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!