A New Wine for A New Year

Our friend, David, over at Cooking Chat has invited us to try and share a New Wine for a New Year. So I did and I am.  And so did many more of us who belong to this fun little group we call Wine Pairing Weekend.   I will be linking to all the others at the end of this post, so stop by and learn of some new, wonderful wines to try in 2017.

I also belong to a group called The French Winophiles.  This month we are discovering the Savoie region and I wasn't having any luck finding wines from that area in my part of the Country.  I had a trip planned to California that was starting in San Francisco.  My friends, Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog and LM of binNotes, both recommended I go to K&L Wine Merchants while in San Francisco.

I went into the store and was immediately helped by wonderful staff who finally turned me over to John who helped me not only find the wines from the Savoie region of France but also set me up with a nice bottle to give my cousin's daughter who was providing a room for us while we were in San Francisco.  John also said one of his favorite wines in the store right now was Valravn from Banshee Wines.  John told me that this wine is hand made locally on a very small scale and that their store was lucky enough to get some.  John went on to tell me that Banshee Winery was trying to showcase the Zinfandel grape and that they, in his opinion, had nailed it.  He convinced me so I bought a bottle and took it with me to my brother's house.

We got up early the next morning and drove south.  When we got to my brother's and settled in, his wife, Mary, took us to the Madonna Inn for lunch after which we went into San Luis Obispo for shopping.  When we got home, Mary put together a counter full of goodies.  We had brie cheese with blackberry jam, fresh fruit, veggies and sausage platters and I opened up the wine.  

I thought the wine was lovely.  It was smooth and much lighter than most zinfandels I have had.  It had a slight peppery finish to it, which I loved.  Good wine, Good food, Good company. Time spent with family....how much more perfect can life be?

Here are the New Wines being shared today

• Wine Predator wrote about New Year, New Wine: New Jersey?
• A Day in the Life on the Farm tried a New Wine for a New Year
• Grape Experiences shared Try Something New: Moroccan Wine with Lamb Tagine
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla posted Young Nation, Ancient Vines in Croatia: Pairing Crni Rižoto + Dingac Vinarija’s Peljesac
• A Palatable Pastime served Duck Ragout with Creamy Polenta
• L'occasion shared about The Wines of Red Mountain
• ENOFYLZ Wine Blog served Slow Cooker Enchilada Quinoa and Mencía
• foodwineclick tried Something Old, Something New - Flank Steak & Douro Red
• Rockin Red Blog is Journeying into a Glass of the Unknown
• Pull That Cork posted Loire Valley Red Meets Onion and Bacon Tart: When Old Becomes New
• The Swirling Dervish paired Lacrima di Morro d'Alba and Broccoli Rabe Lasagna
• Tasting Pour served up Lamb Stew and Wine from Lebanon
• Vino Travels shared Journey to Trentino with Teroldego and Spaghetti Carbonara
• Cooking Chat paired Pork Tenderloin with Onions and Canary Island Wine

Please join the conversation about new wine and food pairings to go with it! Our live #winePW Twitter Chat will take place today, January 14, at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Just tune into the #winePW hashtag between 11 and noon ET that day. Check out past and upcoming Wine Pairing Weekend events here.