dinner and drinks

Last night's dinner was full of all sorts of lovely things that were wine. I decided to try my second attempt at braising a roast in wine. My first attempt was good but the meat wasn't as tender as I'd heard it should be. This time I didn't follow a recipe. I had a roast and browned it on all sides in olive oil and added salt and pepper. Then I put that in my dutch oven threw in some potatoes, cut up onions, carrots and celery. I dumped a bottle cabernet savignon on stop, covered it up and put it on my stove to bring to a boil. Once I got to a boil I turned off the heat and put it in my stove set at 275 for 4 hours.

After about 2hrs the entire house smelled like cab sav. I didn't think it was possible, but it was lovely. Now came the decision of what to drink while making the rest of the meal and while eating. It sorta of seemed that since I was cooking with a cab sav I should be drinking a cab sav. But I've been more in the mood for Syrah's lately. I'm not sure what the rules are or if there are rules about what wines to drink when cooking with wine. I went with the syrah and had a bottle of Cycles Gladiator Syrah. It was yummy

I've had Cycles Gladiator pinot noir and it is a standby for me and good pinot noirs. I enjoyed the syrah just as much. I had opened it the day before and thought it was good, but with dinner and being open for a day it was delish. I had planned on just a small glass. C and I shared two large glasses. I would have finished the bottle except R hasn't been letting us sleep much lately and any more wine would have forced my eyes shut by 8 last night.

Dinner turned out wonderfully. The meat cut like butter which is how I've heard it described on top chef. That's the essence of braising, long and slow under low heat in an acid environment. I've read you can also braise in beer. The wine turned the onions a lovely purple color as well as the other veggies. It was such a nice dinner. I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today!

Charles Krug Cab Sav

Have you ever had a really good cabernet sauvignon? One that just melts in your mouth its so smooth and just gets better as it breathes. The color of these cab savs are an amazing deep red like gazing into a ruby. And probably as precious as that ruby. I haven't done a lot of experimenting with cab savs. I know that a really good one is worth its weight in those rubies. I also know there are a lot of bad ones out there.

Charles Krug cab sav which is part of the Peter Mondavi family wines is one of those really good cabs. I would never have picked it out myself, with the bland label and I've seen the price range from $24 (what I paid) to $30 a bottle. It was actually recommended to me by a fellow vino lover who has similar wine tastes to me. I threw it in my cart next to my cigar zin and palo alto and left a happy camper.

This is the first and only wine drank at our lil slumber party that I can review. It had the perfect amount of oakiness, a small bite that smoothed out as the air hit it. The flavors where strong and complex. This is not a light berryish wine. I would drink this wine with a big meal or while nibbling on dark chocolate. Or by itself. I give it 5 stars, a lip licking good wine. I'll have to get it again just to see if another bottle will bring as much satisfaction.

Hayes Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Peterson Wine Cellars is an awesome wine store in Naperville IL, only about 5min from my inlaws house. I visit this shop almost every time we're in town. C enjoys their beer selection and I always find different wines here. They have some fun and amazing sales. They have a top sellers area where they show the top 10 bottles that sold the best that week or month. I bought their number one to see how the tastes of Napervillians compare to my own. So I got their number one sold bottle, Hayes Ranch In the Saddle Cabernet Sauvignon.

I let this bottle breath a half hour to an hour in my decanter. It's really a yummy wine. You can taste berries in front and then you get a bit of the oak and the sauvignon bite at the end. It's a nice bite, not too much. And then I got sick, a cold which turned into the flu, and I was out of commission for a while. 2 and a half weeks later feeling better and craving a little wine I poured a glass of the remaining wine. It's still a decent wine! A little bit more of a bite than when fresh but it was definitely still drinkable and delicious. I give this wine 5 stars, lip licking good, both fresh and two weeks later.

Sale Wine is the Greatest Wine of All

If I were to list my favorite types of wine, I think my list would go something like this:

10. Moscato

9. Anything with Petit in the name

8. Syrah

7. Cheap Wine

6. Pinot Noirs

5. Cabarets

4. Expensive Wine

3. Zinfadels

2. Old Vine Zinfadels

1. WINE ON SALE

So, imagine my excitement when strolling through the aisles of Safeway a couple of weeks ago and found Firefly Ridge 2008 Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon on sale for $6.99 regularly $16.99. I consider anything that is more than half off a winner already. Plus I love the name Firefly - consider it a side effect of my obsession with all things Whedon. It already had two things going for it. It was wonderful $7 wine and I would totally stock up on it for that price. I doubt that I would pick it up full price, but that's the danger with sales right? Cause I'll be honest when shopping, I look for the little yellow tags telling me how much I'll save on it this week and I can't remember the last time I bought a full priced bottle. I may be a wine sale slut.

What's your thoughts on sale wine? Does it ever prevent you from buying at regular price? Or does it make it so full price bottles that much more special?

Overall rating: At $7 it is 4 stars meaning "pretty good I'd drink it again" and at $17 it is 3 stars meaning "eh".

Cabernet Sauvignon with Red Chile

In December my parents went on vacation to New Mexico and Arizona areas. While they were there they checked out a few of the local wineries. They brought me back a bottle from the Anderson Family Vineyard in New Mexico. It was a Cabernet Sauvignon with Red Chile.

When I first saw this I immediately thought of the chili beer we'd tried before that was awful! But my parents assured me that this was good. They recommended drinking it with a meal. So I made a fancy taco dinner and Chris and I opened this bottle. It was really good. A nice smooth cab sav that didn't need much breathing, and an underlying spice. At first you're not quite sure if the spice is there or if it's from your food. There isn't a pepper flavor it's just a spice and at just the right intensity. Drinking it with the meal worked very well. I had another glass after dinner and the spice definitely got a little stronger. Although for the record I am a wuss when it comes to spice. So don't be afraid of this wine. I'm pretty sure we can't get this wine in Illinois, but if we could it would be an excellent compliment to any and all mexican meals. And a great conversation bottle at a wine party or tasting.