I wanted to invite you all along with me as I tasted this delicious White Wine Blend by Scout and Cellar. It has notes of green apple, melon and peach and pairs well with sushi, salads and soft cheeses. This wine is crisp, fruity and contains 13.1% abv (alcohol by volume). The grape varietal is a Colombard grape that was planted in California. Colombard grapes are a combination of Chenin Blanc and Gouais Blanc grapes. This wine has medium acidity and is quite refreshing.
You will see in this video that pairing this wine with a cucumber salad really opened up the melon notes in the wine. Although I used a hard cheese in my dish, the wine also hi-lighted the subtle spice of the jalapeno in the Muenster cheese. Typically, the wine pairs nicely with soft cheeses; such as: brie, cream cheese, feta, ricotta, Roquefort, gorgonzola, cottage cheese and Chevre’.
As always, Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for supporting me for another year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from My Wine Cellar to Yours! XOXO, Smiling Danny
Salu’d
Danny’s Cucumber Salad consists of cucumber, roma tomatoes and jalapeno muenster diced and mixed with 1 tsp of white vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.
This month I am so excited to share with you my pairing of Texas Wines and Thanksgiving inspired hors d’ oeuvres. The wines range from the Texas Hill Country all the way to the High Plains. Be sure to grab your notepad because you are going to want to try these delicious pairings yourself.
What’s on the Menu:
Food Bites:
Meat: Smoked Honey Cured Ham and Cracked Pepper Roasted Turkey Breast
Bread: Sweet Cornbread
Cheese: Cranberry Orange Goat Cheese
Fruit: Opal Apple Slices
Desserts:
Texas Pecan Caramel Brownies
Pumpkin Spice Tea Cakes
Strawberries
Jazz Apple Slices
Hershey Chocolate Bars
Wines:
Becker Vineyards: Chardonnay, 2018
Becker Vineyards: Viognier, 2019
McPherson Cellars: La Herencia Red Table Wine, 2017
Llano Estacado: Cellar Reserve Texas Red Blend, Limited Release
Heath Sparkling Wine: Adoration, 2017
English Newson Cellars: Spider Rock Bourbon Barrel Aged Dessert Wine
Tasting Notes and Pairings:
Becker Vineyards: Chardonnay, 2018
This dry, white wine has notes of honey and pineapple. The wine paired nicely with the cranberry orange goat cheese, opal apple slices and the cracked pepper roasted turkey breast.
Becker Vineyards: Viognier, 2019
This is a dry, white wine with peach and floral notes on the nose and palate. Because of the fruit notes, the wine paired nicely with the apple slices and the goat cheese. This Viognier can easily be paired with the turkey or ham that you choose on your menu.
I think both wines complemented the charcuterie plate well. The wines did not overpower the food bite nor did the food bite overpower the wine. However, what I look for in pairings is for me to recognize the original notes in the wine and the flavors of the dish. In addition, I like to discover new flavor profiles from the combining of the two. Here, I didn’t pick up on any additional notes when I included the food bite in the tasting.
McPherson Cellars: La Herencia Red Table Wine, 2017
This is a dry, red wine with notes of berry and earth. Pairing this alongside the peppered turkey really opened up those earth notes in the wine. Also, the sweet cornbread created this umami profile in the mouth. Delicious!
Llano Estacado: Cellar Reserve Texas Red Blend, Limited Release
Now you know that I am in LOVE with Llano’s 1836, but this wine right here came in to a close second. I really enjoyed this wine. It is a dry, red wine, (of course, my fav) with notes of berry, earth and pepper. What I truly enjoyed about this wine is that I could taste the berry on the palate. Often, I pick up berry in the nose but it is rare that I will actually taste berry on the palate with the dry reds that I have tried thus far. This wine paired phenomenally with the ham and the goat cheese. Pairing it with the cornbread reminded me of cake, so that was a treat.
Next Up, Desserts!
Heath Sparkling Wine: Adoration, 2017
This is a dry, sparkling wine with notes of floral, apple, cranberry and cherry. It has a rose gold hue and lots of bubbles. This wine paired perfectly with the strawberries, chocolate bars and apple slices.
English Newson Cellars: Spider Rock Bourbon Barrel Aged Dessert Wine
This is a sweet, dessert wine with notes of raisin, pecan and chocolate. It tastes like every layer of my German Chocolate Cake! The wine paired nicely with all of the desserts, and when pairing, it created new flavors on my palate. I get really excited when this happens. Here are the creations below:
Brownie: pairing brought out caramel notes in the wine.
Chocolate: pairing created a dark chocolate flavor profile.
Strawberry: pairing created a chocolate cake with strawberries flavor.
Apples: pairing created a cinnamon glazed apple and brandied apple flavor.
Pumpkin Spice Tea Cake: pairing created a raisin bread flavor.
Now, is your mouth watering or what!! I hope that you enjoyed this post as much as I did and that you try some of the wines and food bites mentioned. If you do, be sure to leave a comment here or on my Instagram page. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to sharing with you again soon.
XOXO, Smiling Danny
Salu’d
Check out these products below. I absolutely love my wine saver pump and stoppers. They are great for when you have left over wine and you want to keep the oxygen from getting in and changing the notes and flavors. There is also a special one for sparkling wines that I adore. The sparkling wine saver ensures that your wine doesn’t go flat. Click on the picture to find out more information about the products and to purchase. Thank you so much for supporting me and for checking out these products.
How many of you have wine left from the “Sweet Wine with Your Sweetheart” Series? Have you been wondering what to do with the leftovers? Well, I have two delicious wine cocktail recipes just for you!
Red Wine Sangria
You will need:
1/2c Roscato Sweet Red
1/4c Cranberry Juice
1/4c Simply Lemonade
1 Tbs Lime Juice
1/2 of a Raspberry Orange peeled and squeezed (This fruit is seasonal)
1 Raspberry Orange segment for Garnish
Directions:
Fill up half of your wine glass with ice. Then in the order listed above add all of your ingredients. Be sure to squeeze the juice of the oranges into the glass before adding the segments. Next, add your garnish. Give it a nice stir and enjoy!
White Wine Sangria
You will need:
1/2c Stella Rosa Moscato D’Asti
1/4c Apple Juice
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
3 Strawberries Sliced Veritcally
1 Whole Strawberry for Garnish
Directions:
Fill up half of your wine glass with ice. Next, add your sliced strawberries. Then in the the order listed above add the rest of your ingredients. Give it a nice stir and refrigerate for 15 minutes to allow the juice from the strawberries to seep in the Sangria. After 15 minutes, give it a nice stir, garnish and enjoy.
I hope you enjoy these wine cocktail recipes! Spring is right around the corner and these cocktails will be a refreshing treat to enjoy on these upcoming beautiful days.
Today’s wine of choice is a dessert wine. And I thought I would do something extra special by incorporating a local favorite into the Series. All the way from Fort Worth, Tx I am sharing with you Cowtown Winery’s: Texas Gold.
Wine: Texas Gold, Cherry Chocolate
Tasting Notes: This is a dessert wine with notes of black cherry, mocha, espresso and chocolate. The notes of chocolate and cherry were added to the wine. This wine reminds me of a port so I used wine tasting glasses as my glassware of choice. The wine has a dark chocolate play on a cherry cordial due to the notes of espresso and mocha. Coffee and Chocolate lovers will absolutely love this wine. The wine is extremely sweet, so those of you who enjoy sweet wines and/or sweet desserts will fall in love with this treasure.
I hope this series has been giving you some great ideas on wines to try. Let me know which ones are your favorite thus far by commenting below or on Instagram.
XOXO, Smiling Danny
In case you are wondering: What are Tasting Glasses? Tasting glasses are little wine glasses big enough only for one ounce pours. You will usually find them at wineries. Sometimes, wineries will use these instead of full sized glasses when going through a tasting menu.
Next in the Series is a Sweet Red Italian wine. This wine was recommended to me by the Wine Manager at Market Street Supermarkets.
Tasting Notes:
Wine: Roscato Rosso Dolce
Bouquet: Grape Popsicle, Cranberry Juice, and Cherry Cordial
Taste: Fizzy Port, Cough Syrup, Very Sweet
Pairing: This wine paired nicely with cheese. The cheeses of choice were Parmesan and Babybel. I served the cheese with toasted crackers and noticed that the wine made the cheeses the star of the show. I preferred the wine with the cheese versus by itself.
Vintor’s Notes:
Taste: Notes of cherry, blackberry and red raspberry
Pairing: Barbecue, spicy dishes, and pasta with red or cream sauce
I hope you are enjoying this series thus far. Leave a comment on here or Instagram letting me know which wine you have enjoyed the most.
I am back with another Sweet Wine. This wine is indeed a SWEEeeet one but I have truly enjoyed it. The wine that I have for you this week is a Moscato D’Asti. Anytime you see D’Asti, know that the wine will be an Italian wine with a hint of effervescence. Asti is a province in Northwest Italy. Due to the wine being sweet and low in alcohol, it is considered to be a dessert wine.
Taste: Apricot, Honey, Effervescence. The sweetness of the wine is not overbearing.
Clarity: Clear, No legs
Pairing: Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries: The chocolate on the strawberries hi-lited the effervescence in the wine. The bitterness of the dark chocolate and the sweet wine blended together so eloquently causing a nice melted chocolate effect on the palate.
Vintor’s Pairing Suggestions: Fresh Fruit, Spicy dishes and Desserts
I hope you enjoy this wine and wine pairing as much as I did. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Until Next Week, XOXO, Smiling Danny
Are you ready for Valentines Day? This month I thought that I would do a Sweet Wine Series. So each week this month I will be trying out sweet wines and leaving tasting notes right here on the blog. Consider this my labor of love as many of you know I am not a fan of sweet wine.
This week I tried the Sparkling Rose’ by Cupcake Vineyards. Unfortunately, I assumed that this would be a sweet wine especially since I found it displayed with the sweet wines; however, it is not sweet at all! This wine reminds me of a dry Prosecco. The good news about that is that this wine makes a great pairing wine for fruit and a great base for wine cocktails. The Vintor’s notes state that this wine delivers notes of raspberry, strawberry and floral. I didn’t pick up any of those notes. The Vintor also suggests pairing this wine with shrimp ceviche or fresh blooms. I tried this wine with shrimp and didn’t particularly care for it but I did enjoy it with some blueberries and grapes. I also made a nice wine cocktail with this wine. I think that you will enjoy it, especially for those of you who enjoy spending Valentine’s Day with your friends as well.
Add 3 tablespoons of Sorbet to your flute. Top off with Rose’. Salu’d.
Adding the sorbet to this wine definitely makes this a sweet treat. I hope you enjoy this wine cocktail recipe with your loved one, your friends or as a special treat for yourself.
Remember in my “Wine 101” post (October 14, 2019) that I mentioned that wines are identified by their grape varietal or by the region in which it was produced? Well, I thought that this year I would post about some different grape varietals so that you will know a little bit about the grape and its characteristics when tasting and buying wine. Of course this is not an exact all be all because weather conditions, soil, climate, and production all come into play when it comes to the final taste of the wine. These notes that I share with you will just be a foundation or springboard as you began to explore wine yourself. As you try several of the same grape varietal, you will notice the consistencies in the wine.
History
The first grape that I would like to introduce to you is Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the world’s most famous grape and it is grown in every vineyard around the world. At least every vineyard that I have visited or researched. It is also the most successful red grape in California although it has a dusty blue hue. Cabernet was introduced to the United States of America in the 19th Century by way of Bordeaux, France. This grape is a grape that maintains its characteristics. Despite the blend or where it has been produced, Cabernets will hold its character. In a recent post, I mentioned that the Cabernet that I tasted, tasted like a true Cabernet. What I meant by that was that Cabernets have distinct characteristics that are always apparent despite its vintor, location, or the weather conditions that it was exposed to while growing.
Tasting Notes
Cabernet wine has powerful notes of black currant, dark chocolate and plum. When it is aged in oak, the notes will place emphasis on the minerality of the wine. Other notes that you may pick up in a Cabernet are dried fruit, savory spice and game meat. Cabernets have perfect tannins and range from light bodied to full bodied. Cabernets typically will be dry and pair well with following:
Cheese: Cheddar, Gorgonzola
Nuts: Walnuts
Meat: Venison, Ribeye, Beef Stew
Fish: Grilled Tuna
Fruit: Black Cherries
Vegetables: Broccoli, Tomatoes
Sauces: Brown Gravy, Tomato Sauce
Herbs and Spices: Rosemary, Juniper, Lavender
Dessert: Bittersweet Chocolate, Gelato
I could go on and on but don’t want to overwhelm you with information. I hope that you find this post helpful as you explore one of my favorite wines: Cabernet Sauvignon.
Taste: I truly enjoyed this one over the Dry Riesling. For those of you who prefer sweet wines this wine is sweet but not overbearing. The wine reminds me of a delicate flower finishing off with a hint of effervescence. My palate was left with crisp notes of apple and pear.
Region: Mosel, Germany. Mosel is located in the Far Western region of Germany. This area is known to provide perfect weather conditions for Riesling grapes because the vines are exposed to the sun, the soil contains a good amount of minerals and the cool climate allows the grapes to ripen slowly. This slow ripening process allows the grapes to fully develop it’s flavor and keep it’s levels of acidity.
Pairing Suggestions: I have had this wine in the past with Clam Chowder. It was DELICIOUS! I would also pair this wine with fruit, delicate seafood dishes, mild and creamy cheeses, and maybe a slice of cheesecake.
A lot of people have asked me how to go about pairing food and wine. I usually say it’s all trial and error and ask more questions to gauge what they’re going for with the dish. Here are a few other tips that may help as you explore pairing food and wine:
Balance the weight of the food with the weight of the wine. The bolder the flavor of the dish, the bolder the wine should be to stand with the meal. The reverse also applies, the lighter the dish, the lighter the wine as to not overwhelm the flavors of the dish.
Take into account how your meal has been prepared. Steaming a fish will have a delicate flavor versus a meat that has been grilled. Here you will want to serve a light bodied wine because the steamed fish is a delicate dish. A bold wine with tannins is great for a dish that has been grilled or broiled.
Dishes packed with citrus, vinegar or other acids will pair well with a wine that is equally as acidic. Normally, a white wine or a red wine that does not have a lot of tannins is recommended for citrus dishes because tannins clash with acidic food.
Acidic wines pair well with fatty dishes causing the dish to appear less rich. The acidic wine will also heighten the flavor of the meal.
The sweeter the food, the sweeter the wine. If you pair a dessert with a dry wine, you will notice that the wine will taste tart and thin. Of course, this is not an exact all be all. There are beautiful marriages of sweet and savory that can occur, you just have to explore and be willing to continue to try until you find it. I have found a few myself. (Note: you can check out my previous post: “Leading My First Wine Pairing Class, October 27, 2019” to see some of those marriages.)
The best partner for a wine with tannins is meat. Meat perfectly smooths out the tannins in the wine. Cheese and eggs aren’t the best of friends when it comes to tannins; probably because, these two are usually considered to be delicate dishes.
Let’s Be Adventurous
Normally, white wine is suggested as a pairing for fish but the next time you are ordering dinner or grocery shopping, I challenge you to get a broiled salmon and to pair it with a Pinot Noir. Notice I said a broiled salmon, not just salmon. I haven’t tried this yet myself so let’s come back and share notes. You can share your thoughts on today’s Instagram post or here on the blog.
I hope you find this helpful as you continue to explore the World of Wines.
Smiling Danny 