Grenache, Germans, and Homemade Pizza

I got home after the gym to find my roomie entertaining a nice friend of his from high school, her husband (who is German) and their adorable children (who speak German). Reminded me how much I appreciate multilingualism. I love the idea of raising children speaking something besides English, but I'd have to learn another language first :)

Nils had made a few pizzas (pesto with pecans, peppers and onions) and a big salad, and we all sat around, had dinner, and watched the kids draw on the white board (the oldest has a real artistic flair). I opened a bottle of Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache to go with the pizza, and I was pleasantly surprised. I'd tried a few of Yalumba's offerings at the wine tasting last weekend, and enjoyed their Viognier and Shiraz/Viognier blends (very Cote Rotie of them!).

The Grenache was pinker than I expected with nice fresh red fruit flavors, pretty easy drinking but a slight bite. Price point is usually under $15--I found it in Whole Foods. Great while the air is still cool but the promise of spring is very real.

Sweet Endings

For Restaurant Week/Eric and Jon's birthday a few of us went to the Beehive, a trendy-as-hell place in the South End. It's somehow cavernous and still intimate.

The wine list here is great, with bonus points for an amazing collection of sparkling wine/champagne. Mike and I shared some Mumm Napa Prestige with oysters and a proscuitto flatbread (the wine was actually great with it, cut through the rich saltiness of the meat well), then he opted for the duck risotto (fine) and I got the hanger steak with a substitution of sage and sea salt frites (disappointing). Our dinner wines (Pinot for him, a Bodegas Tempranillo for me) were also nice and appropriate.

But the highlight of the meal was the dessert (and dessert wines) we had. Mike had the chocolate pot de creme with the Pfeiffer Muscat (an Australian dessert wine that was luscious and decadent, sweet dried fruit flavors, and a nice match with the chocolate). I had the Irish cream cheesecake with Dr. Loosen Auslese Riseling, a honeysuckle-scented glass of richness (and since the Irish cream flavor was essentially missing from the dessert, actually a great pairing too). Reminds me that I need to experiment more with dessert wines...last night, this was the perfect way to end our meal.

Lush and Full, Light and Fun

Last night Mike and I had a delicious dinner at Temple Bar (we split the lamb shoulder and mussels, he chose scallops for his entree, I had steak frites, which were damn tasty). For the glass with my steak, I selected a red blend I'd never tried, Clayhouse Adobe Red. My impressions:

1) At first whiff, the alcohol is prominent, almost off-putting in its intensity.
2) The mouthfeel is lush, like drinking a glass of burgundy velvet.
3) Nice spice notes, some vanilla, dark cherry/berry. Mike's first thought was to try it with dark chocolate. (He also compared it to anal sex--I'm taking that to mean pleasurable in the most base, direct sense of the word, but not subtle.)

And today is a dear, dear friend's birthday party and the theme is PINK. I'm thinking of bringing one or all of the following:

Sofia Blanc de Blancs cans (it's a four pack of pink cans of sparkling wine, and always cracks me up...you expect 22 year olds to be drinking this on the T)
Domaine de Chandon Rose (perfectly serviceable sparkling rose, nice with strawberries)
Sergio Rose Prosecco (off dry, sexy...you want to kiss this off the lips of someone delicious)
Mionetto Prosecco (tons of bubbles, light and barely apple-y) with a bottle of Chambord for fun

Clearly the theme here is something delicious and festive...totally appropriate for my kickass friend's birthday!

Zinfandel...for when the Weather Turns

I am a very seasonal wine drinker.

Here are some absolutes:

For that first cool night, a Pinot Noir.
When it comes out, Beaujolais Nouveau (yes, I get that it's lame, lame wine. Don't care. It's a fake celebration I dig a little bit!).
New Year's Eve, something sparkly (I am partial to Cava actually).
And when the weather is cold, and stays cold, a nice robust wine...a Syrah/Shiraz or a Zin.

I tried the Cline Zin at a Zinfest (at Kappy's of course!), and loved its texture, and most of all its silky vanilla undertones. Yum. Nils and I bought out their stock.

Dropping by the Kappy's near me, I found two more bottles (it is hard to fine, strangely enough...maybe it's already too popular). Good fruit, good oak, and a sexy wine that calls up the image of sitting in front of a fire with someone you'd like to warm up with.

Lovely Sake and Sushi

We went to Hana for sushi this evening and, in addition to our delicious sushi/sashimi combo, had a nice bottle of sake.

Murai Nebuta Honjozo is a dry sake, with light fruit flavors, but the best part is this descriptor: "the mouthfeel of midsummer rain." I love that image.

Sauvignon Blanc and a Birthday Celebration

Yesterday I helped celebrate our friend Kerri's birthday. We started in the surprisingly nice Dillon's (it's on Boylston Street, which always reminds me of drinking huge noxious fishbowls at the Foggy Goggle). Dillon's has the kind of vibe, especially in the back, that it would be a lovely place to have a glass of red wine on a cool night...they have a fireplace, the light is low and warm, and it feels quite cozy.

Last night, however, it was warmish and wet, with summer lightening. Felt like a white wine night. The wine list there isn't terribly extensive, nor terribly creative, but it has some decent pours (and I was impressed by their ACTUALLY APPROPRIATE FOR WINE SIZED glasses, instead of the squat, sturdy glasses I would expect in that part of town).

I ended up w/ the Nobilo Sauvignon blanc, a reliable and tasty New Zealand pour with lots of grassy and citrus-y notes. It was the clean, crisp, low key end I needed to this week, and a perfect fit for sitting in a cushy chair, watching the rain, and helping our friend celebrate.

Two Bottles, Two Dinners

My local wine store (Kappy's in Medford, a veritable Wal-Mart of liquor) has tastings every Friday and Saturday, and I've found some delicious bottles as a result. Our wine Saturday came out of one of these tastings...I was looking for a nice Beaujolais (Morgon, probably) to lightly chill with our lamb loin chops. I stumbled on the Kris Pinot Noir, a DOC Italian wine that has great fresh fruit flavors, almost with the same juiciness you find w/ a Beaujolais. We had that, grilled asparagus, broiled lamb chops with some salt, pepper, and garlic. Great Saturday night date meal. The Kris is delicious (I would probably drink it on the first cool night in October or so...it tastes like that balance between summer and fall).

For Sunday (traditionally our "have a nice meal at home" night), I cooked swordfish steaks in foil with lime and onions, blanched green beans, and made Barefoot Contessa's potato salad with dill. We had Les Vieilles Vignes Muscadet with our fish, which picked up the nice citrus and herb elements of the meal. It's a nice sip of wine, less than $10, bracing and clean. Not super complicated, but that's the way Muscadet should be.