Alcohol Alert!

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Sonadora

Last night’s wine was a 2003 Reserve Wilson Estate Zinfandel Reserve. We picked this up at Wilson for about $22 and it had a real cork closure. However, it must be the week of high alcohol contents. I know over at Barreled, Barrld tasted a Viognier the other night that came in at 16.1%(that’s huge for a white!) and the wine Matt and I had last night came in at 16%.

Now overall, I have nothing against high alcohol wines, my main concern is that the alcohol be kept balanced by the flavors and the structure of the wine. I must say I was slightly worried last night, as I poured some of the wine into the currant red wine sauce for our steak and I thought Matt might pass out from the fumes alone.

However, since it was sitting out for a while before we ate, the alcohol seemed to have almost dissipated by the time we were ready. I served it with a bacon wrapped pan seared filet mignon with currant red wine sauce over 4 cheese risotto and a side of green beans. It was actually a very good match with the dinner, though in general I think this wine needs to age for a few more years. The end was tannic, but I really think it will get better.

On the nose there was cedar and a few spices. In the mouth, blackberies, vanilla, more spices and currants as it aired out a little more. As I said, the end was tannic, but not that bad and it definitely faired better as the night progressed. The alcohol didn’t bother me because the structure was good and the flavors were enough to make it good for me. However, I will say that I had trouble getting through my 2 glasses of wine. It made me a little tipsy. I would say that’s the worst part of the high alcohol wines.
Really good with dinner

Filed under: Red, Wilson Winery, Zinfandel | 2 Comments »

Second Night of the Mauritson

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Sonadora

We drank the rest of the bottle of Mauritson Sauvignon Blanc last night. Now, I had no other option for preserving it on hand except my vacuum pump. So I went ahead and gave it a shot (it was the first time I had used, DH had always done it before) without much hope for how it would taste last night.

However, I think perhaps I used it correctly…..? I took Dr. Deb of Good Wine Under $20‘s advice and I let the bottle warm up on the counter a while before serving it. It wasn’t perfect, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere near as degraded as past bottles that we had saved. I still got the citrus and the grass in the mouth, but I also got a little bit of pear. Overall tasty, but I’m glad we didn’t have to try to keep it for a 3rd night!

I served it with fried chicken, biscuits and broccoli. Matt cooked us dinner, which was a nice break for me! I attempted to help with the gravy by offering the suggestion that perhaps cornstarch is a better thickening agent than flour, but alas, the gravy was still quite a failure. The wine was fairly tasty with the fried food though, so at least the pairing was good!

I think I will shortly be looking into the alternative ways of preserving that everyone suggested last night. Thanks to all!

Filed under: Good Wine Under $20, Mauritson, Sauvignon Blanc, White | 2 Comments »