Washington Wine and Cheese

Wines I dreamed of in Iraq!

Well, since we have Two Blondes and and Brunette and Big A$% Reds, I thought I should have my own series. Since I’m not part of the writers guild I think its acceptable to have my own series - nothing against the union and I will work out a settlement agreeable to all sides. Did I mention the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl? Sorry for the departure, back to what you understand. Truth in advertising. While I would have loved to do a Malbec class, I am most happy to be doing garanacha. I was not a fan until doing the research and what I found was a grape that is multi-faceted, berry-like with hints of spice such as Cinnamon! Much like a lap dance, it is a wine that can open your eyes to things you have no experiences before! Hope you can join us! IT WILL BE FUN!

1. 2006 - Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines - Spain - $8.99
2. 2005 - Las Rocas San Alejandro Grenache - Spain - 10.99
3. 2005 - rincipe de Viana El Burro “Kickass” Garnacha - Spain - $11.49
4. 2004 - Turkey Flat Vineyards Grenache - Barrossa Valley - $26.99
5. Surprise?

Cheeses

1. Triple Cream Brie - 7.99
2. Manchego - $9.99

Wines ordered from Cleveland Park Wine and cheeses and bread from Calvert-Woodley

A representative from Alexander Valley Winery will be coming in to lead a Cabernet Sauvignon component tasting for us. Alexander Valley is prestigious family-owned winery in northern Sonoma County, California. Most of their production is reds. In addition to their great Cabernet, they produce several Zins (with labels you will love) and a great dry Gewurztraminer (called “New Gewurz”).

The tasting will be broken into two parts. First, we will have a guided tasting of the components of their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Five wines go into the blend–Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec (i.e. all of the Bordeaux varietals). You will have the opportunity to taste each of them, then compare them to the finished Cabernet Sauvignon. We will then have a “palate cleansing” break with the “New Gewurz” (bottles shared between tables) and move on to the 3 Zinfandels. There will be 3 different appellations (California, Alexander Valley, and Dry Creek Valley), so you will have a chance to compare the flavor nuances of the different styles and appellations.

I selected two special cheeses to go with the wines, both of which should pair very well with the red wines. One of them is new to us–Garrotxa from the Catalonian part of Spain. It is an aged goat milk cheese. The other is an old favorite, Gorgonzola Picante from Italy. And Carlos has promised me a very good one!

1. 2005 Estate Cabernet (Alexander Valley) - $25

2. 2006 New Gerwurz - $12

3. 2005 Temptation Zinfandel (California) - $15

4. 2005 Sin Zin (Alexander Valley) -

5. 2005 Zin (Dry Creek Valley) -

Cheeses:

Garrotxa (aged goat from Catalonia)

Gorgonzola Picante (cow’s milk blue cheese from Italy)

An all-Malbec tasting at WWCS. These are five of the best Malbecs from Chile and Argentina, carefully selected by Jean and by Dottie and John from the Wall Street Journal. Seriously–we’re going to enjoy the wines that the Wall Street Journal, in their Malbec review in June, called the “Best of Tasting” and “Best Value”. In addition, there are three other wonderful Malbecs that were the best of the many that I tried over the summer in preparation for this class.

1. 2005 Nieto Senetiner - Medonza, Argentina - $10.00

2. 2006 Alamos Catena - Mendoza, Argentina - $12.00

3. 2006 Montes - Colchuga Valley, Chile - $14.00

4. 2005 Felpe Rutini - Argentina - $20.00

5. 2004 Zuccardi - Mendoza, Argentina - $23.00

Cheeses:

1. Provolone - $11.99
2. St. Andre - $13.99

Tuesday, September 18! The return of Two Blondes, A Brunette and Five Reds presented by Lori Draheim, Carol Rentz and Jill LaPanna. Our theme for this tasting is Big Bodacious Blends! These are some tasty juice!

The wines we will feature are red blends made up of three or more grape varietals. We will start the tasting with a gold medal winning Bordeaux style red from Dry Creek Valley, next will be a gorgeous Australian MSG with a 90 point rating, then on to an easy-sipping Cal-Italian blend from Sonoma, from there we will have a Bordeaux blend with classic Napa flavors and texture at a great price, and finally, a big nicely proportioned red said to be spicy with a long finish from THE hot brand from Australia right now. You won’t want to miss this variety of red blends that are additionally great values!

1. 2004 Forchini - Beauseirra (Sonoma) - $12.99 - Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Carigane
2. 2005 Rutherglen Estate - The Reunion (Australia) - $14.99 - Mourvedre, Shiraz, Grenache
3. 2004 Ferrari-Carao-Siena (Sonoma) - $21.99 - Sangiovese, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon
4. 2003 Paoleti - Piccolo Cru (Napa) - $17.99 - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc
5. 2006 Molly Dooker - The Two Left Feet (Australia) - $19.99 - Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon

The two cheese that we had were:

1. Provolone Picante - $11.99 - Provolone originally comes from the south of Italy but is nowadays produced in several regions of North Italy.
2. Fromage d’ Affinois- $12.99 - a creamy French cheese that is silky and smooth.

The wines came from multiple locations listed below:

1. Bell’s Wine and Spirit (DC)
2. Total wine and More (multiple locaions)
3. Total wine and More (multiple locaions)
4. Out of Site (VA)
5. Pearsons (DC)

The cheese and bread both came from Calvert Woodley’s.