Posts Tagged ‘viognier’

Stay Rad Wine Blog TV Episode 162: Wine Tasing at the Dionysus Dash

May 3, 2015

In this episode, Jeff explores the effects of running on how we taste wine…

Wine Tasted:

Clos la Chance 2014 Reserve Chardonnay Pure

Clos la Chance 2014 Reserve Viognier

Clos la Chance 2012 Reserve Merlot

Clos la Chance 2011 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

And here are some pictures from the race…

Jeff and Kara Before

The View from the Starting Line

The Prize Table

Your 3rd and 1st Place Divisional Champs

Stay Rad,

Jeff

Alright athletes, tell us what your favorite wine and sports pairing is.  Leave a comment, and let us know.

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Stay Rad Wine Blog TV Episode 136: We Be Clubbin’

June 21, 2014

In this episode, Jeff tries two samples from The International Wine of the Month Club

Wines Tasted:

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Domaine Marc Colin 2011 Saint-Aubin La Fontenotte

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Bellingham 2011 The Bernard Series Small Barrel SMV

Stay Rad,

Jeff

What’s your favorite White Burgundy or South African wine?  Leave a comment, and let us know.

Sushi and Wine for my Valentine

February 15, 2013

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day.

You knew that already.

Did you also know what Kara and I drank to celebrate?

If you followed @JeffIsRad on Twitter, there’s a chance that you did.

For the rest of you, here’s what we had…

This wine was given to us as a wedding gift from Jan and Dr. Jan Krupp of Krupp Brothers and Stagecoach Vineyard way back in 2010.  We decided that Valentine’s Day was as good a day as any to break this puppy open and see what it had in store.

So… we took the bottle down to our favorite sushi restaurant, CreAsian, to have a taste…

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Here it is. Black Bart’s Bride.

The wine is a blend of 70% Marsanne and 30% Viognier from the L2 and 14B blocks of Stagecoach Vineyard.  The wine was barrel fermented on its native yeast, went through 100% natural malolactic fermentation, and was aged sur lie for 9 months in 85% new French oak.  It has an awe-inspiring 14.9% alcohol.  The Wine Enthusiast gave it a 93.  Needless to say, this is a wine geek’s dream (Do you hear that, Wine Geek?).

Color: Super yellow golden straw in color.

Nose: White flowers, honeysuckle, and dried apricots.

Taste: This wine is ridiculously big in its mouthfeel.  In spite of its big, oily viscosity, the Bride has a nice, crisp acidity to go with it.  The palate is all flowers, honey, petrol, and mineral.

Score: I really like this wine, but I’m not one to slap a 93 on it like the Enthusiast.  I’m going 89.

Now…

The write-up in the Wine Enthusiast warns that this wine may be a difficult one to pair with other foods, and I agree…

But…

If it’s gonna work with anything, it’s gotta be Asian.

My feeling was that the oiliness of the fish would bring out secondary flavors of the wine.

Sure enough… as we got into the meal, it’s the crisp acidity that continued to be highlighted in the Bride.  It’s that same acidity that helps make the flavors in the food just pop.

Speaking of food…

Here’s what we ate at CreAsian…

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Seaweed Salad

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Sashimi Tacos. My favorite!

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My Soy Sauce, Ginger, and Wasabi. You gotta dip your sushi in this, but I’ll show you what I like to do in a little bit…

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Clockwise from top left: Mount Fuji Roll, Lemon Drop Roll, and Morgan Hill Roll

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Miso Soup. Me so happy!

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Godzilla Roll. The Bomb Dot Net!

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I always like to finish my meal by dumping my Soy Sauce, Ginger, and Wasabi over a bowl of rice. Mmmmmmmmm!!!!!

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Of course, Ice Cream ain’t a bad way to finish things either. *Warning: Do Not Pair this With the White Wine! Yuck!*

And that was Valentine’s Day!

Of course, if you followed @JeffIsRad on Twitter, you probably already knew that.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

Leave a comment below, and tell the world about your Valentine’s Day Food and Wine Pairing.

Find wine and wine-related products on Amazon.

It’s all good: A two day extravaganza @ #RidgeVineyards

July 6, 2011

Chillin' on the Ridge.

I’m just gonna say it.

Somebody has to.

It may as well be me.

Ridge Vineyards is the raddest winery in the history of all that is awesome.

A couple of months back, after visiting their Monte Bello tasting room in Cupertino, Kara and I decided to become members.  The membership allows us free tasting, discounts on wine, and the ability to buy futures of their Monte Bello at a DEEP discount.  One of the really neat things we’ve discovered since joining Ridge is how many cool members-only events we get to take part in.  Recently we were able to go to two different events on back-to-back days.

Here’s the rundown…

July 1st: First Friday at Monte Bello

During the summer season, the Monte Bello tasting room will serve a special flight to club members on the first Friday of each month.  Although Ridge is most known for their zinfandel and Bordeaux blends, for July, they offered a vertical tasting of chardonnay.

Who says white wine can't age?

The tasting consisted of the 2003 and 2004 vintages of the Monte Bello Chardonnay, as well as the 2005 and 2006 vintages of the Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Charonnay.  The great part about this tasting was seeing just how well chardonnay can age.  The two Monte Bellos were very much smooth and balanced.  They both had really nice acidity.  The 2005 Estate was a crowd-pleasing chardonnay with a beautiful creamy finish.  The 06 Estate had this amazing smell of figs, but the taste did not live up to the nose.  The winner of this throwdown was…

The 2003 Monte Bello Chardonnay. Class in a glass.

After the chardonnay vertical, I had a hankering for a zinfandel and a picnic.  Now, if you’re talking zins, Ridge has ’em.  Based on a recommendation, we got a bottle of this bad boy…

Ridge 2007 Carmichael Zinfandel and a picnic.

This zin had a nice spice and ripe fruit, without being too jammy.  It was a great way to cap off the day…

Okay…

Seeing this thing on the road on the way back was pretty cool too…

If my car were just a little bit smaller, I'd have tried to drive under this thing.

July 2nd:  Zins, Blends & BBQ

For an early 4th of July celebration, the next day, Ridge offered barbecue paired with many of their fine wines.  Here’s what we had…

Check in with a glass of 2009 Mikulaco Chardonnay. Don't mind if I do.

2009 Geyserville paired with a bomb ass North Carolina Pulled Pork sandwich.

2006 Mazzoni Home Ranch with Kansas City Baby Back Ribs and a bunch of forks.

2007 Lytton Estate Zinfandel w/ California Tri Tip and Blue Cheese Potato Salad. Yum!

I found this 2008 York Creek Zinfandel hiding in the corner with Texas Beef Brisket. This York Creek has become one of my favorite zins in the Ridge collection.

After these pairings, there were three more wines for us to try in the main tasting room…

"Would you like to try our 2009 Jimsomare Chardonnay?" "Does a bear poo in the woods?"

The 2009 Buchignani Carignane. So nice, I had it twice... You'll see.

2006 Lytton Estate Syrah done in the true Côte-Rôtie style with 8% viognier.

We were such fans of the Buchignani Carignane that we got another bottle to have with our picnic leftovers from the day before.

I told you.

And there you have it!

13 wines.

4 barbecue dishes.

2 picnics.

1 dope time.

The shadows of Kara and JeffIsRad on the Ridge.

Stay Rad,

Jeff


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