Wine Blog from The International Wine of the Month Club

Avocado, Roasted Corn and Shrimp Salad

April 11, 2016 by Kristina Manning

This recipe is quick, light, and perfect for spring! Pair it with something similar like a pinot blanc, such as, Camille Braun Cuvée Marguerite-Anne Pinot Blanc 2014 from our Premier Wine Series Club!

INGREDIENTS:

6 ears corn, husked
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tomato, cubed
1 lb. ready to eat shrimp, tails removed
1 medium California Avocado, cubed
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
As needed Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fire up the grill to a medium hot temperature. Rub corn with 1 tablespoon oil. Grill, turning frequently, until corn is charred and heated through, 10-12 minutes. Remove from grill. When cool, slice kernels from the cob and transfer into a large bowl. Can use boiled or microwaved corn, but please don’t. The grilled corn with the olive oil MAKES this dish. Mix remaining 2 tablespoons oil, tomatoes, basil and lime juice into corn. Add shrimp and diced avocado. Toss lightly, ensuring that the avocado dices stay intact. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more lime juice, if desired.

Recipe and photo from: www.californiaavocado.com

Châteauneuf-du-Pape: France’s Greatest Appellation

March 25, 2016 by Don Lahey

Châteauneuf-du-Pape sits astride the swift-moving Rhône River in the sun-drenched heart of Provence, known as the Vaucluse. Blessed with a dry Mediterranean climate ideal for the cultivation of vines and the production of wine, this picturesque wine region fashions a vast array of the world’s greatest red wines, thanks in large part to the proliferation of old-vine Grenache.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape championed France’s Appellation Control and was the first wine region in the world to garner Appellation d’Origine Controlée (AOC) status in 1936. Châteauneuf-du-Pape became the model for the entire French system of Appellation Control and nearly all other subsequent attempts to guarantee the authenticity of wine and improve the wine of individual wine regions worldwide. Quality and integrity have long been the hallmarks of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which led Robert Parker, Jr. and other wine critics to dub Châteauneuf-du-Pape France’s greatest appellation.

Great wine almost always begins with healthy old vines, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape possesses some of the oldest vines in France. The average age of the vines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is in excess of 40 years, by far the oldest of any major appellation in France, and many of those vines are actually more than 100 years old.

In addition, the entire production of this great wine is hand harvested. Moreover, there is the region’s fabulous terroir – large, flat stones known as galets roulés that mingle with decomposed gravel. These remnants of Alpine glaciers, which once covered southern France, form Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s glacial till. This sacred till provides excellent drainage and imparts subtle nuances of flavor to the appellation’s outstanding wines. Many consumers are surprised that both red and white wines emanate from the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region, and that red Châteauneuf-du-Pape may contain up to thirteen legal grape varieties!

Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Muscardin, Counoise, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picpoul, Roussanne, Terret Noir, Picardan, and Vaccarese are all legal grape varieties in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and a case can be made that there are actually fourteen legal grape varieties in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, as Grenache comes in both red and white varieties. Although many fine white Châteauneuf-du-Papes now proliferate in the market, red wine still reigns supreme in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Hundreds of proprietors fashion red Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the appellation’s more than 8,000 acres, much of it world class. Some of the most consistent producers of top-notch red Châteauneuf-du-Pape include Château Beaucastel, Domaine Vieux Lazaret, Guigal, and Domaine du Grand Tinel. The latter’s regular estate bottling and luxury Cuvée Establet offerings constitute two of the greatest values in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Salud!
Don

What to Look For In March

March 18, 2016 by Don Lahey

In March, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series offers four special wines. The 2009 Peltier Station Lodi Petite Sirah, a robust, mature red from California’s once-again fashionable Lodi AVA, leads the way. If you have never had a Peltier wine, now is the time to try Peltier’s beautiful Petite Sirah.

Paired with Peltier’s scrumptious Petite Sirah is the 2014 Tenuta Le Calcinaie Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a certified organically produced white wine of incomparable elegance and purity. Rare among Tuscan white wines for its flavor, freshness, and longevity, Vernaccia di San Gimignano owes its 800-year reign as the region’s most lauded white wine to the predominance of the relatively rare Vernaccia clones that thrive in the environs of San Gimignano.

Hailing from the golden hills of California’s Calaveras County, the 2012 The Big Mouth Red is produced almost exclusively from Syrah. It offers a captivating aroma of black fruits, licorice, and violets, along with copious quantities of velvety-smooth berry flavors to provide great drinking pleasure.

Rounding out this month’s Premier Series wines is the 2014 Denis Dutron Macon-Fuissé from France’s Maconnais region in southern Burgundy. With a brilliant, sun-kissed robe, an enticing bouquet of freshly picked mountain apples, acacia flowers, and freshly baked bread, and a wealth of soft, creamy flavors that meld beautifully with the wine’s pure natural fruit and refreshing minerality, this enticing white wine offers everything classic white Burgundy from Maconnais has to offer.

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three special wines in March. Our first March feature is the outstanding 2012 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Jerome Quiot, a leader in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. His 2012 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape underscores the great quality of the 2012 vintage in Provence. His classic 2012 Châteauneuf-du-Pape offers exceptional aromatics in the form of deep black fruits, violets, Provençal garrigue and savory herbs, which serve to introduce a trove of ripe berry flavors infused with hints of Asian spices, rose petal, and black pepper. Full-bodied, yet perfectly balanced, the 2012 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the most beautiful young Châteauneuf-du-Pape we have tasted from this excellent estate.

Benovia is one of California’s finest producers of Chardonnay, as the 2013 Benovia Russian River Chardonnay, this month’s Collectors Series white wine feature, will attest. Presenting itself as sunshine in a glass, the 2013 Benovia Russian River Chardonnay sparkles with a glint of the sun’s golden rays, possesses an enticing aroma of butter, oak, coconut, pear, spring flowers, and spice, and offers a palate-pleasing cornucopia of flavors in the form of orchard fruits, spice, and minerality. Who can ask more of a Chardonnay?

The 2011 Antucura Vista Flores Grand Vin rounds out this month’s Collectors Series offerings. Antucura is one of Argentina’s great estates and Vista Flores Grand Vin is the winery’s flagship wine. A Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec that spent 16 months in French oak barrels, the 2011 Antucura Grand Vin offers copious quantities of rich, deep-down blackberry, plum, currant, and spice flavors that fill the mouth and satiate the palate. It weighs in at over 15% alcohol but never loses its elegance or panache. Most Bordeaux wines should offer so much and be so good.

Salud!
Don

What to Look For In February

February 19, 2016 by Don Lahey

In February, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series offers four exceptional wines from four different countries. Situated in Mendoza’s premier viticultural areas of Agrelo and Lujan de Cuyo, the award-winning Casarena Estate shines as a beacon of quality and value, and its 2014 Casarena Estate Malbec leads this month’s venture. Casarena’s ultimate goal is to become Mendoza’s greatest vineyard project, a feat Casarena is realizing with the help of Eno Rolland and Bordeaux oenologist Michel Rolland’s renowned team, who oversee vinification.

The 2014 Emile Beyer Tradition Pinot Blanc d’Alsace comes to us from one of France’s greatest producers of Pinot Blanc. The 2014 Emile Beyer Tradition Pinot Blanc exudes aromas and flavors of Bosc pears and mountain apples laced with soft seductive hints of freshly baked bread and spice that make it easy to drink and completely satisfying, either as an aperitif or at table with seafood, salads, pastas, and white meats.

Another one of this month’s special features is the 2010 Oro de Xiloca Garnacha, a delicious wine from the Xiloca estate’s old vines, some of which are up to 100 years old. The 2010 Oro de Xiloca offers an enchanting bouquet of ripe black cherry infused with subtle hints of plum, espresso bean, and vanilla, as well as plenty of rich, refined flavors and a long, delightfully dry finish.

Last, but not least, in this month’s International Wine of the Month Premier Series is the 2014 Terra d’Oro Chenin Blanc-Viognier, a special white wine that garnered 90 points from Wine Spectator and earned a coveted place on Wine Spectator’s 2015 list of Top 100 Values. This artful blend makes for one tasty, mouth-filling glass of white wine with alluring aromas and flavors of tropical fruits, mango, and papaya to grace the nose and enliven the palate.

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three special February features. Our first February feature is the outstanding 2010 Westerly Happy Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon. If Happy Canyon and Westerly are unfamiliar to you, they won’t be for long after tasting the 2010 Westerly Happy Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon. Westerly has fashioned a truly beautiful, classically styled Cabernet Sauvignon that received 92 points from Wine Enthusiast. While remaining fresh, complex and impeccably balanced, the Westerly Cabernet delivers tremendous flavor along with considerable finesse – a marriage of the finest attributes of California Cabernet and Classified Bordeaux.

The 2012 Emile Beyer Grand Cru Pfersigberg Alsace Riesling is this month’s Collectors Series special white wine. Hauntingly beautiful in aroma, delicate and complex in flavor, Emile Beyer’s 2012 Grand Cru Pfersigberg Riesling offers an enthralling potpourri of spring flowers, orchard fruits, cardamom, and pure fruit and mineral flavors to delight the nose and palate. Emile Beyer’s 2012 Grand Cru Pfersigberg Alsace Riesling is delightfully dry. Under the direction of Christian Beyer, the domain’s present guardian and the family’s 14^th generation Alsace winegrower, Beyer’s wines rank among France’s finest.

The 2012 Casarena Owen’s Vineyard Agrelo Cabernet Sauvignon rounds out this month’s offerings from the Collectors Series. Although Argentina is best known for fine, full-bodied Malbecs, it is Argentina’s old vine Cabernet Sauvignons that garner the greatest scores and provide the grandest red wines to grace the tables of the great steak houses of Buenos Aires and Mendoza. The deeply colored 2012 Casarena Owen’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (91+ points from Robert Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate, as well as from Stephen Tanzer) is one such grand Cabernet. It offers plenty to excite all of the senses.

Salud!
Don

California’s Best-Kept Wine Secrets

February 15, 2016 by Don Lahey

From Cabernet Sauvignon to Zinfandel, California’s Napa and Sonoma counties continue to fashion outstanding California wines, but these prized areas are far from the only games in town. Many of California’s most compelling wines now flow from two little-known American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) tucked into the hills of Santa Barbara County: the delightfully named Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon. Together, these small AVAs are producing compelling Syrahs and Cabernet Sauvignons that outperform many of the better known and more expensive red wines from Napa and Sonoma.

Ballard Canyon

Ballard Canyon enjoys its own distinctive AVA within Santa Barbara County, thanks to pioneers Tom, Judy, and Steve Beckmen of Beckmen Vineyards, Tom Stolpman of Stolpman Vineyards, and several other like-minded individuals who recognized the unique climate and terroir of Ballard Canyon decades ago and pioneered its planting.

Ballard Canyon enjoys cool maritime influences from the Santa Rita Hills to the west and warmer temperatures from Happy Canyon to the east. With wind, soil, and climate all conducive to the production of great Syrah, Ballard Canyon has become a premier source for exceptional Syrah.

Possessing the finesse and complex aromatic profiles of the finest Syrah from France’s Rhône Valley, as well as the beautiful fruit and physiologically ripe tannins that make California’s red wines so appealing, Ballard Canyon truly shines with Syrah, so much so that Ballard Canyon is becoming synonymous with great Syrah throughout the world. What Napa Valley is to great Cabernet Sauvignon, Ballard Canyon now is to Syrah.

Happy Canyon

Happy Canyon is emerging as one of California’s most exciting wine regions for the production of Bordeaux varietals. It is one of the smallest and least traveled viticultural areas of California, yet in spite of its diminutive size, Happy Canyon and its splendid hillside vineyards are making big names for themselves among savvy Cabernet drinkers.

Located at the far end of the Santa Ynez Valley, in the easternmost part of Santa Barbara County, Happy Canyon and its pastoral surroundings first gained renown for their premier orchards and sprawling cattle and horse ranches. It wasn’t until 1996 that vineyards first emerged on Happy Canyon’s bucolic hillsides. However, it didn’t take long to realize the canyon’s viticultural potential; with only a handful of vineyards and a tiny production, Happy Canyon gained its own official American Viticultural Area (AVA) designation in 2009.

Happy Canyon enjoys the warmest climate in Santa Barbara County, and the AVA’s unique microclimate and magnesium-rich, serpentine-laced soils provide ideal growing conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon and other high quality Bordeaux varietals – all of which are making cri
tics and wine lovers swoon.

Westerly and parent producer Crown Point Vineyards are two of the most compelling ventures in Happy Canyon. As one would expect, with a growing reputation for outstanding wines and only eight vineyards and three bona fide wineries to its name, Happy Canyon’s hand-crafted wines are highly allocated. Perhaps, the secret is already out?

Salud!
Don

Sour-Cherry-Stuffed Duck Breasts with Thyme

January 25, 2016 by Kristina Manning

This festive duck roast is stuffed with a delicious sweet-and-sour cherry filling. Pair it with our Collectors Series Silvio Grasso Barolo 2011.

SERVINGS: 8 TO 10

INGREDIENTS

Four 1- to 1 1/4-pound whole boneless Muscovy duck breasts (see Note), skin scored in a crosshatch pattern
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small shallot, minced
1 cup dried sour cherries (6 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Freshly ground pepper

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

Lightly season the duck breasts all over with salt and set them skin side down on a large baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered until the meat looks shiny, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the shallot and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until just starting to brown, 4 minutes. Add the dried sour cherries and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and just starting to caramelize, 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and 1/4 cup of water and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed, 3 minutes. Fold in the parsley and thyme and season the stuffing with salt and pepper. Let cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 400°. Set the duck skin side down on a work surface. Spread the cherry stuffing over the breasts evenly. Fold over one side of each breast to enclose the stuffing and tie them in 5 places with kitchen twine to make 4 neat roasts.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet. Season the roasts all over with pepper and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until the skin is browned and nearly crisp, 10 to 12 minutes; spoon off the excess fat in the skillet as needed.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the duck for about 12 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each breast registers 118° to 120°. Transfer the duck breasts to a carving board and let rest for 5 minutes. Snip off the kitchen twine. Thinly slice the roasts crosswise and serve.

MAKE AHEAD
The sour cherry stuffing can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before using.

NOTE
Ask your butcher for whole boneless duck breasts. They are also available online from D’Artagnan or Grimaud Farms.

Recipe and photo from www.foodandwine.com.

What to Look For In January

January 22, 2016 by Don Lahey

chateau-beauregard-ducasse-graves-rouge-2012 In January, The International Wine of the Month Club offers four outstanding wines from two continents. Produced from Bordeaux’s classic red wine varieties of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the 2012 Château Ducasse Graves delivers an exceptional glass of red Bordeaux from Bordeaux’s oldest and greatest wine-producing appellation.

The 2014 Château Chanteloiseau Cuvée Jean Jules Graves Blanc is a fine white wine from Graves. As a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, this classic white Graves is blessed with beautiful citrus aromas and flavors, pinpoint minerality, and a refreshing finish. It makes a wonderful aperitif and comports itself equally well at table with seafood, salads, pastas, and white meats.

From the golden hills of Amador County, the 2013 Terra d’Oro Amador County Zinfandel delights the nose and palate with juicy berry flavors, hints of bramble, spice, and wild herb. This is a bold, beautiful red Zinfandel that combines rich flavors and fine-grained tannins. As a classic, old-vine California Zinfandel from America’s own red grape varietal, this Terra d’Oro offering over-delivers in every way.

Wine lovers in search of hand-crafted Chardonnays are in for a treat with the 2014 Complicated Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Fashioned by two next-generation winemakers, Carlo Trinchero and Josh Phelps, from two of California’s iconic wine families, this seductive Chardonnay offers opulent fruit aromas and flavors that integrate deft touches of spice and French oak to provide one tasty, uncomplicated Chardonnay.

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three special January features. Our first January feature is the outstanding 2011 Silvio Grasso Barolo from one of Italy’s iconic producers. Barolo, known as, “the king of wines, and the wine of kings,” ranks as one of Italy’s best red wines. The 2011 Silvio Grasso Barolo offers up an amplifying bouquet of red fruits, plum, rose petal, and spice, while it delights the palate with supple, complex, and expansive flavors. This is a wine perfect for enjoying now or cellaring for a decade or more.

The 2013 Maison Gille Rully Premier Cru Rabourcé 2013 is this month’s Collectors Series special white wine. It offers a radiant straw color and scents of acacia, privet, and orchard fruits before revealing pure Chardonnay fruit flavors in the mouth. Born in the fashionable Rully appellation of Burgundy, this Premier Cru demonstrates why Burgundy is the spiritual home of Chardonnay and why Rabourcé’s special terroir merits Premier Cru status.

The 2009 Château Armandière Diamant Rouge Cahors Malbec is a rich, ripe, and sophisticated Malbec that delivers the boldness and intensity of the finest Argentinean Malbecs, along with the added complexity, refinement, and sophistication of the best French wines. The 2009 Diamant Rouge is a rare and highly allocated wine from Château Armandière, one of the greatest estates in Cahors, the original home of Malbec.

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