MAY DIVINE WINE CLUB NEWS -- GREEK WINES

We really lived up to our slogan -- winos with knowledge -- this month! The theme was Greek wines, subject chosen by our host, Robin. As many of you know, the subject came about by chance after he found that it really isn't easy to find wines from Brazil, the original theme. When we got into the research of Greek wines and of the country's history, we learned what an intriguing topic it is and we were really looking forward to trying these new varietals. So much of Greek history revolves around and influenced the wine trade, right up till today. And overall, we found that the wine styles are quite similar to the wines we are used to tasting. It's no wonder that back in the day it was Greece, not France, that was the leader in wine production.

In addition to our wines, our menu this month featured Greek foods: Greek pasta salad with olives and smoked mozzarella; turkey meatballs with a lemon-yogurt dip; appetizers of spanakopitas and manitaropitas; and plenty of Greek olives and hummus for snacking. That's what I love about our club; whatever subject we do, we do it thoroughly.

So, on to the wines. Greece produces a wide range of wines: whites, reds, dry, sweet, sparkling, and dessert wines. There truly is something available for nearly every palate. We featured seven wines this month, five whites and two reds. Here we go.

THE WINNER
Gaia Estate Agorgitiko 2005
http://www.snooth.com/wine/gaia-estate-agiorgitiko-2003-1/
I'm starting with this wine because we chose it as our favorite, but by the time we got to this red wine we had already tried five whites with wildly mixed results (you'll see what I mean) and I really think our opinions and palates were greatly influenced by the experience. We were relieved to finally get to the reds. The agorgitiko was surprisingly familiar: deep, full bodied and leathery on the nose, with lots of fruit; it had firm tannins and a great, long finish. It was very reminiscent of a typical Old World style red, and that was part of the problem. There was nothing different or special about the wine, nothing that said it was a Greek varietal rather than a French or American one, and we knew we could get a great wine just like this one at a much lower price point (the Gaia was $33.98). Still, it was the favorite of the group.

SECOND PLACE
Sigalas Santorini 2007
http://www.domaine-sigalas.com/domaine-sigalas-wines.html
Made from the asyrtiko grape, this wine was rich, rich, rich. The grapes are grown on old vines in volcanic soil and the wine was aged in oak barrels, and man, did it show. Is this why the wine had so much heat and was so very full bodied? This had real mouthfeel, with peppery notes on the back end. Most of us liked this one because it was so different from the other crisper, more floral whites we'd had up to that point. Not Arthur, though! His was the one dissenting opinion.

THIRD PLACE
Moschofilero Boutari 2006 http://www.terlatowines.com/wines/greece/boutari/product.asp?Id=34
This was the first wine we tried. What was striking was how quickly everyone drank it. Moschofilero tends to be aromatic, low in sugar. The wine was very light, citrusy, semi-dry, and reminded me of a riesling without the acid.

THE REST
Notios Peloponnisos 2008
http://downtown.greenegrape.com/product_info.php?cPath=3_308&products_id=1672&osCsid=p4k78ltslsjjsdva7pat7823k5
Also by Gaia Estates, the Notios is a blend of 50% moschofilero grapes and 50% roditis. The roditis did give the wine an added crispness that struck some of us as vinegary, and this also reminded us of riesling sans acid. The Notios and Boutari were very similar, but of the two we preferred the Boutari.

Kouros Patras 2006
http://www.nestorimports.com/kouros/kouros_patras.htm
Made from 100% roditis grapes, this wine was also light, floral, citrusy, but with an interesting undertaste: corn chips! Psyche described it as reminiscent of growing up in the south with fresh corn growing everywhere. The citrus was front and center, though: lemons, grapefruit, lime, right in your face.

Boutari Retsina wine
http://www.terlatowines.com/wines/greece/boutari/product.asp?Id=55
This was the most...interesting of the bunch. Retsina is traditional Greek wine, made in the old style using savatiano grapes and infused with pine resin to mimic the historic method of preserving the wine. The wine smells just like a combination of floor wax and old, moldy potatoes. I kid you not. And the taste? EXACTLY THE SAME. Psyche was generous, saying the taste was vaguely Mediterranean, and while she and Mom were put off at first, they both eventually grew more accepting of the odd taste and smell. Robin, Arthur, and I found it completely undrinkable. Ishmael, in his trademark style, remained neutral.

SPECIAL MENTION
Cavino Mavrodaphne of Patras
http://winelibrary.com/wines/29757-Cavino+Mavrodaphne+750ML
The group was unanimous in its vote that this wine be put in its own separate category, so as not to skew the voting for our favorites. Mavrodaphne is a red grape variety that yields very sweet wines, dark, with hints of plum, dried cherries, and raisins. It reminds one of an Italian amarone or...a port! Saved this wine for last and when the group tried it, well, Arthur sank back in his chair and sighed blissfully; Robin nodded his head real slow and grinned and grinned; Ishmael drawled "Weeellll," and I just smiled, because at last the port lovers were satisfied. We decided to nickname this "the poor man's Sandeman." But because it was basically a dessert wine, we decided it wasn't fair to compare it to the rest of the wines even though it was the overall favorite, so it gets its own special category. Oh, and the $7.99 price point was just an added bonus.

If you can find them, definitely try some Greek wines, whites and reds. Well, maybe not the retsina. Whatever your tastes, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you like them.

Next meeting isn't until July 11 -- seems like forever! But it will be well worth the wait because we will meet "down at the shore" for our barbecue at the Smerillos'. This is going to be a LOT of fun, so I urge you, if you can, please join us. I'll be sending out emails to keep everyone updated as we begin making our plans closer to the date. Ishmael will be our host and the theme is, of course, wines that go with barbecue.

Happy sipping!

APRIL 2009 DIVINE WINE CLUB NEWS -- WINE COCKTAILS

Once again, this has been a very, very busy time! But with my class at NYU done for the semester, I can finally turn back to wine club news and updates. Seems like the last club meeting was forever ago, so maybe this posting will help us to revisit the fun!
The theme for our April meeting was Wine Cocktails, selected by our member Laura. Everyone brought a cocktail recipe and the wine and ingredients to make it, and we set up a real cocktail bar complete with fruit, olives, ice, and an honest-to-God bartender, our own recently recertified member Arthur (who showed up in full uniform!!). In addition, our member Robin got in the kitchen and created some amazing ribs for us. Added to that, we had a visit from my Boston family -- my cousin Chandra, her hubby Jovan, and their daughters Maya and Imani -- and Laura brought along her daughter Lily, and we had a full-fledged cocktail party going on.

Laura explained that she came up with the idea of the cocktails as a means to learn different ways to enjoy wine, particularly in the summertime when we may not wish to drink yet another white wine, a heavy red, or a rose. Amazing what happens when you mix wines with liqueurs and other ingredients; the characteristics of the wine were sometimes muted, and other times enhanced by the other flavors. We found the cocktails very enjoyable, and they could be made with either high- or low-end wines and liqueurs, depending on your preference. But we did learn two valuable lessons: one, experiment, experiment, experiment. If a cocktail recipe doesn't float your boat, try a different wine, another brand of liqueur, or change the amounts of the ingredients. Remember, everyone's palate is different, so find out what works for you. And two, know your tolerance. If you're like those of us who have been drinking nothing but wine for the past couple of years, some of these cocktails can hit you like a ton of bricks, so be careful.

We had a difficult time choosing first, second, and third favorites, but after much debate, here's how it played out.



THE WINNER

Kir (presented by Laura): one part pinot grigio, 5 parts cassis. We used Tomaiolo 2007 Italian pinot grigio. This was by far our favorite cocktail, as the wine and cassis blended together so smoothly to produce a slightly sweet, slightly fruity cocktail.



SECOND PLACE

Blue Grotto (presented by Donna): For each glass, combine 1 oz. melon liqueur or midori, 2 oz. Tanqueray gin, and 1 oz. blue curacao in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well, pour into an 8 oz. flute. Fill the glass with prosecco or spumante, and garnish with an orange slice. Although this drink came out green, not blue (Donna nicknamed it the Alien Blood), we were immediately impressed by its tropical, island flavor.



THIRD PLACE

Angostura Costa del Sol (presented by Psyche): Harvey's Reserve, orange juice, cream (which we did not have), Angostura bitters (which we also did not have). So we basically had a drink of Harvey's and orange juice, which was interestingly pleasant. We decided we probably wouldn't like bitters anyway.



THE REST

Port Wine Cocktail (presented by Ishmael): For each glass pour 2 oz. Sandeman Ruby Port into a cocktail shaker with ice. Add a splash of Remy Martin and shake for at least 30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist. Of course we looked forward to this cocktail because we love our Sandeman, but the Remy completely overpowered the port, and the drink was not enjoyable.

Klingon Blood Wine (presented by Loretta, Navorn, and Robin): For a pitcher, mix together 1 gallon red burgundy (we used Gallo), 1 cup brandy, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/2 cup Cointreau, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp Tabasco Sauce, 3 drops green food coloring, and slices of star fruit (we substituted orange slices). A recipe this involved should have been a huge hit, at least with the Trekkers in the group, but it garnered a mixed reaction. Some of us liked that it wasn't too sweet, while others were turned off by that. We think there were probably too many ingredients in this cocktail to give it any distinct flavor that we could enjoy, and the color, which was a blackish purple, was a bit...intimidating.

Kalimotxo or Calimocho (presented by Donna): For each glass, combine equal parts red table wine and Coca-Cola. We used Este Spanish table red. Right off the bat we did not like this combo, then we tried the wine alone and realized it probably was not bold enough and that the drink demanded a fuller-bodied red. Keeping in the Spanish theme, we substituted a Tres Picos garnacha for the Este and used less Coke, and the drink was much improved. As an alternate, we substituted Canada Dry ginger ale for the Coke, but this did not help.


And so went the first DiVine Wine Club cocktail party. Another great idea presented by a club member; we have had some truly enjoyable meetings so far this year and I look forward to the meetings to come!

Now, as a bonus, since many of you asked for it, I'm passing along Robin's recipe for those yummy ribs. Enjoy, and see you at the next meeting!

Chicago BBQ Ribs

spare ribs, pork or beef, 5 lbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
brown sugar to taste (optional)
1/4 cup water
honey to taste (optional)
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (can be found in supermarkets)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean and season ribs to taste.

In a shallow roasting pan, add two cups water. Place ribs on a rack in pan and cover with aluminum foil. Lower oven temp to 250 degrees and cook ribs in oven for 1 hour. Remove ribs from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a separate bowl add remaining ingredients and mix well. Uncover ribs and place directly in roasting pan (water will have evaporated; discard any remaining water). Pour sauce onto ribs, return to oven and cook uncovered for 15 minutes until sauce is carmelized. Grab a bunch of napkins and dig in!