A White Zinfandel & A Sparkling Anniversary

For the past two nights, my hubby and I have eaten off ourbeautiful new ivory Waechtersbach dishware that we received as wedding gifts. The night before last, my mom and "little" brother (who is half a foot taller than I am) came over and I made Arroz con Pollo (A spanish dish--"Rice with Chicken") for dinner. My dad missed out since he was gone on business, but we had a good time regardless.

We ate the chicken and rice, baked beans, green beans, salad, and dinner rolls. I opened a 2007 Clear Bottle Bay White Zinfandel to go with our meal, although my mom and I were the only ones that drank any of it--my husband and brother opted for Coke instead.

2007 Clear Bottle Bay White Zinfandel, $7

I found this White Zinfandel to be just okay for my taste...It wasn't bad persay, but it's not something I'll buy again. As far as White Zinfandel goes, this fit the varietal to a T. It tasted very similar to the Sutter Home version I had over our honeymoon. That bottle seemed to improve after a couple of days of being open, but I'll have to rely on my mom's assessment on this one, because I sent the rest of the bottle home with her.

The Clear Bottle Bay White Zin was acidic first and foremost, and as sweet as it was, it somehow just didn't balance well on the palate. The strawberry flavors were nice, but the fruit tended to be overpowered by the acid as well. Overall, it was a light, zippy (though I'm not sure in a good way) wine that would probably taste better on a hot summer day.

My Grade: +/-

Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto 2008, $25

Last night was mine and my new hubby's one month "anniversary", so I made a nicer-than-usual dinner to celebrate. We ate off our new dishes again (which, by the way, make everything look more elegant!), and opened a celebratory bottle of Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto, which is a (slightly more expensive) sparkling wine from Italy.

My ever-so-helpful husband had to uncork the bottle, because I tend to have a deep-seated fear of things that go "POP" at unexpected moments, i.e., biscuit cans...I'm sure I'll have to get over it someday, but at this point in time, there usually seems to be someone around to enable me =]

Anyway, I poured a glass of the Banfi for myself, then offered a sip to my husband, who as most of you probably know by now isn't a wine drinker. At all. Surprisingly (after some coaxing to actually try it), he didn't make a horrible face, and although he said he'd still stick to his Bud Light, this was the best wine he'd tasted so far. I'll count that as a success any day, even though he went right back to his beer and didn't touch the wine again. Oh well...you can't make anyone love something just because you do, no matter how hard you try!

This sparkling cranberry-hued wine is brimming with fruit, both on the nose and the palate. It's sweet, but not too much so, as it has enough acid to balance it out. Rasberries and strawberries dominate on the tongue, with a touch of rose petals at the back if you take the time to really taste it. You wouldn't think rose petals could possibly taste good, but somehow they do, at least in this wine!

I think while drinking this wine, it would be impossible not to share in some of the joy it imparts. It's bright red, it's fruity, and it's sparkling with carbonation. How can you get more happy than that?!

My Grade: +++

A Weekend With Two German Rieslings...and a Wedding Cake

This weekend proved to be a pretty eventful one. Not only did I pick up my wedding dress (which fits, thank goodness!), but the bakery also delivered our wedding cake and groom's cake. The wedding isn't until next weekend, but due to a stroke of bad luck, the entire staff at the cake company is going to be gone on a cruise this whole next week...so they had to come set up our cake this weekend, and we'll keep it in the deep freeze until the big day. Anyway, the girl assigned to our delivery got all five tiers stacked and ready to go, then she and my dad set about lowering it into the deep freeze using a couple of tie-down straps. My mom and I looked on anxiously, since all we could do was pray that the whole cake wouldn't come crashing to the ground on what seemed like the longest three foot journey in the history of mankind. I guess our prayers worked, because even though the cake was just a moment away from disaster the entire way down, it miraculously made it to the bottom of the freezer in one piece. Although the poor girl seemed calm during the whole process, as soon as the cake was safely in the freezer, she collapsed against the wall in relief. I think ours was without a doubt her most stressful delivery ever, but she handled it extremely well, and hopefully she isn't scarred for life from the whole experience!

Later that afternoon, my mom brought over some of the wine she had picked out from World Market, and we had a "tasting party," just the two of us. The night before, I had opened one of my bottles, a 2007 German Riesling called "bloom".

2007 bloom Riesling (Germany)
After swirling it, I took a lengthy sniff. It had a very acidic aroma, and smelled like a combination of green apple, white grape, flowers, and weeds. In accordance with Kevin Zraly's suggestions in his "Windows on the World Wine Journal," I took a sip, then waited 30 seconds before taking another in order to be able to properly take in its flavors after the initial "shock to the taste buds". Next, I began Mr. Zraly's 60-second tasting process. The first 15 seconds were overwrought with acidity, and provided no sweetness or fruit flavors. The next 15 were much the same, with a small decrease in the level of acidity and a small hint of green apple and white grape flavors. In the next 30 seconds, all of the flavors faded, and the sweetness I was searching for never emerged. Overall, this wine was fairly unoffensive, but unremarkable all the same. It seemed to need some more time to achieve a better balance between the acidity and fruit flavors, as the acidity was rather overpowering all the way through. I might pair it with an equally unremarkable dish, such as chicken or a mild seafood.

MY GRADE: +/-

2007 Moselland Ars Vitis Riesling (Germany)
Saturday afternoon, my mom brought over another 2007 German Riesling, Moselland Ars Vitis. This was the first wine I had ever opened with a corkscrew (the bloom Riesling was also a screw-cap variety), which turned out to be an adventure in and of itself! I used a corkscrew from my Oneida wine set, and removed the cork without any problem. I was feeling pretty proud of myself until I realized that I couldn't get the cork off the corkscrew...I tried twisting it off to no avail, and finally abandoned the task in favor of sampling the wine.

This variety turned out to be infinintely more appealing than the bloom Riesling. Its aroma was much more mild, and consisted primarily of white grape and a hint of green apple. After the initial sip, the first 15 seconds of tasting proved to be very pleasant; this wine was only mildly acidic, and the fruitiness (white grape)appeared much sooner. By the end of the 30-45 second time frame, the flavors achieved a pleasant balance: the acidity all but disappeared, and though there was still little residual sweetness, the fruit flavors showed themselves very well.

The bottom line? The Moselland Ars Vitis Riesling was much more appealing and ready to drink than the bloom Riesling, achieving a very pleasant balance between sweetness and acidity and a harmony of flavors, both of which the bloom very much lacked. The Moselland could withstand a more flavorful chicken or seafood dish than the bloom, and would undoubtedly appeal to a much wider variety of palettes.

MY GRADE: + or ++

Next, I'm planning on trying an Australian Riesling by Yellow Tail, which is chilling in my fridge as we speak. We'll see how the Aussie stacks up against the German varieties!

In the meantime, if you're looking for a great wine reference book, I highly recommend Kevin Zraly's "Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 25th Anniversary Edition", along with his wine journal of the same name. They're great reads if you want to learn more about wine, and Mr. Zraly is simultaneously thorough and accessible in his approach to wine.


Oh, and about that stubborn cork...After drinking a glass of the Moselland Riesling, I easily unscrewed it from the corkscrew. Apparently, that's the trick to successfully removing the cork after opening your bottle of wine...You just have to drink some of it first! =)