Matt.mmwine

About Matt.mmwine

Website: http://agoodtimewithwine.com
Matt.mmwine has written 163 articles so far, you can find them below.

Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2009 – Not so epic

Matt at Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2009

We always have a good time at the Disney parks, whether with the kids, or with our adult friends. Robin & I decided it was time for an “Adult Weekend”, and planned a trip to the Epcot Food and Wine festival with our good friends Tom and Scottt. As Florida residents, the discounts available to us make it a quick and usually relatively inexpensive weekend getaway. We were all very excited to try some different wines as well as interesting food creations, and just have a Magical day.

We arrived on Disney property Friday evening and made our way to the Grand Floridan for our dinner reservation at Citricos. The bartender at the hotel bar on the second floor, Tammy, is not only fun and a great mixologist, she’s a good friend of Tom and Scott. We were excited that Tammy was working, and stopped to have a drink with her. The first non-magical moment happened when Tom went into Citricos to tell them where we were, as the host was quite rude. He wouldn’t call us if we were not in the restaurant bar, and we’d just have to wait for a table after we came in. Mind you, they were anything but full, and this is certainly NOT the way we expected to be treated. Fast forward through the evening, and the food was nice enough, but our waiter and the service were terrible. The appetizer and salad was delicious, and the Albarino they suggested was nice with those courses. Our main course was served late, and only after we walked up to the kitchen and saw it sitting on the counter. The food was cold, and while probably delicious, the meal was positively ruined. Even the tasty bottle of Chappellet 2006 Mountain Cuvee couldn’t save the cold fillet of beef, roasted chicken, or lamb shank we had. It was a several hundred dollar dinner that was truly terrible. We’ll never eat at the Grand Floridian’s Citricos again. We left unsatisfied, though we all looked forward to our next day in Epcot.

Epcot Food and Wine Argentina

After a great breakfast at the Yacht Club, we arrived at Epcot for 10am and walked around a bit. When you enter the World Showcase, which is a circular track, you can go left or right. We decided to go left, where the first stop was the Desserts & Champagne stand. This was poor planning on Epcot’s part, in my opinion, as having sweets before much of the wine throughout the rest of the event would tend to make the wine taste off. Perhaps they think everyone will go to the right, and finish with this stand. We did have a glass of Moet Imperial Rose each, then made our way to the next stand. We passed on Brazil, since we still had Champagne, and made our way to Argentina. I have recently done three different wine tastings of Argentinian wines, and was excited to stop at this stand. We sat for a while and finished our Champagne, then tried the Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec and Torrontes.

The Torrontes had a beautiful floral bouquet, and a nice, crisp palate of citrus and flowers. While I felt it left a waxy feel in my mouth, like eating wax lips when you were a kid, no one else minded, though they did experience it. The Malbec, which is a varietal that I do enjoy, was over oaked and had no spice or pepper. We did not eat the food pairings, but they both looked fantastic, and we heard reviews later from a chef that it was the best food in the event.

The Mouse Catch - Cheese at Epcot 2009

Across from Argentina was the Mouse Catch. This was a cheese stand hosted by igourmet.com. I’ve had their products before and think they offer some spectacular cheeses. I was a bit let down that we had just eaten breakfast and were too full to try any of the cheese. I thought we’d make our way around the event and try them later, though in the end that didn’t happen.

We took a break to ride Soarin’, and upon our return to the World Showcase, we went to the right this time, passing on “mojitos” from Puerto Rico, and stopping at Chile. The Natura Sauvignon Blanc was our selection, and probably would have rocked with the Corn & Cheese Arapa or the Ceviche. We were still full and not eating, but everyone loved the wine. Our next stop, Greece, was an interesting one. I have had a few people tell me they weren’t fans of wines from Greece. However, since I had never had any, I felt it was time to give it a shot, and move further along the road towards the Wine Century Club!

Greek Wines at Epcot 2009

I can now say I’ve tasted Boutari’s white wine from the Santorini region, made from Assyrtiko grapes, as well as Tsantali’s Rapsani Reserve, a red wine. The Boutari Santorini had a bouquet of motor oil and gasoline, and the palate wasn’t much different. None of us could handle more than 2 sips of the wine. The company’s website describes it as having a metallic taste, and I’d agree. The Rapsani Reserve is made from Greek indigenous grapes of 34% Xinomavro, 33% Krassato and 33% Stavroto. It was aged for 12 months in new French oak, and showed on the palate which was mostly blackcurrant and wood. This red would have probably paired well with some nice Roast Lamb, but alone, it wasn’t to my liking. The food offerings looked great, but it was now approaching time for our lunch in France, so we passed.

The highlight of the visit was lunch at Les chefs de France. It is, of course, an every day option at Epcot, so I really can’t give this fabulous experience any weight when discussing my Food & Wine Festival experience. We started with a glass of Pommery Brut Royal Champagne, and selected the cheese plate, meat & pate plate, and escargot to share. The bottle of wine we ordered, the Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris, was not one of their “regular menu selections”, and apparently was not kept at cellar temperature. We had to wait a good 20 minutes for it to be chilled enough to serve, so we ordered a glass of Domaine Caseneuve Cotes de Provence Rose. It was a lovely dry rose, with delicious cherries and citrus balanced nicely with chalky notes that paired well with the meats and cheeses. When the Pinot Gris was finally ready, it rounded out a great lunch. Delicious ripe fruit on the palate, off dry, the fruit was so bright it almost came across sweet. However, the wine was nice and crisp, and was sipped with abandon.

New York Wines featured at Epcot Food & Wine Festival

After lunch we shopped a little in France, then made our way around the rest of the event area. By 3:15pm the park was packed and each area had a queue of 20-30 people deep. None of the remaining wines really intrigued us enough to prompt us to wait that long. I was quite surprised that Australia showed Rosemont and Penfolds Kunga Hill, grocery store wines that really don’t showcase the variety and strength of the wines of the region. New Zealand and South Africa were also lack luster with their offerings. We would have stopped at Germany, which offered Prum Rieslings, but waiting 20-30 minutes for a 2 oz taste in 88 degree weather didn’t seem appealing. Likewise, we would have stopped in New York, where they had several of the Finger Lake wines I have had in the past, had there not been so many people in line. Add to this the fact that people were more than happy, some falling down drunk, and it just soured us on the rest of the day.

We left the park, headed over to Cat Cora’s new restaurant. They didn’t change the decor much at all from Spoodles, save for opening up the kitchen area. There is no bar, and the drinks the waiter brought, which he most likely made, were terrible. We had appetizers, the spanakopita which was amazing, the clam appetizer we all thought was fairly nice, and the calamari that was inedible. We didn’t even consider staying for a meal, with the noise level approaching headache producing, and the food really not Iron Chef quality. We headed over to The Swan hotel and Todd English’s BlueZoo. There, we ordered oysters and the crab nachos, which absolutely ROCKED, and hung out with Deb, a great bartender, for a few hours. We had a great time, and will most likely stay at the Swan next visit.

Sunset at The Swan at Walt Disney World

As the sun set on our quick visit to Epcot, we recapped our trip. First of all, wear sensible shoes. My feet are killing me from the flip flops I wore. Ladies, don’t wear heels. You may look fabulous, but you’ll cry for weeks about blisters. Wear sneakers & cushy socks. Second, plan more than one day to take in an event as big as the Food & Wine Festival. Frankly, we missed things we wanted to try, and had no time for shopping. Though as a Wineaux, I was terribly disappointed with the majority of the wine offerings, I still would have liked to experience some of them, and try the food pairings. That brings us to third, don’t eat a big meal before an event that showcases a lot of food. You won’t want any, and then lament you didn’t try more. Fourth, the one day park rate is absurd, as it cost us $80 per person to enter the park, then another $50 tasting 10 wines. Had we tried the related food pairings, it would have bumped the price another $50 per person. That’s only tasting one wine and one food pairing at 10 out of over 25 opportunities. Don’t think this is a cheap proposition. You may have a lot of different wine and food presented to you, but that doesn’t mean it’s a budget trip. I may have opened this post saying Disney is typically a quick and inexpensive getaway as a Florida resident, but this event really doesn’t fit that bill.

Finally, you’ll notice I didn’t mention any of the seminars available to you at these events. After this unflattering review of the cheese seminar, coupled with the fact that on the day we arrived, nothing really intrigued us, we passed. They didn’t seem worth the price. Perhaps someone can tell me which events they enjoyed, so we can try them next time. And that’s where I end up folks. Though Citricos was positively abysmal, and the wine at the Food & Wine festival really didn’t leave me feeling like I was trying anything special, I will probably make the pilgrimage to The House of the Mouse in a few years. Perhaps by then Disney will realize that to put on a festival showcasing wine, they should try to offer their guests something more than just $9 grocery store juice.

Red Wine From Navarra Spain – Marco Real – Garnacha

Video Wine Review of Marco Real Garnacha

I’ve had a hard time writing this wine review for several reasons. My opinion of this wine disagrees with both Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate reviews. Now, I don’t mean to suggest that WA and WS are the end-all-be-all of wine information, but it causes me to pause and reflect on the wine. I often hesitate to recommend a wine that isn’t varietally correct, because I know some wine geek out there will blast me for it. However, Robin’s opinion of this wine was identical to mine, so without further ado, lets talk about Marco Real Garnacha from Navarra, Spain.

Garnacha, which is called Grenache when it comes from areas outside of Spain, such as France or the US, is a very widely planted red wine grape. It usually produces wine that has dark berry fruit flavors, and a great backbone of pepper and spice that make it a very enjoyable red wine, in my opinion. It’s a red wine I love on it’s own, or paired with steak, lamb, or cheeses, and have served at dinner parties frequently. When I was offered the chance to try the Marco Real 2005 Garnacha from Navarra, Spain, I jumped at the opportunity. To find out what I thought of this wine, watch the short video review, then continue on to see my summary of the wine.

Red Wine From Navarra Spain – Marco Real – Garnacha from Matthew Scott Horbund on Vimeo.

As you can see, the issue I had writing this review is is not if this is a good wine. For the price, which is a suggested retail of about $11, it’s an easy drinking, nice red wine. However, if you’re looking for varietally correct, where the dark berries give way to pepper notes on the palate, this is not the wine for you. This is more of a jammy, berry focused wine that is very easy to drink, a nice evening back-porch sipper. I think it would be great with food, and had it with ravioli with a red marinara sauce, and it went very nicely. As a matter of fact, I purchased quite a bit of this wine from Zsazsa and Company, and plan on having it with friends over pizza soon.

Closeup of Marco Real Garnacha Label

Wine Spectator gave this wine an 86, and Wine Advocate gave it an 88. Both reviewers noted the spice, typical of Garnacha, which I felt was lacking. Now, you’re asking, “Matt, what does that mean?” It means if you’re looking for a perfect bottle of Garnacha, this isn’t it. I’ll work on finding one for you! However, if you’re looking for an easy drinking red, one to sip alone or with food, then for $11, you can’t go wrong with this wine. I plan on opening a bottle of this wine over the next few days, and re-tasting it. I also plan on reviewing a slightly more expensive California Grenache, and seeing how the two compare.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment below and let me know if you’ve had Garnacha, or Grenache, lately. If so, what did you like, or not like about it? Have you had the Marco Real, and if so what was your opinion. I’ll update this post when I re-try the wine with other foods, so check back often.

Crushpad Fusebox – Your Chance To Create Award Winning Wine

Crushpad Fusebox - Blend your own wine at home

I think every wine lover, secretly, believes they can make THE best wine in the world. If only they had the tools, which include the expensive crushing, fermenting, aging and bottling operations of the big wineries. Oh, and the years of experience it takes to be considered a decent winemaker, no less a GREAT one. However, Crushpad’s Wine Blending Kit is about to make all your wine making dreams come true.

This is by no means the first blog post discussing Crushpad’s operations. Hardy (Dirty South) wrote about Crushpad in September 2008, highlighting some of the excellent winemakers who utilize the facilities to blend highly rated wine. Megan (Sonadora) visited Crushpad in August of this year, tasting some of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines created there. However, I think the first opportunity that every day people, like us, get to try blending wines at home, has arrived. Crushpad’s FUSEBOX has all the elements necessary to create a fantastic wine, and help bring it to market. Crushpad also thought of a unique way to introduce this to the world.

Ten wine bloggers have been chosen to receive a complimentary FUSEBOX, and are having a friendly competition with each other to create a new and exciting wine. Twitter’s Sonadora has already created her FUSEBOX Blend, and Cellarmistress is excited about her Fusebox fun to come. As for me, I think this short video will tell you how I feel about my future Fusebox creation.

Crushpad’s Fusebox – Your Chance To Create Award Winning Wine At Home from Matthew Scott Horbund on Vimeo.

Tweetup at Himmarshee – Food and Wine Pairing

Hanging with Miguel, Pam, Arianne & Enzo

It seems like only yesterday that Chef Dolce Debbie & I were planning our first Food & Wine Tweetup. From that amazing event, we planned several successful followups, serving delicious meals, pairing them with fantastic wines, and having some of the most interesting friends at our table. All of this came to life because of the social networking tool Twitter, where Debbie and I “met”, virtually, exchanged ideas, and created opportunities. However, my East Coast Florida friends quickly became jealous of our events being exclusively in Tampa. Twitter played a hand in solving that issue, introducing me to PR expert Jan Idelman at a Ft Lauderdale “Pizza Tweetup”, and #Twineup was born.

One of Jan’s clients is a downtown Ft Lauderdale hot spot with a 12 year history of serving great food, and pairing it with your choice of dozens of wines. When Jan and I met, we discussed some of the wine events and television segments I’ve done, and she saw a great opportunity to introduce new people to her client, Himmarshee Bar & Grille. We quickly planned our first Himmarshee Twineup for September 12th, and it was a tremendous success. Forty friends from twitter, as well as viewers of South Florida Today who saw me talking about the event on the show, joined us for an evening of food, wine, and networking with great people. People clamored for a repeat, and we couldn’t let them down. We planned our second event, let everyone know about it, and before you could blink, October 17th was here and the fun started all over again.

The Crowd At Himmarshee

Over forty people packed into Himmarshee Saturday night for the second event. Shortly after 8:30 we began the event and poured our first wine, Murphy-Goode The Fume 2008. This Sauvignon Blanc was chosen for it’s light and crisp citrus flavors. Chef Chris created two dishes to pair with this wine, petite lump crab cakes with a pickled habanero tartar, and island spiced shrimp & yucca croquettes with a drunken mango salsa. The guests absolutely loved the first tasting, many of them ordering glasses of the wine throughout the night. Some even had it with their dinner after the event.

Hope Estate 2005 Shiraz

The second tasting was a Shiraz from Hope Estate in Hunter Valley, Australia. This 2005 Shiraz was fermented in 30% American oak, then aged in 60% French and 40% American. While I felt the palate was very jammy, with tons of blackberry and plum flavors, Rick Garcia, Mr Miamism and the King of Mojitos, was actually a bit overwhelmed by the wood on the finish. His wife, Ines, one of my first twitter friends, was NOT a fan of the wine. However, after tasting Chef’s duck confit and sweet potato empanada with a vanilla-Shiraz macerated cherry topping, she changed her mind. The flavors meshed beautifully, toning down the woody finish, bringing out the fruit flavors of the wine and providing a delicious experience.

Duck Confit and Sweet Potato Empanada

I felt this wine lacked the pepper backbone of a Shiraz, which would have not only helped get past the oak influence, but would have also paired wonderfully with Chef Chris’ dish. Gia B Freer, and her husband Grant, two great people I met on Twitter the same time I met Ines, were taking photos of most of the food as it came out. It was awesome finally meeting this fantastic foursome, after over 19 months of “virtual friendship”. They’re great people, and really know how to have a good time. I look forward to trekking down to Miami for a Mojito-Tweetup soon, just to see them again.

If you haven’t noticed, this wine tasting is a bit of a world tour. We started with California, and a light, citrus Sauvignon Blanc. We then moved across the world to Australia, having a fruit forward, jammy Shiraz. Now, it’s time to go back to South America, and travel to Mendoza, Argentina. This last stop brings to us a very dry Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ernesto Catena Tahuan Cabernet Sauvignon

Awarded a 90 point rating from Wine & Spirits magazine, and included in Food & Wines “Best Argentinian Reds” in February 2009, the Ernesto Catena Tahuan Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 was the famous wine of the night. The current, 2006, vintage was just given 88 points in this month’s Wine Spectator magazine, so there was definitely a pedigree expectation with this wine. This was a very dry cab, firm tannins with dark fruits, mostly cherries on the palate. I felt the oak influence on this wine was very strong, as did some of the guests. However, when paired with the Mushroom and Cambazola toasts with oil cured campari tomato topping, this wine showed nicely. The “stinky” blue cheese quality of the cambazola really brought out the fruit, and helped coat the palate so that the oak didnt overwhelm the experience.

The night ended with several prizes given away to our friends. Two lucky people won Pokens, graciously donated from PokenGirl. Pokens are digital contact cards, and when two pokens are touched together, they instantly transfer contact information between them. It’s a great gadget to have at a tweetup, and they’re definitely becoming more popular.

Handsome Gift Wrapping from Zsazsa and Company

Greg Tuttle, the twitter voice for Total Wine, graciously donated five $20 gift cards to Total Wine, and those five lucky winners need to invite me over when they open their purchases. Two bottles of wine were also prizes for the night, a Murphy-Goode from Himmarshee, and a Fuedo de San Nicola that was part of Pikchur.com’s Hashtag contest. The Fuedo de San Nicola is a wine sold in Florida by Zsazsa And Company, Inc, and both wines were handsomely gift wrapped by Zsazsa and Company.

The November twineup is already being planned. The date will be announced soon. The next event promises to bring even more fun, with exciting new wines, paired with Himmarshee’s fantastic food. However, none of this would be any fun without you coming. So clear your calendar, and get ready to circle the date. You won’t want to miss #Twineup3

Thanks to Rick Boggs, 2nd photo, for his writeup of the event

Same grapes but different wines – WBW 62

Murphy Goode The Fume

Lucien Crochet Sancerre

Writers of all types experience “writers block” now and again. Wine bloggers are no different, despite the fact that there are thousands of different wines to discuss, no less the myriad of related topics to write about. However, we have the added inspiration of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the brainchild of Lenn Thompson from Lenn Devours – The New York Cork Report. Each month, wine bloggers converge on one topic, writing about the month’s wine related theme. Lenn has managed to enlist the help of wine bloggers around the world for topic ideas, which has allowed WBW to enter it’s 62nd month with today’s installment. This month Dale Cruse from Drinks Are On Me challenges us to try a grape by any other name.

Grapes often have different names depending on region in which they grow. Additionally, the grape could have the same name, but it’s labled based on where the wine is produced. I decided to talk about Sauvignon Blanc, and the stark contrast between wines made from the grape in California versus Sancerre, an AOC in the Loire Valley, France. It was not hard for me to select the wines for today’s post. I happened to have on hand a bottle of Lucien Crochet Sancerre 2007 sitting next to a bottle of Murphe-Goode The Fume 2008 in my wine cellar.

While it would have been a fun adventure to find some Italian Primitivo and talk about it in relation to Zinfandel, I was very excited to talk about the way Sauvignon Blanc makes different styles of wine from France to California. Watch the short video below, then read on about Sancerre and Sauvignon Blanc.

Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc, or is it? Wine Blogging Wednesday #62 from Matthew Scott on Vimeo.

Now there are Sauvignon Blanc wines that come from all over the world, with great ones coming from New Zealand and Chile, as well as these from California and France. Sancerre, in the eastern part of the Loire Valley, France, is an AOC, Appellation d’origine contrôlée, produces very distinct wines. The terroir, characteristics of the earth the grapes are grown on, greatly influences the wine made there. I highly recommend you experiment with the different styles out there, to find out which you prefer. As you saw from the video, the same grape can produce a very different experience.

I think both of these wines have their merits. Your palate may prefer the lighter, easier drinking Sauvignon Blanc from Murphy-Goode, as my Fiancee Robin did. She preferred it to the Sancerre, liking it’s “easy sipping at a low price” quality. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the chalky, herbaceous flavors of the Lucien Crochet, especially when I thought about it with food. I think that may be the point to make, that the California expression of this grape is an easy drinking back yard sipper, fine on its own. The French Sancerre, however, is a wine that really shows best with food to help marry it’s unique flavors with the foods. I would certainly reach for a California or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for sipping and catching up with friends before a Sancerre. However, if I was serving a nice seafood dinner, the Sancerre could be my preference for the evening.

Don’t take my word for it, buy a Sancerre and a California Sauvignon Blanc, and try them together. Then, leave a comment below and let me know which you prefer, and why!

Not another ordinary white wine – Sobon Estate Viognier 2008

One of the things that excites me about wine is the variety that is available. While many people don’t know there are white wines other than Chardonnay available, I love it when the opportunity to enjoy Riesling from Dr Loosen, Aligote from Steele Wines or a nice Viognier arises. Viognier is a very versatile wine, great to sip on, or pair with a wide range of foods. When you get a Viognier that not only tastes good, but is reasonably priced, that makes it pair well with ANYTHING. I’d like to introduce you to that Viognier, it comes from Sobon Estate, and I really enjoyed tasting and reviewing this wine.

Sobon Estate makes a number of different wines, from Syrah and Roussane to Sangiovese and Zinfandel. There is a rich history behind Sobon Estate, which started in 1977 with Leon and Shirley Sobon founding Shenandoah Vineyards, then forming Sobon Estate in 1989 as their 30th Anniversary gift to each other. The Sobon family is very much a part of the wine making process, from Wine Maker Paul Sobon to Business Systems Manager Robert Sobon, the family take great pride in the wine they make. They also care very much for the environment, and believe in sustainable farming and minimizing the impact of their business on our world. I speak a little about that in the video review below. Check out the video, then read the rest of my notes below it.

Video review of a great white wine – Sobon Estate Viognier 2008 - from Matthew Scott on Vimeo.

The Sobon Estate 2008 Viognier had a great bouquet, showing honeysuckle and white flowers. There was some citrus and even peach notes woven into the bouquet, and it was quite inviting. On the palate, there was definitely some great fruit up front of peaches, with nice honey suckle flavors. It reminded me of being a kid during summer, pulling honey suckle flowers off the vines and tasting the sweet nectar. However, there was this beautiful, balanced spice component that really gave an interesting twist to the finish, making it a fun, complex wine.

This wine was perfect with the three different cheeses, Cheddar, Brie, and Port Salut, we tried while the chicken was cooking. And when the chicken was ready, we had JUST enough wine left to taste them together. The grilled flavors of the chicken, which was seasoned simply with salt, pepper and rosemary, meshed perfectly with the wine. This Viognier is rather food friendly, and I could see pairing it with white fish sauted in white wine or roasted pork, shrimp on the BBQ, and of course, grilled chicken. For $16, the Sobon Estate Viognier won’t break the bank, and is a great wine to have when friends come over. If you try this, or really any Viognier, why not let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment below!

I would like to disclose that this wine was provided to me by the winery to taste and review, though I have purchased and reviewed their wines in the past.

No Bottleshock here – Chateau Montelena 2007 Chardonnay video wine review

Chateau Montelena 2007 Chardonnay

These days, most people are on a budget, and watch their spending closely. And while very few of my friends cut wine out of their monthly expenses, they always ask me to find good, budget friendly wines for them to enjoy. However, it’s my opinion that now and then, it’s ok to splurge and treat yourself, so long as you do it in moderation. For Robin & I, that day came last week when we opened up a bottle of Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from Napa, CA. It’s not what I would call a Budget Wine, but rather a wine for a nice occasion. For us, that occasion was celebrating the end of a work week!

If you’ve seen the movie Bottle Shock you know the impact Chateau Montelena had on the wine world in 1976. The movie definitely endears you to the struggle California wine makers had, and have, gaining respect for the hard work and love that goes into each bottle. It also will make you want to run out and buy a bottle of Chateau Montelena, whether you’ve had it in the past or not. For us, this Chardonnay was not our first experience with their wines. We had a bottle of their Zinfandel with a lovely dinner out in West Palm Beach a few months ago, and their Cab some time prior to that. However, we did indeed go out and buy a bottle of the Chard days after seeing the movie, and kept it in the back of the wine cellar for a while. However, the time came to open, and enjoy it. Of course, I’d like to share this wine with you, so please watch the short two minute video, then scroll down to read more of my thoughts on this wine.

Tasting Chateau Montelena 2007 Chardonnay from Matthew Scott on Vimeo.

I actually misspoke on the video and said that oak aging typically gives Chardonnay a buttery mouth feel. It’s actually the malolactic fermentation that gives it that lush mouth feel. The oak aging can, however, impart notes of toast, spice, and vanilla, for example. The Chateau Montelena Chardonnay spends eight to nine months in oak. However, the oak influence is beautiful, not overwhelming the flavors of fruit.

The wine was wonderful, and we enjoyed it very much. Frankly, I think we drank it too quickly, and needed to take some more time with this wine. The wine evolved over the hour we ate, and I feel we missed some of the changes it went through. I plan on getting a second bottle soon, with the expectation of sipping it, slowly, and really taking care to see how it changes sip to sip. The subtle oak aging provides Chateau Montelena’s Chardonnay with complex layers of flavor, from the tropical notes I mentioned before to subtle hints of vanilla and spice. There’s a nice balance of acidity and fruit, and this is a crisp, and delicious, white wine.

I mentioned a food pairing in the video, and we paired this with Fettuccine Alfredo topped with shrimp. While it was a “nice enough” pairing, it was by no means perfect. Frankly, the beautiful tropical flavors the Chateau Montelena Chardonnay offers would have gone much better with a grilled chicken or fish dish. The fish could have been grilled sea bass or grilled salmon, as either would have paired with this wine wonderfully. Likewise, a simple grilled chicken, seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper, would have been a spectacular food and wine pairing with this Chardonnay. There are many food and wine pairings that this wine would have worked with, and perhaps we’ll make one or two of them in the future, and share our tasting with you.

Chateau Montelena

I must admit I have not yet visited Chateau Montelena. However, as this beautiful Eve Andersson photo illustrates, there is a lot of history and beauty at the winery. I look forward to visiting the Chateau one day soon. The rich history on that land, from the Chateau itself to Jade Lake, would make a great piece for future TweetMeTV segments. I’ll have to talk with the folks at Daytime morning show and see about another Napa visit, soon!

Your adventure in wine doesn’t need to stop here. You can follow the folks from Chateau Montelena on Twitter. The folks from the movie Bottle Shock are on twitter as well. Of course, you can find me on Twitter or Facebook, and we can continue having a good time with wine. Cheers!

Petit Verdot Petit Sirah from Lange Twins Family Winery and Vineyards

Lange Twins Petit Verdot Petit Sirah

Do you enjoy wine? When was the last time you had a Petit Verdot? How about Petit Sirah? If the answer is anything other than “Last week”, watch this video wine review of Lange Twins Family Winery & Vineyards 2007 Generations Petit Verdot Petit Sirah blend. You’ll be surprised at how delicious and drinkable this $20 wine is! There’s no doubt that this purple teeth stainer will be a wine you look to have again, and again.

The Lange family has been farming in California for 5 generations, starting with Johann and Maria Lange’s 1870 immigration from Germany, where they settled down in Lodi. The Langes started their farming history beginning with melons, the crop of choice back then. They moved into farming grapes in 1916, then in 2006 twin brothers Randall and Bradford Lange, Winery General Manager and Viticulture General Manager respectively, founded the Lange Twins winery, and incorporated the winery in their business of grape growing. There are multiple generations of Lange family members working at the Lange Twins Family Winery & Vineyards today, making it a true family business.

Joe Lange provided a bottle of their Generations Petit Verdot Petit Sirah 2007 to me before the summer started as a sample for review. I am grateful to Joe, and Lange Twins Family Winery & Vineyard for the opportunity to taste this wine, and discuss it with you. Please take two minutes to watch the video review below, then read the rest of my tasting notes and comments.

Lange Twins Petit Verdot Petit Sirah Red Wine review from Matthew Scott on Vimeo.

As you can see from the above quick video wine review (you did watch it, right? Seriously, 2 minutes!), this wine falls into the “Drinkable” and almost “Gulpable” category. It’s only $20 from the Lange Twins website, and by my measure, that makes it a very affordable, bordering on every day wine price wise. Of course, price is not the only measure of selecting wines, so taste has to be there, and in my opinion, Lange Twins Petit Verdot Petit Sirah has it.

I find this wine very approachable. That means, it’s easy to drink, and doesn’t require too much care & feeding, or work, to enjoy it. A good friend of mine on twitter mentioned she is not a fan of wines that require a lot of “me” time, and prefers the ability to just open a wine and enjoy it. While I decanted the wine for an hour, I believe this wine would do well as a “Pop and Pour”, where you can just open it and drink.

Decanting red wines has two purposes. First, for older wines or perhaps wines that are not filtered, it helps separate the sediment that occurs normally in bottles of wine by allowing them to settle to the bottom of the decanter. Second, it allows younger wines time to “breathe”, allowing oxygen to interact with the wine. This can allow the wine to open up, the bouquet and the flavors can show well, and you can enjoy the wine. Some wines may not need any decanting, others may need one, two or even four hours to open up.

As you saw in the video, there was nice fruit on this wine, with just a little hint of baking spice mixed in. I could discern beautiful blueberry flavors mixed in with darker fruit flavors as soon as the wine hit my tongue. It definitely opened up and became even more enjoyable with each minute we drank the wine. Also as mentioned in the video, we paired the wine with steak. It was a great pairing, the delicious grilled steak dancing gracefully with the luscious wine. Sadly, the wine was finished before the steak was gone, which was a testament to how easy drinking the wine was.

This wine definitely plays well with others, pairing it with beef dishes or other gamey dishes (hmm, venison stew or Cornish game hens perhaps) works wonderfully. It also plays well by itself, making it a great sipping wine. Open a bottle of this Lange Twins wine, take your better half, or your best buds, to the back yard or the porch, and watch a great night with a nice wine unfold!

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