Many years ago, before I began blogging. Before the age of cell phones and portable computers. Back when you used a camera with film that had to be taken in for development. Way back then, we met our friends Keith and Kim in the Finger Lakes Region of New York for a Murder Mystery tour of the area wineries.
This delicious burger is stuffed with both white and yellow cheddar that has been aged 2 years before being grilled to a perfect medium rare and being topped with horseradish cheddar. If you are a cheese lover this is the burger for you!!!
Slow down and enjoy life with these easy, tender and delicious pork chops that are made in the slow cooker. Pair them with a wonderful bottle of wine from Castoro Cellars who embrace the slow wine movement, take a deep breath and relax........
I am very pleased to have been chosen as one of the Wine Ambassadors for L'Ecole No 41 Winery with Vineyards in Oregon and Washington. Each month I am sent 2 bottles of the wine they are featuring in a Zoom meeting. One is meant to be enjoyed during the meeting and the second is to be used in a food pairing. We are then asked to post an article about the wine and our impression and opinion of it. We receive no monetary compensation and we are expected to be 100% honest with our writings.
This month we are sipping the 2020 Chenin Blanc Old Vines. I opened this bottle and poured myself a taste about an hour before the zoom session was to begin. The wine pours a lemony yellow and it has some citrus notes but I caught more floral on the nose. This wine is produced in Yakima Valley from old vines since 1987. It retails for $17 which I think is a steal. You can order it on the L'Ecole website and there is a discount on cases.
My first sip of this wine had me yearning for a hot summer day in my pool lounger with a good book and a glass of this crisp, dry wine. It is one of those wines that causes your mouth to water. I'm sure there is a technical term for this. I know that acidity and astringency play a part. This is one of the reasons I am so happy to have been chosen as a L'Ecole Ambassador. The Zoom sessions are very informative and interesting.
I started making dinner, while continuing to sip. I was making Spaghetti al Limone and was a little concerned about this pairing. I added extra cream and cheese to the pasta knowing that the extra fattiness would play well with the crisp, vibrant wine.
Our FoodnFlix selection this month was the movie Bottle Shock based on the true story of California winery Chateau Montelena winning out over French wines in a blind tasting held in Paris in 1976.
This is the wine and the competition that put California and the USA on the map in regards to winemaking.
I had great plans for this Syrah from L'Ecole. Posting on Earth Day as I am, I had planned on making an evironmentally friendly, local and organic meal to pair with this amazing wine that I received as a gift for being chosen as an ambassador for L'Ecole Wines.
Then, as often is the case, life got in the way of my plans. I ran out of time to make that dinner and do a formal pairing before it was time for our ambassador zoom meeting. We left for vacation on Sunday, driving down to Florida's Universal Studios from Michigan. We planned on a two day trip, stopping in Knoxville on Sunday night and then traveling the rest of the way to Orlando on Monday.
The Zoom meeting was scheduled for 7 pm on Monday. I packed my bottle of wine and thought I would pick up some nice cheese and charcuterie to enjoy during the meeting. It became apparant that this wasn't going to happen. So then I decided that I would join in the Zoom meeting while en route to our resort and then follow up with my plan of charcuterie and cheese with the wine.
Then we stopped to get gas before the Zoom meeting was scheduled and our credit card was declined so I spent the time that I was supposed to be in the meeting on the phone with a bank rep explaining that we had tried to go on line to advise of travel plans but the website said that was no longer necessary. I managed to get into the last few minutes of the meeting....long enough to say hi and bye to the others.
Then, just to add a little more stress to the day, the Teen and her friend told us they thought they had lice. So now we had to stop at the drug store and get treatment to apply when we finally arrived at the resort. We also had 4 loads of laundry to wash, dry and fold so that any of those little buggers that might be in their suitcases were destroyed.
When you think of John Legend you may think of his music, which is amazingly beautiful. You may think of his role on The Voice where he playfully and charmingly banters with Blake Shelton. You might think about his marriage to actress, Chrissy Tiegen, or maybe you remember that he was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the most influential people in 2017.
But do you think of wine when you think of John Legend?
Are you familiar with Primitivo? We used to believe that Primitivo was made with the Zinfandel grape but Wine Spectator reports that, while closely related, Primitivo and Zinfandel are actually both clones of a Croation grape called Crljenak.
Hard to believe that October is already over. Soon we will be going into a New Year. God willing it will be a year with less turmoil, strife and devestation than 2020.
Not that there haven't been any bright spots in 2020, but in this household most of those bright spots were born of mishaps. My husband is alive, walking and expecting a full recovery after a very serious accident. That is a great miracle. An even greater miracle is that our Angel Face who was with him in the accident didn't suffer a scratch.
Our children are all back to work and doing well financially after having been displaced during the onset of the pandemic. The Teen is doing well in school this year albeit distance learning. And while some of my family and friends contracted COVID19, I didn't lose anyone to it. We did, however, lose several friends and family members who passed away for various reasons.
Good things happened as a result of the qaurantining too. We spent a lot of time working around the yard, enlarging our deck and adding a patio. This meant when the world reopened we were able to easily social distance and spend time with family and friends.
I also got a lot of reading in, I built some puzzles and I spent a wonderful summer in the pool. We went on lots of hikes in the spring and are back to hiking again now that the weather has cooled and the mosquitos have disappeared. And we grilled.....
This month was spent celebrating #MerlotMe. That is sure to brighten up anyone's life. I was given several bottles for tasting purposes from various wineries and have been writing about my tastings all month long.
This last tasting is a Merlot from Duckhorn. We opened this bottle on an Indian Summer day when we were grilling up some steaks. I had saved this bottle just for an evening like this, when Frank and I had a night alone and were able to relax and catch up over a nice dinner and a nice bottle of wine.
I'm very familiar with Duckhorn wine and love their product. While I did get this bottle as a sponsor gift and I appreciate it very much, all opinions are 100% true and my own. I purchase their Decoy quite often for an everyday wine and have purchased the Duckhorn when having dinner parties and want to serve something special.
I hope you have enjoyed celebrating #MerlotMe with me this month. I have enjoyed sharing my tastings with you. If you missed any of them you can find them at Wooohoooo It's #MerlotMe month and Good Friends, Good Food, Good Wine, Good Times x 5.
| Coppola Vineyards courtesy of Google Images |
"One of California’s oldest and most renowned wineries, Geyser Peak Winery was founded in 1880 by Augustus Quitzow, a pioneer in Alexander Valley winemaking, Geyser Peak has flourished as an award-winning winery for more than 130 years. Quitzow chose the original winery site in Geyserville for its vantage point of the famed Geysers Geothermal area. The white steam that billowed from the geysers along the mountain slopes provided the winery with a spectacular ‘view of the clouds’. Today, Geyser Peak pays fond tribute to its past roots in Alexander Valley as it sets forth on a new path into the Dry Creek Valley Appellation where the winery has recently relocated. Although the address is new, the commitment to the highest quality artisan winemaking is not. Geyser Peak will continue to “Reach For Peak” for many years to come."
