Well, it has been a good while since I've posted here and there's so much to catch up on! Besides the wine news, hope everyone's holidays were great and that the new year is off to a positive start. Also, hope everyone plans on voting tomorrow, and how about those Giants!!
So here we are in February. The writer's strike is still on and the networks are running out of shows, so at least we still have wine! Since my last post we've had our holiday party, our January club meeting, and our wine tasting event at Novita, which I've actually just gotten home from attending. The holiday party was a smash, and we enjoyed revisiting wines from the past year. The food was amazing as well. There was lots of "When did we try that?" and "Did we like this one?" Guys, that's what the blog is for! When in doubt, go back and read the meeting notes. Also, it's a great resource for when you're trying to choose a wine for an occasion or for your own enjoyment.
The January meeting was a pairing with chocolate, and we bit off way more than we could chew, literally. By the end of the meeting we were drunk not on wine but on chocolate! We had 2 cakes, chocolate wafers, mini chocolate ganache cakes, chocolate chip cookies, a tin of assorted filled chocolates, and goodness knows what else. If your eyes were bigger than your stomach, you were in trouble!
Rather than picking the top three favorites, we simply decided which wines seemed to go best with with chocolates. Here are the results:
WINE: PAIRED WELL WITH
Farrari Carano 2004 Chardonnay: almond cookies
Bartenura Moscato (one of our past favorites): dark chocolate
Fiore D'Arancio Late-Harvest Orange Muscat: nearly everything, from milk to dark chocolate. With aromas reminiscent of Lady Grey tea, this was a favorite
Annabella 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: dark chocolate, as this was VERY dry
Of the wines we tried, these were the most successful pairings. We had a number of ports that we just couldn't get to, which was a shame since port is supposed to pair the best with chocolate. We also tried two or three truly vile "wines" that were flavored in an effort to make them complementary with chocolate. I won't bother to list their names here (since I didn't bother to write them down) but suffice to say we labeled one of them "Nyquil" and another "Robitussin." So our conclusion was that when pairing with chocolate, port may be best, but the DiVine recommendation is that you try a nice muscat.
For tonight's tasting event, four of us members visited Novita, a restaurant and wine bar in Garden City, LI. They hold a tasting on the first Monday of every month featuring wine from a chosen region. This month's wines hailed from the Veneto region in Italy. We were treated to a short but informative history lesson of Venetian winemaking, followed by a prosecco for starters (you'll recall that a prosecco is a fizzy white wine much like champagne), then two white and three red wines for tasting. To accompany the wines we were served assorted bruschetta (three different varieties); a platter of prosuitto, creamy ricotta, and thin breadsticks; a wonderful pizzetta with provolone, oven-dried tomato, and spicy sopresata, and finally a creamy risotto in saffron valencia broth. Forget it! We were done! The wines we tried:
WHITES
2006 Pieropan Soave Classico Superiore DOC
2006 Bertani Due Uve (a blend of Pinot Grigio and Suavignon Blanc)
REDS
2003 Bertani Villa Novare Valipolicella Classico
2003 Sartori di Verona Regolo "Ripasso" IGT
2002 Bertani Villa Arvedi Amarone della Valipolicella Valpantena DOC
The whites were very smooth, low on acidity, and light on the palate, though we found the Due Uve a little bolder than the Soave. The reds were fabulous, with hints of plum, fig, cherry, and raisin on the nose and palate. The valpolicella was lightest, dry and fruity, while the Amarone was rich, jammy, and dense. It was a great experience; I recommend that everyone try it. We are actually considering going to the March 3 tasting; the featured region is France.
Next meeting is Saturday, March 1, where we will have a professional tasting of our own, hosted by Swirl Events. Remember to let me know if you will attend. As usual, till then, happy sipping!
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