Crab Salad Cups to pair with our Duca d’Amalfi, Bordeaux Sec or Sauvignon Blanc
Rare Beef Tenderloin to pair with our Blue Creek Blend, Bordeaux Blend or Pinot Noir

Both delicious and easy!

Enjoy!

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This event featured Wines and an Asian theme, but we were informed that the wines we were trying were not Asian wines, simply selected to pair well with the Asian foods.

The Menu

Thai Lemongrass Chicken Soup paired with Kikkoman Plum wine
Asian Thai Flatbread paired with Nagasaki Berry Sake
Slow Roasted Tenderloin with cranberry orange glaze and cranberry orzo paired with William Hill Cabernet
Bananas Foster with coconut glaze paired with Mionetto Moscato

Course 1: Thai Lemongrass Chicken Soup

Simply put: AMAZING! Our chef described it perfectly as starting with a strong sense of coconut, transforming into lemon and lime flavors, finishing with spiciness at the back of the throat. It was very delicious and the sweetness of the plum wine (while normally a bit too sweet for me) helped to offset some of the spice allowing all the wonderful flavors to show through.

Course 2: Asian Thai Flatbread

The Flatbread, similar to a pizza with yellow peppers and onions (I think they were caramelized) with hot sauce drizzled on the plate for sampling. It was paired with Nagasaki Berry Sake, and I loved the Flatbread. However, I discovered that I am not a fan of Sake. I guess I enjoy fermented grapes more than fermented rice.

Main Course: Slow Roasted Tenderloin with cranberry orange glaze and cranberry orzo.

The Tenderloin was exactly that … quite tender and with mouthwatering with light orange glaze, crisp pea pods and slightly sweet orzo. The William Hill 2008 Central Coast Cabernet did not have a lot of structure, although the flavors were complimentary to the Tenderloin.

Dessert: Bananas Foster with coconut glaze

I was very interested in trying this dessert with the wine. I’ve paired Bananas Foster with a heavier dessert wine, and the sweetness can almost be overwhelming, so I was excited to pair it with a lighter wine like Moscato. This Mionetto Moscato was sparkling, light and slightly sweet. It was very nice all on its own (and the other guests at the table enjoyed it thoroughly) with enough effervescence to please and a nice compliment to the sweet dessert.

Summary

All in all, the event was delicious, a lot of fun (shoutouts to tablemates Shannon, Renee, Amanda visit Amanda’s MaryKay website, Dave and Kathy), and the next event on April 7th sounds like it will be a blast: Hollywood theme – dress up like your favorite star!

Cheers to full glasses all around!

Great Wine Source is your guide to the best wine party in Appleton, Green Bay, Oshkosh and throughout the State of Wisconsin.
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Ok, I have to admit that as a wine consultant working with a Napa Valley winery, I have primarily focused on drinking our wines, only occasionally expanding my palette into the ever increasing world of luscious wines. That’s about to change. As a wine consultant, I feel it is my responsibility to know about many different wines, so I can truly compare and contrast and know what the right wine is for the right occasion and food and be able to recommend the right wine to my clients.

I’ve posted in other blogs about a few wines I’ve sampled and enjoyed. I have been receiving Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast magazine for quite some time and so it is my duty now to focus on finding and sampling the reasonably priced wines listed in the magazine and help educate you about those wines; whether they meet the mark for my unsophisticated palette and based on my experience what I think my readers and tasting guests would enjoy.

I often receive recommendations from my tasting guests and because all my tasting guests are so much fun and great people, I want to learn from them as well. One of my guests the other night recommended 7 Deadly Zins, and since I had not yet tried it, I went out and purchased a bottle.

7 Deadly Zins, Lodi Appellation Old Vine Zinfandel 2007

Zinfandel is one of my favorite wines; I love the complexity along with the spicy finish. Last night I opened a bottle of 7 Deadly Zins. I found it rated on wine.com as a 90, but in searching through my Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast mags, can’t find it listed.

The first thing I noticed with this wine when I opened and poured it is the abundance of smoky aromas (almost like bacon). According to the winemaker, it is aged completely in American oak, loaded with berry fruit, pepper, spice, and earth characteristics.

When a wine is aged in oak, it pulls in many of the oak characteristics of the barrel, and this wine is no exception. It was highly aromatic, very interesting, and although the nose was strong and smoky, the flavors were somewhat more balanced, although a smoky flavor was still very apparent. I did find it lacking in the strong spiciness that is so wonderful about Zinfandels. It was a smooth wine, not overly tannic, and very drinkable.

Rating

Overall, the wine was very good, and on my rating scale, I’d rate it an 87.

Cheers to full glasses all around!

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Pinotage

Origin

Pinotage was created in 1925 by Professor A. L. Perold at Stellenbosch University in South Africa when he crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut.

Style

This red grape produces different styles of wines, from young, light, and fruity, like Beaujolais; deep and robust like a Côtes du Rhône or Zinfandel, or age-worthy like Bordeaux. It has been produced into a blush version, Port style dessert wine as well as a sparkling wine.

Characteristics

You will notice smoky, blackberry or raspberry and earthy flavors, with hints of bananas and tropical fruit. If fermented at too low of temperatures, it can smell like finger nail polish remover or rusty nails. However, when fermented and aged properly, this is a very versatile and first-rate wine.

Pairing

Tuna, swordfish, grouper, rabbit, venison, chocolate soufflé.

Cheers to full glasses all around!

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