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.

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!

Wine Win Wednesday: Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc

Wine:  Villa Maria 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, Private Bin New Zealand Marlborough Region

Why it's a win:  This crisp, clean Sauvignon Blanc is slightly sweet on the nose, and full of tropical fruits and herbs on the palate.  We drank this wine at a cook-off and paired it with a spinach-artichoke dip and a bruschetta.  It was elegant, smooth, and ever so creamy with a refreshing finish.  It was a big hit at the party, and even us women who usually prefer sweet whites really liked it.  Rated 90 points by Wine Spectator.

Where you can find it: Costco, Fred Meyer

Price: $11 at Costco