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Rodney Strong + TasteLive!

April 13, 2011 in wine by traveleatlove | 11 comments

Last night, we had some friends over to participate in another TasteLive! wine tasting with wine bloggers from all over the US. I knew the last TasteLive! event would be hard to top; we actually tasted in the home of the TasteLive! folks in California, and it was a lot of fun.

The theme for last night’s tasting was “A Bright Idea” with Rodney Strong Vineyards. In addition to the follow four bottles of wine, I also received an energy-saving light bulb in the mail, the goal behind the tasting to talk about the wines but also the winery’s Green Light Pledge to switch out incandescent bulbs for more energy-saving bulbs. We happened to need a new light bulb for our hallway, so it worked out well!

The tasting lineup was spectacular. I love Rodney Strong wines and visiting their winery, and last night just made me want to return!

2009 Charlotte’s Home Estate Sauvignon Blanc

We started off with the Sauvignon Blanc, and everyone went back for a second pour. This is a perfect summer wine, light, crisp, with some mineral notes and citrus flavors. It retails at $13.50 which, I think, is a steal for such a beautiful wine.

2009 Chalk Hill Estate Chardonnay

I am not always a Chardonnay fan, but there is definitely something about the Chalk Hill Chard that I love. While Chardonnay can be too buttery and oaky, this had some very nice vanilla flavors.

2008 Reserve Pinot Noir

I tend to not gravitate toward Pinot Noir, but this really packed a flavorful, well structured punch. It had multiple layers of flavors, from the raspberry and cherry fruit side to the slight white pepper on the finish.

2007 Symmetry

Stunning. The 2007 Symmetry Red Meritage, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot, has so much going on. It is velvety and smooth, luscious, with dark fruit and chocolate flavors. This is a special occasion wine, at $55 retail, and if you ever have the chance to taste it, go for it!

I loved tasting Rodney Strong wines and chatting with some people from the winery. Below are a couple of photos from the tour we took on our last visit.

And speaking of Sonoma County, I am excited to announce another giveaway, this one related to the Wine Road. One of the great Wine Road events I have had the ability to attend was the Food and Wine Affair. This event has its own cookbook, Tasting Along the Wine Road, which is a comprehensive collection of food and wine pairings, and since there were two of us, we got two books. Since I love it so much, I thought I would give away a copy to one of you. It’s a really beautiful book with some info on wine and the Sonoma County AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas) where wine is grown.

To enter, simply leave a comment and let me know your favorite food and wine pairing, your favorite place to enjoy a glass of wine, or any other wine-related tidbit I should know about you. Dislike or can’t drink wine? Tell me! The recipes are still great, so you should still enter!

And the winner of the chocolate giveaway is. . . Gina! Gina please email with me your address so I can get you your chocolate! Thanks for entering, everyone. And stay tuned for another giveaway later in the week, this one to a Boston store.

Technorati Tags: California, chardonnay, Meritage, Pinot Noir, Rodney Strong, sauvignon blanc, Sonoma, TasteLive, wine, wine tasting

Tags: California, chardonnay, Meritage, Pinot Noir, Rodney Strong, sauvignon blanc, Sonoma, TasteLive, wine, wine tasting

Field Stone Winery

March 31, 2011 in Travel, wine by traveleatlove | 6 comments

With snow in the forecast for tonight and a week that seems it will never end, I thought a little virtual vacation was in order for this afternoon’s post. After a brief stop in Yountville for some Bouchon Bakery decadence, we started the winding drive North and West to head toward Healdsburg where we would once again be touring one of our wine club wineries, Michel-Schlumberger

One our way through the very quiet and undeveloped Alexander Valley AVA, we decided to make a random stop, as we often do while visiting wine country, at Field Stone Winery

As we parked the car in the small lot, it was impossible to not be enchanted by the wineries’ surroundings. As far as the eye could see, wild chamomile flowers, vineyards ready to awaken for the spring, and rolling green hills filled the space. And it was quiet, very, very quiet.

We made our way up the path to the barrel room and tasting room, passing by a bottling truck that was filling bottles with the latest Field Stone wine. After a friendly welcome from the men working on the truck, we went inside, where we were brought into a small, cozy tasting room.

Field Stone is well known for its hearty reds, and I especially loved the 2008 Vineyard Select Syrah for its rich flavors of spice and black cherry. We also had the opportunity to compare and contrast 2007 and 2008 Vintage Ports

A sip of Port, a bite of dark chocolate, a sip of Port, some more chocolate. . . you know how it goes.

But again, as much as we loved the reds at Field Stone, we were on a mission to stock up on whites which resulted in the purchase of Field Stone Viognier and Gewurtztraminer. The Gewurtztraminer was perhaps my favorite wine of the day, dry but with some great fruit flavors. As we discussed in the tasting room, it will be the perfect Thai takeout wine. The Viognier was not on the tasting menu, but when I asked to try it, our host happily opened a bottle. Viognier is quickly becoming one of my favorite grapes because of its weight and luscious mouth feel. Just like with my favorite Viognier blend, Sheldon’s La Naris, the Field Stone Viognier is one that you you almost want to swish around in your mouth for awhile before drinking it. Sounds a little odd, but trust me on this. Smile

As we tasted through the wines, we learned a bit about the property, and our tasting room host encouraged us to go around the back of the building to check out their century-old Petite Syrah vines. Like gnarly little gnomes, these vines have produced quite a bit of fruit and have seen a lot over the years!

Field Stone could appear off the beaten path, but it is really on the way from Napa Valley to Sonoma County if you are traveling North. It was a lovely spot to stop with great staff, delicious wines, and unstoppable views. Go there!

Technorati Tags: Alexander Valley, California, chocolate, Gewurtztraminer, Healdsburg, Port, Sonoma, Syrah, Travel, Viognier, wine, wine tasting, winery

Tags: Alexander Valley, California, chocolate, Gewurtztraminer, Healdsburg, Port, Sonoma, Syrah, Travel, Viognier, wine, wine tasting, winery

The Perfect Shellfish Wine

March 30, 2011 in Travel, wine by traveleatlove | 8 comments

Just a few weeks ago, we were soaking up Sonoma County sun, fun, and wine. In just a few days, here in Boston, it might snow. While that is incredibly sad and unseasonal, the silver lining of leaving Sonoma is bringing a little bit of it with us, which is just what we UPS did.

On our last day in Sonoma, our host and wine blogger friend William arranged for us to visit Inman Family Wines.

In addition to being a beautiful property and a very sweet story (read it!), the Inmans’ winery and surrounding vineyards operate in a way that is friendly to the environment. They practice sensitive farming, using things such as “four course compost”, restaurant scraps from San Francisco restaurants, as compost, organic soil enhancements such as worm casting, cover crop, and natural pest control through birds of prey to reduce vineyard damage from gophers. In the above photo, Kathleen is showing us where waste water is captured and stored for vineyard irrigation.

They bottle their wine using bottles that use the lightest possible glass, have designed their winery and tasting room using recycled and upcycled materials and employ solar panels for energy. They even have a charger for electric cars in their parking lot!

The Inman family prides themselves on natural winemaking, letting the sense of place or terroir of the Russian River Valley really shine through. And while we will return for their phenomenal Pinot Noirs, this time around we were on the hunt to stock up on whites. After tasting lots of Chardonnay on our travels through Sonoma, it was Inman Family Wines’ Pinot Gris, made to be the perfect shellfish wine, that spoke to us most.

On our visit to NJ this weekend, we were finally able to pick up the wine that we shipped there from California, and when we got home I went straight for the Inman Family 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Gris. While I imagined opening up a bottle of this wine on a warm day, I just couldn’t wait for that day to come. I wanted shellfish, and I wanted it with this wine, so I decided to crank up the heat and pretend it was warm!

Dinner could not have been easier. I picked up a bag of Prince Edward Island mussels at my local grocery store. After learning last week that PEI mussels come cleaned and just need a quick rinse, I was eager to check this out for myself. It was completely true!

I quickly rinsed the mussels in a colander, picked through to make sure none were already open (toss those!) and poured them carefully into a big pot.

I got the heat going and drizzled the mussels with a generous amount of sriracha and fresh chopped ginger. Over that I poured a can of coconut milk and then a half can of water.

I put the lid on, turned the heat to medium, and let the mussels go for about five minutes while I cut a baguette and drizzled it with blood orange olive oil. I planned on broiling the bread, but yesterday was long, complicated, and tiring; for some reason cooking the bread felt like too much.

Once the mussels were nice and open, I served myself a huge bowl, along with a glass of Inman Pinot Gris and bread. I had this serving, two times. It was SO good. This dry, nicely acidic wine did pair perfectly with this meal, both with the sweet mussels and the spicy ginger-sriracha flavors of the sauce, and I can see it being an excellent addition to a broth for cooking both clams and mussels, maybe with mustard and fennel. I also can not wait to test out this perfect shellfish wine with some Duxbury oysters.

Do you have a favorite wine in the spring/summer?

In other news, our garbage disposal broke yesterday, and cleaning up the kitchen has been a nightmare since. I had no idea how much I used it, but apparently I put a lot of stuff down there. Now even water won’t go down. Sad smile Fingers crossed we get it up and running soon.