Wine Wednesday - 2009 Broadmore Chenin Blanc

If you are inclined to be a detective you can guess which winery this months wine club came from. This week we have a Chenin Blanc from the Broadmore winery in California. This week we had terrific white wine. Chenin Blanc is generally a workhorse grape that is added in filler into to sparkling wine or other whites. The grape originated in France (no surprise there) but is one of the most popular grapes in South African whites where it is known as Steen. We paired this wine with Jamacian rubbed chicken and it was superb. Very light and crisp on the tongue with a hint of kiwi, apples, maybe Mango. Overall one of the best wine I've had in a long time so it gets a 4.9 on the international Phil wine scale.

Wine Wednesday - 2008 Broadmore Sangiovese

This weeks wine is a 2008 Broadmore Sangiovese, which is a Italian grape and one of the major components in some Chianti and some of the more modern 'Super-Tuscan' wines. This grape may date back to the Etruscans and is mentioned in the literature around 1590 by Giovanvettorio Soderin who points out this grape makes a very good wine, but if the winemaker is not careful you can end up with vinegar. The tasting notes for this wine suggest that has a medium weight on the palette and hints of Worsteschire and anise. The wine does have a nice spicy after taste although I did find it a little heavy. We paired the wine with pork chops, which may have been a little light for this dish, plus the summer heat of SoTx didn't help the weight of the wine. I actually imagine this wine would go superbly with Thanksgiving dinner and a full Turkey with fixings. I also feel we may have drank this wine a little early and perhaps if we had waited a couple of months the wine would have mellowed a little with age. Overall, I liked the wine as I tend to be fond of grapes with a little bit of bite to them. So we will give it a 4.6/5.0 on the international scale.

Wine Wednesday - Talmage Cabernet Sauvignon

I have a confession to make, I actually don't like Cabernet Sauvignon wine. I know since Sideways, it is easy to 'dis' on Merlot and bow to the power of Pinot Noir but to me Cabernet Sauvignon should be put in the same class as Chardonnay. This class is the 1980s and these wines should be stowed away with your neon green leg warmers, parachute pants, Def Lepard paraphernalia, and the A-team (wait there making a movie out of the A-team).

Truthfully I've only ever enjoyed one Cabernet Sauvignon and that was made by the Gallo brothers. Yes, those Gallo brothers of the six gallon jug of wine your Mom and Dad used to drag home for the holidays in the 1980s. However, if you make enough crappy wine your bound to grow a few nice grapes and the Gallo Reserve winery stuff is pretty good.

So how did this weeks wine hold up. Not well, the wine was a little over tannic and left a bitter aftertaste. So I'm going to have to give it a 3.2 out of 5.

Wine Wednesday - McKenna Sauvignon Blanc

This weeks wine is a 2009 McKenna Sauvingnon Blanc from the north coast of California. As you can tell by its name Sauvignon Blanc is a white wine, the grape is green in color and is ind indigenous to the Bordeaux region of France. An interesting note is that this grape was paired with Cabernet Franc to create the Cabernet Sauvignon grape in the 19th century. The wine is usually described as fresh or crisp.

I would definitely say this wine fit the bill of crisp. It was excellent for a hot summer day in south Texas, especially if it has been allowed to chill. We paired it with pasta, red sauce, and salad. The fruity taste paired well with the olives in the red sauce. I give it a 4.3.

Wine Wednesday - Wine Tasting

Supermom, hosted a wine tasting this weekend. We survived five types of wine (1 white, 1 rose, and 3 reds) seen below. Each wine was paired with different types of food. I have ordered the wine in my preference and listed their pairings


This is what the evening started out like.


Food Pairings - Apple, smoked salmon, Jarlsberg - maybe I just liked this one because of the lox but was a good wine. A very refreshing wine and maintains a good balance without being too heavy. Nice wine for relaxing with.


cherries, mushroom spread with garlic bread, Gorgonzola (although Supermom suggests may be better with Morbier). I've already blogged about this wine


Food pairing: prunes, dark chocolate, Romano. This went best with the Romano although some others liked the dark chocolate. The kids ate most of the prunes so ended up being a humorous day as they spent a good deal of the day running to the restroom.
Food Pairing: Buttered popcorn, pumpkin and apple mouse, brie. I liked the popcorn better than the wine for this one but then I'm biased against most Chardonnays as being over done in the 80s and drunk by women with enough hairspray do have their own atmosphere.


Food pairing: raspberry, sweet potato fries, sharp cheddar. The wine sucked but the sweet potato fries were pretty good. I'm also biased against most Syrahs as I just don't like the tast of the grape and most wineries don't seem to get these right.

Of course after a wonderful evening of wine tasting (and playing for the kids) we ended up like this.

Wine Wednesday - McKenna Trilogy

This weeks wine selection is McKenna's Trilogy, which is combination of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. Now that I have tasted Cabernet Franc I can really pick out the sharp tangly flavors from the grape and this wine has about 16% of the grape. I really enjoyed this wine, the tannins were not that expressed and for a red wine it went really well with pesto pasta. The international philanthro wine scale gives this wine a 4.5/5

Wine Wednesday - Evo: 2009 Albariño

As it gets hotter and hotter in south Texas (we have hit the season of five straight months of 90 plus degree weather) I tend to prefer lighter, whiter wines. This weeks selection is also from our Wine Shop at Home Wine Club and was an Evo Albariño from California. The Albariño (means white grape from the Rhine) grape comes originally from the Spanish province of Galicia, and may have been brought there by Cluny monks in the 12th century and may be a variety of Riesling. However, as Riesling isn't known until the 15th century others have suggested the grape may related to the French grape Petit Manseng. An interesting anthropological exercise would be to trace the genetic history of grapes and see if you can tie it to the historical movement of people or events.

I mentioned the Evo winery in last weeks post. We paired the wine with a chicken stir fry with basmati rice and vegetables (mostly brocoli and carrots). The aroma of the wine is definitely fruity, mostly pears and maybe peaches. The taste was crisp and the acidity lingered a little bit after but overall a pretty enjoyable drink. I still think I prefer Reisling or Gewürztraminer but I would drink this over a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. I'll give it a 4.1 out of 5 on the international panthro wine scale.

Wine Wednesday - Evo: Cabernet Franc

The first thing you learn about wine, is that different countries have different ways of naming wine. Outside of Europe, the majority of wines are named after the majority grape in the bottle. In Europe the name refers to the region where the wine was produced. So Champagne refers to wine produced in the Champagne region of France and Chianti refers to a region in Italy. This allows these producers to use multiple grapes to produce a wine, although depending on climate and soil of the region.

Up this week, we have another bottle from our personal Wine Shop at home consultants wine club and comes from Evo winery in northern California. A $1 from each bottle sold goes to National Geographic to protect endangered species. This wine is a Cabernet Franc, which refers to a grape that is primarily used for blending Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in Bordeaux (the best French wine IMHO). The grape is a little lighter than its genetic cousin Cabernet Sauvignon and produces a slightly paler red wine. In the Americas, the use of different grapes beyond Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. is becoming more prounounced as the national palette becomes more enriched. One of my favorite varietal types of red wines is Malbec, which is primairly produced in the Mendoza region of Argentina. This was my first bottle of Cabernet Franc though. We paired with pasta with a marinina sauce with green olives and capers.

The color was good, even if it was a little darker than I expected. The aroma is very earthy, like fresh tilled earth after a rain storm. The taste was a mixture of berries with a pretty sharp spicy aftertaste. So they are not far off in their description of the wine. This wine kind of grows on you a little bit, so overall for a first time experience it was pretty good. I would have prefered a little less spice though. I think I would give it a 4.2 out 5.

This 2008 EVO North Coast Cabernet Franc has aromas of cherry, wet leather, and moist tobacco with hints of spicy jalapeno and kiwi. The flavors are a ripe combination of the aromas with smooth acidity and mild tannin. The mouth-feel is medium to heavy with a nice roundness in the long fruit centric finish. Enjoy this wine with roasted pork chops, artichokes with aioli, portabella mushrooms or morbier cheese.

Wine Wednesday

A little while ago (OK six years), Supermom suggested I start a hobby - so I said I would start learning about wine and ever since then I have been a somewhat serious wine drinker (although it comes and goes, usually with income). We joined a wine club (twice) and also Supermom, runs tastings through a specialty winery in California (you can visit it here, www.timeoutwine.com buy wine from her, it mostly good stuff). Supermom is excellent at pairing wines with various foods - she has a better palette than I do.

So I thought I would have Wine Wednesdays (granted I drink it on Tuesdays so I can post it). I also might have Whine Wednesdays as well, so you don't think I drink too much.

Anyway, first up is a Frisch 2009 Gewurztraminer

Gewürztraminer is a German white grape (sometimes called the spicy grape) and these wines tend to be a little drier than Rieslings, which can run the gamut from dry to sweet. This wine was excellent chilled, and would be good for a hot summer day or with spicy food. Also, it wasn't overly fruity although the description has it has

This 2009 Frisch California Gewürztraminer has aromas of lychee fruit, fresh-cut flowers and pineapple with hints of cinnamon, poached pear and golden delicious apples. The mouth-feel is medium weight and smooth with round fruit flavors and balanced acidity. The finish is sweet and fruity with lingering floral notes. Enjoy this wine with Indian food, jerk chicken, guacamole or mild cheeses such as mozzarella.

I got more of a pear taste from it, but it is very low in acidity and if you are not careful you can drink the whole bottle fairly quickly. Anway, I would gives this probably 3.95 out of 5 stars as it is good and I would drink it again but it didn't completely knock my socks off.