Wine & Dine: Cruise Edition

Some of the members of our Wine & Dine club were lucky enough to be able to go on an Alaskan Cruise recently!  We missed those other members that couldn't join us, so I'm bringing the wines we had at dinner, and during out wine tastings to them!  All the wines we ordered with dinners were within the $25-$30 range on the ship, so I'm guessing these could be found in stores for between $10 and $15.

 Bryann and I enjoyed this Rosemount Shiraz from Australia during one of the nights where we both ordered a beef-centered dinner.  It paired well with our meals - it was bold enough to stand out against the beef, but not too abrasive. 

We also ordered this Bolla Valpolicella from Italy with dinner during Italian Night.  Our waiters and waitresses dressed in adorable stripped shirts with handkerchiefs tied around their necks and the dinner was completely Italian themed.  The Valpolicella was mild and light and accompanied my Fettuccine Alfredo quite nicely!

The Sylvester "Kiara" Cabernet Sauvignon from California was dry, yet flavorful.  It wasn't quite as good as the Santa Carolina Cabernet from Chile we'd had a few nights prior, but it was a tasty alternative.  I'm a cab girl though, so I'm a bit biased towards them to begin with.  

We also did a Maître d' Wine Club on the first day-at-sea.  I don't remember all of what we tasted -- looking back, I'm kicking myself for not keeping the tasting menu and my notes -- but the wines that stand out are the wines I think Princess is most famous for serving.  

The Opus One was the most talked about, and most expensive wine on our list.  Opus One, which has a rather interesting story on it's rather fancy website (found here), makes only one wine from its vintage, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.  We tasted the most recent 2008 vintage, and I gotta admit...  It was pretty scrumptious.  I've seen rumors amidst the internets that you can find Opus One at Costco from time to time... you know, just in case you want to grab a bottle and then invite me over for dinner!

Bryann and I also really liked the Sylvester "Nikiara" Meritage.  This was a blend, much like Opus One, of Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot.  It was incredibly well balanced, fruity and spicy and chocolatey all at the same time, and very, very, melt-in-your-mouth drinkable. 

June "Petites" Wine and Dine

Rian and I {the Schlypers} hosted the June Wine and Dine last weekend to a grand total of 21 Wine and Diners. We had a blast and it was fun to see how our group has grown.

We really wanted to break away from wine we knew and were comfortable with- so we chose Petite Sirahs and Petit Verdots. Much stronger than we initially anticipated, Petite Sirahs and Petit Verdots pack a lot of punch. Petit Verdots in particular are so strong that they are almost exclusively only found in blends. We really enjoyed our selection though and from what we were told, so did our guests.

In keeping with the petite theme, we made mini lasagnas for our main course. Guests brought all sorts of unique mini dishes including roasted baby carrots, mini apple pies, cherry tomato bites, mini cupcakes, bruchetta bites, stuffed mushrooms, sausage links and many more delicious creations.

We sampled six wines.

1. Estancia 2006 Meritage Reserve
2. Rosenblum 2006 Petit Sirah
3. 2009 Kirkland Signature Rutherford Meritage 
4. Concannon 2009 Petite Sirah 
5. Bogle 2010 Petite Sirah  
6. 2010 Blu Fin Petite Sirah

 The stand out favorite was the Concannon- which I also highly recommend.

Thanks to all of our crew who came and enjoyed the evening with us!

May Sauvignon Blanc Wine & Dine

We had a great time hosting the May Wine & Dine!  Good food, great company, and of course wonderful wines!  This month we tasted Sauvignon Blancs exclusively.  When grabbing a white wine from the store shelf what do you usually grab?  For us it wasn't usually a Sauv Blanc however when we tasted a certain Sauv Blanc at a local wine tasting we wondered why weren't we grabbing the Sauv Blanc?!  They're great!  So we set out to have a wine and dine where we could learn more... :-)

We started out by tasting two Sauv Blancs side by side - Capitello's Walnut Ridge (Oregon) and their Marlborough (New Zealand) varietals.   We tasted these side by side to fully appreciate the difference!  These two wines were the same year, and made in the same style by the same wine maker.  The real difference is where they were grown and they tasted very different!  The majority of us preferred the NZ varietal to the Oregon one.

We then moved on to another New Zealand SB by Nobilo.  This wine is highly rated by Wine Spectator and was very well received, many named it as their favorite of the night.  NZ is quite well known for their Sauv Blancs and this bottle clearly shows why.  

 Next was the Foucher LeBrun Sancerre Le Mont.  Sancerre, much like a Champagne, must be grown in a specific region in France in order to have this label of Sancerre.  The Sancerre region only grows grapes for two types of wines, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.  Much like Champagne is a specific sparkling white wine, Sancerre is a specific Sauvignon Blanc.  This wine was well received and also more difficult to find in stores because it is so specific.

Next was Los Vascos from Casablanca, Chile.  Unlike the other SB's that were grown at 40-47 degrees latitude this wine is grown at 33 degrees latitude, a bit different than your typical Sauv Blanc.  This one was also quite good and well received.  SB's are Chile's second most produced wine and are quite tasty!

We finished off by circling back around to another New Zealand SB, by Kim Crawford.  This wine was also highly rated by Wine Spectator. 

Technically our last wine, although we didn't have an official tasting of this, was Trader Joe's Coastal Sauvignon Blanc.  Honestly it's hard to give an opinion of this seeing as everyone was 6 tastes in at this point... although, I think our general impression was that it was okay but clearly not as notable as any of the others.  Fun fact - TJ Coastals are always distilled in steel barrels -not oak- and from California.  If you find a TJ Coastal you love read the label carefully to find out which CA winery it's from! :-)


We had some great dishes brought as well that very nicely complimented the wines.  We had some cream cheese/humus wrap appetizers, an onion dip appetizer, lots of tasty veggie sides, creamy chicken alfredo pasta, a delicious layered eclair dessert, and chocolate cake.

I hope everyone was able to find some good Sauvignon Blancs they liked as a result of this tasting!  I know we did.

April "A Taste of Italy" Wine & Dine

As promised in a December blog post, we shared a few of our delicious Italian wines from Gianelli Vineyards, where we tasted in Jamestown, CA over the Christmas holiday.  We supplemented with a few other Italian varietals I picked up at Trader Joe's because, let's face it, after a few tastes, you can't really tell if you're tasting a "good" wine anymore.

We hosted the wine tasting a little differently this time (inspired by a recent party at Annie and Aaron's) and tasted the whites while sitting and mingling in the living room, munching on appetizers.  After that, we had everyone find a seat around the U-shaped hodgepodge of dinner tables and mixed linen collections (we had to accommodate 19 people!!)  We sampled the reds while slowly eating our way through a 4-course Italian feast - Caesar Salads, an amazing Pasta Fagioli soup, Chicken Cacciatore, and Tiramisu, to name a few of the dishes. 


(If you're not familiar with some of the Italian grapes, follow the links to learn more from wine-searcher.com)

We began the evening with 4 of the wines from Gianelli.  We started with the 2009 Vermentino, which is likened to a Viognier - I found it to be dry, buttery, and citrus.  The 2009 Fiano followed which was slightly sweeter with subtle notes of honeysuckle.

After a palate cleanser of the house Pinot Grigio (I mean cheap, Trader Joe's Pinot Grigio) we moved to reds.  We sampled the 2009 "Nino"  - my personal favorite! - which is a blend of Grenache, Primitivo, and Petit Sirah.  The "Nino" is slightly sweet for a red wine and tastes of candied fruits.  The last of the Gianelli wines was the 2009 Aglianico - my second favorite and rated 89 points by Wine Spectator.

For those Trader Joe's enthusiasts, we filled in our Italian selection with some pretty tasty wines (all imported from Italy!)  In case you'd like to pick up a bottle for yourself, here's what we got:

Di Majo Norante Sangiovese and Tommolo Montepulciano d'Abrozo

D'Aquino Chianti

Villa Sonia "Piave" Pinot Grigio

And just for fun, here are some other photos our resident photographer-in-training took during the party! 

March Wine & Dine: Baby on Board

In celebration of St. Patrick's day, Jeff and Nate's birthdays, and the announcement of a pregnancy, the "Wine" part of this month's Wine & Dine kind of got put on the back burner...  I'm not sure anyone even noticed (myself included) with all of the fantastic decorations, games, and beer to distract us.  

The theme was "Wines with Green Labels" and all three bottles were picked up at Fred Meyer's.  We sampled a very light-bodied 2010 Viridian Pinot Noir, a Willamette Valley wine from Olsen Family Vineyards in Monmouth.  We also tried a 2009 Torres Vina Esmeraldas, a tasty muscat from Spain. And later, a 2011 Starborough Sauvignon Blanc, from New Zealand.  

Our fantastic spread - all foods included an Irish liquor ingredient

Katy and Travis Horak hosted this month and they put on a spectacular show, as always.  (Katy and Travis hosted one of the more famous Wine & Dine parties a while back with the "Price is Right" wine game, complete with homemade Money Wheel and an excel-inspired game show.)

They put their skills to work again this month with another excel-inspired game show.  We played Wheel of Fortune for most of the evening, while sipping on whatever wine or beer happened to be in front of us.

The highlight of the game was when a team was guessing a popular phrase "Baby on Board" and Katy and Travis announced their pregnancy!  The room erupted in cheers and congratulations!

We could watch as the other team spun the wheel 

Home made mini-version of the Wheel of Fortune!

In keeping with the St. Patrick's theme, we also had Irish beers to fill our goblets with.

And a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

A Taste of Home Wine and Dine

February’s Wine and Dine focused on home, our home to be specific. My sister moved in with me a few months ago and we decided to host a Wine and Dine that reflected where we were raised, the Columbia Valley and the nearby Yakima Valley of Washington. We were surrounded by wineries growing up, and each spent our 21^st birthdays wine tasting with our family. Wine tasting is still a common pastime when we visit home. We always seem to find places we haven’t been before. The goal of this Wine and Dine was to showcase a handful of wines from the area that are not as readily available outside the region.

The first wine of the evening was a mulled wine. It was made using Preston Cellars 2007 Gamay Noir. This is an award winning Rose that Preston recommends using with their spice blend for hot mulled wine. Preston is located on the outskirts of Pasco, Washington and is one of the oldest wineries in the region starting up in the early 1970’s.

Recipe for Mulled wine:

One bottle of Gamay Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Red table wine, 3-4 cups of Cranberry juice (or other cran-juice combo) 1 package of mulling spices and an optional cinnamon stick (we omitted the cinnamon in our version).

The second wine of the evening was Gordon Brothers 2009 Chardonnay. The two Gordon brothers started this winery in the 1980’s. The first wine they produced was a Chardonnay, but they were notably one of the first red wine producers in the area. If you are looking for more of their wines, please note that they just changed their name from Gordon Brothers to Gordon Estate.

The third wine was Terra Blanca’s 2009 Viognier. Their Viognier is a bit drier than most and I like it that way. I have a confession; Terra Blanca is my favorite winery in the region. Their wine is always good, sometimes amazing, and the setting is beautiful. Their vineyard along with their tasting room is located on Red Mountain, an area with an exceptional reputation for grape quality. Hands down the most impressive quality of this winery is the tasting room and event facility. It looks like it is straight out of Tuscany. Whenever I have friends visiting the area I ALWAYS bring them here. It’s pretty amazing.

The fourth wine was Chandler Reach’s 36 Red. This is a Cabernet/Merlot blend. It is marketed as an everyday wine that will easily pair with a variety of foods. Chandler Reach is another beautiful Tuscan Villa inspired venue. This winery is located in the Yakima Valley and is a great stop on the way to the many other fantastic wineries in that region.

The fifth wine was Tagaris’ 2009 Boar Doe. It is a red blend made up of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec, 10% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot. This was the hit of the night! Tagaris has some fun names for their wines and very creative labels as well. This winery is located less than a mile from our childhood home. This is one of my favorite places to go with friends in the summer. This winery is actually better known for their restaurant, Taverna Tagaris than for their wines, and once you taste the food and catch some live jazz on the patio you’ll understand why.

Lastly we had Genisis’ 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. Genesis is the Premier label from Hogue Cellars. Hogue is one of the most widely distributed wines from the region. This was the second most well liked wine of the evening.

Now, on to the food:

Appetizers: Smoked salmon and cream cheese provided by Nate and Kimber. Stuffed endives provided by Jennifer.

Main dish: Runzas provided by Molly and Sarah – this was a meal we grew up with. They are bread pockets filled with meat (turkey and a bit of pork in this case), cabbage and onions.

Sides: Asparagus casserole provided by Ben, Cooked Carrots provided by Tamara and Rian, Salad provided by Rachel and Paul.

Dessert: Ginger and white chocolate cookies provided by Elizabeth, Éclairs provided by Katee and Travis.

January Wine & Dine: BYOW Edition

brought to you by Kimber and Nate

For this month's gathering, Nate and I decided to mix things up.  Instead of the traditional potluck style event where the host provides the main dish and selects the wine theme while guests bring the rest of the food, we provided all the courses and asked guests to bring a bottle of their favorite wine.  We suggested bringing a bottle that fell in the $10 range (the usual amount guests bring to help the host offset wine costs), or, if couples preferred, a bottle in the $20 range. We also left the option open to bring a bottle less than $10 or $20 and donate the remaining amount towards food.  The idea of a "bring your own wine" wine and dine had been suggested in the past, so--still lacking a brilliant idea of our own the week before--we seized the opportunity.

On to the food.  Nate wanted to make some of our favorite foods (i.e. he wanted to eat steak and potatoes), which I granted also went with our theme of bringing a favorite wine.  Our menu was as follows:

Appetizers: Caprese salad bites, jalapeno artichoke dip served with pita chips, and baguette slices heated in the oven and topped with either gorgonzola and pineapple, gorgonzola and pear, or pear and basil over olive oil

Dinner: Steak and mashed potatoes, with grilled onion, bell peppers, and zucchini

Dessert: Creme brulee, ice cream, and sorbet

Now, the wine.  As it turned out, some guests brought their favorite wine, and others brought something they wanted to try instead.  Either way, people got to try a variety of wines that may not have ever fit into a normal wine and dine theme.  Our wine selection was as follows:

2010 Twisted Old Vine Zinfandel: brought by Katee and Travis who wanted to try it
2010 "Menage A Trois" Red Blend: a favorite of Annie's
2009 Erath Pinot Noir: a favorite of Aaron's
2009 Elk Cove Del Rio Syrah: a favorite of Paul and Rachel's
2008 Santa Ema Reserve Merlot: brought by Kristi who wanted to try it
Barnard Griffin Cabernet Merlot (65% Cab, 33% Merlot, 2% Cab Franc): from Molly
Mad Housewife White Zinfandel: a favorite of Belinda's
Trader Joe's Block Red: brought by Jennifer who wanted to try it

And in the category of "other" we also had Adam's Dos Equis, and John's 7-Up and cranberry juice.

While there was no actual "theme" to the selected wines, or any new information about the history or types of wine served, the night of January 14 was still a great success.  It turned out to be an informal wine and dine that focused more on eating, drinking, and being merry with good friends.  Which, in the end, is what it's all about anyway!

December 10th Wine & Dine Wrap-up

December's wine and dine featured a food and wine pairing. The group sampled a flight of eight of the worlds most famous wines, four reds and four whites. Each wine was paired with a portion of the meal that would best bring out the flavors of the wines. Each guest was asked to bring a rather specific food to pair with a particular wine. The pairings were:

• A dry Riesling paired with a shrimp seafood appetizer
• Sauvignon Blanc paired with artichoke dip
• Chardonnay paired with clam chowder
• Pinot Gris paired with a salad containing apples
• Syrah with a salad with cheese
• Pinot Noir paired with pork
• Merlot paired with pork
• Cabernet Sauvignon paired with salted carmel brownies

Pairings at the beginning of the evening were most favorably received, eliciting such comments as "wow, this wine really does taste better after having some of the dip" and "I cant believe how much the food actually helps the wine." Such comments were fewer as the night wore on, due as much to the consumption of wine as the copious amounts of food. The evening's favorite seemed to be King Estates's Next (the Riesling). Other wines, such as Bearboats Pinot Noir, were enjoyed more for their label (really, you should check it out.)

Overall it was a great night of fun and friendship and learning about different types of wine.

October 29th Wine & Dine Wrap-Up

October's theme:  A Taste of Walla Walla

We are lucky enough to live in the middle of some amazing wine regions up here in the Northwest.  Our friend, Jeff, lives in Walla Walla and after planning a trip out to visit him, we decided that our next Wine & Dine party would feature Wines from Walla Walla.

We made it our mission to go wine tasting all weekend and bring back the creme de la creme of the Walla Walla Valley.  We didn't discover the creme de la creme until Sunday afternoon on the way out of town (although a lot of wineries were pretty full of themselves) but when we did, we were almost tempted enough to sign up for a wine club!

Our absolute favorite winery was Cougar Crest.  They had, hands down, the best wines.  We were so in love with their wines, we almost joined their wine club.  We splurged on the Syrah to keep for ourselves and bought two others for Wine & Dine.

Our other favorite was Three Rivers, where we found some more completely delicious wines.  We bought a bottle of Tempranillo for ourselves, a bottle of Riesling for ourselves and one for Wine & Dine, and a Malbec for Wine & Dine.  Then Bryann and Jeff played three holes of golf while Amber and I enjoyed a bottle of Riesling on the deck (what can I say?  It was completely delicious!)

It's a miracle at all that we actually brought any bottles home with us.

The line up for our "Taste of Walla Walla" party

At the end of October, we held a Masquerade party and featured the following wines:

Dusted Valley - 2010 Ramblin' Rose (a blend of a few grapes I've never heard of and Syrah)
Waterbrook - 2010 Melange Blanc (a blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc)
Three Rivers -2010 Riesling
Cougar Crest - 2007 Dedication Four (a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Frac, and Cabernet Sauvignon)
Tertulia - 2008 Syrah
Three Rivers - 2007 Malbec
Cougar Crest - Port

All of these wines are pretty amazing (otherwise we wouldn't have brought them back!)  The wines were held in such high regard by our guests that they inspired another couple of friends of ours to plan a visit of their own!  They also came back raving about the wines at Cougar Crest.