A Night of French Wine and Grass Fed Beef

This is the last post of the month, and Pris and I went out with a bang.  I picked up some grass fed NY strips I picked up at the Farmer's Market here in Brownsville.  To go with the mild steaks we selected Chateau Le Nuda 2006 Medoc.  The rich French wine was a great mellow selection for a pair of incredibly flavorful steaks.

The Chateau Le Nuda had a great bold nose that was loaded with cherries and oak.  While this French blend had a great bold nose, it was an exceptionally mellow wine on the palate.  This is of course thanks in large part to the aging process, but there has to be a solid wine to work with for this to happen.  On the palate this blend was all silky blackberry, raspberry, and cassis.  As expected, mild tannins facilitated a mellow finished that did not linger for long.

I know people had talked about how great grass-fed beef was, but I was skeptical about the hype.  However, after tasting the goods I am happy to say the grass-fed steak was everything we were promised.  The beef has a lower fat content, and like the Medoc we were working on, was mellow and flavorful.  The wine and the steak went well together, and I was thankful the wine was lighter and mellower than a Cab or Malbec.  Anything stronger might have been too much for the steak and overpowered the perfectly medium rare beef.

Unfortunately we don't have any information on where we picked up the 2006 Chateau Le Nuda Medoc or how much we paid for it.  It retails for about $15 online, and it appears that several sellers still offer it.

A Change of Pace with Oniro

If you're a regular follower of our blog, you know that Pris and I consume a fairly sizable quantity of beef.  Or rather we tend to pair more of our wines with beef.  We can't help it that we're from Texas, and grew up with the commercials that said "Beef, its what's for dinner."  Still, I decided to switch things up a bit the other night and grilled up some lamb chops.  To go with the change of pace Pris selected a bottle of Oniro's 2009 red.

The Oniro is a Spanish red that is a blend of Monastrell ,Cabernet, Garnacha, and Syrah; and it was a great selection to go with our dinner.  The wine is made up primarily of the Monastrell grape, and it really showed in the flavor.  The aroma was heavy with deep dark berries and herbal undertones.  The Monastrell dominated the palate with full ripe raspberry notes followed by anise and mineral on the mid-palate.  The wine finished nicely with mellow tannins and the full fruit from the Monastrell.

We paired Oniro's red blend with a pair of grilled lamb chops and an orzo salad made with feta, cucumbers, olives, mint, lemon juice and olive oil.  The wine went very well with the earthy lamb and the citrusy salad.  The full fruit was a great compliment to the well seasoned meat.  It also managed to even out the richness of all the olive oil in the salad.  This would be a great wine for barbeque on the weekends as the fulll fruit seems tailor made for a rich barbeque sauce.

I picked up the Oniro at Feldman's here in Brownsville.  It costs under $10, and last I checked it was still available.  It was a great wine for the value.  Unfortunately I was not able to find a website to offer more information on this wine.

Simply a Stunner: Cameron Hughes Lot 136 Cabernet Sauvignon

Last weekend was a good weekend for eating and wine drinking.  While the Franciscan Merlot was good, the Cameron Hughes 136 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was one of the best wines Pris and I have had in quite some time.  This was one of the last of our Cameron Hughes stock and it was a good one. 

This was a great rich Cab.  The first hint of what was in store for us was the deep dark coloration of Lot 136.  On the nose, the Napa Cab was dark berry with subtle undertones of oak.  On the palate this wine exemplified everything that is great about Napa Cabs.  Deep rich fruit, blackberries, and cassis all melded together in perfect harmony.  Understated oak provided a nice backbone to the rich fruit.  Full tannins provided a great full bodied finish.  This Cab was superbly balanced and a joy to drink.

We opened the Cameron Hughes Lot 136 on a Sunday to go with our standard Sunday beef dish.  Initially I was just grilling up a sirloin, but the wine called for something a little grander.  In order to match the wine's sophistication I roasted some prosciutto wrapped fennel and prepared a bacon/blue cheese/butter for the steak.  The resulting meal was fantastic, and the wine was a perfect match.

Unfortunately Cameron Hughes' Lot 136 is now sold out and gone forever.  If you happen to find it at a Sam's or Costco buy it quickly.  If you're offered some at a dinner party, accept and enjoy.  You can find out more about Cameron Hughes wines and even get some suggestions on similar offerings at: www.chwine.com.

A Merlot for All Occasions: Franciscan Merlot

Seeing as beef prices are currently experiencing a rather precipitous rise in price, Pris and I are trying to enjoy as much beef while we can.  A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to cooking a dish I've been I've been wanting to for some time: bacon wrapped wine braised brisket.  To go with this fine meal Pris selected a 2006 Franciscan Merlot that we've had since before moving to Brownsville.

 
In a prior post, I touted a Franciscan Cab as a great wine that was consistently good across the different vintages.  It was great to find out that this was equally true for Franciscan's Merlot.  The usual plum and cherry aromas were present and it appeared as though the wine would probably be a fairly standard Merlot, but that estimation changed once the wine hit the palate.  The cellaring definitely agreed with this Napa Merlot.  While it was as juicy and jammy as any Merlot out there, the aging mellowed this wine sublimely.  Full dark fruit slid effortlessly over the palate, grounded by mild herbal notes.  Incredibly mild tannins allowed for a mild and slightly sweet finish.

This wine paired superbly with the wine braised brisket.  The brisket was braised with a nice helping of garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and fennel.  The sweet anise in the fennel was a great compliment to the sweet fruit in the wine. The salty and savory bacon and brisket were countered very well by the same fruit. 

I'm not sure where we bought the 2006 Franciscan Merlot, or whether or not anyone will carry that particular vintage.  However, you can get Franciscan wines at H.E.B., Jones Liqour, Feldmans, and pretty much anywhere decent wine is sold.  Generally the Merlot runs a dollar or two less than its Cab counterpart, and you can find it for around $18 a bottle.  You can find out more about Franciscan and their wines at: http://www.franciscan.com