Author: Peter

Napa Valley Wine Trip Part 2

After Tasting all the wines at Provenance we decided we wanted to get some food before tackling any more wine. Also, having spent 2 hours at Provenance it was past lunch time so we went down the road a mile or two and stopped at the Rutherford Grill. They said it would be an hour wait and it had started […]

2007 Santa Ema Amplus Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Santa Ema Amplus Cabernet Sauvignon – This Chilean wine is a dark ruby color with hints of violet around the edges. It has a earthy dark fruit nose. The flavor is a light amount of green pepper, big dark fruit and bitter chocolate. There is a medium length finish. Overall quite a nice flavorful wine. It was aged for […]

Pinot and Pork Chops

We had an interesting wine this Monday with Dave. First, dinner! Nancy cut up a bunch of vegetables, carrots, onions, garlic (whole cloves), red potatoes and brussels sprouts. She put them in a casserole dish and splashed some olive oil and salt and pepper on top and put in the oven at 350 degrees. I had been to the market […]

Exciting Wine Trip Coming Up

Today Nancy and I took a trip to the Napa Valley. We had a great time, tasted wine at Provenance Vineyards, lunch at the Rutherford Grill and then tried a new winery we had never heard of or been to before. On the way home we went down the Silverado Trail and chose a winery at random. It was the […]

2004 Gran Feudo Crianza

The 2004 Gran Feudo Crianza is from the region of Navarra in Spain and contains 70% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacha and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine has a nice medium garnet color. The nose had nice medium dark fruit with cedar. There was a light body with medium dark fruit, cedar and a hint of vanilla. There was a good balance […]

Charbono With a Pork Roast

Great food and wine this Monday night. Nancy cooked a pork roast on a bed of vegetables and potatoes and made some applesauce from apples she bought at the farmers market. The 2 ½ pound roast was seasoned with salt, pepper and marjoram and roasted in the oven for about an hour and a quarter. Surrounding the roast were onions, […]

2006 Campo Viejo Crianza Rioja

What is a Crianza anyway? I think I’ll start another section where I’ll put definitions as I go along. While I generally know what Crianza means I’ll list the exact definition so I’ll remember better and others will learn more easily.

Wines of Chile

This Thursday we tasted wines from Chile at Fine Wines of Stockton. Several of the wines were from the Santa Ema winery in the Maipo Valley. They have vineyards in the Maipo, Cachapoal, Casablanca and Leyda Valleys. There was also one red from the Colchagua Valley made by Montes winery. Originally the wine distributor was going to present the wines […]

Wine and Appetizers

Our Thursday night tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was a different format this week. Instead of having a wine theme and critiquing each wine we had wine and appetizers. The idea was to see how each wine paired with the three different appetizers. Gail’s friend Marianne is a is the owner of Marianne’s Pantry, a private chef and specialty […]

Grilled Halibut

For our Monday dinner we decided to grill some halibut with some mesquite wood, actually regular charcoal with some mesquite added. I like to take a filet with the skin on (also works for salmon too) and lay it on a hot grill skin side down. Then I put the cover on and never turn it over. Depending on how […]