington - Wine: 2005 - Maramonte Syrage - California - $17

Wines From Pearson’s
Bread From Calvert-Woodley

Tuesday, February 26 promises to be a special night at the Washington Wine and Cheese Seminar. We will present five outstanding wines from the award wining Stryker Sonoma Winery.

Louise Shelly and Jeff Kominers have done an outstanding job of putting this tasting together, and we will all get to enjoy their efforts! Stryker gave us some great discounts, some at 40%, to permit us to present higher priced wines. We’ll start with three terrific lively Zins, then a special blend, and finish with a super full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon.

1. 2004 - Stryker Old Vine Alexander Valley Zinfandel - $20
2. 2004 - Stryker OZ Alexander Valley Old Vine Zinfandel - $25
3. 2003 - Stryker Speedy Creek Knights Valley Zinfandel - $32
4. 2003 - Stryker Jen’s Blend Sonoma County Blend - $20
5. 2003 - Stryker Speedy Creek Knights Valley Cabernet - $38

Cheees

1. Taleggio - $13.99
2. Saint-Nectaire - $10.49

Lynne Cool will be guest presenter for the class tomorrow night. This is one you will not want to miss. In addition to exploring the contributions of Italian winemakers to the wine culture of California, Lynne will discuss the much-disputed origins of the Zinfandel grape and it’s relationship to the Primitivo grape of Italy.

Wines will be from both sides of the ocean. From California, there will be two of my favorite Zinfandels from Sonoma County, Seghesio and Trentadue, as well a a wonderful Barbera from Boeger in El Dorado County. From Italy, there will be a Primitivo from Puglia in southern Italy and an outstanding red wine from Friuli in Northern
Italy. This last wine is from a winemaker who was educated in the United States but returned to his winemaking family in Italy taking new world techniques.

There will of course be two cheeses (one creamy and one hard sharp cheese) which were selected to pair well with the wines, as well as plenty of crusty bread.

Please join us for this educational and delicious event!

1. 2006 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel - $20
2. 2006 A-Mano Puglia, Sicily Primitivo - $13
3. 2005 Trentadue Sonoma County Zinfandel - $20
4. 2006 Boeger El Dorado, Ca Barbera - $16.50
5. 2006 Just Me Friuli, Italy Merlot - $31

Wines from Bell Wine Shop

Cheeses:

1. Edel L’Cleron - $18.99
2. Cabot XSharp Cheddar - $8.99

Bread and Cheeses from Calvert-Woodley

It was my intention to put together a very nice Malbec tasting for this Tuesday evening. I, along with a few friends, went to Pearson’s and asked Michael for his recommendations. We started with a wonderful Malbec which was medium bodied, nice fruit, good balance, etc. All agreed it was a good start to completing a good Malbec tasting.

Then a funny thing happened. Perhaps it was something someone in the background said. Perhaps it was an unexpected astronomical alignment. Whatever the reason, the next wine that we tasted wasn’t a Malbec. Michael opened a blend that was wonderful. Everyone agreed that this had to be in the tasting. Before I could ask if Malbec was one of the grapes in the blend, Michael had opened another amazing wine. This one was clearly not a Malbec, but the reactions of others made it
clear that I couldn’t pass this wine up.

By the end of the evening, I had picked out 5 beautiful reds and only 1 was a Malbec. I thought to myself, “What happened? I wanted to do a Malbec tasting and I only have 1 in the lineup.” No sooner had I completed that thought, I hear Michael say “You really have to try this before you leave.” And thus, the Malbec was replaced.

Join us this Tuesday evening for “The Malbec Tasting That Almost Was…” We will be having 5 wonderful reds, among them a beautiful grenache, a big and bold Rhone, and a bordeaux-style blend that are sure to please. If the crowd as Pearson’s that evening was any indication, these wines will be sure to please.

1. 2005 Bogle Petite Sirah - California $15
2. 2004 Mestezaje - Spain $16
3. 2005 Las Rocas - Garancha Spain $17
4. 2002 Furque Syrah Roble 2002 - Argentina
5. 2003 Grandy Vacqueyras - France

Cheeses:

1. Horlick’s Farm Cheddar - $12.99
2. Belletoile - $11.98

Just got back from a great Christmas party at a friend of mines from wine class. The food was great after he had been cooking and baking off and on for like the last week. There was shrimp, baked salmon cakes with a dill sauce, cheese, bread, chips and dip, Finnish meatballs (similar to Swedish meatball but they have cheese in them), and enough cookies and desserts for a small army. I like the ginger cookies and always have.

Now we can get into some of the great wine that I remember having. We started the evening off with a 3 liter of Malbec and I do not remeber the vintage or country, it was really nice and drinkable. Next I went to the 2005 Turley Dogtown Zinfandel, which was really good, just as most Turleys are. The Turleys can come from a great number of indiviual wineries or plots of land in Napa valley. The next wine I had was the 2005 von Strasser Cabernet Franc really nice wine that tasted wonderful. After that I went to the 2005 von Strasser Cabernet Sauvignon which was just as good as the Cabernet Franc. We never got the 2005 von Strasser Monhoff Vineyard Zinfandel a lot of people had drank other wines in the main room. I was pacing myslef for the evening.

I then took a short break and had a bit of water to help hydrate and had a few desserts. After a lot of people left someone put a set of reindeer antlers with a bell on the hosts head. He made some smart comment about is was to bad no one had a camera to take his picture. That was not to say to a person like myself who happened to have his small digital camera in his pocket. Which I queitly turned on my camera in my pocket and then took his picture. Then a bit later they thought the antlers would look good on me so there they went on my bald head. I ended up taking a self portrait to make life easier. After looking at the photo a few people said it made my eye brows stand out. At some point someone else ended up with one clip on earing that had Christmas bells on there ear. I will be nice and not post that picture and it was not even of me.

After the majority of the people left the host and one other person went looking for one last wine. They pulled things out ofhis wine cellar and then put them back mostly because a lot of them I believe they said were still to young. They picked a syrah or a petit syrah (?). They tooked out a zinfandel that I did not know. They then pulled out an 2002 A Rafanelli Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley), which I informed them was probably my third favorite zinfandel producers in the whole world. My other two favorite zinfandel producers would be Rusden Winery (Barossa) and Turley Wine Cellars, with A. Rafanelli winery a very close third. After that statement it became one of our final chooses. After talking to a few of the real wine people left we ended up witht 2002 A. Rafanelli. Great wine to end the evening on, while watching the host load the dishwasher, since he wanted no help. Once he got to the wine glasses the final two people myslef included helped dry and put the glasses away.

If I have missed anything or have something wrong, please a comment and I will update this post with more facts or things I missed.

I’m finishing up gathering the last two wines for my class this Tuesday (11/27/2007). The theme I have come up with is one that I have thought about for a long time. The theme is “wines from places you might not have ever been”.

No, it’s not going to be a berry wine from Hawaii or some obscure grape from a third world country. These wines are some of my favorites of all time. I’m even going to be pulling about three bottles of one wine out of my own cellar just so I can have enough to share it with everyone, since I could not find anymore around town.

We will be having a wonderful Rhone style wine that I found on a great deal with the help of another member of class. We were out and about on one of my days off and found this wine.

Another of the wines is something that I found by asking two people at the wine store (store owner and a friend that works there). I said, “If you could recommend one red wine around $20 what would it be?” They both said separately the same wine. I tried it and then bought a case for class.

More to come once I have finished picking up my last wine, which is going to be a white.

1. 1995 and 1997 Vignobles Biresbarre Vouvray Dem-Sec (UnWined) - $19.99
2. 1999 Marco Maci’s - Corte Barocca Salento IGT Primitivio (A. Litteri’s) $3.99
3. 2002 Plan Pegau (Mills Wine) - $9.00
4. 2005 Paoletti Vineyards - Piccolo Cru (Bell’s) - $19.99
5. 2002 Rusden Grenache Christines (Wide World of Wines) - $44.99

Cheeses (Rick’s Wine and Gourmet)

1. Varcherin (Swiss Washed Rhine) - $12.99
2. Grafton Cheddar (Aged 2 yr) - $10.99

It’s not too late to change your travel plans and leave Wednesday morning!!!! On Nov. 20th, Washington Wine and Cheese Seminar presented a tasting featuring five Zinfandels from California. It seems only fitting that as we prepare to feast on one of the most traditional of American holidays, that we break from the usual tradition with a tasting of a truly American wine . . . ZINFANDEL! Although Zins are not usually considered your typical turkey wine, the fruit and balance of these wines may sway your opinion of the perfect complement for sweet or mashed potatos, gravy, and stuffing.Our wine selections will feature two wines from Napa Valley, two from Amador, and one from Lodi. The wines come from vintners Dominican Oaks, Sobon, Santino, Oak Ridge, and Titus. Two of the wines are characterized as “medium-bodied” and the other two as “full-bodied.” One is organically farmed, and all five will knock your socks off! The wines exemplify the spice, pepper, berry, and rich flavors that characterize Zinfandel. Frankly, the rich descriptions remind me of all my favorite Thanksgiving dishes!

Our selection of Zins will be accompanied by a morbier, a sharp cheddar and crusty bread. If you’re hosting Thanksgiving and your guests are already in town, feel free to bring them but keep in mind that we can only accommodate the first 96 tasters.

As I count my Thanksgiving blessings this year, I am thankful for ZINFANDEL!!!!!!! I look forward to sharing these wines with you tonight.

1. 2005 Domincan Oaks Zinfandel Napa - $14.99
2. 2005 Sobon Reserve Zinfandel - $24.99
3. 2003 Santino Zinfandel Old Vines - $15.99
4. 2005 Oak Ridge Zinfandel - Lodi $15.99
5. 2004 Zinfandel - Napa $24.99

Wine from Total Wine and More

Cheeses:

1. Horlick Sharp Cheddar - $9.49
2. Morbier - $9.99

From Calvert Woodley