Wine for your favorite cheese

Cheese is without a doubt my favorite pairing with wine.  Our friend at AGirlintheSouth is running a monthly, “You Asked…” column.  So, of course I took the bait and asked about her favorite cheese – on its own, and to cook with.  Here are recommended pairings to her responses, which happen to be some of my personal favorites as well! 

 “…my favorite cheese is Blue Cheese”

Blue cheese is wonderfully sharp and salty, and goes well with a fruitier cabernet, or even a merlot.  If you really want to be different, pair it with a port.  Slice into some Roquefort, and pour a glass of our favorite, Heitz Ink Grade Port.  It would make a great beginning, or end to your meal!

The port is currently available in limited supply at select Spec’s stores

“I cook with parmesan more than any other cheese…”

As you start to build your Italian feast, open a Sangiovese or Sangiovese blend (like a Super Tuscan).  Sangiovese typically has high acidity and moderate alcohol, which makes it a great match with tomato-based dishes.  We enjoy Cosentino Sangiovese, especially with pizza!

“I must admit to also loving to cook with feta”

I must admit, I love cooking with feta, too.  One of my favorite go-to apps is feta whipped with basil, lemon, and pepper.  Spread this on a baguette, and pour a glass of Simi Sonoma County Chardonnay.  It is well balanced, without too much oak or citrus, and would let the feta remain the star of the meal.    

What's your favorite cheese and wine pairing?

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!

A great Sangiovese for pizza and game night

Friends and family frequently ask to go wine tasting when they visit us at our home in San Diego.There are wineries scattered throughout San Diego County and nearby Temecula, but we find this wine region, well, hit or miss. Every now and then we stumble across one that surprises us.

One great surprise is Robert Renzoni Vineyards in Temecula.They have produced a couple of wines that have put smiles on our faces.

We recently opened a bottle of their 2007 Sangiovese to enjoy with pizza while hanging out with friends on game night.

The Sangiovese grape matures best at elevations less than 1,500 feet, and thrives in hot, dry climates. Temecula is an excellent region for this grape because it sits at an elevation of about 1,200 feet, average annual temperature is near 80 degrees and annual rainfall is about 13 inches. Growing the grape is one element. Turning it in to a tasty treat is another, and this winemaker gets it right.

The '07 Sangiovese is a medium body red, with a good balance of fruit and spice. The sweetness up front and slight bite on the finish makes it a great match with tomato based pastas and of course, pizza. With a price point of $28, it's not an every day wine, but you don't need to save it for a special occasion. I am glad we have a couple of bottles of the ’08 sitting on the shelves ~ next time,we will have to try it with mom’s famous lasagna.

If visiting the area, check out theRobert Renzoni website for a 2 for 1 tasting coupon.  And, while enjoying a sip of their wine in the tasting room, don’t miss a bite of their delicious pasta sauce ~ it’s just as tasty as their wine!

Cosentino Sangiovese

A few years ago in Napa, while sitting at the bar in Silo's we were introduced to Cosentino Zin. We really enjoyed the wine, and made note to add it as a winery stop on a future trip. We made that stop this past January, and found some affordable, tasty wines...one of which is their 2006 Sangiovese.

This Sangiovese is a Tuscan style red blend made from three key vineyards in California. The blend is 80% Sangiovese, 20% Bordeaux varietals. The wine is made with punch cap fermentation in open tanks, followed by 20 months of oak aging. It has a balanced taste, not too spicy, not too sweet.

We actually savored this wine over two nights. The first night we enjoyed with a simple meal of spaghetti and meatballs. And the next night, pizza! This is a fantastic pizza wine. I highly recommend it with a big slice with pepperoni and black olives!

Day 3: Three perfect days in Napa and Sonoma Valley

This is Day 3 of our recent wine tour to the Napa and Sonoma wine regions. Napa Valley can get a little crowded on the weekends, so we like to head over to nearby Sonoma Valley which features a lot of great wineries, more reasonable prices, and fewer people. Gotta love that combination!

Wine

Valley of the Moon. Our first stop of the day was terrific. Their tasting room is a two-fer: you can taste Valley of the Moon wines and Lake Sonoma Winery wines. It's interesting to compare and contrast the two styles. Linda, our host, played along and poured several of the varietals side-by-side, so we could blind taste them and try to guess which was which based on the descriptions. Lots of fun! The stand-outs for us were the super refreshing 2008 'So Co' Pinot Blanc that was very crisp and would go well with lighter foods. We also enjoyed their 2007 'So Co' Sangiovese. Sangiovese is a very versatile red wine, and this one had a nice oaky finish that will allow it to go well with pasta. Finally, we really enjoyed the Lake Sonoma Winery 2007 Dry Creek Zinfandel which has 94% Zinfandel and 6% Petite Syrah to give it some bigger tannins and a little complexity.

Benziger. Plan a trip here if words like "organic" and "biodynamic" ring your bell. You may also want to try Benziger if words like "really good Pinot Noir" and "big, big Cab" resonate with you. Either way, they make good wine. Our favorites were their 2007 Giusti Vineyard Pinot Noir which had deep fruit and a very Pinot earthy finish. Their 2006 Gordenker Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was a BIG cab that hits you with lots of fruit (without being too jammy or showing too much alcohol) and smooths out on the finish. Their 2006 Port was made from late harvest Syrah and Petite Syrah and has a nice balance: not too sweet and not too tawny (think caramel).

Artesa. There's a lot to love about Artesa, from their sweeping vistas, to their beautiful tasting room, to their outstanding wine. Even with a large Saturday afternoon crowd, our wine host, Marie, was very attentive and informative. We particularly enjoyed their 2005 Tempranillo and their 2005 Cabernet Franc. Tempranillo tastes like a Spanish cousin to Sangiovese, though a bit bolder. It is a well-balanced red without too much fruit or too much tannin, and would go well with a variety of richer foods. The Cabernet Franc has a lot of deep fruit on the mouth and finishes softly (for a Cab Franc). Yum.

Food

We found an awesome place for lunch called Sage Fine Food and Provisions. This is really just a fancy deli that has tasty sandwiches made with fresh ingredients and a variety of salads. It's directly across the street from Gloria Ferrer (which we did not enjoy - it's really a wine bar rather than a tasting room). Dinner was at Brix in Napa. The ideal time to go to Brix is in the Spring or Summer, when you can stroll through their vegetable garden while you wait for your meal to be served. It's a different experience in the winter, but the food is outstanding California Bistro fare and the service is always very professional and attentive.