A Nice Wine Dinner at the Strip House

Last Thursday night, I attended the Nice Winery dinner at the Strip House. While I have eaten dinner there a few times, this was the first wine event of theirs that I had enjoyed. Ryan Levy & Ian Eastveld, the winemakers and owners of the Nice Winery, were at the event to present each wine with each course and answer questions about the selections. They have an interesting history as they are both Le Cordon Bleu trained Chefs, Certified Sommeliers and, since their initial harvest in Napa Valley in 2007, winemakers. This boutique winery is located in Houston and the wines are handcrafted from grapes sourced from premium vineyard locations.

The 1st course was a vine ripened tomato salad with red onions, basil and balsamic reduction paired with the 2010 NICE Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is sourced from a single vineyard in the Lujan de Cuyo area of Mendoza, Argentina. I really enjoyed the balance of this wine and it was excellent with the salad. It was crisp with a citrus blossom nose and tropical fruit flavors; if I were to compare it with other Sauvignon Blanc styles, I would say that it did not have the searing acidity or bell pepper notes so typical in New Zealand nor the too flat, non-refreshing style often seen in California. It retails for about $22.

The 2nd course was the Strip House roasted bacon with wild arugula and heirloom tomatoes served with the 2009 Malbec Reserve. This course was phenomenal. I will never think of bacon quite the same way again, it was thick cut with a sweet and spicy barbeque flavor. The wine was sourced from old Malbec vines also from the Lujan de Cuyo area of Mendoza. Again, nicely balanced with a black cherry/blueberry character and some vanilla and licorice notes, retail price of approximately $35.

The 3rd course was sliced New York strip with black truffle creamed spinach and goose fat potatoes served with the highly rated 2007 NICE Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon. Again, absolutely delicious. This wine was the first wine produced by NICE with the artisanal talents of acclaimed winemaker, Steve Reynolds and it is everything that you would expect it to be, including its premium price of $110 retail.

The final course was creme brulee with the 2007 Demi-Sec Sparkling made from Muscat de Alexandria which was also sourced from Lujan de Cuyo. I know I enjoyed it but I did not note any specifics as I was quite caught up in conversation with another dinner companion at that time.

The food was fantastic, the dinner group was quite lively and the wines...they were beyond NICE. I have recommended the Strip House for dinner in the past and now I would definitely recommend their wine events as well.

NICE Wines are being poured in many of Houston's top restaurants and have won several awards. Ryan and Ian are currently in the process of negotiating with a new source in an acclaimed area of Tuscany, so we can expect to see some premium Sangiovese-based wine from them in the future, which is certainly something to look forward to.

Winemaker, Andrés Sánchez of Alcance

I was invited to a media and trade tasting lunch at Backstreet Cafe with Andrés Sánchez, the winemaker for Alcance, a Jackson Family winery. As guests arrived, we were greeted with a glass of lightly chilled Alcance Chardonnay 2016, a perfect start for a hot summer day in Houston. This rich and elegant Chardonnay is grown on granitic soils in a coastal mountain vineyard in the Valle de Itata. Despite my multiple wine classes, this was a growing area with which I was not familiar. This vineyard is located between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean about 12 miles from the coast which as Sánchez pointed out adds a nice sea influence to the wine. The Chardonnay was pleasantly fresh with light citrus notes and a touch of butterscotch with a distinct saline mineralty throughout the slightly creamy finish. A mixed appetizer platter with Gulf Coast Beignets, duck spring rolss, asparagus and zuchini flatbread, and lump crab cakes on red pepper beurre blanc were br...

Darioush Wine Tasting at Pappas Grill

I went to a Darioush wine tasting last Friday. What a delight! I found every bottle we tasted to be exceptional. Darioush is well-known for their Bordeaux styled wines so I was already familiar with both the Darioush "Signature" and the Estate Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. They are both highly rated and consistently good. The Caravan is the lower priced of the two and is something that I keep in stock at home. The wines in the line up for the evening were all from Napa Valley and included: 2008 Signature Viognier, 2005 Signature Chardonnay, 2005 Signature Merlot, 2007 Signature Shiraz, 2007 Estate Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon, and both the 2006 & 2007 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2007 was opened by mistake which was a bonus to all who were present. The Viognier varietal has been hit and miss for me at tastings in the past but this offering was an absolute stand out. It was very fragrant with floral notes of jasmine and or...

"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...

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