wine tasting

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Grilling under blue skies for the first time in a season calls for a special wine that pairs perfectly with the simple, flavorful ingredients showing up on the table. While it’s still nowhere near warm enough for me (C’mon 85 degrees!), it has been warm enough for outdoor dining a couple of times, and this past Sunday we had a leisurely and simple dinner, paired with a bottle of wine from our recent North Fork trip.

Bedell Viognier

Our time at Bedell Cellars was simply incredible; I have a full blog post coming, but I took so many pictures and took in so much information that it is taking its time coming together. We picked up quite a bit of wine while visiting Bedell, and well, you know I love my Viognier.

This Viognier embodies some of the greatest characteristics brought to wine by the North Fork terroir, mineral notes and salinity, along with up front notes of peach and pear.

I think this wine is absolutely perfect with grilled fish and vegetables. It is fresh and bright enough to bring out the flavors of the food without overwhelming them.

grilling

We paired the Bedell Viognier with a simple dinner of grilled salmon, zucchini, and asparagus, all sprinkled lightly with olive oil and lemon pepper. The wine and dinner were easy like Sunday evening.

grilled salmon and asparagus

I love sampling Viognier from different wine regions and comparing the taste and texture. It’s a grape I love to explore and one that I think is ideal for summer.

Tags: Long Island wine, North Fork, Viognier, wine, wine and food pairing, wine of the week, wine tasting

The cat lady in me loves the bottle, and the wine lover swooned when I sipped and swirled a glass of this Azienda Agricola Martilde Bonarda. It was a housewarming gift from a friend, and it was enjoyed on yet another chilly day. When will this cold weather end? I have so many rosé wine recommendations, yet they seem so off when I am huddling in my winter coat on the walk from the train.

Bonarda

While I patiently wait for rosé season,  I’ll enjoy wines like this Bonarda, which is easy drinking with lots of strawberry, currant, and raspberry notes. It’s simple and smooth, fruit-forward, and has a delightful finish that lingers. This Bonarda is fine for drinking alone but would also be really good with pulled pork, turkey chili, or other spicy or spicy-sweet meats. I think it would also be excellent in my Salmon and Zinfandel with Cherries as a replacement for the Zinfandel.

I hope you are keeping warm if you are stuck with miserable weather. Happy Wine Wednesday!

Tags: Bonarda, Italian wine, wine, wine of the week, wine tasting

What a heavy week. The anniversary of the Boston Marathon brought a lot of heavy heartedness to the city, and another suspicious backpack brought flashbacks and nerves. I hope the rest of the week brings peace and cheers and at worst sore muscles as we look forward to welcoming the Boston Marathon back.

Before the week began, I got away to enjoy some seriously warm temperatures (80 degrees!) and belated birthday celebrations with my family in NJ. Originally we planned on going out to dinner, but when the weather turned out to be perfect, we decided to grill at my sister’s.

I knew I wanted a luscious white for sipping on the backyard swing while my brother-in-law kindly cooked dinner, and I was pretty sure it had to be a Viognier. Luckily the Wine Chateau, a store near my mom, offered a good selection, including my choice, this 2010 Fess Parker Viognier from Santa Barbara County.

Fess Parker Viognier

Just as you would expect from a Viognier, this wine was full of stone fruit flavor like ripe peaches. The mouth feel on a Viognier is such a huge part of its beauty, and this one certainly had weight, along with slight oak and vanilla notes. This Viognier goes perfectly with sunshine. I also highly recommend pairing it with a grilled dinner.  We had a serious feast of grilled shrimp, chicken sausage, lobster, mushrooms, asparagus, corn, and salad, followed by homemade chocolate ice cream. It was pretty much the best birthday dinner I could have asked for, and it was a nice preview of summer.

grilled lobster

Tags: Summer wine, Viognier, wine, wine and food, wine and food pairings, wine of the week, wine pairing, wine tasting

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