wine tasting

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We finally left the house this Saturday for a reason other to go to work. This winter has definitely put a wrench in many social plans, so it was a refreshing, wonderful change to get out for errands, a tasting at Night Shift Brewing, and dinner at the gorgeous home of my favorite wine PR maven and her family, including the cutest baby boy ever.

We tend to stock up on our favorite wines and bring wine along whenever we visit friends, and this time, without even knowing what was for dinner, the wine we brought turned out to be a perfect pairing.

porchetta and Mourvedre

I can honestly say that the Two Shepherds 2012 Mourvèdre we brought is one of the best wines I have tasted all year, and it was amazing with the porchetta with homemade sausage that we feasted on. The wine was a beautiful light, raspberry/violet color, and it reminded me of a Pinot Noir, making it excellent for the pork. The nose was simply gorgeous, again, raspberry and cranberry, aromas that had me going back to the glass again and again to breathe it in. The wine’s slight peppery notes brought out the fennel in the sausage in the loveliest way. This wine is so elegant and refined but juicy and bright at the same time. I am seriously in love with it. Two Shepherds wines are not available in many stores yet, but you can buy the wine online here. The winemaker also happens to be one of the nicest people I know and has kindly introduced us to so much of his Sonoma County, wineries and restaurants we might not have found ourselves. I believe tasting is by appointment only at this point, but well worth it if you can make it happen.

Our hosts are cooking through the Jerusalem cookbook, and I wish I had taken more photos of dinner. They made the Butternut Squash and Tahini Spread with homemade bread. . . to die for. While there I thumbed through the Jerusalem vegetable cookbook as well, and I decided I definitely need to have it. I have been craving creative veggie dishes, and it is just perfect. I can bet that most of them will go well with this Mourvèdre.

Have you discovered any delicious food and wine pairings lately?

Tags: mourvedre, rhone, Two Shepherds wine, wine, wine and food pairing, wine of the week, wine tasting, Wine Wednesday

Next to Sicily, Mendoza and Buenos Aires Argentina are at the tippy top of my travel must-visit list. I love wine from Argentina, and Mendoza looks like heaven from photos I have seen.

Bodega Norton Chardonnay

This week’s Wine of the Week comes from Bodega Norton in Mendoza, and it is a cheerful, bright, and delightfully tart value Chardonnay, perfect for stocking up on and drinking with friends.  This Chardonnay is 100% fermented in stainless steel tanks, meaning it is not at all oaky, and there is no trace of the buttery notes that come with malolactic fermentation. It’s super crisp, light, acidic, and summery with notes of lemon and green apple. It is yummy. It would pair great with seafood or spicy food; we had Afghani food the other night, and I think this would be a perfect match.

Through wines from afar and dreaming of warm travel to places like Argentina, I am trying to stay out of a weather-related funk, but it is hard. Are you as over the snow as I am, if you are stuck in an area that’s been hard hit?

Tags: Argentina, chardonnay, Mendoza, value wine, white wine, wine, wine of the week, wine tasting, Wine Wednesday

What wines have you been drinking lately? I am all about winter whites these days; they pair well with some of the fun spicy veggie dishes I have been experimenting with and it can be downright refreshing to have a cool glass in front of the fire.

Liquid Farm Golden Slope Chardonnay This bottle of 2012 Golden Slope Chardonnay by Liquid Farm, given to us by a friend, is one of those whites that we opened recently and noted we would buy again.

Liquid Farm is a pretty cool winery with an interesting philosophy and story behind their winemaking. Their preferences laid outside of what they were finding in California wine, so they decided to make their own:

Before Liquid Farm, our glasses were often filled with old world wine. We preferred the lower alcohol, cooler climate, and more earth-driven characteristics of European wines to their more so often ripe, fruit-focused, more alcoholic Californian counterparts.

As we believe, the first bottle to disappear at your the table is really the best wine for you – period. And, for us, when we tried to support California, there was typically wine left in the bottle the next day while the old world bottles, not a drop in them, would be lined up like proud dead soldiers.

We were eating local, supporting mom and pop restaurants and farmers markets – it was time to make wine in a style we craved from our own backyard.

This Golden Slope Chardonnay is delicious. It’s weighty enough for this time of year, a little spicy and smoky, with notes of honey and lemon meringue, round yet still bright and with enough acidity to balance it all out and to pair with food. You know I love Chardonnay of all types, and this one’s elegance and surprising layers of flavor make it a new favorite. I think a wine trip to Santa Ynez is in order.

Tags: California wine, chardonnay, Santa Ynez, wine, wine blog, wine of the week, wine tasting

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