Wine Tasting at Parker Wine Cellars!

You know, I'm going to have to start learning some of the handy words and phrases used by oenophiles to describe wine, because I fear I'm repeating myself, and I hate doing that. Furthermore, unless it's REALLY bad wine, I'm not going to sample and spit it out as I've seen others do. I mean, what a total waste of WINE! It's somehow sacriligious, at least in my most humble (and slightly tipsy on occasion) opinion. Oh well, I may spit if I'm sampling more than three wines -- yeah, right! I swallow.

Tonight's wine tasting at Parker Wine Cellars was quite intriguing and we liked two of the three wines well enough to purchase a bottle of each. The origin of the wines really fascinated me, and I'm going to be lazy and quote from Jeff's email invitation: "Venturing out into California Wine Country dressed as a pirate has its advantages, people eye you cautiously and the wines you find are ripe for pillaging. Treasure Hunter Wine is put through a painstaking examination process from a panel of nine called the 'De-Vine Nine.' Made up of top sommeliers, winemakers, and restaurateurs the panel is the top of their respective fields and they pour through hundreds of wines before they allow the Treasure Hunter name to be branded in blood on the bottle. 'The truth is wineries have excess supply so we ramp up our pirate gear and go through our review process – if it passes the De-Vine Nine process we buy it,' shares Andrew Lerner, Owner and Partner of 3 Finger Wines, the Corporate namesake of Treasure Hunter. 'Rather then bottle too much wine or try to lower their well-deserved price we “liberate” the wine and bring it under our Treasure Hunter label. You get great wine; the winery doesn’t lose their reputation or lower their prices.' Hunter Vogel, also an Owner and Partner of 3 Finger Wines goes on to say, 'It is a win-win situation. Who wins? The wineries win because they don’t to make more wine then they can sell, Treasure Hunter wins because we get world class wines for a bargain, and the customer wins because they get to enjoy wines at a price that is 1/3 to 1/5 of the normal price.' Remember, each wine is a one-time offering and represents an extraordinary opportunity. They hunt down the treasures and you drink the booty!"

The Dry Creek Chardonnay '08 was absolutely delicious and a bargain at $17.99. It had a wonderful bouquet and a lightness that was surprising for a chardonnay. Jeff says: "Opulent and toasty, the palate is full of white peach, honey and toasted almonds, and the finish lingers for what seems like minutes." Works for me. This is an OUTSTANDING wine, and you know I'm not a huge white wine drinker. My mind is already calculating what I'm going to cook to accompany the wine. I might make a Greek island recipe for shrimp that has red pepper flakes and feta cheese in it, if I can find the recipe.

The Castaway '07 was a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and syrah, and I wasn't that impressed. I've noticed that if there's too much of a blend, a defined flavor can be lost, and that's what I thought about this wine. It was just . . . red wine. It wasn't bad but I couldn't discern any particular flavors. Maybe my palate isn't that well developed, but HEY -- this is my blog and I write about what I like, so in this case that's what matters. And I didn't particularly like The Castaway, so I'll move on to Wine #3, which was a winner.

Cabernet Sauvignon St. Helena Napa '08: This, like the chardonnay, really stood out to me. The flavors were perfect -- not too subtle but not overpowering, just a wonderful harmony of cherry and cassis flavors offset by a delicate hint of oak. It was over budget at $23.99 (my budget, anyway) but well worth it. Definitely a steak with this one (possibly herb crusted tenderloin, once I get off this budget crunch).

And I was good -- I went home and made dinner. As I drove home, I thought hopefully of leftover quiche. Nope. Jennie ate it for lunch. The vichyssoise was past its prime. Jackson ate the leftover fried rice for lunch yesterday and I was a little hesitant about the remnants of 3-day-old fried rice. So I offered nachos and was rewarded with "yes" by everyone.

Nachos are very family specific and what we like someone else may not. This works for us: the requisite tortilla chips spread with refried beans (I like Rosarita's Vegetarian Refried Beans because there's no animal fat in them, so they actually have some nutritional value), topped with Albertson's Mexican Cheese Blend (the one WITHOUT the jalapenos), and chunks of grilled fajita chicken from the freezer. Pop into a 400 degree oven until the cheese melts, and you're ready to eat. I made guacamole too, which provided another sort of vegetable to assuage my motherly conscience.

Here's another tip: When you buy a package of boneless skinless chicken breasts, it pays to clean and freeze them individually, but it's also handy to take a few of them and grill with fajita seasoning and THEN freeze them. That way you have already cooked chicken for any recipe that calls for it, like for nachos, or quick enchiladas, or grilled chicken sandwich -- the possibilities are endless.