Super guilty pleasures: Malbec + 4x4

I had abstained from wine for several days (*gasp*) as part of my training for a 5k road race last Saturday night. After getting home from the race around 9pm, I felt justified in splurging a little. 

My post-race menu:

• 4x4 from In-N-Out (yes, that's 4 hamburger patties and 4 slices of cheese)
• Fries from In-N-Out
• 2009 J Opi Malbec

The Malbec was from the famed Mendoza wine region in Argentina. It had some light fruit on the front of the palate with a dry finish that had a bit of saltiness. I have no idea where this saltiness comes from (my imagination?), but it complimented the burger and fries perfectly. (I've mentioned salty wine before, the 2003 San Pasqual Monte Soledad.)

This one got bonus points because it was a shared bottle from my Uncle Dave. He visited my parents at Christmas last year along with his wife, Tina, and his son, Travis. Dave belongs to a wine club where they mix bottles from various sources and he had a mixed case delivered to my parents' house. My parents and I split the case, which has provided us with plenty of winertainment throughout the year.

And, in case you are wondering, I don't always drink wine with In-N-Out. I'll often drink Coke or even a beer. However, when you're chowing down on a 4x4 at 9:30 at night, wine is the way to go to wash it down!

Days Off – Road Trip!

One of our guilty pleasures is a super delicious mac & cheese ‘recipe’ from Sam the Cooking Guy.  Earlier this week, as I was adding in the blue cheese, onions and bacon for this dish, I wondered what wine would go well with it ~ needed something not too strong, but strong enough to stand up to the blue cheese.  That’s when “Stan & Barbara” came to mind!

We discovered the fun-labeled “Days Off” wine while visiting the Andrew Murray tasting room in Los Olivos, CA earlier this year.  We very much enjoyed the dessert wine, First Kiss. Tonight, it was time to pop open (uh, unscrew) and try another one from the limited collection, Road Trip. 

Road Trip is a super-Tuscan inspired red wine blended with 80% Sangiovese, 10% Syrah, and 10% Cabernet.  This is a heavier red, without being overly bold.  It opened with dark fruits (think raspberry and black cherry), and a slight hint of spice, with solid but not overpowering tannins.  While this wine would definitely be drinkable from ingredients to dessert, we let it breathe a little and enjoyed every drop of it alongside the sinfully delicious mac & cheese! 

Unfortunately, it appears it may be very difficult to get your hands on a bottle of Road Trip.  Only 30 cases were produced.  However, you should check out some of Stan & Barbara’s other “Days Off” adventures.  All are very well priced, especially for limited production, and delicious wines!

Shared bottles are the best bottles!

Bonus question: what is featured in the picture behind the wine?Wine always tastes better when it is shared.

A few months ago, I had dinner with a few colleagues while on a business trip in Alexandria, Virginia. The conversation turned to wine and some of the wine regions and wineries we all liked to visit. My friend Pat told me about a winery in Napa Valley that she and her husband really enjoyed called Benessere. I made a note to check it out on the next time Sally and I were up there.

The next day at work, Pat surprised me with a bottle of 2008 Beneserre Zinfandel. She was really enthusiastic about the wine and wanted to share it with Sally and I.

Sally and I enjoyed the bottle with dinner a few nights ago. The wine was light and jammy with very light pepper and a smooth finish. As Sally would say, this was an “ingredients to dessert” wine, meaning you could open it while cooking and enjoy it all the way through to dessert.

We started with some Dubliner cheese and crackers. The Beneserre Zinfandel complimented the sharpness of the cheese quite nicely. Dinner consisted of teriyaki steak kabobs from our favorite butcher shop, Iowa Meat Farms, and grilled vegetables. The wine paired with the teriyaki was outstanding. Unfortunately, it was so good that there was no wine left by the time it was time for dessert!

Sally and I raised a glass to toast Pat for the amazing bottle of wine. Hopefully, I’ll see Pat soon and get a chance to share a bottle with her!

2008 Handley Syrah

view from room at Albion River InnOne of our favorite get-a-way locations is the Albion River Inn, located in Northern California.  There are a number of reasons this place is a favorite. The cozy rooms (with no TV or phone service) and amazing views of the ocean make it a perfect spot to completely disconnect and relax. This visit always starts with a welcome gift of a ½ bottle of Handley Chardonnay upon arrival to our room. We’ve always enjoyed the wine, and this last trip we made it a point to visit the winery, which is only a few miles away from the Inn. 

All the wine we sampled that day was good, but the one that really stood out was the 2008 Syrah. This is a complex Syrah with aromas of chocolate covered fruit, and tastes of berry pie. With silky tannins and long sweet oak finish, this wine is very drinkable on its own, and pairs easily with food. Turns out, the syrah vineyards were sold and there are only a few years of production remaining. They produced just 427 cases of the ‘08, and it is available winery direct only. At a price point of only $18, we shipped a few bottles home. It stuck with us so much that day, we returned to grab another bottle for dinner!

We recently opened one of those bottles we shipped home. When the cork was popped, we were a little concerned. The nose was a bit off, and showed excessive minerality. Recalling how tasty it was, we didn’t want to give up. You never know what a little oxygen will do for a wine. So, we pulled out a carafe and let it rest while dinner continued to cook. Boy, were we glad we did. The wine opened up nicely, and it was quite enjoyable with our meal! 

If at first a wine seems a little off the mark, don’t give up hope right away. Give it a chance to wake up a little ~ with a little patience you may be rewarded!

While the Syrah is available winery direct only, the Handley Chardonnay can be found at BevMo ($15) and Specs ($18).  Handley also ships direct to a number of states

Another fun time at Wattle Creek's tasting room

Visiting Wattle Creek’s tasting room in Ghiradelli Square is a must-do activity when you are in San Francisco. Granted, it's not hard to tell we are huge fans of this winery. We've blogged about previous visits (see our 2010 notes), included their wine in our Pinotpalooza and Que Syrah Syrah tasting parties, and yes, that's a photo of us at their winery on Share the Bottle's homepage. 

We dropped in about a week ago to sample some of their latest releases and had a blast. Forrest, our host, was very friendly and was able to answer all our questions with ease. He also allowed us to taste several verticals (multiple vintages of the same grape), which is always a fun way to learn about wine.

Check out Wattle Creek's website to plan your visit. Most of their wine is only sold through the winery.

Here were some of our favorites:

2007 Malbec
This is the reason we joined their wine club. It is a medium-bodied wine with lots of dark fruit and spice on the mouth and lush tannins on the finish.

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
This is a big cab with deep fruit and stick to your mouth tannins. It’s 93% Cabernet Sauvignon blended with 7% Malbec and just screams “steak dinner” when you taste it.

2009 Shiraz
This is a nicely balanced Syrah with tastes of blackberry on the mouth, light pepper and earthiness mid-palate, and light tannins on the finish.