John and Dan's Picks, March 29th 2007

Every couple of weeks John and I can't find a distributor to sponsor our Flight Night, so we feature wines that we think are notable. For this weeks Flight Night we decided to feature wines from European Wine Imports, Heidelberg Distributors, and Vintner Select Distributors. As always, Chef Tim King and the kitchen downstairs put out an impressive spread of food that included a mixed cheese tray, pipette pasta with calamari tossed in a spicy arrabiatta sauce, chicken satay with peanut sauce, white vanilla bean cake, chocolate brownie cake, and chocolate covered lady fingers, marshmallows, and strawberries.

Its not uncommon for John and I to start our taste with a sparkling wine, however, lately I have found a obsessive fascination with crémant (for a definition on crémant see my Feb. 22nd 2007 entry). The Cave de Cleebourg "Clerostein" Crémant 'd Alsace Rose (retail $18) was not by any means exempt from my enthusiasm for this style of wine. This wine is actually made from a wine co-op out of Cleebourg in Alsace of which 5 villages and 190 different growers are associated. Made from 100% Pinot Noir this fruit is sourced from the Huettgasse de Steinseltz locality. With a nose full of strawberry and cream this fruity and crisp sparkler exhibits a nice yeasty or bisquity body and a smooth creamy finish. For a great summer treat try pairing this fantastic crémant with a dozen steamed littleneck clams with drawn butter and hot sauce. If you want to find out more about the co-op or view other wines they produce please check out www.cave-cleebourg.com

Next we moved to a wine that I hope to feature on the patio this summer. Kitfox Vineyards "Foxy" White Table Wine 2005 retails for $12 and is a blend of 63% Chenin Blanc, 12% Sauvignon Blanc, 7% Verdelho, 5% Orange Muscat, 5% Riesling, 5% Viognier, 5% Gewurztraminer. Light gold in color this wine exhibits a floral nose with watermelon, honey, apricot, tangerine, and light lime zest. This nice white table wine is fruity and off-dry in the mid palate leading to a complex finish of lemon zest and honeydew. As I mentioned earlier this is a refreshing option for hot summer day. Try this wine with apple and nut stuffed pork tenderloin with fingerling potatoes and steamed dandelion with fresh ground sea salt. For more information on Kitfox check out:www.kitfoxvineyards.com

Jumping from California we ended up with a Barbera d' Alba the Northwest region of Italy. Barbera is often referred to as the "people's wine" and accounts for over 40 percent of the grapes grown in Peidmont. While I know reading and understanding Italian wine bottles can be confusing at times, Barbera d' Alba simply indicates one of the three major terriors from which this Barbera is grown (just outside the town of Alba). Corino is a major player in the Peidmont reigion and is often sought after for their Barolo. However, the two brother winemakers, Renato and Giuliano, split the family vineyards with Guiliano keeping the original namesake. This is Renato's label and this dark crimson Barbera is a nicely priced (retailing for $20) introduction to the quality wine their family traditionally produces. The Renato Corino Barbera 'd Alba D.O.C. 2005 offers a nose of cherry, barn-fire smoke, and light chocolate. Spicy and full fruit upfront lead to an acidic peppery finish. This wine took quite a while to open up and is a bit young in the bottle. I would suggest cellaring this for another couple years or if you insist on drinking it right now decanting for at least one hour. Try this wine with a prosciutto wrapped chicken topped with a wedge of semi-hard ricotta and served atop fetuccine con spinachi tossed with sliced cherry tomatoes, virgin olive oil, and freshly grated Romano cheese.

Whenever I can I try to plug my favorite varietal in the Flight Nights. The Silver Peak Vineyard Zinfandel 2001 (retail $14) comes from the Zinfandel rich Lodi, California. One of the general wine rules to Zinfandel is that it should be drank very young, however, the 6 year bottle age clearly helped this wine rather than hindered it. Lodi fruit (especially Zinfandel) tends to be bold and deep and full-bodied to begin with and definitely needs a bit of bottle time to really pop. Cheap or not, try cellaring some Zinfandel to see what I mean. This wine exhibits cherry, vanilla, strawberry, and oddly a bit of petrol in the nose even though the alcohol content is relatively low for Lodi (13.5% ABV). Silver Peak Zinfandel offers deep full-bodied bold fruit with a slightly tangy yet smooth finish. Try drinking this wine with a chopped beef tenderloin sandwich with sauteed onions and mushrooms on toasted ciabbatta with melted provolone.

We finished the taste with what seemed to be the crowd favorite. Marquis Phillips 2005 Shiraz retails for $16 but drinks at twice that value. The label features a mythical creature called a Roogle half bald eagle and half Kangaroo to represent the partnership between its American importer and Australian winemaker. This dense and opaquely deep red is almost black in color indicating the huge blackberry and plum tones accompanied by, tar, leather, oak. Heavy full-bodied dark fruit flavors lead to a slightly spicy long rounded finish in this high octane (15.9% ABV)wine. Try this wine with chocolate zucchini cake sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Thanks again for staying with me through this blog and supporting the Thursday Night Flight Night. As always I would appreciate some feedback on what you thought about the wine or if there is something you want to see in one of my flight nights. I'll see you all next week and remember to keep an open eye and an open mind.

Hammer Taste, March 15th 2007

This week at Thursday Night Flight Night we featured the wines of the Hammer Company. Hammer is one of the larger distribution companies in the country and represents a very nice selection of different high quality wines. We had a phenomonal turnout for this taste and Chef Tim King put out a cheese platter and deep fried calamari tossed in chorizo sausage, hot peppers, and a spicy sauce.

We started this taste with a bubbly from Domaine Chandon. This California sparkler is one among a few of the entry level sparkling wines offered by the sister company to Moët & Chandon. Domain Chandon boasts not only being the first French owned attempt to sparkling wine in the U.S. but has gone though great strides to promote sparkling white as an everyday table wine instead of a dessert or special occasion option. Their restaurant offers wine pairings for all their menu items. The Chandon Rose NV (retail $20) is composed of Pinot Noir from their Carneros vineyard. This light pink bubbly contains strong strawberry tones with a hint of citrus and honey. The light and refreshing sparkler offers suggestions of ripe cranberry & apricot. Try pairing this wine with a grilled chicken cobb salad with warm goat cheese, beets, and candied walnuts drizzled with a lemon peppercorn vinaigrette. For more information on Domaine Chandon or their restaurant check out their website at: www.chandon.com.

We followed our sparkling selection with a wine from the upper Northwest. Snoqualmi "Naked" Reisling 2005 (retail $18) is produced in Columbia Valley, Washington. This 100% organic "au naturel" wine is a classic example of what the ripe riesling grape is like straight off the vine exhibiting a deep gold complexion with heavy straw scents in the nose. The naked riesling is semi-sweet and surprisingly fruity with indications of navel and apricot leading to a long dry finish. Try pairing this wine with a buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad served with a lentil and spicy eggplant relish and fresh basil with a balsamic dressing. For more information on Snoqualmie Winery check out their website at: www.snoqualmie.com.

The next two wines we presented are a new project for the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. The Coppola Winery has purchased a new unnamed wine making facility near Alexander Valley formerly occupied by Chateau Sovrain. Much like the Coppola Diamond Collection wines, the Directors Cut Series of wine offers quality wine at an affordable price. The Coppola Directors Cut Chardonnay 2005 (retail $18) draws its fruit from the Russian River Valley renowned for its cool-climate grape varietals like Chardonnay. This wine exhibits pineapple and peach with a hint of honey in the nose. Lush grapefruit and citrus upfront flavors are followed by a long finish of oak, hay, and a hint of white pepper. Try pairing this wine with seared sea scallops with prawn ravioli, salmon roe & cauliflower puree.

Coppola makes an attempt in this new line of wines to connect his interests of film making and wine making by playing with the idea of the directors cut. As I'm sure many of you know a directors cut of a movie is the film makers most ideal presentation of his creation indicating that this wine is the most ideal presentation of his wine. Coppola also created dynamic labels that mimic zoetropes (a visual illusion that creates motion in a series of pictures). The Coppola Directors Cut Zinfindel 2005 (retail $18) pulls its fruit from Dry Creek Valley producing a sensational red Zinfindel with lots of character and poise. Almost purple in color, the nose explodes with berry and cassis offering a hint of tobbaco and tar. Deep berry tones lead to a long rounded oaky finish with a hint of black pepper on the outro. It was a pleasure to drink from start to finish. Try pairing this wine with beef tenderloin served atop creamed potatoes and covered with a caramelized shallot sauce or a hazelnut & chocolate torte with honey ice cream & a honeycomb.Although the website didn't have any information on this new aquisition check out Coppola's winery at: www.ffcwinery.com.

For our last wine I revisited the Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2003 on account of my recent facination with Shiraz and Syrah. For those of you who don't know, Penfolds is one of Australia's oldest wineries in the South Australia (along with Lindeman's). It was founded by Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfold in 1845. He had originally started his winery for a supply of wine that he prescribed to his patients. Over the years Penfold's has been a name that is associated with quality wine. His infamous Grange wine has recieved awards and sells for around the $160 range. However, the wine I was drinking is in the Bin portfolio. This is their middle-of-the-road series of wines (the big seller being the Cab/Shiraz blend Bin 389) retailing around $20. Bin 28 is named after the famous Barossa Valley Kalimna vineyard purchased by Penfolds in 1945 and from which the wine was originally sourced. Today, Bin 28 is a multi-region, multi-vineyard blend, with the Barossa Valley always well represented, providing over 45% of the fruit for this vintage. Bin 28 is 100% shiraz exhibiting a big earthy nose with berry & cassis. With a robust full-bodied mouth it's fruity and sweet in the mid-palate with a long rounded semi-dry finish. Try this wine with shrimp kebobs and long grained wild rice or an Italian antipasto salad. For more information on this winery and their products click this link: www.penfolds.com.au.

John and I have been busy coming up with new promotions at the Wine Down and would like to thank all of you who have been supportive of our efforts. Keep checking this blog for new and upcoming events and promotions. The next post will be a review of our first Winemaker Wednesdays Series featuring the winemaker Benoit Laville from Chateau Laville in Bordeaux, France. I'll see you next week and remember to keep an open eye and an open mind.