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.

Château Geneau: A Bordeaux That Won't Break the Bank

Since it was a longer weekend I was able to grill up a bit more beef than usual.  On Monday night I whipped up a quick sirloin, a deconstructed wedge salad, and savory rice.  Since the previous Malbec was quickly finished, Pris decided to open a bottle of Château Geneau 2009 Bordeaux that we picked up from the Wall Street Journal Wine Club. 

The Château Geneau was a great bold Bordeaux that paired well with the meat.  It was a prefect blend of Cabernet and Merlot that incorporated the best of both varietals.  Aromas of plum, blackberry, and dark berry hinted at what was to come in this garnet hued wine.  Plum and dark ripe fruit dominated the palate with loads of juice and flavor.  Light oak and a touch of mineral provided a nice counter point to keep the wine from becoming too fruity.  Supple tannins provided a long and savory finish.

This Bordeaux was a great wine to pair with the heavily peppered sirloin I prepared.  I'd recommend it for any rich and savory meat heavy dinner, particularly beef or lamb.  Lately some of the WSJ wines have fallen a bit short of their predecessors in the taste area, but the Château Geneau is easily one of the best wines we've tried from the wine club.  Well balanced with great full fruit flavor this is a wine to be savored with a great meal.

The Château Geneau 2009 Bordeaux is no longer available on the Wall Street Journal WIne Club's site.  But you can still pick up the 2010 vintage which also has great ratings.  The 2010 vintage retails for $15 a bottle or less depending on the number of bottles you order.  You can get more information on this Bordeaux at: http://www.wsjwine.com/jsp/product/productDetails.jsp?productId=prod740027

A bit of Haute and Down Home with Barrone Charlotte

The other day I took some vacation time from work to relax and take it easy.  Since I was home I decided to prepare a more time intensive dinner of oven fried chicken and broccoli slaw.  To go with the meal Pris pulled out a bottle of 2009 Baronne Charlotte Graves from Baron Philippe de Rothschild.  This crisp French white from the BordeauxGraves region was a great choice for the meal, and a fine spring/summer white.

The Baronne Charlotte is made from a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes.  It had the bold nose full of fruit and floral notes from the Sauvignon Blanc.  On the palate its light and crisp with loads of citrus and spice, reminiscent of a Pinot Grigio with a touch of bite.  The Baronne Charlotte finished dry and crisp, with nice rich fruit notes lingering in the back of the palate for several minutes.

This was a bit of a highbrow wine for our down-home dinner, but it worked exceedingly well.  The light fruit and citrus was a great compliment to the Ritz crusted chicken.  It was a good compliment to the chicken, and a better counter-point to the tangy slaw.  With the hot months already started, this is a great wine to enjoy chilled.  Full bodied and refreshing its perfect for relaxing during our balmy late afternoons.

We purchased the 2009 Barrone Charlotte Gaves from Feldman's Market Center in Brownsville for $18.  For more information on the Baron Philippe de Rothschild's wines you can visit: http://www.bpdr.com/

The Fruit Bomb: Beaujolais Nouveau

While stocking up at Jones Liquor for Thanksgiving I grabbed a bottle of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau.  Full disclosure, this was a 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau so it wasn't really "new."  However, it was on sale for half off which priced it at $5 which I could not pass up. 

Beaujolais are generally juicy and fruity, but the nouveau are even more so.  With almost no tannins, the wines are light and more like alcohol laced grape juice than wine.  This is not to say they're not good or that they don't have a place amongst "wine drinkers."

The 2010 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau was every bit the fruit explosion I was expecting.  Pris had forgotten how fruity they are and was taken aback some.  Exceedingly ripe berries are the first thing that hit the nose.  You can tell a lot about the taste to come from this light colored red, which is almost lavender around the edges of the glass.  On the palate this wine is all light fruit which is dominated by strawberry and ripe berry.  The strawberry was an interesting taste since I haven't really found it in many of the wines Pris and I drink.  The finish is quick and light since there are no tannins to speak of.

If you like sweeter wines, fruitier wines, or fruity mixed drinks but want to get into wine, then this wine is for you.  At $5 a bottle at Jones Liquor you can't beat it for the 2010 vintage.  If they're out, the 2011 is only $10.  Its also sold at H.E.B. and Feldman's.  For more information on this wine you can visit: http://pa-duboeuf.com/

A Special Wine for a Special Occasion

Last Friday night Pris and celebrated our 9 year anniversary of being together.  Its been a great ride, and we wanted something a little special to commemorate the occasion.  So I went to Mike Jones at Jones Liquor to see if he had any recommendations.  As usual he had a number of them, for both the night and Thanksgiving.  I ended up picking up a bottle of Maison Louis Latour 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin. 

This is an excellent French Pinot Noir.  Unlike a lot of American Pinots, the Latour was bold, earthy, and highly complex.  The aroma was the first hint of what was to come.  Rich fruit mingled with mineral undertones, smoke and licorice.  The flavor was exceptionally deep and intricate.  Dark ripe fruits hit the front of the palate followed by a rich earthiness.  A lot has been made about "terroir" or the soil the grapes are grown in.  Different folks give it different weighty, but with the Latour you can really taste the earth these grapes were produced in.  This aspect of the wine adds a rich complexity that's absent in most of the Pinots we've had.

Even though I would've liked to have cooked something special for our anniversary, I couldn't due to an event the following night.  So we ordered up a couple steaks from Toscafino and settled in for the evening.  Despite being a Pinot, the wine paired great with the steaks.  The rich complexity of the Latour was more than enough to compliment the herbed and buttered ribeyes.  The versatility of this wine will allow it to mix with any number of dishes.

I picked this wine up at Jones Liquor in Brownsville.  As it was a special occasion I splurged a bit on it.  The Latour runs for $52 a bottle, but is well worth it.  For more information on Maison Louis Latour wines you can visit:  http://www.louislatour.com/pages/index.php

The French Know Their Stuff: Beef Bourguignon and Chatteau Messile-Aubert

Pris and I really like the beef bourguignon from H.E.B. Central Market, but last Sunday I decided to try my own had at making it.  After 5 hours of cooking it was finally done, and it was time for dinner and wine.  To go with a quintessential French dish you have to have a French wine.  Pris and I selected the 2006 Chatteau Messile-Aubert from the Wall Street Journal Wine Club.

The Chatteau Messile-Aubert was a great big red with a deep dark color.  On the nose there was plenty of cherry, currant, and dark berry.  This was a great rich wine, and the cherry, black currant continue on the palate.  Intermingled with the dark fruit is a nice undercurrent of oak and herb.  The finish was juicy and lingering.  Even though this is a big full bodied wine, it was full fruited but lacking the heavy tannins that you find in most Cabs and other big reds.

The Chatteau Messile-Aubert went great with the beef bourguignon, I mean really fantastic.  The rich wine was a perfect compliment to the wine infused beef and mushrooms.  To go with the beef and sauce I included a couple slices of French bread slathered with herb infused chevre cheese.  Again, the wine was the perfect compliment to the rich goat cheese and bread.  Basically you can't go wrong pairing the Chatteau Messile-Aubert with succulent beef dishes and tangy rich cheeses.

The wine was a gift, and it came from the Wall Street Journal Wine Club, but it seems to be out of stock now.  You can find it online at a couple different sites though.  For more information on Chatteau Messile-Aubert you can visit: http://aubert-vignobles.com/messile-aubert.php?specid=3&langid=2

Back at Home with Baron Carl

I blame the lack of posting this week on a prolonged recovery from an obstacle run I did with some friends last Saturday in Bastrop.  Despite being worn out, Pris and I were able to pick some good food and wines from Central Market.  For dinner Sunday night we heated up a beef bourguignon from Central Market and opened up a 2006 Baron Carl Saint-Emilion to go with it.

The Baron Carl was a deep dark red wine with a great nose full of soft fruit.  As the evening wore on, the wine opened up nicely.  When we first started the Baron Carl was soft and smooth on the palate with light berry notes.  As it opened it developed more structure and a deeper flavor.  The soft berry notes were replaced by deeper, darker, and far bolder fruit.  Once the wine opened up it finished with a nice dry tannic finish.

This wine went great with the meal, but this wine seems made for rich beef and potato meals.  We had another similar meal tonight, but more on that later. I bought the Baron Carl at Feldman's Market Center here in Brownsville when I picked up lunch one day.  It runs about $20 a bottle.  Interestingly, the same folks who make Baron Carl also produce Mouton Cadet.