Little Black Dress Pinot Noir 2008

A week ago, when my parental units came to visit for Treasa’s bridal shower, they brought two frozen t-bones. By the way, our dining room has more boxes from Crate and Barrel than the Crate and Barrel warehouse. I did get in ‘trouble’ this morning for using my
Lodge grill press to make a whole wheat pita burger for breakfast. Apparently, you’re only supposed to use shower presents after you get married. But, eff those rules. My grandmother gave the grill press to Treasa for the shower because she knew that it was really a gift for me anyway…so therefore, no infraction took place. Well, today being Saturday, mid-80’s, sunny, on Memorial Day weekend, it seemed like a good time to thaw the steaks out and char them over the grill.

I put the meat cubes into a worchesterershireerier sauce, beer, salt and garlic power marinade to thaw out. A few hours later, when the roasted potatoes were almost finished on the grill, with jalapeno peppers as the new ingredient to the skillet, and the steaks were tossed to the propane fueled inferno.

We didn’t really have a good robust steak-ready wine on hand, so Treasa played Russian Roulette with the pinot noirs. She chose the Little Black Dress pinot noir. Shoot. Wrong link. She chose the Little Black Dress pinot noir. It was light on the palette and easy to drink and was great while the meat was finishing. We thought that it would pick up a little bit of flavor once the steak was served, but it didn’t. By no means did it turn like other wines do when you introduce (the wrong) food, instead it just remained happy to play a supporting role to the meal without calling attention to itself whatsoever. I’m going to tag it in the sub-$10 range, but it could have been a dollar or so more. I don’t quite remember.

If you notice the glasses in the picture, we tried non-breakable stemware we got from the local grocery store for $2.99 each. They’re not so bulbous to completely capture the aroma of a good red, but considering their durability and lack of dog foot impaling power should I happen to break one with a grilling utensil, they seemed like a good buy. No flavor imparted into the wine. Sold. We’ll reuse these often.

And Treasa recognized the sacrifice I made when plating meals. I gave her the t-bone with the larger serving of filet mignon. Her's was also closer to the heavenly medium rare while mine was mundane medium-plus. My grillmanship was rewarded with a few choice forkfuls of her steak and, well, we just won’t go into the others…

Oak Grove Voignier

We opened a bottle of 2007 Oak Grove Voignier tonight. Treasa wanted a bottle of white. She wanted something to cool her down, as I’ve yet to turn on the A/C. As shown in the picture, I had a Micholob Ultra with my Cajun seasoned catfish filets with sausage and cheese stuffed jalapeños. The wine, according to the back label, is

Rich and full bodied, this excellent white wine has the body and flavor to stand up to full flavored dishes. Pair with tortellini in a light cheese sauce for a memorable experience.

So, while it was a good bottle, I wasn’t about to pair it with my fish. I figured a light beer would be less risky. The beer worked well as did the wine by itself.

Ci Platino

Tonight’s adventure started with food, with wine as an after thought. I have these frozen salmon steaks from Costco and figured that tonight would be a good night to have one. I did a bit of searching before I left work for a recipe that wouldn’t make me stop at the grocery store before I went home. I found this recipe from Cooks for salmon. I didn’t have crackers but I figured panko crumbs would suffice. And those leftover limes from Mardi Gras are still good, right?

As expected, this blog as turned into an excuse to uncork a bottle. I’ll let the remaining Corona Light stragglers chill for a tad longer. But, being as I didn’t design the meal around wine, I wasn’t sure what I’d open.

I found a bottle of Ci Platnio from Pisano on my wine rack. It’s a 2007 bottle from Uruguay, a blend of 60% tannat and 40% merlot. I bought it at least six months ago from a Friday wine tasting at Deerfield Wines. I remember someone saying that the wine would be good with fish. Although, maybe the red fish on the bottle made me think that…? Either way, seemed like something good for tonight.

The wine is light bodied, yet flavorful. It almost reminds me of a sangiovese. And for this reason, it went great with the whole wheat pita bread pizza I made for Treasa’s dinner. With my salmon? Well, not so much. The lime juice in the meal reacted with the wine and made it sour. With that being said, I very much liked the wine. Just not with that meal. It’s handling itself very well as I’m finishing up with this entry. I think it was around $11 or so, but I won’t testify to it.

And about the cell phone pics again…Treasa left the camera in her desk drawer at work. I don’t even want to know how it ended up there in the first place.

Chilensis Reserva Chardonnay – 2008

Last Saturday, Treasa and I met our friends, Larz and Miranda, at the marina to spend the day on their boat. Larz’s mother and aunt were going to be there, and knowing that they were wine drinkers, I figured I’d pick up a bottle of white and put it in the cooler with the beer.

This wasn’t a premeditated plan per se, it was more so waiting in line to buy beer and seeing a Chardonnay with a handwritten, highlighted sign saying ‘$9.99’ that made me think to myself, ‘It’s probably not that good. But, it’s the thought that counts, and if his relatives don’t want to drink beer, so-so wine is better than no wine.’ And that’s how I found the Chilensis Reserva Chardonnay .

Well, they came stocked with wine. Apparently just enough so that they didn’t have to open my offering. So, tonight I grilled a romaine chicken caesar salad for dinner and figured what the heck, let’s try the chard.’

The dinner was good. The wine, not so much. Perhaps, caesar dressing doesn’t match with chardonnay, or perhaps the wine just isn’t good. Truth be told, I don’t usually drink chardonnay anyway, but regardless, the likelihood of another Chilensis Reserva Chardonnay posting here is slim at best. Well, unless I find a good recipe to cook with it…but I think that tells you all you need to know.

PS: So the camera is back in action, but this picture is worse than the PDX one I took with my BlackBerry. I would have done something to cut down on the reflections, but I was hungry and I decided eating was more important than uploading a crappy picture.

Paradocx Touriga

A nice added bonus to the wine tasting was that we were able to bring home a bottle of our choosing. Despite my inability to get mental images of mid sized imported SUV’s out of my head, the Paradocx Touriga surpassed every expectation I had for the wine. As such, a bottle found its way home with us.

The Paradocx wine description lists it as:
Intensely colored Touriga Nacional has lots of black cherry and raspberry flavors along with notes of chocolate, smoke and peppery spice, all of which are framed nicely by a refreshing acidity and supple tannins. It will make a great match for roasted game, a rare steak or rich mature cheeses.

Today, May 3rd, is the one year anniversary of when Treasa and I got engaged. Please note that ‘got engaged’ is slightly euphemistic for ‘she beat the ring out of me after she found out I had bought it but was waiting for the right time to propose.’ Either way, today marks three hundred sixty five and one quarter days since her left ring finger became significantly burdened with a beautiful assortment of platinum and neutral carbon.

Ironic note of the day: The word 'diamond' derives from Greek adamao, meaning 'I tame' or 'I subdue.'

Ironic note of the day’s curtain call: Understanding the chemistry of a diamond requires a basic knowledge of the element carbon. A neutral carbon atom has 6 protons and 6 neutrons in its nucleus, balanced by 6 electrons. And to think a wide variety of Christian religions consider the wedding band a symbol of a holy sacrament…

So, with one year down and T-8 weeks minus 2 days until marriage, we decided we’d heed the advice of the above referenced wine description and cook us some rare steak. Filet mignon, to be exact. Topped with grilled shrimp seasoned with sea salt and garlic powder. These were accompanied by a brand new recipe of mine: sliced potatoes, diced onion, garlic, bacon, jalapeno discs and horseradish infused sharp cheddar cheese, all baked together until it reached a state of yummy goodness. Add a few pieces of French bread, and the Touriga became even more enjoyable.

Paradocx Vineyard

Treasa and I are getting married at Paradocx Vineyard, in Landenberg, Pennsylvania.

Paradocx Vineyard is owned and operated by the Hoffman and Harris Families. The name of the winery is a play on words, as the four principles are practicing physicians (Pair of Docs).

Part of the contract was a complimentary, well, you know, besides the piles of money we’re paying to rent the site, wine tasting so we could decide what wines we wanted to feature at our event. This, if one was on the fence regarding future marriage plans, is certainly a reason to take the plunge. Certainly, I’m not in that category, as I’m looking forward to married life with or without a wine tasting, but if you view things in terms of: A) ‘it doesn’t kill you’ B) ‘it makes you stronger,’ feel free to check C) ‘all of the above’ as far as complimentary wine tastings are concerned.

Here’s the rundown of what we sampled (I’d relay my thoughts on each specific variety, though, for reasons you may be able to surmise, my retrospective recollection abilities have suddenly become slightly foggy), more so give, than take:

Whites:
Whitewash in a Chic Can
Yield – 2006
PDX Pinot Grigio – 2006
PDX Voignier – 2007
PDX Reserve Chardonnay – 2007
PDX Vidal Blanc – 2009
Old Stone Chardonnay

Reds:
Barn Red in a Chic Can
PDX Sangiovese – 2006
PDX Merlot – 2006
PDX Touriga – 2008
PDX Leverage – 2006
PDX Chambourcin – 2008
And a Port, of which the exact name escapes me.

We did make a final selection. We’ll be featuring a diverse spectrum bottles during our tasting, as well as a very nice offering of wines to compliment John Serock’s talents. For those readers who will be invited to the wedding, you’ll have to wait to see the menu. For those readers who will not be invited, feel free to send gifts/cash anyway.