Dry Chenin Blanc with Coho salmon

What goes with a really well-prepared Coho salmon fillet? A really inexpensive dry Chenin Blanc, that’s what, and the 2009 Clarksburg vintage of Dry Creek Vineyard’s Wilson Ranch Dry Chenin Blanc is a great match and value at just $10 a bottle.

The first word I tapped into my iPhone notes about this wine was “Wow!” I’m going to be buying some more of this, that’s for sure! This crisp, dry, bright wine has a mineral quality and bright acidity that really buoys the citrus fruit and juicy green apple. The finish is clean and fresh. Just really grand for a $10 wine.

The Coho served with this wine was simply prepared. I sprinkled some fennel seed onto the fish and pan fried both sides in a bit of olive oil. I then added some sake and lemon juice for a final steam before serving. The Chenin Blanc was excellent with the preparation, the licorice-like flavor of the fennel playing really nicely with the fresh citrus of the wine.

I score this wine a 9 using my scale at the left. It’s worth repeating, I will be getting some more of this while it lasts in the stores!

A deliciously complex Albariño

I’m a relatively new convert to Albariño, a deliciously crisp and vibrant white varietal from northwest Spain, and this has been a great year to try this wonderful wine.

Recently I shared a bottle of the Burgáns 2010 Albariño with my friend Curt at Glenn’s Diner here in Chicago. This was a deliciously beguiling wine! Yes, it was fresh and vibrant, but it had a very blossomy nose like a fruit orchard. I suggested to Curt it was orange blossom. The wine tasted juicy like baked apple without the sweetness, but definitely with a spiced back end. That was the beguiling part – what was that spice? It was so familiar, but I just couldn’t name it. The best I could come up with was cardamom with a hint of snake fruit – a delicious and somewhat spicy fruit I had once in Bali. And there was blood orange.

Whatever the tastes were, the wine was delicious! We split a Cobb salad as an opener and the wine was great with it. And it was well suited with both our entrees, although I didn’t think the sauce with my seared sea scallops was the right style. Despite that, it was a great wine and meal.

This is a wine I have no qualms with scoring a 9 using my scale at the left.

A southern Rhône producer does it again

I wrote about the 2009 vintage of the Le Pavillon du Château Beauchêne rosé from the Côtes du Rhône with high praise for this juicy wine that packs delicious strawberry on a solid mineral beam with just the right amount of dryness. Well, guess what? The 2010 vintage is another great one from this producer, and is widely available.

The latest vintage is consistent with its fresh strawberry and bracing mineral qualities that give this a clean and fresh finish. Very food friendly, I enjoyed with everything from strongly-flavored soft cheese to pasta with tomato sauce. And it’s also excellent for just plain drinking! And perhaps best of all, you can find it for $10 a bottle!

Another great year for French rosé. I score this with an 8.5 using my scale at the left.

Villa Medoro, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, 2007

My previous experience with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a light red wine from central Italy, was unmemorable. But the 2007 vintage from Villa Medoro was much better, and being priced from $12 to $15 makes this a decent value (granted, I’d be more likely to pick this one up again if it were just a tad cheaper).

This was an inky wine the color of dark prunes. It had a really interesting nose with aromas of meat and vanilla with a hint of chocolate; it was very earthy, not fruity at all. It had firm tannin as well, but the taste was not very distinct; it wasn’t bad, but rather undistinguishable. After being opened a while, the wine’s dark prune color transformed into an even darker blackberry.

It was a pleasant wine that went well with pasta and tomato sauce. A fair value that I will rate with a 6.5 using my scale at the left.

An unmemorable Italian red

There were notes for this wine entered into my iPhone, but I obviously didn’t write about it soon enough after drinking it because I was unable to find the label. Did I throw the bottle away without first saving the label? Alas, no, this was a wine I drank at a restaurant with friends, hence the very dark image that is displayed. It finally occurred to me to search for the image in a computer folder. And after looking at the image background, which for quite awhile wasn’t stimulating my memory, I finally remembered where and with whom I drank this. It was at Francesca’s on Bryn Mawr in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, and it was with Curt.

What did we have to eat that night? I made no notes as to what we dined on. Judging by the notes I did make regarding the Barba Colle Morino, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, 2006, this wine was OK, went well enough with what we did eat, but not really memorable.

Here’s what I tapped into my phone: Light and acid, nose is much better than the taste, buttery blackberry on the nose, but tastes more cherry.

And that’s it. Given the terse nature of my notes, I would say this wine didn’t inspire much (unlike Thomas Jefferson it seems, who was very impressed with the wines of Montepulciano). It was acceptable. I’m sure the meal itself was wonderful – they always are at Francesca’s. The wine, however, I will rate with a 6 using my scale at the left.