2003 Parent Bourgogne

In my house, rotisserie chicken means Pinot Noir. And tonight's choice was the 2003 Parent Bourgogne. Medium-dark color with some brownish tints. A bit of dark cherry fruit on the nose, but it's mostly dominated by licorice and freshly-turned earth. Goes through a weird phase around the 30-minute mark where a lot of wet animal fur is evident, but that blows off rather quickly. At the one hour mark a really pretty mint and herb aromas appears. Quite interesting and ever-changing. Not a lot of fruit or oak and none of the sweet vanilla characteristics that lovers of California Pinot Noir might look for. To be honest, this isn't my favorite expression of this grape, but this was a nice pairing with the chicken and a Brussel sprout hash. About $18.

On a side note - anyone out there who owns a Weber grill, charcoal or gas (I own one of each), really needs to invest in a rotisserie. They run about $90 for the spit and electric motor, but they are versatile enough to use for whole chicken, leg of lamb or even a prime rib. If you are using the rotisserie with a charcoal grill, you will want to buy the rotisserie that comes with the ring that allows for more clearance for your large piece of meat. This kit is about $150.

2006 Vina Robles Suendero

Dinner tonight was one of our staples: grilled flank steak with chimichurri. But since I was fresh out of Malbec, I punted and went with a wine we picked up on our trip to Paso Robles last spring. The 2006 Vina Robles Suendero, Paso Robles is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Petit Verdot. Lord knows why, but I've always had a fascination with wines with a high percentage of Petit Verdot - clearly the red-headed stepchild of the Bordeaux grape family. (One of my favorites that fits this mold is the von Strasser Reserve, but that's another wine for a slightly more special occasion.) Anyway, back to the Suendero. It opens up with a lot of sweet raspberry and cherry fruit in the nose and on the palate and a good dollop of vanilla oak. This is aged in an unspecified amount of French and American oak. But as it opens up in the glass, it takes on a lot more weight and flavors of earth, iron and mineral start to come to the forefront - clearly the Petit Verdot asserting itself. Despite the high concentration of Petit Verdot, the wine isn't terribly tannic. I think it's great for current consumption so long as you have something well-marbled on your plate.

2008 Cantina Terlano "Terlaner"

The 2008 Cantina Terlano Terlaner Classico, Alto Adige is a delightful blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay from Italy's northernmost wine growing region. Pale yellow with green highlights, the nose gives off a lot of floral, citrus notes with an underlying yeastiness that reminds me of Alsace. Give it some time and a touch of herb/bell pepper makes an appearance. The palate is medium-full bodied with great minerality, acidity and more of that delicious yeastiness. Just a wonderful texture! Rich and full without a trace of oak.

A great pairing with a grilled filet of fatty salmon with a spicy, teriyaki-based glaze.

2007 Dunning Meritage

Seriously, folks, what else can I say about this winery? Everything Bob Dunning touches to gold. Why aren't you on his mailing list? Over the past 18 months or so, I've had pretty much every offering from this winery. But tonight was my first taste of his Meritage. The 2007 Dunning Vineyards Meritage, Paso Robles has a fantastic color. It literally oozes with sweet, jammy plum and black cherry fruit and new saddle leather. Is there a hint of licorice in there, too? The palate is massive with huge tannins and the acidity becomes more prominent as the wine opens. Pretty assertive with the French oak. Finishes with a dusty, herbal note which I assume comes from the Cabernet Franc. Drink now or hold this blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc for 5-10 years. (As big as it is, it's considerably more approachable now than their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is.) Lustily consumed with grilled KC strips liberally seasoned with *gasp* Montreal Steak Seasoning and cold green bean/tomato/mozzarella cheese salad.

2009 Feital "Auratus"

My partner-in-crime at work, Katie, has been talking up the 2009 Feital Auratus, Minhao, Portugal since the day I came on board. And for some odd reason, I've waited this long to give it a whirl. What a mistake on my part! This blend of Alvarinho (Albarino) and Trajadura is loaded with aromas and flavors of peach and flowers and has a tremendous minerally backbone. A great pairing with seared tuna steak with a homemade salsa/avocado topping. Great value at $17 or so.

Stoughton, WI

Spent last week at the Crown Point Resort in Stoughton, WI. The beds were a bit uncomfortable, but otherwise, we had a wonderful time there. Apparently, the fishing is a bit off this year as Lake Kegonsa is having some issues with algae. But that didn't stop our crew from catching a whole mess of smallmouth bass, a couple of northern pike, a largemouth bass, a bluegill and even a drum.

We drank an obscene amount of wine, but I'm not going to bother commenting on any of it as it was, by design, mostly of the pedestrian variety. Mostly $10-15 Malbec, Torrontes and red blends that can already be found in the notes of this site. Grilled brats, burgers, fish tacos, catered BBQ, etc. just isn't the time to break out the really good stuff.

But I did want to mention a couple of local beers that I tasted that really stood out from the competition. The Mad Hatter IPA was quite nice with intense citrus and pine aromas and flavors. But as nice that was, the Ale Asylum Satisfaction Jackson IPA was a truly profound experience. Intensely hoppy on the attack, but finishes with a glorious malty sweetness that I admire in a great IPA. Sadly, not available in Kansas.

We also spent an afternoon at the New Glarus Brewery in nearby New Glarus, WI. This was a favorite brewery of mine when I lived in Milwaukee a few years back and I was glad to finally be able to see where the beer comes from. The facility is a stunning sight. It's huge, brand new and no expense has been spared. The outside is visually impressive with lots of stonework and the manufacturing floor is a bewildering maze of what seems like thousands of miles of gleaming stainless steel tubing. I haven't seen a more impressive sight in any California winery. My favorites there were the Stone Soup (a sophisticated Belgian style ale with cherry, bitter almond and aromatic spices), Spotted Cow (a slightly sweet, fruity farmhouse ale) and the hoppy/malty Moon Man "No Coast Pale Ale." If you're ever in Central Wisconsin, this is a must-see operation.

Brief notes from a weekend of wine

A couple of friends came by last weekend and we opened a number of nice and not-so-nice bottles. I didn't take any specific notes on the wines, but here are a few brief impressions of a couple of them:

1999 Pride Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley - I've been lucky to have had a couple of 96-97-98 of this wine but I always had them in their youth. This was the first time I'd had one of these with any age on it. What an odd bottle this was. No fruit. No chocolaty, over-the-top oak that I usually associate with this winery. Just some weird sun-dried tomato flavors and acidity that was really out of balance. Tried it again on day two and the additional time on air didn't help.

2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Grenache, Mendocino - Probably my favorite wine of the weekend. All of the raspberry fruit, herb and spice of a good Cotes-du-Rhone but with that extra kick of California fruit. This wine never fails to impress. Sadly, I'm down to my last two bottles.

2007 Flock Old Vine Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley - Call me crazy, but I really enjoyed this inexpensive, value-priced Zinfandel from Sebastiani. Lots of blackberry and black pepper; just how I like my Zinfandel.

2007 Dunning Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles - Oh, mercy, the tannins! What a brute! Really hard to even evaluate this wine's potential as the tannins and acidity are completely overpowering the fruit at this point. Two more in the cellar and I won't be opening either one any time soon. Check back with me in about 10 years.

2006 Trenza Tinto, San Luis Obispo - Another perennial favorite around here. Waves of black olive, new leather, dark fruits. Good structure, but certainly ready to drink now. A rare Tempranillo-based blend from California's Central Coast.

2006 Ambullneo Howling Syrah, Santa Maria Valley - Sadly, corked. I'm pretty sensitive to TCA and I was the only one who found the wine approaching undrinkability. Everyone else felt it was an "off" bottle, but managed to drink it anyway. The wintergreen and white pepper harkens back to a bottle of this I enjoyed a few months ago. But the TCA taint was just too much for me to be able to enjoy this particular bottle.