1998 Gaja Barbaresco

     While I generally think of Nebbiolo wines as something to drink in the winter, I decided to break my "rule" the other night and opened a bottle of 1998 Gaja Barbaresco on a hot, Houston summer evening. My husband's birthday is at the end of the month and we tend to celebrate for a good portion of July. He wanted a dry-aged rib-eye steak that we had seen at Whole Foods for dinner. This is why I try to keep him out of the grocery store, as this is not what I would typically pick on a hot Thursday night, but it is not my month we are celebrating.
     The label looked a little aged and the cork broke in half when I was opening it, I was hoping that I had not held this one too long. I decided to decant it although that proved unnecessary as most of the sediment was all stuck to the side of the bottle that it had laid on.
     In the glass, it was an opaque brick red with an orange rim. It had a medium+ intense bouquet of violets, leather, ripe red cherries and fennel. It was well-structured with a full body, high acidity, a comfortable 14% abv and thoroughly integrated smooth tannins. Complex flavors evolved through dinner- cherry and raspberry, smoke, tar, earthy truffles and a long, lightly spicy licorice finish.
     Absolutely fantastic- an outstanding, perfectly aged wine!

The rib-eyes were just rubbed in butter and sprinkled with coarse-ground salt and pepper and were served with grilled vegetables marinated in EVOO infused with fresh rosemary and scalloped potatoes with Fontina and Parmesan cheese with white truffle oil. A ridiculous amount of beef but we somehow managed to finish them :)

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An Immersive Introduction into the World of Asolo Prosecco

Dinner Views at Osteria Alla Baracca. I was very excited to visit the Asolo DOCG Prosecco region at the end of May on a press trip as it is an Italian area that I have not previously traveled through. Asolo is located in the Province of Treviso at the foot of Monte Grappa in the high hills to the west of the Piave River with views of the Dolomites. The grapes are grown in 17 communes surrounding the town of Asolo. The days were very warm while I was there but I needed a sweater or light jacket on most evenings due to the diurnal swing that makes it a great area for grape growing. Wines from the Master Class Tasting. Asolo was elevated to the DOCG level in 2009. The majority of the Prosecco that I have found in Houston is Prosecco DOC which is mostly from very large producers. Asolo was separated from this category and the region was given this higher status because there are terroir elements that make it distinctive in the world of Prosecco. The Sant'Anna Vineyard. Many of the vin

Lust Zinfandel 2007

My husband loves this wine so he purchased quite a few bottles at a recent Michael~David dinner that we had attended. Last night, I decided to open a bottle to serve with dinner. I was making a roasted southwestern pork tenderloin, sweet potato fries (w/ chipolte ketchup) and a salad consisting of baby lettuce (fresh from my garden) with strawberries, red bell peppers, red onions and walnuts tossed with a white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette. This turned out to be a great pairing. It is a bold wine that really stood up to the strong chipolte seasoning while complementing the fruit flavors. I opened the bottle a 1/2 hour before I served it as I have found this wine to be more enjoyable when I do so. The Lust Zinfandel by Michael~David 2007 was a dark purple color with a ruby rim. It has intense aromas of very ripe mixed berries and baking spices-both allspice and ginger with hints of cedar. It has flavors of creme de cassis, milk chocolate and also more of the baking

"The Zen of Zin" Tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks

On Friday evening, my husband and I attended the Zinfandel wine tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks. My husband gets totally pumped up for any and all things Zinfandel but what I found really intriguing in the line up of wines were the aged offerings. Brent Sloan, managing partner at Houston's premier wine storage facility Nos Caves Vin, had provided Fleming's with four 18 year old bottlings and one 17 year old bottling from his collection of some of his favorites. I found this interesting because 1. I don't believe that I have ever had an 18 year old Zinfandel before this evening and 2. From various wine classes, I had always heard that at best Zinfandel had very limited aging ability. So, I was definitely excited to give these wines a taste. There were also an additional five younger Zinfandel wines that are some of Fleming's best sellers. The entire tasting line up for the evening included: 2009 Orin Swift Saldo - California 2007 Schulz "Lampyridae Vin

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