Time to check in with those rollicking Cork Poppers, taste some wine, dine well and laugh plenty!
None of us are on the chronologically young side. Let's put it this way -- Rick is the youngest and it distresses him that he isn't younger. So, we thought we'd bring some young wines to the party -- wines from 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Now, not every wine gets better with age. Some are fine early on, others are actually made to be sipped when they are young. The whites are more likely to hold up well when young but we weren't so sure about the reds.
The good news is that we all pretty much liked everything on the tasting table!
We started with Dick's Cavit Pinot Grigio IGT 2015 (Italian). This wine is freely available in grocery stores so it makes for an easy buy. Cheryl our resident white wino said "I love it! It's lovely!" (And she liked it so much that she kept this one as we went on to reds another wine later!). Dick said, "Every other Cavit white I've tried I haven't liked but this is pretty good." It was light, tart, and very fresh. At $9, a good buy, especially for a party when the wine is flowing (and white doesn't stain. Much.)
We tried another white next -- Bob brought Josh 2016 Sauvignon Blanc from California. this was totally different from the first. It was smoother and more sophisticated but to me it felt "heavier." It was a little sweeter than I like. Bob paid $12 or $13 on sale, so figure another dollar or so more.
Pat brought Robert Mondavi Merlot 2016, Private Selection. This was another good buy -- $9.99 at our Meijer grocery but she got it on sale for $8.99. I really liked this one. It had a lot of tannins and you could taste the black cherry without it being sweet. We could see the "legs" on the glass (those drips down the inside of the glass when you swirl). I'd definitely get this one, especially at that price.
Barb brought Chateau Ste. Michelle's 2015 Indian Wells Merlot from Columbia Valley, Washington. She called it a "tried and true friend."Clayton noted it was "Dry -- it's good!" and we all noted then ice tannins. Mike noticed "a little oak flavor in the back." My palate isn't nearly so sophisticated. I like it or don't, for the most part. This one was nice. Barb found it for $15 at Costco. (My photo of this bottle must have been fuzzy. Sorry about that.)
However, at this time it might be useful to point out that if you don't have Wine-Away and you spill red wine on the light carpet -- whether it is a drop, here, or the better part of a glass (later), oxy-clean works really well!
Bob brought a second wine -- another Josh and another Merlot (2015). This was interesting because it gave us a chance to taste several of the same kind. I wrote down "This is nice but I think I like the Mondavi better." It's all preference, folks. He said this one was $14.
Anne brought Bridlewood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robls, CA. Rick called it "A delicious wine." And someone said, and maybe it was me but I think probably not "I'd buy a half dozen and cellar it for five or six years. It was definitely good now, but I do think time would make it even better. This was the picey wine of the day -- $20.
Dick brought a second wine, Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Winemakers Blend. This is a combination blen of several different vineyards. Anne noted it was almost like a pinot noir, lighter than one would expect from a Cab. Someone else said, "This has dimension." Sorry -- I don't have the price on this one.
We wrapped up with the Franco Serra Barbera dÁlba DOC 2016 from northern Italy, which I picked up at our local wine store for $14.99. I am such a fan of the wines of the Piedmont. They're full of flavor and this rich red didn't disappoint. As I was researching it, they noted that Barbera dÁlba is best given several years of bottle to age to allow the fruit, oak and tannins to best blend. It was terrific as is -- so I might pick up a couple of bottles and try my hand at cellaring! (Rick said it was his favorite.)
Corkie dinners are always the best! Cheryl had a pretty table with wine-button bookmarks for us to take home which served double duty as napkin rings.
Dick had made a wonderful Irish Stew which we had with Rick's bread (not that we hadn't half filled up on Pat's cheese and crackers and bread during the tasting).
Top it off with Anne's cornbread and Barb's salads and you're in for food heaven.
For dessert I made Isabelle Lambert's Lemon Meringue Log. This is like a yule log only with a light cake filled with a super tart and totally delicious lemon curd, then "frosted" with Swiss meringue and torched.
It was my first time with Swiss meringue or torching -- I had Rick do the honors there. The recipe is from her book "Lemon" ("Citron") and it includes 100 recipes that feature lemons. It's a winner.
If you're into trying wines and want to check out our Cork Poppers take on various types, click on the Cork Poppers link on the menu here!
Thanks, Monique, for introducing me. (
This is Isabelle's website but I couldn't get the translate feature to work on the primary copy -- just the headers, so if you can read French, check it out!)
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