Borghese Chardonnay

Yummy & rich!!!

That's Borghese's Chardonnay.  We tasted this wine after a private tour of the vineyard.  This wine is often used at wine dinners and paired with a steak.  It holds up well because it is so rich...not too buttery nor too oakey.  Just right!

Last night, I cooked a rib-eye soaked in Cognac - very tasty - with potato balls & sauteed mushrooms.  We had shrimp salad set in a half avocado.  To end the meal, I made Chocolate Mousse.  When I first started making the mousse, it wasn't turning out right.  After I whipped the chocolate smooth, I folded in more egg whites.  It set well and had a deep chocolate flavor.

Borghese

2005 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay

North Fork of Long Island

Nestled in the North Fork of Long Island's Bordelaise microclimate, Castello di Borghese Vineyard has crafted classically proportioned wines since 1973.  Blessed with a 210 day growing season and sandy soils, Long Island's first estate vineyard ferments vintage after vintage of critically acclaimed wines.

Estancia Cabernet

A few weeks ago we had April & Jesse Saginor for dinner. They brought a bottle of Estancia Cab which was fun to drink.  A nice Cab!  We'll drink this again

Estancia

2007

Cabernet Sauvignon

Paso Robles

After sunset, temperatures drop as marine fog sweeps in, lingering until dawn.  These cool evenings & warm days create a longer growing season, allowing grapes to ripen to perfection.  

Deeply concentrated & intensely flavorful displaying dense black currant, lush chocolate, & dark cherry fruit flavors followed by a long, supple finish.

J.Lohr in Hawaii

We're here in Hawaii for a week, celebrating our oldest daughter's college graduation. After getting up at 2am to watch the sunrise over the Haleakala Crater, then bike riding down the mountain and enjoying lunch in the crazy town of Paia, we stopped for a bottle of wine at Safeway (most boring part of our day). But the wine definitely was not boring. We enjoyed a glass before we headed to the beach to watch the sunset. This glass of wine was so much better than the one the waitress at Pineapple Grill recommended as full-bodied and smooth.

The Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon is delicious. A bit of cherry nose, but yummy dark berries and currant on the palate. Even though it isn't as complex as I enjoy, this Cab is smooth without the acidity of so many wines these days. I think it would be great with steak and plan to get a few bottles when we get home.

Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon
J. Lohr, Paso Robles
2007

Pineapple Grill, Kapalua

We arrived in Maui today and decided to have dinner here at Kapalua. We had done enough traveling (College Station to Houston to Honolulu to Maui to Kapalua), so we didn't want to drive anywhere. Instead we took the Resort shuttle to Pineapple Grill since it was recommended by our concierge.

The restaurant was nicely lit with candles and windows on 2 sides, giving you a nice view of the golf course and trees overlooking the ocean. I asked for a recommendation for a smooth red wine that might be full-bodied. The waitress recommended a Cab, that happened to be the least expensive on the menu. I was a bit surprised, because I thought a full-bodied wine would be more expensive. She also recommended a Merlot & brought me a sample. The Merlot was full of tannins that I didn't like, so I ordered the Cab. Unfortunately, it was worse than the wine I had on the airplane. Just cheap wine at $8.50/glass. I was a bit stunned because the waitress had high reviews for it. Another unfortunate . . . is I can't remember the name of the wine. However, I do remember it was the 2nd wine listed on Reds by the Glass.

Two Angels Petite Sirah

Last night the kids were all gone, so we enjoyed a quiet dinner by ourselves. I pulled out Two Angels' Petite Sirah and was pleasantly surprised. It is very fruit-forward and smooth to drink. There are wonderful blueberry flavors. At first, I wondered if it was a syrah because there weren't any spicy tones. As the wine opens up, a hint of spice is evident.

Two Angels
2006 High Valley Petite Sirah
The wine exhibits a core of ripe, juicy blueberry fruit and toasty oak backed by rich silky tannins.

The label is pretty cool, designed by Jacob DeBacker in 1591. The theme of the piece is the hilarity of inebriation and the trauma of the morning after. Excessive joy must be countered by equally excessive sorrow, with penitential atonement for pleasure.

Tin Barn Vineyards

Earlier in the year I ordered some wines online. We tried one of them last night...Tin Barn Blend, mostly cabernet. It wasn't as complex as I like, but it grew on me. I think it got better the more it had time to breathe. We had a delicious chicken breast smothered with an artichoke-shrimp cream sauce.

Tin Barn is made of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. There aren't heavy tannins. I enjoyed the cabernet grape of dark berry the most.

Finally Found Frog's Leap

Several years ago we enjoyed a bottle of Frog's Leap wine at a local restaurant. I looked for awhile trying to find it, but never could. Always found Stags Leap instead.

A few months ago I found Frog's Leap Zinfandel at our local World Market and grabbed a bottle. This week we had the perfect meal to compliment it. I grilled a pork tenderloin with a rum glaze. The glaze had a habenero pepper in it and was wonderful. I also made a coconut-jalapeno sauce that the slices of meat sat on. Finally, I sprinkled cilantro and green onions on top. Wonderful.

The 2006 Zinfandel from Napa Valley was terrific. It was smooth with a dark berry taste. There were hints of smoke at times. It reminded me of a Shiraz with a bit of pepper. I am definitely heading back to World Market to see what other Frog's Leap wines they carry.