Tonights' dinner - Bacon & Eggs (hence the name, Brinner ~ stolen from Scrubs, gosh, I loved that show). While you probably don't need a recipe for bacon & eggs, I'm going to share how I cook the bacon...
I line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (for easier clean-up), I separate all the bacon on the lined cookie sheet and put it in the oven. THEN, I turn the oven on to 400 degrees (F). Set the timer for 17 minutes, then I make my scrambled eggs. Bacon comes out perfect =)
I had some Riesing open in my fridge, so I figured that might actually work out. I checked online for wine pairings with Bacon & Eggs, and found suggested pairings to be Sauternes or Semillon. I'm not so much into the sweet, but I definitely get why the suggestions are made, so I figured this Riesling would work just fine for me. I originally bought it for a white option for Thanksgiving Dinner, and we never opened it. I did open it up earlier in the week when we had company over. It's a screw cap - I hold no ill will towards the screw cap, just thought I'd mention it.
This is a nice, light-bodied white, very pale gold color (very pale). On the nose, before and after the swirl, I get a bright green apple smell. In the mouth,there's a slightly sweet, apricot taste mixed in with the apple. It's not at all overwhelmingly sweet, but I have to say, it really goes nicely with the saltiness of the bacon. This was an extremely pleasant wine making a quick Sunday Dinner just that much better.
If you're interested, I purchased this wine at Gary's Wine Marketplace in Wayne, NJ. I hope you enjoy!!
In Vino Veritas!!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Domaine de Monpertuis Vin de Pays du Gard Vignoble de la Ramiere Counoise 2009 ~ Chicken Parmesan
So, I'm sure I've blogged my Chicken Parmesan before. I won't bore you with the recipe. I mean, it's chicken parmesan. Went through my (at this point) pretty scarce wine rack and came up with...
Domaine de Monpertuis Vin de Pays du Gard Vignoble de la Ramiere Counoise 2009
One of my Wine of the Month wines from Amanti Vino (wine shop on Church Street in Montclair ~ fabulous). So, the wine, that's what you're here for, right??
As soon as we opened it, Matt commented on just how good is smelled. This is a french wine (in case you couldn't figure that one out) from the Rhone Valley. At $12.99 this is affordable AND delicious. The grape ~ Counoise, I know, I never heard of it either. It's another one of these grapes more known for blending and not used on it's own (think Cab Franc, which, BTW, I love on it's own).
So, let's get down to details. On the nose, earthy, yet deeply fruity, but dark red fruits. It's alcohol content is 13%, so you really don't get any overwhelming "alcohol smell", which is nice. It's body is medium to heavy, I think leaning to medium. After a little swirl in the glass, on the nose, I get more cherry or strawberry notes. I find the tannins very soft and it's a very easy drinking wine. Sometimes those tannins give you that overly-steeped tea feeling in the mouth and you don't get that here at all. A very fruit forward taste also makes it a nice wine on it's own.
So, the pairing with the Chix Parm. Maybe not the best. Definitely not the worst. I wish I would have brought this to one of my favorite restaurants - Passione, in Montclair. And, at this price, I can definitely be pursuaded to buy more for just that purpose!!
In Vino Veritas ~
Friday, August 5, 2011
Viva Bene - Life Is Good =)
Last night was one of those awesome nights of Good Friends, Good Wine, Good Times!
We ordered various pizzas, and paired them with Viva Bene Sangiovese. We had a Caprese salad, and I ate a fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil & garlic pizza (the #2 specialty pizza at Cavallo's in Nutley). We had also ordered the grilled chicken, roasted peppers with fresh mozzarella pizza (#13). Delicious dinner.
Paired with a delicious wine. This red is somewhat acidic with almost a slight citrus note to it initially. Over time, you get a nice whiff of cherries on the nose. What I enjoyed in this wine is the ripe strawberry notes. Very light tannins. Nice, well-balanced and very enjoyable with dinner.
While not the best, most delicious wine ever, the company certainly elevated it! Not bad at all though, I'd definitely drink it again. Life is Good - Viva Bene!
In Vino Veritas!
We ordered various pizzas, and paired them with Viva Bene Sangiovese. We had a Caprese salad, and I ate a fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil & garlic pizza (the #2 specialty pizza at Cavallo's in Nutley). We had also ordered the grilled chicken, roasted peppers with fresh mozzarella pizza (#13). Delicious dinner.
Paired with a delicious wine. This red is somewhat acidic with almost a slight citrus note to it initially. Over time, you get a nice whiff of cherries on the nose. What I enjoyed in this wine is the ripe strawberry notes. Very light tannins. Nice, well-balanced and very enjoyable with dinner.
While not the best, most delicious wine ever, the company certainly elevated it! Not bad at all though, I'd definitely drink it again. Life is Good - Viva Bene!
In Vino Veritas!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Easy, Breezy Monday Night
I'm Back. It's been too long. Hoping to make a better habit of my blogging. So, let's get to it...
Dinner was a typical busy, working-mom dinner Monday night... In order to save some $$$ in this house, we usually buy a pork tenderloin, whole, but the grocery store will cut it up for me. So, it's a great cut, and I don't have to cut it perfecty myself. If Shoprite does it too thick for me, I just pound it out a little and it's good to go. So, all I did was brush with oil and rub with a Chipotle rub (from The Pampered Chef). Sides were simply rice & corn on the cob (sprinkled a little of the rub onto the corn for fun). Again, nothing fancy, easy-breezy.
I paired with this the Bar Harbor Cellars Pinot Grigio. Visit http://www.barharborcellars.com/. We were on vacation in Bar Harbor last month, and our campground was within walking distance to the winery. A little about the winery - I wouldn't rush out to visit. There's no tour, really they don't grow much of their own grapes, which sometimes I think is a good thing. While many East Coast wines can be delicious, many sadly are not. They are starting to grow hybrid grapes, so I'm sure soon there will be some interesting wines to try. The wines here are currently made from grapes grown in Europe as well as California. All in all, I was not wholly impressed by this winery. It killed about 1/2 hour of our vacation, so it didn't waste too much of our time.
Before I get into this specific wine, I will mention that a visit to the Atlantic Brewing Company would be worth it. There is a tour (not a big one at all, but a little talk and then a tasting of about 6 beers). I did hear if you go in the morning, there are more beers to taste. It's next to a restaurant called Mainely Meat, so if you're in Bar Harbor, a combo trip with Mainely Meat and ABC is something you should do.
Back to the wine. The Pinot Grigio is definitely not the best I ever had. The grapes for this wine were grown in the Veneto region of Italy. No oak, the wine was fermented in Stainless Steel. Mostly, I taste and smell peaches, which I do enjoy in a good Pinot Grigio. It's got some acidity. You get the minerality in it. All of these are typical qualities you'll find in this varietal. It might be slightly sweet for my taste, but everyone's different. I wouldn't turn it down if it were handed to me, but I'd buy something else first.
Hoping to keep up with more blogging on our food & wine.
In Vino Veritas!
Dinner was a typical busy, working-mom dinner Monday night... In order to save some $$$ in this house, we usually buy a pork tenderloin, whole, but the grocery store will cut it up for me. So, it's a great cut, and I don't have to cut it perfecty myself. If Shoprite does it too thick for me, I just pound it out a little and it's good to go. So, all I did was brush with oil and rub with a Chipotle rub (from The Pampered Chef). Sides were simply rice & corn on the cob (sprinkled a little of the rub onto the corn for fun). Again, nothing fancy, easy-breezy.
I paired with this the Bar Harbor Cellars Pinot Grigio. Visit http://www.barharborcellars.com/. We were on vacation in Bar Harbor last month, and our campground was within walking distance to the winery. A little about the winery - I wouldn't rush out to visit. There's no tour, really they don't grow much of their own grapes, which sometimes I think is a good thing. While many East Coast wines can be delicious, many sadly are not. They are starting to grow hybrid grapes, so I'm sure soon there will be some interesting wines to try. The wines here are currently made from grapes grown in Europe as well as California. All in all, I was not wholly impressed by this winery. It killed about 1/2 hour of our vacation, so it didn't waste too much of our time.
Before I get into this specific wine, I will mention that a visit to the Atlantic Brewing Company would be worth it. There is a tour (not a big one at all, but a little talk and then a tasting of about 6 beers). I did hear if you go in the morning, there are more beers to taste. It's next to a restaurant called Mainely Meat, so if you're in Bar Harbor, a combo trip with Mainely Meat and ABC is something you should do.
Back to the wine. The Pinot Grigio is definitely not the best I ever had. The grapes for this wine were grown in the Veneto region of Italy. No oak, the wine was fermented in Stainless Steel. Mostly, I taste and smell peaches, which I do enjoy in a good Pinot Grigio. It's got some acidity. You get the minerality in it. All of these are typical qualities you'll find in this varietal. It might be slightly sweet for my taste, but everyone's different. I wouldn't turn it down if it were handed to me, but I'd buy something else first.
Hoping to keep up with more blogging on our food & wine.
In Vino Veritas!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Chateauneuf du Pape by the fire :)
While shopping in Costco, at LEAST 4 years ago, we picked up this bottle. We only bought it because it was a really cool bottle (I mean, why else??). It looks all deformed and covered in dust. Only some of the dust was real.
I feel like we've been saving this for years for some special occasion, or we were scared to open it because what if the bottle is soooo cool, the wine sucks? So, tonight, it was just a normal dinner, nothing crazy and we were struggling over picking the wine. I said "just open it - if it sucks, we'll just open something else". Matt was thinking the same thing. So, we did it. At first taste, it was good, different than what we normally drink. But, good. You got the cherry right away. We decided to decant it, too. Let it sit while we cooked dinner (Matt cooked dinner tonight ~ niiiice).
So, I had totally pegged this as a Merlot blend. A delicious Merlot, but a Merlot just the same. That ripe fruit it had was classic (or so I thought). I wasn't sure, but that's what I assumed. And, you know what they say about assuming...
And, I stand corrected. It is not Merlot. I just checked it online:
Not a drop of Merlot. We searched the bottle to see what the vintage year was. No year listed. So, in my search, I also learned that it is a non vintage because it's the best cuvees from different vintages.
Matt & I did enjoy this bottle (to the last drop). It was a perfect Saturday night with a simple dinner, good wine, good wood (on the fire), and Wii bowling with the kids.
Now that I'm at the end of my final glass, I'll give you the run-down on the wine itself. On the nose (again, after decanted at the end of the night) I get a beautiful cherry scent mixed with chocolate. On the palate, rich red berries dominate with a fantastic finish. It has very little tannin at this point, just very smooth.
You should pick up a bottle. It's a fun AND delicious bottle.
In Vino Veritas!
I feel like we've been saving this for years for some special occasion, or we were scared to open it because what if the bottle is soooo cool, the wine sucks? So, tonight, it was just a normal dinner, nothing crazy and we were struggling over picking the wine. I said "just open it - if it sucks, we'll just open something else". Matt was thinking the same thing. So, we did it. At first taste, it was good, different than what we normally drink. But, good. You got the cherry right away. We decided to decant it, too. Let it sit while we cooked dinner (Matt cooked dinner tonight ~ niiiice).
So, I had totally pegged this as a Merlot blend. A delicious Merlot, but a Merlot just the same. That ripe fruit it had was classic (or so I thought). I wasn't sure, but that's what I assumed. And, you know what they say about assuming...
And, I stand corrected. It is not Merlot. I just checked it online:
Grape Varieties:
80% Grenache brings roundness.
7% Syrah brings color and aromas.
7% Mourvédre brings tannins and ageing capacity.
6% Cinsault brings finesse.
Not a drop of Merlot. We searched the bottle to see what the vintage year was. No year listed. So, in my search, I also learned that it is a non vintage because it's the best cuvees from different vintages.
Matt & I did enjoy this bottle (to the last drop). It was a perfect Saturday night with a simple dinner, good wine, good wood (on the fire), and Wii bowling with the kids.
Now that I'm at the end of my final glass, I'll give you the run-down on the wine itself. On the nose (again, after decanted at the end of the night) I get a beautiful cherry scent mixed with chocolate. On the palate, rich red berries dominate with a fantastic finish. It has very little tannin at this point, just very smooth.
You should pick up a bottle. It's a fun AND delicious bottle.
In Vino Veritas!
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