When to drink wine?

Those who know me might think the answer to this is "any day that ends in Y", which is also true.

:)

But for this purpose, I'm referring to when to open a bottle of wine you've been saving. First, there is no absolute answer to that one. You're just going to have to figure out your own palate. For example, I know that I tend to prefer California Cabernet Sauvignons at least 5 years from the vintage date - preferrably 7, and some 10+, depending on the year and quality. But generally, I keep them until they are at least 5 yrs, so right now I'm hard pressed to drink a 2010 or younger. Once again, this is me and my preference. I know people who love Cabernets right after they are released and others that think 5 years is too young. It's all in what you like.
But let's pretend you don't have a *couple* years drinking aged wine under your belt and you aren't exactly sure what you like. Where do you start? Here's a couple great sources:

http://www.erobertparker.com/newsearch/vintagechart1.aspx

https://www.winemag.com/PDFs/Vintage_Chart_2015_V3.pdf

It might seem a bit intimidating at first, but it's worth the time to review thoroughly. Naturally, these are just suggestions, but they are the experts so it's a good place to start while you figure out your own palate.

Tomorrow night the St. Louis Wine Club is doing a belated version of Open That Bottle Night and I referenced both of these guides to determine which of two bottles I was going to open....stay tuned in a  couple days for the choice and the results!

Great visual for aromas in wine

I found these great pics for aromas in wine.

  

  

Pics found here.

Sempre Vive Vertical Pairing Dinner

Recently the St. Louis Wine Club had a vertical pairing dinner for '02-'06 Sempre Vive. 

The 2004 was the overwhelming favorite, followed by a tie on the 2003 and 2005. Aside from the 2002, all were given about an hour and a half of air in the glass until we ate. The 2005 continued to open up and was best at about 2.5-3 hours.  Here's the information I provided along with the vintage reports:

"Romeo Vineyards produces elegant and enduring wines from vines forty-two years old which reside south of a nine acre reservoir in Calistoga, California within the Napa Valley.  The two forested knolls which surround the vineyard provide the geographical conditions that foster an extremely long hang time. This allows our grapes to develop full flavors, deep color and intense complexity. Often we have early morning fog, even in the summer. The earlier it dissipates, the hotter the day we can expect. In addition, we dry farm with only overhead frost protection.

Our oldest block totals seventeen acres and was planted in 1971.  The clone was unknown and so good that we have had it cleaned up and had Mother vines made at UC Davis where they are in the FPMS Block. Duarte's Nursery is keeping a majority of our Mother vines for us to bench graft in order to replace our old vines as they may need replacing someday.  The clone is named after our son, Albie Romeo, who also crafted the name of our wines, Sempre Vive, meaning "always alive". The vineyard is comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon clone #337, Cabernet Sauvignon #7, Petit Verdot Merlot, and Malbec. Our vines look like little old men, bent and gnarled.  These thick gnarled old vines produce from their hearts.  The vineyard is also and ecological sanctuary.  We welcome and preserve the homes of Blue Herons, Egrets, and the Red Kit Fox along with an abundance of other wildlife native to the area.  It’s a peaceful unity between nature and our vines.

NAPA VINTAGE REPORTS

2006

The 2006 harvest finished in early November and will go down as a 'grower's year' as vintners were faced with a variety of challenges from New Year flooding to wet weather that continued late into spring delaying budbreak. By early June, the sun came out and vines began to bloom and set fruit. Mid-July presented a record-setting ten day heat wave, but the canopy had not yet been thinned because of the delayed season and young clusters were shaded from the hot sun. Most growers agreed that the heat helped catch the vines up to a "normal" place in the growing season. Somewhat cooler weather arrived in August and continued throughout harvest, allowing for moderately paced and deliberate ripening and a long harvest period. Cool weather dominated early October, with rain coming in the first week, but the white varieties were in and this presented no damage to the black varieties still on the vine.

2005

Winter rains took pause for a dry, mild March then began again with record-setting precipitation late into the growing season delaying bloom and set. The summer months were cool and pleasant with few heat spikes. Fog and cool temperatures were a concern heading into September as sugar levels were yet to rise in all varieties. Warm, nearly perfect conditions arrived with an Indian Summer making for a later than average harvest, providing winemakers with fruit with extended hang and ultimately realizing excellent sugar development and balanced acids with a larger than average crop of what could be a signature vintages from Napa Valley.

2004

Bud break occurred earlier than many vintners could remember and the trend carried forward throughout the growing season. Heat spikes occurred in June and at scattered intervals throughout the summer season. Grapes completed veraison early and ripeness with well developed sugars in all varieties was realized early. Growers held on as acid balance eventually caught up. Temperatures were steady into one of the earliest harvests in Napa Valley. Grape quality was very good with a crop that was smaller than average.

2003

The unpredictable nature of the 2003 growing season began with a series of early heat spikes in March, followed by the wettest April on record. A long cool summer allowed the fruit flavors to evolve beautifully ahead of the sugar accumulation. Heat spikes in September helped move the harvest forward after many felt it would be a late year.

2002

The 2002 vintage will be remembered by a long, mostly mild growing season, followed by warm weather near the end of September that pushed the ripening level upward, concentrated fruit flavors and condensed the harvest. An early April frost and May rains gave way to a mild summer with ideal growing conditions - warm days and cool, even cold, nights. Overall, the grape crop was balanced, showing excellent intense colors and flavor concentrations. While per-acre tonnage was generally lower than average, the overall yield of the entire Napa Valley appellation was average to above average."

Happy Blindtober!

It’s been a while since I’ve been blogging but never fear, I’ve been drinking wine…lots of wine!! I’ll catch you up on some great wine experiences at a later post, for now, I welcome you back to Blindtober. As you might recall, every October I taste wines blind – as in, I don’t know what I’m drinking and I guess what it is. Typically I just guess the varietal, but sometimes I get ballsy and go for region. Well, I’ve been doing this for a few years and you know what? I still kinda suck at it. :) But I keep doing it because how am I ever going to be good? Plus it’s a fun game to play for a month. (although here’s a secret…by the end of the month I’m tired of it - and just wanna drink to drink with no guessing!!)

This year, like last, I’m gonna tweet about my blind tasting experiences with #blindtober. Join me if you’re up to it!

Dry aged strips...cooked with love

I hope all you lushes (and non-lushes!) had a fabulous Valentine’s Day! I’ll get to what we had in a minute, but first let’s go on a trip down memory lane. In 2005 or 2006 Mr. Lush purchased a bottle of 2003 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon and we’ve been holding on to it since then. In October of 2011 we met Chuck Wagner (owner of Caymus) at a pairing dinner. We talked about the 2003 and how long we should hold it, (he said drink soon - the special selection is the one meant for 10+ yr aging) and how we were going to be in Napa for a wedding in January. He suggested we stop in for a private tasting; and we did. During that tasting Mr. Wagner surprised us with opening a 2003 – the same year we had been holding onto. It was fantastic and to his surprise, he thought it could another year or two. As you might have guessed, we not drink it when we got home and instead lovingly looked at it and promised we’d be together in one to two years. ;) We really lucked out, getting to taste it without having to open our own.

Here's us with Chuck, his daughter, and the wedding couple....by the way, if you should make it to Napa, I highly recommend a stop by Caymus, they make a lot more than the stuff that gets distributed outside Cali. (Zinfandel, bubbly, etc)

Ok, so on to our Valentine’s Day dinner – which we usually eat in vs doing the “cattle call going out to dinner” thing. In VDays past we’ve picked either elaborate recipes or simply more expensive items than we’d normally eat. This year we picked the latter.

We started the evening off with some gorgonzola stuffed bacon wrapped dates (I didn’t take a picture of that; my apologies!) with the 2009 Domaine Carneros (the California sparkling house by Tattinger) Brut Rose. (to which I also recommend stopping by - beatiful scenery and although expensive, an informative tour and tasting) It was a decent pairing; the wine was dry and cut through the bacon, a little bit fruity and tart so it went well with the date and gorgonzola- however not a slam dunk pairing, both were good and I do love some pink bubbly!!! (note, the bottle is empty in this pic...)

On to the main course… Dry aged strip steak, grilled fingerling potatoes and grilled broccoli. Referencing the trip down memory lane above; we tasted the dry aged rib eye at that Caymus pairing dinner and really loved it and since have tasted the strip steak and loved that as well. Here it is in it’s raw form – look at that gorgeous marbling….

We only seasoned with some fresh ground pepper; we didn’t want it to overpower the wine. Wait! The wine! How could I forget! ;) I’m sure by now you’ve guessed what the wine was….yes, the 2003 Caymus. We hemmed and hawed; drink now or wait? Drink Now or Wait? Oh the drama of a couple of lushes!! :) It was so good last year, but we’ve also had a few instances where we’ve held onto wine too long lately. (oh, so so sad to taste a wine too late!) So we opened it; it probably could’ve gone another year honestly, but we thought it was better than last year and was certainly in it’s prime drinking window. Mr. Lush knocked it out of the park with the strips; they were cooked perfectly and went amazingly with the wine!

Dessert…was less elaborate. Grilled peaches (with brown sugar) with cinnamon swirl pound cake, topped with a single serving (hence the odd shape) of Edy’s Slow Churned Caramel Delight ice cream. The wine…was considerably less impressive than the first two; a Hogue Reisling.  Medium sweet, hints of peaches with a bit of minerality. However, it went really well with the dessert and I’d recommend it as a cheaper pairing; a sauternes would probably pair better, but for the price ($8) it’s hard to beat.

Wine Enthusiast Valentines Day Deal

Hello wine lovers! Use the coupon code love50 for a $50 coupon with a $50 purchase on WE today!

Faves from wine clubs past....

I ran across some notes of past wine clubs and thought I’d jot down some of our favorites. (they are not in any order, just the ones that scored the highest of the night and that we'd consider buying again)
Sometime I’ll probably find the scores for other ones, but for now here’s what I have readily available…

 

From Red Blends:

• 2006 Edward Sellers Le Theif
• 2009 L Preston
• 2008 Ferrer Bobel Priorat 

From Poor Man’s night:

• 2011 Field Stone Petite Sirah Rose
• 2010 J Opi Malbec
• 2009 Fieldstone Corvino Red Table Wine 

From Zinful Desserts: 

• 2008 Kenwood Reserve Zin 
• 2008 Martinelli Vigneto di Evo Zin 
• 2005 Peterson Winery Muscat Blanc

And I even found one from summer last year...

 

From Hot Weather Wines: 

• 2011 Domaine Lafond Tavel
• 2011 Chateau De Manissey Tavel
• nv Mumm Brut Rose
• 2007 Autry Cellars Petite Sirah (to go with BBQ fare)

Siduri Winemaker Dinner

A week or so ago, Mr. Lush and I (along with Ms. G) went to a Siduri winemaker pairing dinner at a local wineshop/restaurant. I’ll have to say that the winemaker, Adam Lee, is pretty darn funny, a smidge on the raunchy side in fact. While I don’t mind the raunchy sense of humor, and in fact love it, out of respect for his privacy I most certainly won’t post the jokes/comments! Just know, if you get a chance to meet him - go!

Here’s the menu:

My favorite wine was a tie- the Santa Rita and the Sebastiano (also from Santa Rita). My favorite pairing was the duck with the Santa Rita; (below) the veal was a bit too fatty and the pinot wasn’t big enough to cut through it, at least not in my opinion.

It was an interesting dinner to try pinots by the same winemaker. Unfortunately for my visual friends, all the Siduri Pinots look nearly identical.

And of course, whenever we meet a winemaker, Mr. Lush and I pose with them – here’s us with the funny Adam Lee. (The picture is a bit hazy-I think the person who took it was under a light so it flooded it out – boo!)

Everything's better with bacon mac-n-cheese

Several months ago, I attended a “Everything’s Better With Bacon” cooking class at Schnucks (a local grocery store); it included a bacon bloody mary, warm spinach salad with bacon, pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon with Dijon mustard cream sauce, bacon boursin mac-n-cheese and bacon chocolate ice cream. Yes, it was a glorious bacon-licious day! Well, I needed to share the recipe for the bacon mac-n-cheese with someone and I thought well, I might as well share it with everyone, since it really is the best mac-and-cheese.

Bacon Boursin Mac-n-Cheese 

• 1lb macaroni
• 1 qt milk
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 8 oz Gruyere, grated or shredded
• 4 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated or shredded
• 4 oz Bousin cheese (I use garlic herb)
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ lb bacon, crispy crumbled
• ¾ lb freshly sliced tomatoes (or diced)
• 1 ½ cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Boil and drain macaroni
• Heat (but don’t boil) milk in small saucepan. Melt 6 TBS butter in large pot and stir in flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with whisk. Add hot milk slowly, stirring with whisk and cook for 3-5 more minutes until thickened and smooth.
• Take off heat and add Gruyere, cheddar, Boursin, 1 tbs salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in bacon and macaroni and pour into baking dish.
• Slice tomatoes and arrange on top of macaroni. Melt remaining 2 TBS butter, combine with fresh bread crumbs and sprinkle on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and lightly browned on top.

As far as wine pairing, I don't really a perfect pairing for you. If I recall I had an unoaked Chardonnay and it was ok. We're going to have it again this weekend so I'll update if we taste anything fantastic with it!

Lush Pastitsio

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the wine part of the Terlato vertical pairing dinner and promised the recipe, so here it is. Now, it was my first time making Pastitsio and I looked at several recipes, but based mine mostly on this one. Some commented that I was very brave making a dish I’d never made for 14 people,and they are right - I was more than a bit nervous. However, I frequently make red sauce and lasagna and I knew lamb would go well with the Syrah, so I took a chance and am happy to say it turned out well!

Note: this is a bit of a labor/time intensive dish. Including grating the cheese (I was surprised that it took a really really long time to grate the cheese!) and simmering time, it was about 2 hours prepping this, not counting the baking time. I made it in the morning and let it sit in the fridge before transporting it to dinner and baking there.

Lush Pastitsio

• 2 quarts 2% milk
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 pounds ground lamb
• 2 tablespoons cup olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ cup tomato paste
• 1 ¼ cup dry red wine
• Two 16 oz cans petite diced tomatoes
• One 16 ounce can tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons dried oregano (or 1/2 cup fresh chopped oregano, which is what I used)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 ½ pounds penne
• 1 ¾ cups freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 large egg yolks

  

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk until bubbles appear around the edge. In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour to the butter and whisk over moderately high heat until light golden, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the hot milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick, about 8 minutes. Season with 2 teaspoons of salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg and ½ tsp ground oregano. Press plastic wrap directly on the sauce and let cool.

2. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and brown it in a large pan with 2 tbs olive oil. Transfer the lamb to a platter. (note, the lamb I had was 80/20 so I drained about half the fat once it was browned – the oil in the sauce will soak into the dried pasta and bump up the flavor)

3. Add the shallot to the pan and cook over moderate heat until it is softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon, allspice and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, then the tomato paste. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is nearly evaporated. Add the lamb along with the tomatoes and their liquid, the tomato sauce, oregano and sugar. Season the lamb mixture with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat, about ½ hour.

4. Meanwhile, cook the penne in a large pot of boiling salted water until barely al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain well, blot dry with paper towels and let cool.

5. Preheat the oven to 375°. Spray or butter a large baking dish (I used an aluminum roasting pan for 25 lbs and used Pam). Line the bottom with one half of the penne. Spread half of the white sauce on top, then cover with the lamb sauce and sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese. Top with the remaining penne. Stir the egg yolks into the remaining white sauce and spread it over the penne. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 40 minutes, or until the edges of the pan are golden and the sauce is bubbling. Let the Pastitsio stand for 20 minutes before cutting.

Here’s the before and after:

Terlato Pairing Dinner

Last weekend my wine club had a vertical pairing dinner party with 2004-2007 Terlato Family Vineyards Syrah. For the entree, we made a modified version of this Pastitsio (Greek lasagna) found on Food and Wine.  (my recipe will be posted tomorrow) Several side dishes, including Greek peppers, were served. (hopefully those who made it will reply with their recipes as well!)

Let’s talk about the wine for now. We got a winewoot deal on the 2004, 2006 & 2007 and bought the 2005 directly from the winery. The 2007 was the Block 9, but the rest were the estate vineyars. Mr. Lush and I agreed that the favorite wine by itself was the 2005, but it wasn’t our favorite with the Pastitsio- it actually paired better with the peppers. Our favorite(s) with the lamb were the 2004 and 2006 and the rest of the wine club agreed with the pairing. (I will note that I think the 2004 was at or just past it’s prime, so if I were to purchase any again, I’d focus on 2005 and younger.) The 2007 was my least favorite; it opened up a little bit by the end of the night, but if I had a bottle, I think I’d hold onto it for another year or two.

WE's 10 Best Wine Travel Destinations 2013

Like I needed to add another place to my bucket list... *Sigh*

• Rioja, Spain 
• Danube, Austria
• North & South Forks of Long Island, New York
• Stellenbosch, South Africa
• Monterey County, California
• Vale dos Vinhedos, Brazil
• Willamette Valley, Oregon
• Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia
• Douro Valley, Portugal
• Puglia, Italy

 

From:

http://www.winemag.com/Wine-Enthusiast-Magazine/Best-Of-Year-2012/10-Best-Wine-Travel-Destinations-2013/

Gold Medal Wine Club's early bird sale

Many of you have had their stuff and liked it...and are always bummed when I tell you it's the last bottle, so here's your chance to sign up (if you do, don't forget to tell them I referred you!)

http://www.icontact-archive.com/MqtBwiC1LkegUeVqHnhDYGKMgEYc_xOF?w=4

Anchovy Butter, Moroccan Carrots & Cab Franc

A couple weeks my wine club had a Cabernet Franc Vertical pairing dinner – with the 2004-2006 Adobe Road Cabernet Franc. As a wine club member I was able to get some library selections and we were able to get 2 of each bottle so it was a good sized dinner party. While we’ve had some other verticals, this was our first Cabernet Franc one! The wines were delicious-although one of the 2004s was past its prime, so if you have it, drink it! There was no clear favorite; it seemed to be was tied between the 2004 and 2005, although the 2006 was also lovely.

 

For dinner we had filets seasoned with garlic and tarragon, served with anchovy butter on the side (recipe follows), along with some Moroccan carrots (recipe follows), loaded baked potato casserole, and I think one other side. (my apologies if I forgot your contribution!) Anyway, this was my first time making – or even tasting – anchovy butter. It was relatively easy to make, but I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous because it smelled very anchovy-ish during the preparation stage, however I couldn’t even taste the anchovy once it was melted on the steak and even took another pat. All but one person loved it, and it paired well with the cab franc, so it’s something I’ll keep in the rotation (although not too often!). The carrots were actually amazing with the cabernet franc – and I don’t even like cooked carrots that much! For a "normal dinner" pairing I would recommend using cumin, coriander, and tarragon into as many dishes as possible. We looked at a cumin lamb recipie but opted against it because we wanted to focus on the nuances between the vintages, which was a good call, although it would’ve been an amazing pairing and is something I'll try next time I have a Cab Franc.

 

 

Here’s a couple of recipes from the event

 

Anchovy butter (makes about 20 ½ inch pats)

• 6 anchovies packed in oil
• 1 ½ stick of butter, room temp
• 1 tbs chopped tarragon
• 1 tbs garlic powder

Mash or food process ingredients together and then pour on a plastic wrap sheet. Roll into a log and refrigerate for an hour or more. Slice into pats and top steaks. (we chose to serve it on the side and allow guests to top their steaks themselves.) 

 

 

Moroccan Carrots 

• 4 medium carrots (3/4 pound), thinly sliced on a mandoline
•  1 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Large pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Salt

  

1. In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the carrots for 1 minute. Drain.

 

2. In a large skillet, combine the carrots with the orange juice, water, coriander, cumin and cinnamon and simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sugar and the butter. Season the carrots with salt and serve. Credit: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/moroccan-carrots

Join me for #blindtober

If you’ve followed my blog before, you know I love blind tastings, so much that every October Mr. Lush and I taste everything we can “blind”. (for those of you who are nor familiar with the term, tasting wine “blind” means you have to guess what’s in the glass-usually the varietal, although experts can guess even more!) We accomplish this at home by switching off who pours the bottle; last night I selected a bottle, poured Mr. Lush a glass, and he correctly guessed it was a Chardonnay from California.

By no stretch are we experts-we both get more wrong than we do right, and we don’t try to guess the vintage or even specific AVA (although occasionally we might…but usually fail!). Naturally if its from our own collection we do better, because we can narrow it down. But we spend all year drinking and learning about wine, so it’s a good time to really focus in and apply what we’ve learned. Sometimes we throw each other easy ones, sometimes we mix it up and throw each other a curve ball, but we have fun with it.

I initially called this experience the Blind Ambition Tour (yes, that is a Madonna reference) but this year I’m going to tweet about my experiences with the hashtag #blindtober. My twitter name is stlwinelush and so I invite you to join me this October – taste wine blind and tweet about your experiences. Going to someone's house? Have them pour you a glass before showing you what it was. Head into a bar and tell the bartender to pick something out for you. Or, for even more of a challenge, head into a bar like Flemings, where they have 100 wines by the glass and ask them to make you a flight-so you’ll have 3 wines to guess. If you fail epically, don’t fret-we’re there with you. Get out of your comfort zone and give it a shot.

I’ll keep an eye out for the #blindtober tweet, cheers!

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken & Rose

Rose wines are a Lush favorite of summer, and so is grilling. (truth be told, grilling isn’t a season for the Lush Household, it’s a lifestyle!) For a recent wine club event, Mr. Lush found a recipe for grilled chicken drummies that pairs wonderfully with rose, so we thought we'd share:



• 1 quart buttermilk


• 1 tablespoon onion powder


• 1 tablespoon garlic powder


• 2 tablespoons kosher salt


• 2 tablespoons sugar


• 1 tablespoon ground cumin


• 1 teaspoon pepper


• 4 lbs chicken drumsticks/thighs (any combo or all one, we used drumsticks)


1. In a large bowl, mix buttermilk, onion and garlic powder, salt, sugar, cumin, and pepper.


2. Rinse chicken thighs /drumsticks and pat dry. Trim off excess fat. Submerge chicken pieces in buttermilk brine. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or up to 1 day.


3. Lift chicken from brine; discard brine. Wipe excess from chicken with paper towels.


4. Lay chicken pieces on a barbecue grill over medium coals or medium heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 4 to 5 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook, turning frequently, until browned on both sides and no longer pink at the bone (cut to test), 20 to 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.


Enjoy with your favorite rose-it went great with 2011 Andrieux & Fils Rose Cotes de Provence Cuvee Victoria, 2011 Domaine Les Aphillanthes Côtes-du-Rhône Rosé, and the 2010 Division Rose (from Washington). The Les Aphillanthes was a little fruitier than the other two, but all 3 were dry and stood up to the chicken.

Scallop Showdown

I’ve recently discovered how amazingly easy it is to make seared scallops. Dry them with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper, sear in butter for 3-4 minutes per side (10-12 per pound size). 2 big keys: start off with good quality, fresh (not frozen) scallops and don’t touch the scallops until they are seared-no constant flipping.


Last week, Miss G came over and we had a showdown with a couple of whites to see which paired best with the scallops:

2010 Watermill Gewurztraminer: from the Oregon wide of Willamette Valley, courtesy of Miss G. Crisp, dry Gewürztraminer with grapefruit which carry through the palate. Pear and floral notes round out the finish, making it a perfect pair for spicy Asian food.

VS

2010 Artiste “Dog Rose Tree” Pinot Grigio. (I’ve talked about Artiste wines before in my Artiste Series Quests. They recently started a new line of Modern wines. Taking a New World approach to winemaking, Artiste “Modern Wines” are single origin, vintage wines that express unique varietal character, and each micro-lot wine is adorned by contemporary art on the label by American artists.) I'm normally not a huge fan of pinot grigio, but this was lighlty citrusy, but not overpowering, crisp, just a hint of herbal/grassy notes.

Results: Well, we’re torn. I didn’t put lemon on my scallops, so I preferred the Pinot Grigio because the additional citrusy was a nice addition to the food. Mr. Lush and Miss G drizzled lemon on the scallops, so they preferred the Gewurztraminer and felt the citrusness of the Pinot Grigio competed with the lemon on their food, instead of complemented it. Both were excellent, good acidity and crisp ness, so you couldn’t go "wrong" with either.

 Bottom line: normally we go with a lightly oaked Sauvignon Blanc, like the Chateau Ste Michelle Horse Heaven I’ve blogged about in the past, and I think next time we’ll head back to that. It’s always fun trying new things though!



Manihi Motu Picnic

We recently took a trip. Not just any trip, but my #1 bucket list item: a trip to the South Pacific. We went with my parents to the islands of Huahine and Manihi. Aside from seeing the most beautiful sunsets and gorgeous blue/green water, shark feeding, and me scuba-diving for the first time, one of the more interesting days we had was a motu picnic. (A motu is pretty much a deserted mini-island) It's more than just one picture can dictate, so here's the day:

We started off by hand fishing (no reel, just a block of wood with string tied around it, a rock and a hook)

I caught mostly these pink ones-smaller, but tasty!

After catching enough fish to feed a small hotel:

We arrived at the motu:

Our boat and captain/fisherman:

We went snorkeling:

And our captain found an octopus:

Which most of us "tried on":

(not me though, I was..uh..busy being the photographer and videographer!)

After snorkeling, the captain/octopus catcher cleaned the fish and we fed birds:

Here's the fish we're eating for lunch-I'll explain where the big ones went later. ;)

Here's our captain/octopus catcher turned chef-notice the octopus on the grill???? Yep, that was the one that was on Mr. Lush's face not even an hour before!

Here's our lunch:

So if you've been keeping track, our captain/fisherman/octopus catcher/chef is pretty talented-we're pretty sure he'd win Survivor, that's for sure. Well it doesn't stop there....remember the big fish (grouper) we caught that didn't end up on our plates? Well, he tied a rope around them and caught this:

Yep, he's a shark catcher-and whisperer! We all posed with this "cuddly little sharkie":

No hook used, so we just let him back into the lagoon:

Then Mr Lush took a stab at it...and caught two! Now, in my defense, the camera battery was dying and my reaction time was off, due to my shock he caught not one but two AND one of them practically landed in my lap, so I was a little late on the record, but here's what I have:

Whew! That was a seriously jam packed day-we thought we'd get caught in a storm on the way back, but luckily our ponchos ended up being more of a fashion statement than utility:

Time for some more Hinanu!

What makes a good wine bar?

There was recently an article in the RFT about the nine best wine bars in St. Louis:
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2012/04/best_wine_bars_st_louis_2012.php

In the event that the link is no longer valid, I do want to capture what they were:

• 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar 
• Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar 
• Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar  
• Sasha's Wine Bar  
• Pomme Cafe & Wine Bar  
• Ernesto's Wine Bar  
• The Wine Press  
• Robust Wine Bar  
• Vin de Set

(I have not yet been to Bridge, but I have been to the rest.)

It got me thinking-what makes a good wine bar?  About 2 or 3 years ago my wine club visited a wine bar a month - we didn't hit them all, but the basic requirement was they needed to have at least 15 options by the glass. Selection/ variety is important, probably the most important thing, in my opinion, in a wine bar. But what else makes a good wine bar?? How big of a difference does price play? What about the price per glass/bottle ratio? Food selection/ambiance? What about a combo wine bar/wine shop - does the option to purchase a bottle at retail (either with no or minimal corkage) and drink it there intice you or turn you off? (like St. Louis Wine Market or Balabans) Are things like quality of glassware/variety of sizes for different wines important?

My new favorite electronic invite

As I’m sure you’ve heard me mention, I have a wine club – the wine club’s invites are managed by an electronic invite site. I used to use evite, but I got tired of the huge ads and what not so I’ve switched. Recently, one of recent favorite “electronic invite” sites, Socializr, got bought and at first, things just didn't work right, then my favorite features went away- some I could pay for, but overall, even IF I wanted to pay, it wasn’t the same. Enter Anyvite. Things I like about it-it has an easy mobile interface (although it defaults to it when viewed in mobile, some people like that, some don’t) it doesn’t limit my description, let’s me customize the picture, still limits attendance and allows for comments, reminders, etc. You can even have an RSS feed on your website to keep track of invites. Things I don't like about it- not very "fancy" looking and the default mobile presence requires seperate clicking to view RSVPs and comments and the link to view it "standard" is at the bottom. One other thing is different-it counts "maybe's" as a "yes" in your total count, so make sure people know that.

Here's a quick look at the standard version online- as you can see, a small ad ontop, but really user friendly.

Here's the mobile version- as you can see, simpler, no pictures, seperate links to view guest RSVPs and comments, but very easy to RSVP and get the address. Note, I deleted the address and I put some arrows in to point out certain things, so this is a modified view.

All in all, I like Anyvite and will use it as long as it keeps offering these features for free! It took some serious googling to find it, however, so I wanted to share it with you all!