Pull That Cork

Our first Cahors

October 12, 2010 by Nancy (CSW) 2 comments

Pete made dinner for Dave and I this Monday night. He prepared a chickpea ragout recipe from Jacque Pepin’s book Fast Food My Way. He added sweet Italian sausage to the recipe which included sauteed onion, scallions, garlic and tomatoes from our garden. I also made garlic bread to accompany the ragout. By the way, it made great leftovers for […]

2004 Gran Feudo Crianza

October 12, 2010 by Peter Comments are Disabled

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 […]

Thursday night in Tuscany

October 10, 2010 by Nancy (CSW) 1 comment

The theme for this Thursday night tasting was Italian wines from Tuscany. George wasn’t available so Alan stood in for him. Alan did some research on the area and educated us on the areas in Tuscany and the applicable regulations for the wines in those areas. We tasted four wines, actually five since we had a bonus wine before the […]

Charbono With a Pork Roast

October 5, 2010 by Peter Comments are Disabled

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

October 5, 2010 by Peter Comments are Disabled

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

October 3, 2010 by Peter 4 comments

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 […]

Pasta Dinner

September 29, 2010 by Nancy (CSW) 4 comments

Now that it is Fall, we’re finally getting our Summer weather. It has been a particularly mild Summer with very few days over 100 degrees. The past few days, however, have been very warm. Mornings have been damp and chilly, the birch trees are dropping their leaves. The backyard looks like Fall. Our Monday night dinner was Fall fare. Pete […]

Wine and Appetizers

September 26, 2010 by Peter 2 comments

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

September 21, 2010 by Peter Comments are Disabled

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 […]

It’s A Road Trip!

September 19, 2010 by Nancy (CSW) Comments are Disabled

This Saturday Dave, Pete and I took a ride into San Francisco. Our primary destination was K&L Wines. They have an extensive selection of wine, organized by region. We entered via South America and didn’t leave until we got to France. We came home with a nice collection of wines, some of which we know and some that are K&L […]