2007 MIchele Chiarlo Barbera d'Asti

I went out to eat on February 3rd and enjoyed a 2007 Barbera d’Asti by Michele Chiarlo with a crusted sole over bed of zesty orzo.   You are  probably saying “fish with red wine?” Yes, fish with red wine and it worked!

It was an interesting wine and food pairing exercise to see what would happen.  I love to do these things because it’s fun and educational.  The sole itself was light, but the crust was heavy and it had a lemon, butter and caper garlic sauce which would normally make you lean towards pairing it with a white wine. The zesty orzo tasted like it was sauteed with julienne of chard and raddichio, garlic, along with other zesty spices I couldn’t isolate, but it was very good dish.  I wasn’t sure how the wine and food pairing would turn out either.  However, this Barbera’s high acidity and minerality made it work together.   Here are other reasons I chose this wine:  (1) there were no white wines on the menu that I was in the mood for; (2) all the white wines on the restaurant’s wine list can be found at groceries store for a lot lot less.  I feel this is a mistake that so many restaurants make, but that’s another story.  Anyway, this Barbera d’Asti was the only wine that stood out, so I went for it, and was quite pleasantly surprised!  Apparently, on Thursdays nights at this restaurant, all bottles of wine are at half-price so that sweetened the deal!  The rest of the guests at my table which included my parents and husband, also enjoyed the wine with their food.  So, this Barbera d’Asti turned out to be a versatile food friendly wine that went well with everyone’s meal.

I’d love to hear your comments. Tell me about your interesting wine and food pairings, daring or not!  Don’t be shy! The fun is in experimenting and exploring so that you understand what works and doesn’t.

Up until late February 2009, the subject and tasting of French wines was new to me and seemed very daunting.  As I immersed myself in my studies at the Professional Culinary Institute’s wine program, I learned how to appreciate French wines (and other old world wines from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany).  It took a lot of reading and tasting, tasting, tasting many wines from different parts of France and there’s still more to learn and taste!  In class, we spent 2 weeks learning about the geography, history and theory of French wines along with sampling 8-10 French wines a day.   The time we spent learning about the wines of France was longer than the time spent on other major wine producing countries.  Why?  Because so much of what wine is today is a result of the long history of grape growing and winemaking practices in France.  Learning and understanding wines of France made it easier to learn and understand wines from the other major wine producing countries in the world.  What else did I gain from the 2 weeks of immersion into the wines of France?  I learned how to taste “terroir” and understand what it is.  In class, “terroir” was defined as “anything with a sense of place” including climate, soil, environment, winemaking practices.

Here are a few more links I found and information from others who have dissected the meaning of “terroir”:

• Steven Tanzer, International Wine Cellar and Winophilia.com: What is Terroir?
• Jamie Goode, UK-based wine journalist, book author, wine blogger: Terroir revisited: towards a working definition
• “Terroir France” defines it as this: ”A “terroir” is a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine.   Terroir  =  Region  +  Appellation  +  Grapes  +  Wine making”

The different regions of France truly produce distinctive wines because of the “terroir” or their sense of place, e.g. where the grapes grew, what they grew on, what the climate was like, the winemaking practices, and whether the climate where the grapes grew caused the grapes to be less ripe or more ripe at harvest.   In regards to ripeness of grapes, less ripe grapes means less sugar in the juice which results in lower alcohol of the wine (sugar converts to alcohol during fermentation of the grape juice).  Riper grapes means more sugar which then results in higher alcohol.   This sense of place can be applied elsewhere in the grape growing world. This helps to understand, for example, why Cabernet Sauvignon can taste different when grown in different parts of the world or different regions within a country, a province, state and even as small as part of a city or town.

After learning how to appreciate French wines through tasting and smelling, I realized that you really can taste and smell the sense of place through a wine’s minerality and earthiness.  All wines have fruit related aromas and flavors, but not all wines show distinct mineral and earth tones.  These mineral and earthy smells and tastes really do exist when a wine has it. Sometimes, it’s not easy detecting them but they can and do exist.  Some of the words used to describe minerals and earth in wine are:  chalk, gravel, rock, slate, dirt, soil, pebbles, river rock, mushroom, truffles, compost, wet or dry rock, wet or dry dirt, we or dry soil, damp or dry earth, graphite, pencil lead.  These words don’t sound very appetizing and you may not want to drink a wine with heavy earthiness or minerality as a cocktail wine.  However, wines like these happen to be the wines that pair very well with foods.

So, next time you’re sipping a glass of wine, think of where the wine came from and what the aromas and flavors remind you of.  And, of course, enjoy it for what it is – a fascinating beverage and compliment to your meal!
Z7FU7M7BEJV5

J. Portugal Ramos 2007 Marques de Borba Alentejo

Tonight, I enjoyed drinking J. Portugal Ramos 2007 Marques de Borba from Alentejo region of Portugal made from the grapes Aragonez / Aragonês (Tempranillo) and Trincadeira.  To my palate, it was a medium bodied wine with some plum and red berry fruit tones, moderate tannins, earthy tones and minerality.  It would pair with meats, smoked meats, game and intense cheeses like Gorgonzola, Stilton and Blue Cheese.  It is a food wine, not a cocktail wine and was at 13.5% alcohol. I bought it for under $10.  I drank this wine with Spaghetti Bolognese because that’s what I happen to make for my family for dinner.  However, after tasting the wine with the pasta, I thought it would work better with some strong cheese, so I took out the Danish Blue cheese I had.  Voila!  It worked so much better with the Blue Cheese that I couldn’t stop eating the cheese and sipping the wine!  It was fun and interesting to experience the synergy or lack of synergy in wine and food pairing. Sometimes, you just never know until you try!  Here’s another review of this wine from TravelPlusWine.com.

I found this wine at a small local purveyor of wines and foods from Portugal, Sousa’s Discount Liquors, on Washington Blvd in Fremont, CA.  It’s hard to find unique Portuguese dry red and white wines in my local area, so I was thrilled to find this little store.  I’ve been to the shopping center where Sousa’s is located so many times and I have seen this place, but never thought of going in until today.  Their sign just says “Liquor” on it and it looks like any other unassuming liquor store.  What peaked my interest this time was their “sandwich board” sign in the parking lot stating they carry Portuguese specialty foods and I happen to have a craving for Portuguese sausage!

If you live in Fremont, CA or in the surrounding area and looking for unique Portuguese wines and foods that may be hard to find elsewhere, it’s definitely worth a visit to Sousa’s.  I know I am going to become a regular.  It’s a very small store, but half the store is filled with wine, Vintage Ports, Madeira, Malmsey, Portuguese liquers and other alcoholic beverages from Portugal that I’ve never seen before.  Sousa’s also carries some domestic wines, other imported wines along with food products from Brazil, but I was more interested in the wines I can’t find elsewhere.  I love exploring obscure wines and grape varietals, so I was like a kid in a candy store!  The owner, Abe Sousa, is very friendly and helpful. We had a great conversation about wines from Portugal and he even showed me a special 1901 Vintage Port, something I can only dream of tasting!

Sousa’s Discount Liquors
1584 Washington Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94539
510-659-8369
www.sousasliquors.com

Posted from CellarTracker

The Rockpile appellation located in Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County California was established in 2002. However, the area has been referred to as Rockpile since the 1850′s and has quite a history, aside from grapes, which includes an outlaw from the Jesse James gang and even actors from the famous TV Western Bonanza.  You can learn a lot more about the Rockpile AVA, the winemakers, grape growers and what makes it so special at: http://rockpileappellation.com.

Although Rockpile is known for Zinfandels, it was a very educational to taste the Zinfandels along with Merlots, Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs, and Petit Sirahs from the appellation. In addition, doing a vertical tasting of Carol Shelton Wines’ Rocky Reserve Zinfandels from years 2000 to 2009 at her table was a very special treat!  During the breakout session, we were guided through vertical tastings of 4 flights of 5 Rockpile Zinfandel vintages and participated in a Q & A of  the winemakers moderated by Kent Rosenblum. Here’s what we tasted:

• 2001 & 2002 Carol Shelton and Mauritson Zinfandels
• 2005, 2007 and 2009 Carol Shelton, Seghesio, Mauritson and Paradise Ridge Zinfandels

The wineries that were there with their Rockpile appellation wines for tasting were: Rock Wall Wine Company, Mauritson Family Winery, Carol Shelton, JC Cellars, Paradise Ridge Winery, Seghesio Family Vineyards, Stryker Sonoma Winery, Branham Estate Wines and Branham Rockpile Vineyard.  The Rockpile grape growers that participated were: Gloeckner-Turner and Westphall Ridge Vineyards, JD Ranch, Rocky Ridge Vineyards, Mauritson Rockpile Ridge and Rockpile Ranch.

These are a few photos I took at the event. I wish I took more photos, but I was so busy tasting all the rockin’ Rockpile wines!  Randy Caparoso took more photos which you may be able to see on Facebook if you have an account and his photos can be publicly viewed.

Walk-around tasting of Rockpile AVA wines held at Rockwall Wine Company, Alameda, CA

Carol Shelton (R) and Mitch Mackenzie (L) of Carol Shelton Wines

Carol Shelton Rockpile Vertical Tasting 2000-2009