Oscar Party: movies, wagering, and wine!

We used last Sunday's Academy Awards as an excuse to throw a party that had a little something for everyone: movies, wagering, and wine. It was a fun time, and the company of good friends and the delicious wine more than made up for my poor showing in our Oscar pool.

Movies

Sally and I are huge movie fans and try to see all of the Best Picture nominees every year. Even for our friends who are more casual movie watchers or those that don't see movies at all (a.k.a. parents), the Academy Awards is a fun show to watch with other people. There's humor, entertainment, and plenty to talk about.

Wagering

We ran a simple pool where each person chipped in $5 to submit their picks for each award. Our pool is equally weighted, so a correct guess for Best Picture is worth the same as getting the Sound Editing category right. Second place gets their money back, first place takes the rest of the pot, and last place gets a bottle of cheap wine to serve as a reminder that they need to stick to the basics.

Wine

It's a gathering, so why not drink some wine?! We served four wines blind at pairing stations and had our friends vote for their favorite. All of them were favorites we'd discovered on our wine adventures that retailed for less than $20 and could easily be found in most local wine shops. (We got ours at BevMo.) Here are the wines, the pairings, and the rankings.

4th Place: 2010 Line 39 Petite Sirah
This is a very tasty wine, but despite the deep purple color its flavor is a little light for Petite Sirah. Our guests had trouble identifying this grape and wished for a bit more tannin. Nonetheless, it was still considered enjoyable.

Paired with aged cheddar, manchego, and mini tacos (chicken and pork)

3rd Place: 2009 Kendall-Jackson Vinter's Reserve Chardonnay
According to Kendall-Jackson's website, this is the #1 selling Chardonnay in America. It's a good Chardonnay for it's price point with some crisp acidity that pairs well with food, though our guests were a little biased against the varietal.

Paired with double cream gouda, Monterey jack, and roasted chicken purses

2nd Place: 2010 Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir
This wine drew rave reviews and several guests announced their intentions to acquire a bottle or two. It's definitely a California-style Pinot Noir with a lot of fruit, but it is flavorful, smooth, and goes well with a variety of foods. It was also the winner of our 2010 HalloWine blind tasting, so we had to bring it back to defend it's crown. 

Paired with creamy Havarti, Harvarti with dill, and beef brisket sandwiches

1st Place: NV Roederer Estate Brut Sparkling White Wine
It must have been a champenoise kind of night, because the Roederer Estate edged out the Cycles Gladiator by just one vote. This wine was a crowd pleaser with a crisp taste and notes of pear to go with the bubbles.

Paired with cream cheese topped with pineapple and apricot preserves and mini chicken egg rolls

Somehow, we managed to have such a good time we forgot to take any pictures. Here's one quickly staged photo of the four wines:

Arthur - a Chardonnay for Everyone

Chardonnay can be a polarizing varietal. Some want big and buttery. Others prefer crisp citrus flavors with high acidity. A few shun it altogether because they heard somewhere on the internet that Chardonnay is no longer cool.

Enter the 2008 Domaine Drouhin "Arthur" Chardonnay. This wonderfully balanced Chardonnay should appeal to anyone who appreciates good wine. It's an ingredients to dessert wine, meaning you can open it while cooking, enjoy it with an appetizer, pair it with your meal, and keep drinking it with dessert.

Sally and I recently enjoyed a bottle of Arthur paired with chicken pot pie and oatmeal and flaxseed chocolate chip cookies for dessert. It had very consistent flavors of straw, apricot, and apple. The acidity was very light but strong enough to go well with our meal. We were both savoring our last few sips as we finished the wine.

Perfect Thanksgiving wines under $20

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to enjoy the three Fs: family, food, and football! The tricky part is picking the right wine to go with your Thanksgiving feast. Some of your guests will appreciate a pairing that goes well with the meal while others will gulp down anything you put in front of them. 

Here are our suggestions for great Thanksgiving wines that are all under $20. They all go well with turkey, ham, and a wide range of fixins. Even better, you'll probably find them in your local liquor store, wine shop, or supermarket no matter what part of the country you are in.

Riesling
An off-dry Riesling can be a refreshing compliment to a heavy Thanksgiving feast. Our choice is the 2010 Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Riesling. It earned a 91 point rating from Wilfred Wong and retails at BevMo for $7.99.

Chardonnay
This is a good choice if your guests want a white wine but don't want the sweetness of a Riesling. Stick with lighter Chardonnays and avoid anything that is too oaky or buttery. Our pick is the 2008 Simi Sonoma County Chardonnay, a nicely balanced Chardonnay that has a light apple taste without a lot of citrus. It retails at BevMo for $18.99.

Pinot Noir
This is a terrific choice for a red wine that won't overwhelm the food. Stick with more fruit forward, light-bodied California Pinot Noirs. Our selection is the 2010 Chalone Monterey County Pinot Noir, which always tastes like a more expensive Pinot. Little known fact about Chalone - Julia Child was a part owner. This wine retails for $18.99 at BevMo.

Zinfandel
This varietal is a terrific choice if you are looking for a medium-bodied red wine that pairs well with your menu. You can't go wrong with the 2008 Lake Sonoma Zinfandel. The last time I shared a bottle with friends it quickly disappeared and I was glad I had a second bottle in reserve! It normally retails for $19.99, but the current club price at BevMo is only $9.99!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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

A great day in Willamette Valley, Oregon

It's Will-ah-met, damn it! The locals are a bit touchy about the pronunciation of their outstanding wine region, but Sally and I were willing to learn the local lingo in return for some great finds at some terrific wineries. Miles would be in heaven here because the main thing is Pinot Noir, but you can also find some good Pinot Blancs, Chardonnays, and even the occasional Syrah.

The Four Graces
Our first stop of the day was the Four Graces in Dundee Hills. Most wineries in the area open at 11 am, so the Four Graces was our pick because it sounded interesting and opened at 10. They poured a very crisp and refreshing Pinot Gris along with five different Pinot Noirs. It was interesting to taste the differences in the same varietal from the same winery. All were good, but our favorite was the '07 Dundee Hills Reserve Pinot Noir which smelled like good BBQ smoke and would go nicely with a piece of slow cooked meat. Mmmmmm.

Domain Drouhin
This winery is French-owned, so they were pouring wines from both sides of the pond. Our favorites were their very balanced 2008 Chardonnay Arthur and their 2007 Pinot Noir Laurene Cuvee that managed to be both delicate and complex at the same time.The grounds were beautiful with views of the valley that might be amazing if it weren't for the gray sky and slight fog.

Domain Serene
A worthy goal when wine tasting is to get a taste of something not on the menu. Going off the tasting menu seemed to be in the plans at the Four Graces and Domain Drouhin, but we had to do some smooth talking at Domain Serene. We started by tasting a Chardonnay and a couple of Pinot Noirs and then moved on to their "Rockblock" Syrah. Their '05 Rockblock Del Rio Vineyard Syrah was very impressive with deep fruit and a taste that grows in complexity. Our server mentioned they only had 17 bottles left of their '06 Rockblock Reserve Syrah so it wasn't open. Hmmmmmm. Fast forward a few minutes and it WAS open, we enjoyed it, and bought two bottles. Just like that they were down to 14 bottles. Almost sold out!  Domain Serene was another beautiful winery that would have some impressive views on a clear, sunny day.

White Rose Wines

Several people had recommended White Rose Wines throughout the day, so we had to stop by. They are perched on a hilltop with another would-be incredible view that was obscured by gray and fog. It was still cool though and their wine was very good. Several different Pinot Noirs to taste, though our favorite was the '08 White Rose Estate Dundee Hills Pinot Noir due to its classic Oregon Pinot taste (earthy) with a hint of spice. Yum!

And now, a lunchtime interlude... We dined at Farm to Fork, a gourmet deli and restaurant that was very 'wine country' with it's nice selection of locally sourced vegetables, wonderful meats, and innovative takes on traditional lunchtime sandwiches.

Back to wine...

Barrel Fence

We almost judged this book by it's cover, but a new friend at the Four Graces had told us this newly opened winery made great stuff and a tasting was worth it because they were seldom open.

The inside of their tasting room looked like a garage, complete with a beautiful '68 Corvette parked in the middle. Okay, it really WAS the guy's garage! But the wine was good and very interesting. He had an estate Pinot Noir from his Dundee Hills vineyard (45 North) and a Pinot Noir made from grapes grown on land he owned in New Zealand (45 South). Both were terrific and reasonably priced ($28/$29) compared to other comparable wines we'd tasted that day.

Penner-Ash
This was another winery that featured beautiful views (if only the day was clear). Like everywhere else, their main show was Pinot Noir, and their several varieties were solidly good.

One last note... Six wineries in one day. Were we drunk? No. Here's the secret to enjoying some wine tasting while still having gas in the tank at the end of the day.

1. Share. You've just cut your intake (and tasting fees) by 50%.
2. Don't drink it if you don't like it. There's no sense in quaffing everything put in front of you.
3. Don't drink it all if you don't love it. It's perfectly OK to take a sip and dump the rest of the glass.
4. Pick your favorite at the end of the day and THEN get pickled.