Paradocx Left Overs

Treasa and I just got back from our honeymoon in Ireland. I’ll be updating with posts about the wines we drank abroad, along with a daily recap of our doings, over the next few days.

This post refers to Sunday, June 27th, which was the day after our wedding. We had a few open bottles of wine left over from the reception, and considering they’d go sour while we were abroad, I decided to do a little wine tasting while I cooked dinner. Despite the caterer’s leftovers in the fridge, Treasa wanted spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Combining the desire to cook and the motto, ‘If she ain’t happy, you ain’t happy,’ I made sauce from scratch to go along with beef-pork meatballs.

Paradocx packages some of their wine in paint cans, as shown in the picture. It’s pretty unique, and a pinch classier than a box. Of course, the incremental classyness aspect of it isn’t something I particularly care about much. If you like it, drink it. But, it’s touted to keep the wine fresh for 2-3 weeks, and, well, it’s pretty darn cool.

Wines I re-sampled were the Touriga, Leverage, Merlot and Barn Red. I’ve listed them in the order of my preference. I didn’t have any of the leftover whites. The opened bottles went to Miranda and the Whitewash paint can still resides in my refrigerator.

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.

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.