The theme of our Thursday night tasting was Central Coast Wines.
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.
The theme of our Thursday night tasting was Central Coast Wines.
Years ago we purchased Chalone Wine Group stock so that we could participate in their annual summer picnics. They were a fun affair in the vineyards of Chalone outside Soledad near the Pinnacles. A large tent was pitched, wines from all of the Chalone Wine Group were available to taste and an excellent lunch was served. They were always themed […]
The 2008 Catena Cabernet Sauvignon (Bodega Zapata) is made from grapes grown at high altitudes (3700 to 5000 feet) and has a medium garnet color. The nose is light with dark spicy fruit and cedar. The tannins are well integrated with nice acid and there are leather, tobacco, dark fruit flavors with a little vanilla. A beautiful complex wine with […]
This Thursday the wines for tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was advertised as domestic Merlot. However, George was up to his old tricks and slipped a Pomerol and a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend into the mix. We had a pretty small group this week which made for an informal atmosphere and a great exchange of opinion.
The 2007 L’Ecolle No. 41 Merlot from Walla Walla in eastern Washington has a dark ruby color has aromas of dark fruit and tobacco. The flavors are dark fruit, light vanilla and some spiciness, maybe black pepper. The tannins are light and well integrated with good acid. It has a medium length finish. While the wine was nice drinking on […]
We’ve started our regular Monday night food and wine routine for 2011 and we are off to a good start. I prepared hachis Parmentier from our new French cookbook. Hachis Parmentier is described by Dorie Greenspan in her cookbook “Around My French Table” as a really good French version of shepherd’s pie. You can look up the details in her […]
We had a pretty quiet new years eve. Just the two of us. Sometimes we throw a small dinner party, or attend one, but this year we just felt like taking it easy. Nancy made Marie-Helene’s apple cake from the our new French cookbook. It was so good we decided to just have it for dinner. Also, we had made […]
We started off the Christmas weekend by visiting Nancy’s mom in Modesto on Christmas eve. We did not have any wine there but we still had a very nice time visiting. We had a crab salad Nancy made for lunch and then a pumpkin pie for dessert she had also made. Later that evening when we were home, we made […]
This Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon has a very dark garnet color after aging in our cellar for a few years. The nose was light with dark fruit and a hint of vegetal. The flavor was dark fruit, leather and a hint of vanilla with moderate tannins and acidity. The wine had a medium body and a moderate length finish. We also […]
We celebrated Dave’s birthday Monday night with wine and dinner. George and Gail joined us for the evening. We started the evening with “nibblins” that Gail brought. She prepared sausage stuffed mushrooms and also brought Brie and crackers. They paired these “horses ovaries”, as George put it, with a sparkler, which George made us think about critically, as he does […]