Tasting - Saldo Zinfandel 2021

  

 Name: Saldo Zinfandel

Variety: 85% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Sirah and Syrah

Region: Napa Valley, California

Country: United States of America

Year: 2021

Price: $35

Winemaker's Notes: "Aromas of ripe red cherry, black cherry, blackberry, black pepper and baking spice. ON the palate, vibrant fruit, spice, and a hint of chocolate."

Personal Review: This past Friday, the Vintage Cellar hosted a couple wine reps from The Prisoner Wine Company out in Napa Valley and had a special tasting event where one could have 6 of the different Prisoner wines and wines from their subsidiaries. Luckily, employees get to take some of the wines home if they still have a little left. My friends and I were going to make steak dinners after I got back home, so I thought this would be a great pairing! The large fruit flavors were a nice accent to the salty and savory seasoning on the steak, and contrasted nicely with the spicy southwestern salad we made as a side. 

Tasting - Barale Fratelli Dolcetto d'Alba

  

 Name: Barale Fratelli Dolcetto d'Alba "Le Rose"

Variety: 100% Dolcetto

Region: Alba, Piemonte

Country: Italy

Year: 2021

Price: $21

Winery's Review: "Ruby red with violet highlights. On the nose, vinous and fruity with floreal hints. On the palate, dry, full-bodied, and slightly bitter, with hints of almond."

Personal Review: This Saturday my friend and I decided to take on a culinary challenge and cook ourselves spicy Penne alla Vodka and make the sauce from scratch. I decided to try and find a wine that would be from generally the same region as the cuisine (although funny enough, Penne alla Vodka is actually an American creation), but would also be able to hold up to the spice in the food. For this, I decided to go with a Dolcetto from an renowned town in the Piemonte wine region, Monforte d'Alba. Dolcetto is Italian for "little sweet one" because of it's typical fruity character, which is something I was looking for to contrast with the spiciness. All in all, this wine went perfectly with our spicy Vodka sauce, and we had a great evening!

Dinner - French Wines

 This past Tuesday I decided that I wanted to wine and dine myself because all my friends were busy and I was left with a few hours to kill, so I decided this would be the perfect time to sample some of the amazing wines we sell at the Vintage Cellar. When it came time to decide what theme to make the dinner, I decided that I should start with the country that basically created the idea of wine and culinary pairings - La France!

Now on a college budget it is not too easy to make many traditional French dishes, but I improvised where necessary and still had a great time making everything and thought it went really well! So without further ado, let's dive into the courses.

Course 1: Botrytized wine and liver paste!

For my first course, I decided to go with an absolute French classic - Bordeaux botrytized wine and Pate! I decided to go with a Monzabillac instead of Sauternes, the classic (still botrytized and very close to Sauternes), and I had a black truffle pate. This pairing tends to throw a lot of people off, but I can promise it lives up to the hype! I have always been a fan of pate, and the grainy meatiness of the pate paired perfectly with the sweet honey and fig notes of the Monzabillac.

Course 2: Salad and Muscadet

I decided to go with a refreshing salad for my second course. Unfortunately I was fresh out of basically every salad dressing so I went with a Southwest dressing. However, this actually ended up pairing really well with this Muscadet, which was aged sur lie and therefore had some mellow flavors to compliment the light spice of the dressing. 

Luckily, halfway through my second course, my friend Matt

came and we finished the dinner together!

Main Course: Buffalo Chicken, Risotto, and Bordeaux

For the main course, I decided to stray a little from traditional French cuisine (mainly because this is what I had in my fridge) and I went with Buffalo chicken and mushroom risotto. I paired this with a 2016 Medoc Bordeaux, which is not a normal pairing for chicken but with the buffalo sauce it actually stood up pretty well to the wine. 2016 is gaining a reputation as a legendary vintage for Bordeaux, so this wine was actually much better than I thought it would be. The dark fruit notes paired well with the spiciness of the sauce and rounded the dish out.

Dessert: Chocolate Mousse, Strawberries, and Monzabillac

But what is a French dinner without a dessert?! I took what ingredients I had available and was able to whip up a delicious chocolate mousse and had some strawberries to go along with it. I also used this course to enjoy the Monzabillac in its normal use - as a dessert wine. The honey notes of the wine added a whole new dimension to the chocolate and fruit flavors. This was really not that difficult to make and honestly my go-to fancy dessert.

France, being the Mecca of fine wine it is, has so many wines you could have a multi-course French dinner every day for a week. However, I was very happy with the wines I had for this dinner, and I thought they did an amazing job showcasing just how different wines from basically the same region can be. 

Tasting - L'hallali Gigondas Grande Reserve

 

 Name: L'hallali Gigondas Grande Reserve 

Variety: 75% Grenache, 5% Mourvedre, 25% Syrah, 5% Cinsault

Region: Gigondas, Rhone Valley

Country: France

Year: 2017

Price: $23

Wine Advocate's Review: "A luscious and jammy red that is medium-full-bodied wit hripe berry, dark cherry, currant, blackberry, fig, and a hint of olive and oak notes. Pair with rich flavors like meaty dishes, try with BBQ-marinated pork ribs, beef, vegetable skewers or T-bone steaks." (93)

Personal Review: One of the events the Vintage Cellar hosts every semester is a 6-week long class for individulas 55+ called Lifelong Learning. Basically, for $125, people get to come do 6 structured tastings run by Randall. This semester's class is going over the wines of France, and luckily this was one of the wines they tried! I had it with some Basque Ossau-Iraty cheese, which I thought paired extremely well due to its creaminess and aromatics. 

Tasting - Fort Ross Sea Slopes Pinot Noir 2019

 

 Name: Fort Ross Sea Slopes Pinot Noir

Variety: Pinot Noir

Region: Sonoma County, California

Country: USA

Year: 2019

Price: $20

Wine Enthusiast's Review: "Opening in a burst of berry with tannic energy, this wine shows impressive length, grace, and complexity. Forest, black tea, and clove accent a core of raspberry, pomegranate, and cranberry, with a pretty rose petal accent throughout." (94)

Personal Review: This may be a very bandwagon-ish statement, but some of the best wines I have ever had were Burgundy Pinot Noirs (big surprise!). Their elegance is just unmatched anywhere else in the world. However, I had never really tried many high-quality Pinot Noirs from California, so I decided I'd give this one a go! It's on a closeout sale at the Vintage Cellar so it's an absolute steal (especially with an employee discount). This wine had surprisingly firm tannins compared to Burgundy Pinots, which made sense given the New World style and climate. On the palate it had the characteristic cherry, ripe strawberry, and black currant notes but a slight bite almost to the point of pepperiness, which I thought was a very interesting expression of the grape.