Napa Cellars Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon - Cheese Friendly Wine to Share

 Recently I received some samples from Napa Cellars. It was fun to experiment with  a Merlot and  Cabernet Sauvignon now that the climate has definitively shifted from white to red wine weather.  Napa Cellars boasts an inviting space to taste the full lineup along with the Folie a Deux and Menage a Trois lines; more on that here:
But on to the wines...
'07 Napa Cellars Merlot, Napa Valley, USA($26): An opaque ruby color, with lovely aromas of raspberry and dusting of black spice, this wine had a smooth mouthfeel.  With alcohol level clocking in at 14.5%, I felt a touch of heat at the finish, but not in an unpleasant way.  Flavors of black fruit with a touch of mocha, and soft smooth tannins made this a nice drinking wine.
Next up was the
'07 Napa Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA($28): This wine also had a dark ruby color with aromas of black fruit, berry and woodsy hints.  It showed tasty flavors of black fruit, berries and spice.  The finish was short, but with nice black fruit and a smidge of cedar.  Again, smooth tannins.  Which made me immediately think "Cheese!"

Sure enough, with a mild cheddar, an aged Parmigiano Reggiano and  Pt. Reyes Blue, both wines were complementary.   Since we are entering the season of scrounging around so as not to arrive empty handed, these pretty labels, nice bottles and easy breezy cheese pairing, will come in handy.  I am getting some bottles to stash away for those occasions when I need to come up with something to bring with.  Everyone always loves wine and cheese but it's not always the easiest thing to pair well on the fly.  You can find these wines at Cost Plus World Market.  

I received these wines as samples

A Port for all Seasons - Review of Terra D'oro Zinfandel Port

 Port seems to say special occasion without having to do much.  And for these days of holiday entertaining, the phrase "any port in a storm" can easily mean busting out a reliably effortless end of the meal treat in the form of ruby port and blue cheese.  The most die hard blue cheese naysayers can often be persuaded to give it a try and the combination of the palate cleansing alcohol with perfect matching converts the haters right and left.  Or to make a festive vinaigrette, equal parts port, olive oil, sherry vinegar, a little salt and finely minced shallots and you will easily produce a zesty, ruby hued dressing that will go well with pears, winter citrus, nuts, etc.  I recently received a sample of some very yummy port from the folks at Terra d'Oro.  Tucked away in the Sierra Foothills in Amador County, the 400 acres have been worked for the last 150 years.  Today the folks there work hard producing award winning wines, but still have time to be friendly.  Click here to find out more about instructions to visit:
As for the Port, Terra d'Oro Zinfandel Port, Amador County, USA ($17.99) starts out like the rest of the zins, but is carefully monitored till it reaches the state when it is ready to be fortified with unaged grape brandy. It's processed to harness the alcohol and sweetness to produce a higher alcohol, yet still balanced fortified wine.  The color is an opaque, almost inky ruby.  The wine is smooth with subtle flavors that belie the 19% alcohol level.  The flavors were black cherry, woodsy spice, hint of chocolate, with a finish of celebration soaked sultanas  Serve with blue cheese for a yummy finish to a meal with a little cranberry sauce and some hazelnuts.  However, I wanted to push the envelope a little and adapted a recipe for Meatballs in Red wine sauce to come up with a very tasty:

Zinfandel Port Glazed Meatballs stuffed with Blue Cheese:

To make the meatballs
1 lb 95% ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp Bell's Poultry seasoning
2 tbsp milk
salt and pepper

Mix well, form into meatballs around 1 inch in diameter.  Stuff each meatball with 1/4 inch cube of blue cheese taking care to pinch meat tightly to completely enclose the cheese.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Let sit while you combine:

2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup Zinfandel Port
1 1/2 cup beef broth in a small bowl.

Then dredge meatballs in flour. Melt 2 Tbsp butter, then combine with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a non reactive skillet, dutch oven or pan (enamel or glass) over medium heat taking care to turn meatballs on all sides (about 6 minutes). You may need to work n batches.  Remove meatballs.  Brown and soften 4 Tbsp chopped shallots in the butter and oil about six minutes.  When the shallots are done, add in the broth mixture.  Then place meatballs back in pan.  Cover and simmer over med-low heat stirring occasionally till done about 40 minutes.  Whne finished you will have a yummy first course with some sliced, crusty bread or add toothpicks for a delicious hors d'oeurve.  

A Vision in Pinot - An overview of Vision Cellars

 Mac and Lil MacDonald of Vision Cellars characterize their process as "passionate". It's hard to encapsulate the rollicking good time you will have listening to them as it is to imagine the struggles, luck and serendipity that mark their progress.  But it's easy to drink their lovely Pinot Noirs, Grenache and Red wine.  Yum, my standard denotation for tastiness, does not encompass it. When Babe in Boots Jennifer invited me to a Vision Cellars tasting at her house, I threw together a Manchego, membrillo, chorizo appetizer, coordinated with Brix Chick Janesta and made sure to be there.  As expected, the folks at Vision Cellars brought the goods with some fabulous wines and some interesting stories.  Mac wanted us to evaluate the 2008's to see if we could detect any evidence of the fires that happened as that fruit started its journey to winehood.  I was in agreement with his restaurant customers in that I found all the wines deliciously complex and any effects of the smoke were special.

With my deep love of all things Pinot Noir, this tasting put me in hog heaven.  We started with a crisp Rose of Pinot with a lovely pale salmon color and bone dry savory taste.  On to a selection of Pinots from Russian River, Chileno Valley in Marin,  Las Alturas, and (my favorite) Rosella's vineyard, the last two from the Santa Lucia Highlands .  The wines had similar elegance and complexity with different expressions that came from the dirt.  As well, the invite said "appetizer" so, there was a diverse variety of bites, and the wines were up to it.  Pinot can be mercurial, so standing up to the collected treats impressed me, but according to Miss Lil, par for the course.  We finished the tasting with the '07 Red Wine, a 100% Cabernet sauvignon which ended up pairing like a long lost soul mate to the bitter chocolate squares provided.  Add in the talking up of the Greens Cook Off invite , which is a benefit of Wine Club membership and I was in.  I can't wait to receive my first shipment and attend my first Greens Cook off!