Category Archives: Year

Aug 20 2012
5 Comments
2011, Germany, Mosel

2011 Meierer Kestener Riesling Kabinett and 2011 Meierer Kestener Paulinsberg Riesling Spätlese

I promised to write a bit more in detail about some of the wines we tried on our trip to Germany. I want to start with the 2011 Meierer Kestener Riesling Kabinett and the 2011 Meierer Kestener Paulinsberg Riesling Spätlese. I wrote about the tasting experience at the winery in general here.

Bottle (photo courtesy of http://www.weingut-meierer.de)

The 2011 Kabinett was harvested from several lots in Kesten and the crushed together. The grapes used are those that are fully ripe but still low on sugar with a maximum of noble rot of 10%. The wine has 9% ABV with 7.5 grams of acidity/liter and 47 grams of residual sugar/liter. You can tell from these numbers that this is a typical German riesling on the sweet side. The key indicator for a sweeter wine is the lower alcohol content. As sugar is turned into alcohol by the yeast, a lower alcohol content necessarily means more residual sugar in the wine. It was vinified in stainless steel.

In the nose, I got sugary notes, with licorice and gummibear aroma. It smelled like fun! The palate was fruity with a healthy acidity. Unfortunately the finish was rather short. At $6.50 at the winery, this wine is a steal and a perfect summer treat.

Th 2011 Spätlese was harvested when the grapes were fully ripe and had some noble rot on them. The winery website says 10-20%. The wine has 8% ABV with 7.5 grams of acidity/liter and 74 grams of residual sugar/liter of wine.

On the nose, this wine had licorice (again!) and strawberry notes. The palate was really awesome. The wine initially tasted of herbs and peaches but a bit into the tasting more and more tropical fruit aromas showed up. I can only describe those as one of the ubiquitous multivitamin juices. I love that. The finish was nicely long. Another very solid wine.

European readers can order the wines directly from the winery here.

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Aug 17 2012
10 Comments
2007, Chianti, Food and Wine Pairings, Italy

Greek Tomato Sauce…and 2007 Gaetano d’Aquino Chianti Riserva

What do you do when the wine you want to write about was somewhat underwhelming? You write about the food that you had with it because it was amazing…and mention the wine later.

It is tomato season, guys. How do I know? Because our awesome landlady brings us bags of tomatoes every other day!! I love putting them on my sandwiches or make a tomato salsa but we still have tons. So, Nina remembered a recipe that my brother was taught by one of his friends’ grandmother who lives on the Romanian border in Greece (I swear, I did not make this up!). It is incredibly simple, but you must, must, must have tomatoes that actually are fully ripe and taste like tomatoes, so usually not the supermarket stuff…Give this recipe a try if you love tomatoes. It will not let you down! And it stores well in the fridge, too, so make as much as you can.

Greek Tomato Ragù – final result (no pictures of the process because I didn’t intend to blog about it)

Here is the recipe to the Greek Tomato Sauce:

Ingredients
as many fully ripe, fresh tomatoes as you want
1-2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
fresh basil
olive oil, pepper, salt

Preparation
1) Get your grinder out and grind the tomatoes (skin and all) into a bowl. Yes, I mean grinding, as in cheese grinding.

2) Fill a pot with a very generous amount of good olive oil. You think you put in enough? Put in more! You want the onions and the garlic swimming in oil! Heat to medium heat and throw in onions and garlic. Let cook for 10-15 minutes. The onions and garlic should not brown if you put in enough oil, they will just become soft.

3) Pour in the tomatoes, bring to a simmer. At that stage, the ground tomatoes are quite liquidy. No worries.

4) Let simmer for 1 1/2-3 hours, until the sauce is not watery any more (varies with the amount of tomatoes). The texture depends on your idea of sauce. Season with salt and pepper, throw in as many fresh basil leaves as you want.

5) Done. Serve with penne rigate or rigatoni and fresh parmiggiano. It is divine.

The wine we had with it was a 2007 Gaetano d’Aquino Chianti Riserva I picked up at Trader Joe’s a while back. I think chianti pairs well with tomato-based sauces, so I opened it up. The color was light red, slightly browned with some viscosity. On the nose there were prunes, sweet cherries. Nina got paint thinner, I did not detect that. But the wine smelled a bit fusty. The taste was rather sour, with some marzipane (sweet almond paste). It had nice tannins but was rather thin. The finish was longer than expected, but the sour notes dominated. It was not a bad wine, but it was also not a good wine. Of a riserva, I do expect a bit more. However, I thought it paired alright with our dish.

Nothing special but paired alright with the food.

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Aug 11 2012
11 Comments
2010, California, USA

Trader Joe’s Reserve 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley and 2010 Merlot Paso Robles

The duo

We spent last night over at friends, making burritos and catching up. After we were done with our by now obligatory Vinho Verde Espiral, we moved on to two other Trader Joe’s wines that I had not yet tasted. I was quite excited because I hear/read that the Trader Joe’s Reserves are pretty good (I am sure you have heard that before as well: “Giving you a $20 wine for $10”, and stuff like that – btw who comes up with that stuff? It totally sounds like a marketing gimmick by TJ’s itself!!). Well, here is what I thought:

First up was the 2010 Trader Joe’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley. Now, I am usually not an overly big fan of cab savs. On paper, they have everything that gets me going in a red wine: red berries and red fruit, healthy tannins. Yet, they seldom impress me. I find a lot of them unbalanced and somehow unappealing. In my experience, the grape is much better in blended wines than as a single varietal wine. I have had some great ones thanks to an American friend of ours who went on a mission to make me try good cab savs while we were still in Germany. She succeeded in that I do not shy away completely when they are offered to me. This one had the typical dark red color, and the cork was nicely reddened (I have not had a red wine in a bit, as I noticed when I smiled looking at the cork…just something about those stains). In the nose, I got a lot of vanilla notes. On the palate, not so much: more cherries and dark berries. I was greeted by strong, unwelcome oaky flavors, with some strawberries thrown in. This was soon followed by what I can only describe as “greenness”, tasting like the grapes were not ripe or the grape skins and stems standing way too long in the juice after pressing. It is a bit like biting into a fresh branch. It was surprisingly sweet, and had a short finish. I did not care for it very much. I cross checked with Nina, who loves cab sav, and her facial reaction confirmed my impression. This is not for me.

Second up was the 2010 Trader Joe’s Reserve Merlot Paso Robles. A lot of people shun merlot (namely those that watched the movie Sideways…), but I have not been turned off by the grape. Again, I think it is often better when blended, but the single varietal wines usually are not letting me down. I am not having many bottles of it in my cellar, though. It poured well and looked dark red, yet a bit lighter than the cab sav. The nose was subtle, almost subdued. It tasted of strawberry and some vanilla, with later apple notes coming in (weird, but not unpleasant!). Slightly green tasting, with a mild smokiness. The finish was medium long. I thought this was much better than the cab sav, a good pour at the end of the evening. Not wild crazy about it, but a decent wine.

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