by Christine | Wine Friday
NOTE: Please assume the accent over the “e” on the word Rose. (Pronounced rosAY.)
Rose wines and summer just seem to go together. So while I was in my local grocery store, I looked for Roses. I found two – and they were both in the sparkling wine category. (Quite good and I’ll get to one of those in a minute.) For straight, still wine called Rose, I found exactly – one. One. ONE. Are the wine buyers crazy?
Whatever happened to Rose? I remember in the late 1970’s, Mateus used to put out a decent Rose, in a nifty bottle, too. Almaden also put out a Rose. Then, somehow, when I wasn’t looking, in the early 1980’s white Zinfandel hit the scene and took over. The new category of “blush wine” appeared, forever altering the state of Rose in America.
Let’s get something clear. White Zinfandel, or any other “blush” wine, tends to be sweet and lower in alcohol (and often, cheap). Because of this, many casual wine drinkers think that all pink wines taste the same. Not so, grasshopper! I mean, yes, any wine with the word “white” before the varietal is most likely sweet. And while that isn’t necessarily bad, it’s most definitely not a Rose.
I shall now quote from the EVERYTHING GUIDE TO WINE book by Peter Alig: “Even though a rose has acidity and tannins acquired from the grape skins, its fruit flavor disappears quickly, which is why you should always buy the most recent vintage available. Like a white wine, a rose should be served well-chilled.”
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that short rant out of the way, on to the wines! I’ve got one sparkler and two still Roses for you today.
Chandon Sparkling Rose Alcohol 13% by volume. Regularly $19.99 a bottle, on sale for $12.99 (I know – but for sparkling wines, I’m upping my limit to $15.!)
On The Label: “Methode Traditionnelle. At Chandon, we are true California sparkling wine pioneers. Founded in 1973 by Moet & Chandon, we draw on our French heritage and the innovative spirit of California to create sophisticated and vibrant sparkline wines that enliven all occasions. Taste profile: Strawberries, spice, creamy finish. Pairs with: Salmon, paella, fruit desserts.”
The color is flawless, a pretty deep pink with the bubbles absolutely making my glass shimmer. If I were throwing a wedding, THIS is the champagne I’d use – it’s pretty, it’s relatively inexpensive, and it tastes good. Not sweet, but not too dry – plus it is an American sparkler, which means it doesn’t have the French yeasty taste (which you either love or hate).
I think the winery shortchanged themselves. This sparkling Rose would go fantastic with Asian foods of all kinds, cut through spices, brighten up a roasted chicken or a pork chop. I must say it went very well with my 4th of July fireworks. Fresh and fabulous, it’s a celebratory wine to share with girlfriends – or the perfect wine for Valentine’s dinner at home.
My Rating: ~ Stay away! This is MY wine, you slut! ~
Nine Vines Rose, Vintage 2008 Angove Family Winemakers, South Australia Grenache 70%; Shiraz 30% Rose Regularly $8.99, on sale at Von’s for $4.99 (Score!) Alcohol 12.5% by volume
On the Label: “Argove’s Nine Vines Rose is a blend of Grenache and Shiraz, picked early to capture the vibrant natural fruit flavours and freshness of each variety. Zesty fruit flavours of red currant and raspberry from the Grenache combine with spicy cherry of the Shiraz to give a refreshing drinking experience. Enjoy this wine with spicy warm chicken salad or your favourite curry. The red wine drinker’s white wine.”
Hmmm. This was a solid wine. Not sweet at all, which made it taste better in my book. It had an easy sipping to it, with not much fruitiness which makes me think it was the 2008 vintage (maybe a 2010 would have been fruitier? dunno…). It went well with a spicy Mexican casserole, and would also have made a good sipping wine.
Was it my favorite by far? No. Was it a stand-up Rose? Absolutely, especially for the price. I had a Rose by Zaca Mesa that probably sat around too long – as it was about the same in flavor, but cost four times as much. (That was back when I was still a part of their wine club. I miss that wine club!)
My Rating: ~Drinkable~ And at $5 a bottle, I might have to load up on some for the summer.
Beringer California Collection White Merlot 2010 Regular price, $6.49 on sale for $4.43 at Vons. Alcohol 12.5% by volume (Hmmm…same as the Nine Vines…)
On the Label: “This carefully crafted wine has enticing flavors of ripe red berries. It is soft, smooth, friendly and delicious. If you enjoy our White Merlot, make sure to try our Pinot Grigio. Serve chilled.”
Okay. First off, I thought I’d plucked an infamous white Zin off the shelves at the store. When I pulled this out of my fridge, I was properly shocked that yet another terrific grape had been “blushed” for the masses. Oh well. The white Zin will have to wait.
The wine color is pretty – pink and sassy, and the red berry fruit is definitely there. But swirl the glass, and you’ll see the sweetness in how slowly the glass sheds the wine. It is sweet. It is almost Kool Aid sweet, but not quite. I’m drinking it right now because there’s nothing else open, I just had a job interview, and it’s after 10:30 on a hot summer night. Plus I don’t want to pour it down the sink, and hubby’s been doing his part in consuming it. (He likes sweeter wines than I do.)
For me, even after dinner, this is too sweet. Diluted strawberry cough syrup comes to mind. For me, even under $7 at regular pricing, this wine is too expensive since I really just want to pour it out.
My Rating: ~Barely Drinkable~ (Hubby says ~Drinkable~) It just totally depends.
Remember, I’m rating based on my taste buds, mood, the moon’s phase and all that other stuff. Your tastes will undoubtedly vary.
Do you have a favorite Rose? If so, where in heck did you get it? Please share!
Oh, a side note: OceanFresh, the place that sold salmon sausages last week, did so well in selling them that they’ve put them on the regular list!!! Woo! More salmon sausages…I’d better get some this weekend while they’re still at the $5.99 introductory price.
Happy weekend, and cheers!
by Christine | Uncategorized
Today I’m over at the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapter of RWA, talking about too many stories.
You can find that posting here… and I’ll see you all back here on Friday, where I talk about pink wines!
by Christine | Mashup of Awesomeness
In the spirit of Holiday, and Freedoms, and all around extreme coolness, I’m passing on some blogs – or books – that I’ve found to be amazing, wonderful, interesting, or just very, very cool.
First up is Ais Portraits and her terrific post about food styling. This young woman is a terrific photographer, and I’ve just today found her. Trust me when I say I’ll be following her development!
Ais’s mom is Lorna Tedder, and her blog is The Spiritual Eclectic. An all around great place to hang. Lorna is good peeps and seeing her change and grow has been an amazing journey this past few years – plus I learn a lot!
I have to give a shout out to my very dear friend, Lynne Marshall. Her single title, ONE FOR THE ROAD, is out now from Wild Rose Press and it’s definitely a book full of heart. Lynne is a writer who knows how to dig into your emotions and keep you hooked, right from the beginning. You can find her book here.
For knowledge and fun, give Catie Rhodes a try. She’s a writer who blogs about – well, a lot. Today, she’s blogging about high treason, and how everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence could have been drawn and quartered (and I don’t mean have a portrait made and given a place to sleep), plus a lot worse. She gives good history – it’s another place where I always learn something.
For writers looking for mentors, check out Kristen Lamb’s blog. She’s the #1 social media guru for writers, in my opinion. Plus, she’s downright funny and fun to hang with. She teaches online classes, too – so if you can grab one of those, do!
Another terrific writing mentor is Bob Mayer. I’ve taken his Warrior Writer class twice now, both times in person, and done all the exercises in his book at least twice. He’s dedicated, funny, and prolific. He’s got his finger on the indie press pulse, and I’ve learned a lot from him. Because of an idea he gave me in one of his workshops, I sold my first book. So I’m also forever indebted to him!
And last but not least, for this week anyway, is a wine blog by Joe Roberts called 1 Wine Dude. He’s a “certified” wine specialist, but he’s straight forward, funny, and not at all pretentious. I’m actually gonna find him on Twitter and follow, as he does reviews there. He tastes tons of wines of all price ranges and is witty about his reviews but not obscure.
So there you have it, some of my favorite online places to hang. Coming soon is a blog on pink wines – why, oh why couldn’t they have just kept calling them Rose? (Pretend there’s an accent on the “e” for me, okay?!)
In the meantime, have a safe and happy Fourth of July. Love from my house to yours!
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Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? You can find it at Crescent Moon Pressor Amazon.com. Happy Reading!
by Christine | Cooking, Wine Friday
Yes, you read that right. Salmon sausages. I’m lucky enough to live in a small town that has a butcher and a fish monger. In the same building.
So when their email came out yesterday, and I saw they had salmon sausages for $5+ a pound, I gave a head’s up to the hubby. We’d both been kinda hankering for sausages – especially on the July 4th weekend – so the salmon seemed like a great compromise. Light in calories (comparatively speaking) and healthy to boot.
When hubby went in to pick some up, he was told they’d been flying out of the stores, to OceanFresh’s gratification. It seems we weren’t the only ones who thought the idea a wonderful one.
The sausages were delicious – like eating salmon filet without the worry of how to cook it. (I barbecued – oh SO yummy!) A roasted mix of veggies added just enough substance to the meal without making it heavy.
But what about the wine? After all, it IS wine Friday!
Cline Viognier North Coast 2010 Sonoma, California $14.99 a bottle but on special for $9.99 at Vons. Alcohol 14% by volume.
On the Label: “Family owned and operated since 1982. Viognier is most famous for producing the rich and exotically perfumed white wines of the northern Rhone’s Condrieu and Chateau-Grillet appellations. A variety characterized by low yields and small planted acreage, Viognier is one of the world’s most rare and treasured wines.
Cline’s Viognier is loaded with pineapple, peach and apricot flavors accented by floral and citrus notes. Perfect as an aperitif with Gruyere or Camembert, this wine also pairs exceptionally well with curried shrimp or Asian fusion cuisine. Serve lightly chilled.”
This was almost the perfect summer wine. Fragrant, with just a hint of sweetness, it paired with the salmon sausages and roasted veggies beautifully. It’s a terrific sipping wine, too and does go well with cheese (I had to taste test, you know!).
The meal itself would have been fun to serve at a dinner party, the sausages so delightfully different and the wine an awesome pick. A blood orange sorbet was the perfect ending to the meal.
My rating: ~Stay Away! This is my wine, you slut!~
Grab a few bottles for summer, take it to share with friends – you’ll be set! Remember – your taste buds may vary. Over the July 4th weekend, and always, please Drink Responsibly!
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Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? You can find it at Crescent Moon Press or Amazon.com. Happy Reading!
by Christine | Cooking, Uncategorized
Cooking. Recipes. I used to follow them to the letter, until I had kids. Then shortcuts started happening, or I didn’t have the exact ingredients, or I just thought it might taste better if…
My husband is still a slave to the recipe, no matter what it may be. Which is better? Someone who follows a recipe down to the last quarter teaspoon of water in the pan, or someone who is creative as they cook?
It all boils down (pun intended) to the recipe itself. The trick is finding the right one – and I still go by instinct rather than solid knowledge when I look for a recipe.
For instance, about three months ago hubby decided he’d make a fish chowder. For some reason I wasn’t home that day, so he found a recipe online and made this chowder. When I got home the next evening, he stood at the stove, reheating his creation from the night before.
“Fix this,” he said to me, and thrust the spoon into my hand. “It was bland and boring last night. Please, make it taste better.”
I sipped. He was right, bland and boring. But once you’ve added the cream to the chowder, there’s not much more you can do to it. I tried; I added creamed corn and some thyme, and a little bit of sherry. That brought the chowder up to not-bland and not-boring, but certainly not the chowder he was trying to recreate (from a restaurant we’d eaten at in Monterey in early March).
Time rolled on, until this past weekend. Fish Chowder, says the husband. I agreed to make it if he bought the fish. And it was my turn to hit the internet for a recipe.
Photo from http://simplyrecipes.com
Most of the flavor of a good seafood chowder comes before you add the fish and the cream. The recipe I ultimately found had all the ingredients it needed to be tasty – olive oil and butter, onions, dry white wine, potatoes, clam juice, Old Bay seasoning and thyme, for starters.
The New England Fish Chowder recipe that I found from Simply Recipes had everything I needed. The interesting thing about this recipe? If I wanted to omit the fish and add shrimp, clams, and crab, that too would taste amazing. Because most of the flavor is in the base of the chowder, not the fish itself. Two cups of clam juice was what it took to make this chowder lip-smackingly good.
The recipe itself calls for Pacific Cod, as its a sustainable fish here in the west. I used Tilapia because it’s cheap. I also, at the last minute, threw in a pound of cut-up raw shrimp just before the Tilapia was cooked – the shrimp cooked up in a minute or so and added nice color to the chowder (and as the shrimp was on special, $5 a pound, I didn’t totally blow the grocery budget).
Overall, it was a winner. We had the leftovers last night, and I didn’t have to do a thing to make it taste better! Oh, and we had a Chenin Blanc wine to go with it. Decent pairing, but I would have preferred an oaky Chardonnay.
Some people may think fish chowder is a funny recipe to make during the summer – but days can be foggy and cool here in June, and sometimes a hearty fish chowder can both warm you up and still make it feel like summer, with that taste of the sea.
What are some of your favorite summer dishes?
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Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? You can find it at Crescent Moon Press or Amazon.com. Happy Reading!
