Four Wine Weekend

Four delicious wines shared with several friends this weekend. We opened a couple bottles of Angeline Pinot Noir Reserve on Friday afternoon and evening as we sat out on the back patio and ate snacks and chatted. This Pinot Noir is always tasty--nice balance of fruit and just a touch of acidity. It's one of our favorites, and it can be paired with almost anything or enjoyed on its own.

For dinner on Saturday, we enjoyed three bottles with our guests. For appetizers (again, served on the back patio--loving the refreshing weather and low humidity this spring), we drank Franciscan Merlot, Vintage 2006 (Napa Valley). We don't drink much Merlot, but we keep hearing that winemakers are doing good things again with this grape. And this one went well with carmelized onion, arugula and goat cheese mini pizzas Kath made, along with fresh veggies, crackers & cheese and hummus & pita.

We then enjoyed an excellent 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Avenel Cellars. This was a wine I first sipped at my first Total Wine class. Very rich, lots of berries, yet smooth and enjoyable. Nice with burgers and sausage.

Lastly, we opened an unoaked Chardonnay--La Vuelta 2009 from Mendoza, Argentina. This was a pleasant surprise. Daryl usually despises Chardonnay, due to the oak, so most of our whites tend to be SB or Pinot Grigio. This unoaked wine, however, was lovely. Smooth, not quite as crisp as our usual whites, and we tasted more fruit, usually hidden by the buttery oak. Very nice! And it went well with my lemon bars.

Good food, wine and friends--that's what Saturday Sippin' is all about.