Wine Life - Houston

I am sitting at my computer and I am unsure what to gush about first. Last night, Christophe Bristiel the export manager of Chateau La Nerthe and Thomas Cortez of Pasternak Wine Imports hosted a wine dinner at L'Olivier Restaurant & Bar showcasing their portfolio of wines paired with the culinary masterpieces of Chef Olivier Ciesielski. As the guests arrived, we were greeted with a glass of 2011 Prieure de Montezargues Tavel Rose . This wine was just released and will be arriving to Houston soon. It is definitely one to add to your list for the summer. A beautiful pale pink in the glass; dry, crisp, refreshing, medium+ body with citrus, berries and cherries. The first course was 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc , a blend of Grenache, Rousanne, Clairette and Bourboulenc, paired with a seafood ceviche. This combination was a fresh citrus explosion of complementary flavors. The presentation with the dry ice added even more magic to the moment. The next course was the best sca

Two weeks ago, I attended the Wines of Vinho Verde as presented by James King of the  Texas Wine School . This was a tasting and seminar on wines from Portugal's Vinho Verde region which is located in the northwest part of the country. The first portion of this post was written from those notes.    The Vinho Verde wine region has a maritime climate with high levels of rainfall. The region sits on shallow soil over a granite base. There has been a move towards modernization in the vineyard with changes in pruning and trellising to deal with the humid climate and improve quality.   Vinho Verde is known primarily for its crisp, lightly spritzy blended white wines which are high in acid with a citrus/mineral character and low to moderate alcohol made from local grapes such as Pederna, Loureiro, Trajadura, Avesso and Azal. The two labels depicted on the left are good examples of this expected typicity. There did seem to be a second style of Vinho Verde white wine at this tasting

I went to the Pinot Noir Tasting at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse on Friday evening. It had been awhile since I had attended a Pappas wine event so I was looking forward to meeting some friends up there. As usual, it was a sold out event so it was quite crowded in the tasting room. Master Sommelier Drew Hendricks was on hand to oversee the tasting and pour the Grand Cru Burgundy. For me, this evening was more of a social occasion with the opportunity for gathering more sensory impressions rather than a focused tasting, so I didn't take any photos or formal notes, I just scratched out a couple of general impressions on a few of the wines. The lineup for the evening: NV Paul Bara "Grand Rose" Grand Cru a Bouzy Brut Champagne  - Yummy 2009 Novy Family Winery Blanc de Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley -   crisp & clean 2009 Spatburgunder Rose August Kesseler, Rheingau 2008 De Ponte Cellars Estate, Dundee Hills 2008 Beaux Freres "The Beaux Freres Vineyard", Ribbo

On Monday night, Branch Water Tavern hosted a Reynolds Family Wine dinner. An attractive crowd showed up at 6:30 for cocktails followed by a dinner prepared by Chef David Grossman. The first course was Nantucket Bay Scallop ceviche paired with the 2008 Chardonnay. This was, unfortunately, my least favorite pairing. The wine was very nice: clean, light, tropical pineapple flavors but the ceviche was fairly nondescript and it was overpowered by the Chardonnay. Next up was the Grimaud Farms Moscovy Duck with the 2010 Desamis Pinot Noir. The chef completely redeems himself with this pairing. The fuller body style of Pinot with its ripe red fruit flavor and earthiness complemented the ragout of duck confit with sopressatta and gnocchi perfectly. My husband is not a huge fan of duck, California Pinot Noir or gnocchi; only the sopressatta sounded good to him when he read this part of the menu. Throughout this pairing, he commented several times on how surprised he was at how much he enjo

Sullivan's Steakhouse hosted their "Behind the Bar" event for some of Houston's wine and food media last Thursday evening. The new Lucky $7 Happy Hour Drink and Food menus were featured. Even though I am primarily a wine drinker, I tasted two of the featured martinis: The Knockout and the Cosmopolitan. I did this with some trepidation because I really do not enjoy sweet, fruity drinks (unless I am on a beach) but I knew some of my readers would be interested in the quality of the Happy Hour Martini selections.  The Knockout Martini is Sullivan's new signature martini made with Svedka Clementine Vodka that has been infused with fresh Hawaiian pineapple with an orange twist. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected I would as the pineapple was not the overpowering sweet flavor that I had anticipated, instead the aroma and flavor of fresh clementines prevailed. Next, I tasted the Cosmopolitan. I was pleased to see that it was a pale pink blush color rather than