Chateau de Pena Cuvée de Pena 2009

This stylish red wine is from the Rousillon district in the eastern French Pyrenees, near the city of Perpignan.  Cuvee de Peña’s designation is VDP des Pyrenees Orientales rather than Cotes de Rousillon.  Co-op wine.

The dusty red fruit and garrigue nose leads to a medium-bodied palate, with cherries, tobacco and soft tannins.  Balanced, decent finish,  At $7.99 retail, this is a great value.

Imported by Hand Picked Selections, Warrenton VA.

Cellars Baronia del Montsant: Great Value from Spain

Located in northeast Spain, the Montsant DO was carved out of the Tarragona appellation only in 2001.  It surrounds the more famous Priorat, sharing Priorat’s climate but with a different soil type.  Both appellations permit a wide variety of grapes.  I’m not aware of any requirements regarding how they’re blended.  If you know of them, please leave a comment.

Cellars Baronia’s Flor d’Englora Roure 2009 is a grenache-dominated blend from Montsant.  Whether it’s the soil, the climate, or the winemaking approach, what we think of as “French varietals” – grenache, carignan, basically everything but ull de llebre – produce a much different glass of wine here than in Languedoc or the Rhone.  For those who wish to know such things, here is the varietal composition of Flor d’Englora Roure.  Grenache 63%, carignan 32%, Merlot 2%, syrah 2%, ull de llebre 3%  (local name for tempranillo)

Nose earthy, compelling black fruit, herbs.

Palate.  Medium to full body, blackberries framed by racy acidity.  Good finish.  This is terrific of its type and worth an effort to find.  Compared to some of the pricy wines coming from Priorat, it’s a great value.  Strongly recommended.

Imported by Vintage Imports Inc Bristol PA.  Approximately $12.99 retail.

Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz – Great Values

On an unseasonably cool summer evening, I had a chance to sample a couple of great red wines from South Africa.  Excelsior are the first South African wines I’ve had in a few years, and I was quite impressed.  The Cabernet especially has a stylish flavor profile I haven’t encountered in many wines at this price.

From South Africa ,wine of origin Robertson

Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon:

Nose:  spicy, herbs, stone fruits, very European

Palate balanced, red fruit, full bodied, centered.

Distinctive nose and flavors set this apart from anything else in this price range.  Retail: $8.99

Excelsior Shiraz

Bouquet:  blackberry, chocolate, tobacco.

Palate: bright fruit flavors, spice nuances, good balance and focus.  Nice fruit finish.

Note that this isn’t the cloying style of many CA red wines at this price.  Standout in this price range.  RETAIL:  $8.99

Both imported by Cape Classics, NY, NY

Italian White Wines: Pinot Grigio and a Blend for the Summer

These two wines couldn’t be more different.

From Feudo di Santa Tresa, Pura Sicilia Purato 2010 is a Sicilian white wine blended from the autochthonous Catarratto (60%) and Pinot Grigio (40%).  Striving to be a green winery, the label states that the bottle is from 85% recycled glass and the cardboard carton and wine label are 100% recycled content with vegetable ink.  Additionally, they “use only ‘natural’ methods of pest control and fertilization.”  The web site states that they’ve applied to be certified as fully organic.

The fresh, floral, springlike bouquet is followed by a light-to-medium bodied palate with bright flavors leaning slightly to the acidic side.  Good summer wine.

Retails between $8.75 – $10.95.  Imported by Vias Imports, NY, NY.

From Venezia comes Tiziano Pinot Grigio.  The bouquet is innocuous and neutral.  The much better palate is dominated by lemon/citrus flavors with an allspice or nutmeg component.  There’s a bit of residual sugar, which I find disappointing.  Medium body, decent, nice but undistinguished.

Of the two, I’d return for the Purato.

$8.99 retail.  Imported by Total Beverage Solutions, Mount Pleasant, SC.

Pasta with Chard and Sausage – SImple and Quick for the Summer

For the abundance of Swiss chard in our garden right now, I recreated a dish I’ve consumed more than once at Nicola’s in Lake Placid, NY.  There are multiple variations on this:  one can substitute other greens for chard; use leftover chicken instead of sausage.  If you’re growing other herbs instead of/in addition to basil and chives you can certainly incorporate them.  Use this as a starting point.  Serves four with some leftovers.

• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1 tbs fresh chives
• 4 cups Swiss chard
• 1 lb turkey sausage (sweet or hot, your choice)
• vegetable broth or chicken broth
• 1 lb pasta
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Chop onions and sauté in olive oil; chop red pepper and add to pot.  Remove sausage from casing and chop; add to pot.  Break up sausage pieces with a spoon.

Boil water for pasta.

Add salt and fresh ground bl pepper.  Add basil, chives and garlic.

When water boils, add pasta and cook al dente.  Two minutes before it’s done, add chard to the sausage mixture.  If necessary, add enough broth to cook chard

Drain pasta.  Serve with sauce; garnish with Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

Prurient Wine: Four Vines Naked Chardonnay 2009

Lately, a prurient word has gotten a lot of play from marketing hacks all over the wine universe.

I’m talking about naked, which seems to be the magical new marketing buzzword that somehow titillates consumers and persuades them to buy wine.  In the wine biz, “naked” denotes wines fermented and aged in stainless steel rather than oak.  It’s as if they think they’re getting away with something by using naked to describe a wine unclothed by oak, instead of an unclothed body.

It’s like a bunch of six-year-olds standing in a circle, saying potty words while their parents are out of earshot.

There are dozens of wineries that use this marketing ploy; my rant is directed at the marketing practice in general and not specifically Four Vines.  Let’s get it out of our system; chant along with me!  Naked, naked, NAKED, NAKED!!

All better?  Now we can look at Four Vines Chardonnay, which is actually good of its type.

This is classic old school California chardonnay, sans oak.  The tropical bouquet is attractive and a bit monolithic.  Plump mouthfeel with decent acidity and balance.  Good typicity and a good value for the money.  Definitely worth seeking out at $11.99 retail.

Full disclosure:  at one time, I was the purchasing agent for this brand at a NY/NJ distributor.

Pesto, the Joy of Summer

Basil is one of the staples of our garden.  Each spring, I plant as much as my wife will let me get away with.

To me, pesto embodies the aromas of summer and the simple pleasures of eating.  This classic dish from Italy’s Ligurian coast tastes so good, and is sooo easy to prepare.  We never tire of it.

Not only is it a wonderful first course, a bowl of pesto and pasta can be augmented with innumerable combinations of vegetables and meat to make a one-dish meal.

The most difficult thing about preparing pesto is tearing the leaves from the stem of the basil plant.  This recipe suffices for six servings, about 1 – 1.5 lb of pasta.

• 2 packed cups of basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2-3 tbs toasted pine nuts
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup olive oil, more or less to taste
• 1 lb pasta
• 1 tbs water from the pot in which the pasta cooks

Remove the basil leaves from the plant and wash them.  Toast the pine nuts.  Peel and crush the garlic.

Place the basil in a food processor.  Add salt, pine nuts and garlic.  Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and run the food processor.  Add the remaining olive oil, a little at a time, running the food processor, until you achieve the consistency you desire.

Transfer the basil mixture from the food processor to a bowl.  Beat the cheese in and add a tablespoon of water from the pasta pot.  Add additional olive oil if you like.

While there’s no substitute for pesto straight from the garden, it keeps very well in the freezer.  And when you come home from work at 7 PM on a weeknight, it makes a quick meal.  Prepare the basil, olive oil, salt, garlic and pine nuts in the food processor as above.  Put it in the freezer.  When you’re ready to eat, defrost it and add cheese.  Buon apetito!