I try a lot of inexpensive wines and unfortunately, I end up with a lot of wine reduction—hey, I hate to dump marginally good wine so why not boil it down. The truly bad wines, though, need to go down the drain. Even reducing it won’t help in that case. But I digress. Inexpensive wines are really the only way someone like me can afford to enjoy wines on a regular basis. One of my favorite cheap wine retailers is Trader Joes. They carry a decent selection with prices from under $5 to well over $50. That’s quite the range and the taste of the wine is often reflected in the price…but not always. I’ve found several inexpensive deals and this is one of them.
The Sebastopol Hills 2009 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is a pleasant surprise. It’s unlike many California Pinots that are sometimes over-extracted and flabby. I’ve had some cheap and expensive Pinot from the Sonoma Coast and if I didn’t know otherwise, I would have guessed that this was an Oregon Pinot. It has a light mouthfeel and a good acidic balance that makes it a great accompaniment for food. I opened it and tried it with some pizza tonight. It might have been a bit cold when I first opened it since it was a bit reluctant to reveal itself, but after several minutes in the glass, I was getting some nice cola and bing cherry aromas with hints of violets. Granted, it probably didn’t get much oak treatment so it’s not overly complex, but what could I expect for a wine under $10. The color and intensity were reminiscent of a fine Burgundy and on the palate were smooth flavors of raspberry and strawberry, however, it lacked any of the earthiness I’ve come to expect in a nice Pinot.
Hey, it’s only a $10 wine and it works in an everyday kind of way. I wouldn’t have any problems serving this with a quick pasta dish or even something that, dare I say it, came from a plastic tray out of my freezer. Hey, I can’t cook gourmet everyday…nor can I afford to drink a $40 Pinot everyday either. Thank goodness for Trader Joes.
It was a difficult decision to attend Taste Washington 2011 because my heart just wasn’t into tasting wine at this particular time, much less write about it. Partly due to a little burn-out on blogging about wine and partly because the wineries I write about here in Washington rarely seem to appreciate the mentions. Granted, I’m sure my little blog doesn’t have a huge impact on their sales but I really do appreciate the winemakers and winery owners who, at the very least, recognize who I am and remember that I said something about their wine.
Many of the usual suspects were pouring again this year at the Qwest Event Center in Seattle this past Sunday. Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Winery, Waterbrook Winery, Hogue Cellars and other big producers had plenty of wine. Others such as Betz, Maison Bleue and some of the smaller wineries ran out of their most popular wines by the late afternoon. And others, such as John and Gretchen Bookwalter, while mentioned in the event program, chose not to pour at this event and instead mingled with the crowd. Good for you! There were also a few pleasant surprises this year that made the effort to attend worthwhile.
I visited with wines that I’ve tasted in the past. Mike Sheridan of NW Totem Cellars is one of the nicest guys I know and makes wines that I really enjoy. He described his 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley ($33) as a more feminine cab. It wasn’t big and overpowering like some cabs but delivered a refined expression of berry, leather and tobacco notes, firm tannins and pleasant mouthfeel. The 2007 Cabernet Franc was memorable with its anise nose and cherry, plum and smooth tannins on the palate. His 2007 Longhouse Syrah, Yakima Valley was deep and dark like a Petite Syrah but had 4% Viognier and 8% Petite Verdot giving it good balance and a bit of smokey cedar aroma. And for $20, it was a bargain. read more…
My brother-in-law went fishing last weekend and brought home nearly 30 lbs. of Albacore tuna. He gave me two large 2 lb. filets and we cut the ends off one of the filets to make tuna poke. Here’s my recipe for spicy Albacore tuna poke:
Spicy Albacore Tuna Poke
8 to 12 oz. fresh Albacore Tuna (no more than 5 days old)
1 firm English cucumber, seeded & diced into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup dried wakame seaweed
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. sesame oil
2 tsp. spicy Hawaiian sea salt (or regular sea salt if Hawaiian salt unavailable)
1 tsp. spicy red chili sauce
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
Soak wakame in warm water for 10 minutes, rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly. Dry the tuna with paper towels and dice into 1/2 cubes. Combine remaining ingredients except sesame seeds. Chill for 1 hour before serving with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. A nice dry Riesling goes great with this dish to cool the spiciness and cut through the sesame and fish oils.
I try a lot of inexpensive wines and unfortunately, I end up with a lot of wine reduction—hey, I hate to dump marginally good wine so why not boil it down. The truly bad wines, though, need to go down the drain. Even reducing it won’t help in that case. But I digress. Inexpensive wines are really the only way someone like me can afford to enjoy wines on a regular basis. One of my favorite cheap wine retailers is Trader Joes. They carry a decent selection with prices from under $5 to well over $50. That’s quite the range and the taste of the wine is often reflected in the price…but not always. I’ve found several inexpensive deals and this is one of them.
