The Bold and Beauty of Garnacha

I recently participated in a tasting of Garnacha and was really impressed, not only on the quality but the value of the wine.You have your bold Garnacha which is worthy of aging and you have your drink now Garnacha which is a bit more fruit forward and the inbetween.  In any event they are great value. The prices ranged anywhere from $8 per bottle to $23 and these are all wines I wouldn't hesitate to purchase or give as holiday gifts.

The first wine we tastesd was made with Garnatxa Blanca or Garnacha Blanc. It's a white grape related to the red varietal Garnacha.  I really loved acidity and minerality of the Vall Major Garnatxa Blanc.  It had nice notes of limon and hints of pear. The vineyards the grapes are grown in sit at an elevation of 1500 - 2000 feet and you can taste the bright freshness this brings to the wine. I paired this wine with Garlic Pesto Ravioli.  The wine complimented the pesto and also added a touch of sweetness to the cheese. (It's a good thing I didn't have a date after eating them) Best part, this wine retails for $8

All the reds paired very well with the Manchego cheese and my leftover meat lovers pizza. This goes with pairing regional wine to regional cheese.

The 2013 Cruz de Piedra Garnacha from the Calatayud region of Spain is a nice young wine with lots of blackberry aromas coming from the glass.  This is a very young wine and will go well on your holiday table.  A bit acidic and tannic the palate has nice flavors of bittersweet chocolate, black and red raspberries with a nice spice on the finish.  When paired with the manchego cheese, the cheese soften the tannins and the finish has a bit of anise on it.  This wine retails for $10

2010 Finca Bancales Old Vine Garnacha paired extremely well with grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Yes, nice winter comfort meal. The grapes for this wine come from a single vineyard over 90 years old.  It was aged in French oak for 14 months. Lots of black fruit. A soft mellow taste with hints of cherry with a dusting of toast from the oak.  This Garnacha retails for $20

When I talked about bold, the 2013 PDM Moncayo is what I am talking about.  When I first opened it, aromas of green peppercorn and dry herbs filled the air. Lots of tannins  A wine that will age very well.  This wine was aged 10 months in American oak and is unfiltered.  It's very complex and bold. The Manchego cheese paired very well and softened the tannins of the wine.  This will pair very well with duck, venison and lamb. This wine retails for $23

Pizza wine..yes 2010 Marin Old Vine Garnacha screams pizza!  In fact it paired very well with my meat lovers pizza.  Very light on the palate with notes of blackberry and nice simple complexity. This wine retails for $12

Happy Thanksgiving

Wine Word Wednesday: Grafting

4 Thanksgiving Day Wine Picks

Today is the day Beaujolais Nouveau gets release and that signifies the beginning of the holiday season, at least it does to me.  Will I be going out to purchase a bottle of the Nouveau, most likely, it's the first wine of the 2015 harvest made from Gamay grapes and I do like to try it. Is it a nice wine to serve with your Thanksgiving day meal?  Yes, it is, but there are other wines too that you can showcase during Thanksgiving.

I always like to begin with a sparkling wine while we catch up with friends and family and much on appetizers.  For this I would suggest the Anna de Codorniu.  I reviewed a selection back in October. They have many varieties of sparkling, a Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, Rose and Brut.  They are very reasonably prices at $14.99

Now I want you to think out of the box for a nice white to serve with the turkey.  Try Kaiken 2015 Torrontes from Argentina.  This wine I reviewed back in August and was really impressed with it. This retails for about $17.  I had someone tell me that this was better than their oaky Chardonnay. So if you are use to serving a oaked Chardonnay, try this Torrontes.

Rose wine isn't just for drinking during the summer.  In fact it is a great wine to have at Thanksgiving.  Poe Rose is made by Samantha Sheehan who left the world of finance in 2009 to follow her dream. This Rose is a blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Pinot Meunier.  Delicate strawberry with hints of orange and a touch of raspberry will please and pair well with your dinner. This retails for approximately $22

You do need to have available a nice red wine on the table.  An Oregon Pinot Noir would enhance your meal.  Try Kudos Reserve 2012 Pinot Noir.  This is from the Yamhill-Carlton area of Oregon in the Willamette Valley. Nice and smooth on your palate with hints of fresh raspberries and and red cherry with black pepper on the finish that lingers on your palate. Retails for $16.99

Wine Word Wednesday: Charring

Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room: Cuvee De Route 9A

No one is exactly sure when Captain Lawrence last released its Cuvee de Castleton, a Belgian-style sour ale named for the Pleasantville street where the brewery was hatched, and likely the Captain’s most sought after brew ever. What is known is that Captain Lawrence has been in Elmsford for close to four years, and this is the first Cuvee de Castleton release at the new digs along Saw Mill River Road.

Either way, it’s been too long, and people came from up and down the coast to pick up their 375 ml bottles, at $15 a pop, of the fruity, tart and tangy golden ale, refermented with muscat grapes and aged for a few years in oak. Tom Lillard, Damico Ponzioand Mark Cincotti made the trip from outside Philadelphia. Tom recalls schlepping to Westchester years ago for the last Cuvee release. “It’s nice knowing you’ve spent the money and are guaranteed beer,” he says of the prepaid system that took the place of the former show up/line up/keep fingers crossed supplies don’t run out one. “You get a taste of everything, and you get your bottles.”

Yes, besides the Castleton on draft, there’s Barrel Select Gold, Rosso E Marrone, the funky, German-style wheat known as Bro’s Before Gose, and the Hudson Valley Harvest Sour Cherry.

Tom will keep a couple of the bottles for his wife and himself, and share a few with friends. Damico will try one or two, and let the others age; like a fine wine, the sour ales morph and evolve while in the bottle. The new Cuvee, Damico says, is “freaking amazing.” The sizable crowd queuing up for their bottles, he says, is proof: “It speaks to just how good the brews are.”

Like Tom, many in the brewery space were here for the last Cuvee de Castleton release (and likely the one before that), and cleared their schedules to be here for this one. Brandon Smith of Brooklyn, in attendance with his wife Ellen and her brotherSteve Verdibello of Eastchester, recalls bunking down at a nearby La Quinta hotel to be on Castleton Street at the crack of dawn to hopefully score a few bottles of Cuvee. “I barely slept,” he says.

“You didn’t sleep,” notes Ellen, who’s heard the story before. “Your roommate was snoring all night.”

Ellen notes the “bready finish” of the new Cuvee. “It’s not as one-note as a lot of sours,” she adds.

Brandon likes the new pay-in-advance process more than the old bakery-line ticket approach. “This is much easier than last time,” he says with a smile.

The fittingly titled Bottoms Up Dixieland Jazz Band fills the room with homey American ragtime. Several grub stations keep visitors well fed. Rich Fadigan and Adam Pardes are on a road trip from Philadelphia, with a clear cut mission at hand. “We’ve got a big group of friends back home that loves sours,” says Adam. “We’ll bring some back for them.”

Whenever Captain Lawrence has a sour ale event, Ross Spiegel of Oradell, NJ, Alex Dacey of Easton, CT and Louis Ziccarelli of Brooklyn are sure to be there. “We were the first ones to get tickets for Sour’d in September last year,” says Ross proudly.

The only one missing is Ross’s wife Anne Marie, stuck at home working on her thesis.

Alex schedules his vacations around sour ales. “I’ve been to Belgium four times,” he says, and has hundreds of bottles aging in his basement.

“It’s Willie Wonka for beer,” notes Ross.

An admitted foodie, Louis loves how sours pair up with food. “It’s a great new take on beer,” he says, a fan since falling in love at Allagash Brewing in Maine years back.

Alex has the future of his beers all planned out: One will age for three years, one for a year, one for six months. That leaves one. “I feel like this one will pop next month,” he says with a lustful look in his eye.

The mood is festive. The line for bottles is long, but there’s no line for samples. With plenty of beer, food, music and friends, no one seems to be in much of a hurry.

Fans of the sours won’t have to wait long for the next release. “We hope to do one of these a month in 2016,” says Scott. “We didn’t buy all those barrels and a new bottling line to not make beer.”CL owner Scott Vaccaro takes it in with a smile. He recalls the first Cuvee De Castleton release, all of about 20 cases, back in 2007. “It’s the first sour we brewed and it instantly gave us notoriety,” he says of the Cinderella-story gold medal it won at the Great American Beer Fest.

 —Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in India Pale Ale.

The Exes In My Ipod paired with Beran Zinfandel

There's not a better thing to do on a fall day but grab a good book and sit on your front porch with a glass of wine and read for the afternoon. That is what I did with Lisa Mattson's book The Exes in my Ipod  and Beran 2012 Zinfandel.

There was a bit of a chill in the air, so the Zinfandel was a great choice as it kept me warm.

I''ve known Lisa for a while through my wine blogging and was thrilled when I ran into her in the elevator at the Wine Bloggers Conference in the Finger Lakes. I admire Lisa and follow her work as Marketing Director at Jordan Vineyards & Winery.  She is quite amazing and  I was lucky and walked off the elevator with a copy of Lisa's book.

When you meet people and get to know them, you really don't know about their struggles to get to where they are today. Many people look at people and feel jealousy as they think that success happens overnight and they want that for themselves.  Sorry to disappoint, but most people are successful do to their hard work and sacrifices they make along the way.  Sometimes it might take a year, sometimes a lifetime to achieve.

In Lisa's book, she gets personal takes you to where she grew up in the Mid West, her family life there, her move to Florida with her boyfriend and the many boyfriends she had since and how they influenced her and made her who she is today.

There were good times and bad times but Lisa never lost sight of what she wanted most.  A college education and to work in wine country. She not only has achieve her dream, she is living it every day. Read the book and follow her journey.  It will inspire you to follow your dreams no matter what obstacles get in your way.

Now the wine pairing. As I sat on the porch reading the book, the Zinfandel was jammy and almost exciting as the book.  Beran standing for "The Bear" is forever a figure of strength and head strong drive. See why it paired so well with the book!

With jammy aromas and dark red purplish hue this wine is made with new and old vine Zinfandel grapes sourced throughout California.  As the wine began to open notes of cedar, vanillin and tobacco and blackberry filled the  glass.

While sipping and reading, flavors of dark red and black fruit filled my mouth with hints of tobacco and some red licorice.  The wine was soft and easy to drink on this Sunday afternoon.

What To Do With That Leftover Halloween Candy

It's been a few weeks since Halloween and if you have leftover candy, or you're tired of looking at your kids candy what can you do.

Well...we didn't get many kids at our house and we had leftover Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  One of my favorite.  (I really must learn to purchase candy I don't like)  Even though I stuck the cups in the freezer, every time I went in there I saw them.  Do I eat them and slowly deplete the stash?

I decided to try my hand at baking with them.  I would suggest this to anyone.

Grease a 13 x 9 baking pan. Start with the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  Once you make that line the bottom of the pan with it.  Next put those Reese's on top.  You can do this with just about any candy that goes with chocolate.

Then I made a box brownie mix according to the instructions on the back because I couldn't find my recipe for brownies.  Pour that on top of the Reese's and bake for 45 minutes.

OMG you have the best brownies!

I happen to have a 2012 Heron Hill Cabernet Franc open and oh what a pairing it was!! The peanut butter, chocolate and Cabernet Franc just complemented eachother so well on your palate.

Wine Word Wednesday: Domaine

Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting: Room Fall Back Into a Beer

The days may be shorter, but some of them are still pretty darn glorious. There’s nary a cloud in the sky and, while there’s an undeniable feeling of fall in the air, the sun is shining bright on the Captain Lawrence patio. Tory and Matthew Frank of North White Plains were returning an empty keg to the brewery, and ended up sampling craft brews on the patio, and playing a bit of bocce.

“She gave me a pretty good beating,” says Matthew. “Either I’m really bad or she’s really good.”

He and Tory opted for funky, small-batch brews. Matthew has the Jersey Devil, a smoked wheat IPA with a hint of chili—yes, spicy fatali chili—in the mix. Tory has the Perrone’s Peach, a Belgian-style ale brewed with peaches. “I usually go with pumpkin,” she says. “But this is good. A little sweet, and good.”

Over the summer, the two moved from Manhattan to North White Plains, and recently held a joint housewarming/Halloween bash with a keg of Liquid Gold. Shielding their eyes from the sun, Tory and Mattthew were discussing their carefree weekend days in the city, and the large number of cyclists imbibing on the Captain Lawrence patio.

Indeed, it’s just about a perfect day for a long ride with a cold craft brew waiting at the end of the trail. Liz Ladzinski and Corey Crago of Manhattan ventured to the west side of the city, followed the path to the Bronx, and stuck to the old North Central rail trail all the way to Elmsford. Just over two hours later, they’re sampling brews and Cajun chicken wings.

Liz enjoys the Liquid Gold, while Corey has the Somewhat Seasonal, a berlinerweiss brewed with roasted butternut and acorn squash. “I don’t know that I’d have more than one, but I like it,” he says. “Especially after a bike ride.”

As just about every cyclist who’s made the trip to Captain Lawrence says, the beer simply tastes better after a strenuous ride. “No matter how cold it is, you’re hot, you’re sweaty, and it just tastes great,” says Liz.

“You’ve earned it,” adds Corey.

His one suggestion—a larger sign at Captain Lawrence to make it easier to spot from Rte. 9A.

Having turned back the clocks just a week ago, there’s a sense among many on the patio of making the most of the fading daylight on a stunning Sunday. “It seems so early,” says Corey. “But if we don’t hustle, we’re rolling into the city in total darkness.”

Foo Fighters tunes crank from the house speakers, and the Gleason’s guys serve up the wood-fired pizzas. There’s plenty of action inside the tasting room too, but, well, winter will drive all of us in there soon enough.

Courtney Eng of Bayside and Kuo Wu of the Bronx toss the cornhole bags as they wait for a big group to arrive. Will it be the Freshchester Pale Ale for Courtney, the Hop Commander, or the Kolsch? That’d be an All of the Above. “I want to try as many as I can,” she says.

Elsewhere on the patio, Andrew Greiner and Caitlin Ratty of Manhattan have deployed a less taxing means of transportation from the city: Metro-North. They’ve met Cara Rothenberg of Sleepy Hollow for a few samples. “I’m shocked we haven’t been here before,” says Andrew, sporting a suddenly stylish Mets cap.

The trio is discussing plans for Caitlin and Andrew’s engagement party—not just an engagement party, but an ugly sweater, “Christmukkah”-themed shindig. Cara and Caitlin, friends since childhood, quaff the Pumpkin Ale, while Andrew has the Somewhat Seasonal. “Tart and funky but I like it,” he says.

The threesome is intent on making the most of this sunny gift from the gods. Andrew is actually down with the whole Daylight Savings deal, saying an early sunrise makes it easier to wake up. Cara gives the concept a big thumbs-down. “It always feels later than it is,” she says.

Back at the Matthew and Tory Frank camp, it’s one more sample before they head back to their new home. “When the weather is this nice,” says Matthew, “we’re just not ready to go home and sit in the house."

 —Michael Malone (malone5a@yahoo.com)

Captain Lawrence Brewing, at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, is open Wednesday through Friday (4-8 p.m.), Saturday (12-6 p.m.) and Sunday (12-5). The author is paid by Captain Lawrence, partially in India Pale Ale. 

4 Finger Lakes Cabernet Francs to Warm You Up This Fall

It's getting a bit chilly outside and in my house the shift has been made to red wine.

While I was at the Wine Bloggers conference this year I did a little Finger Lakes Red Wine speed tasting. It is kind of like speed dating but with wine.  The winemaker comes to the table with his/her bottle, pours us a taste and in 3 minutes has to tell us about the wine and answer our questions.  Here are some that stood out for me that I think will warm you up this fall.

Herman Wiemer 2012 Cabernet Franc Magdalena Vineyard.  The grapes for this wine were picked the last week in October and the wine was aged for 15 months in half oak and half steel.  The wine had an awesome bouquet of dark berry fruit and black berry.  The palate was nicely balanced with dark berry fruit and nice tannins.  My remark on this wine was excellent!  Wine retails for $25.

Wagner Vineyards 2011 Reserve Pinot Noir This wine is a very special wine.  It's only made during exceptional vintages.  The last time this wine was made was 2007. It's aged in French oak for 12 months.  The wine had a nice nose and palate of cherries and black raspberries with a hint of oak. There are only 297 cases of this wine.  It retails for $24.99

Ventosa Vineyards 2001 Cabernet Franc Estate grown and aged in 100% French Oak this Cabernet Franc had soft tannins, flavors of black cherry with a hint of caramel and a nice smooth pepper finish.  You know how I love that pepper finish.  This wine retails for $26.95

Swedish Hill 2012 Cabernet Franc Lemberger This is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Lemberger. It was aged in new French and American oak.  There was some nice violet on the palete with mixed berries.  There was some nice pepper in the front as well on the finish.  The finish lingers then quickly dissipates.  This wine retails for $16.99

Cuddle up this fall with a nice bottle of Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc.

Wine Word Wednesday: Kabinett

Getting Barefoot!

Yes I know Summer is over, but there is still no reason to put the socks on yet.  I recently got Barefoot with Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon.

Let me give you a little background on Barefoot Wine.  It began by accident in the mid 1980's but the name goes back to 1965 and a former newspaper reporter Davis Bynum who had a passion for wine and started a winery in Berkeley in the 1960's. In 1973 Davis moved to Healdsburg where he would become one of the pioneers of the Pinot Noir movement. In 1974 he stopped making Barefoot and the name ceased.

Fast forward to 1985 and enter Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey living in Somona.  Bonnie was hired by her friend Mark Lyon a winemaker to handle his office.  One of the problems she uncovered was that one of his client owed him money for his 1984 crop of grapes.  Yes 300 tons of grapes weren't paid for. Bonnie figured Michael could assist Mark in getting part of the money. Unfortunately the client was in bankruptcy and taken over by creditors.

Michael found himself in a room at this winery with wine in tanks and it had nowhere to go.  Ding, Ding...Michael suggested that the wine in the tanks gets bottled and given to them for payment.  The next thing they had 18,000 cases of wine. In short that was the beginning of Barefoot Wine. (For the complete story I suggest you read "The Barefoot Spirit" by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey.) Today Barefoot is owned by Gallo.

I have to admit, I've never been a huge fan of the Barefoot wine. When they reached out to me, I thought I would give it a try with an open mind. I really wanted to try this with my daughter, who I think would have enjoyed this wine, but our schedules never worked out.

I tasted this with Melanie in mind and do think it was a good wine her.

The Barefoot NV Cabernet Sauvignon is made with grapes from Argentina.  Aromas of red fruit and red berry jam filled the glass. The wine was very fruit forward and full of jammy flavors with a hint of clove and vanilla on the finish.

Barefoot Cabernet is fairly inexpensive as a normal bottle will run you about $5.99 and a 1.5 liter will run approximately $9.99.