YUM!

It is Girl Scout cookie season and that makes me want to pair them with wine every time. Last year I paired them with our Malbec and Chambourcin, well this year I will pair them with our new dessert style wines. I know tough job, but someone has to do it :)
First up is our house favorite, Samoa...with its rich chocolate and caramel taste pairs wonderfully with our USB (port-style) wine.
Second would be the Tag-A-Longs...milk chocolate with a peanut butter center goes great with our new BlackJack wine, Chambourcin fermented with blackberries.
Third is the original Thin Min...although it has a hint of mint, the dark chocolate icing and cookie pair very well with our RAZ wine, Merlot fermented with raspberries.
Our last dessert style wine (but not least) is our Cello, Petit Manseng infused with lemon zest, goes great with the butter cookie, Trefoil or their new lemon cookie, Savannah Smiles.
Enjoy!
Cheers!

Wine TOO Cold!

People tend to serve white or Rose' wines too cold and red wines too warm. Pulling a white or Rose' straight from the refrigerator is way too cold. This wine will actually taste more acidic and nearly tasteless, but letting it warm up for about 20 minutes, all the fruit or true grape flavors come out.

So...the bottom line is 20 minutes...it takes about 20 minutes out of the frig for a white or Rose' wine to express its true flavors or 20 minutes in the frig for a red wine if it is too warm. Plain and simple...properly chilled wines do taste better.

Cheers!

Wine Cubes?!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is preparing for a great 2012.

Sometimes we finish all our wine at a holiday party and sometimes we have leftover wine in the bottle..."How long will it keep?" is one of my most asked questions. Of course there are variables as to how to answer that because all wines are different and the levels in the bottles can be different. But none-the-less, if you seal up your wine and do not allow additional air to continue to enter the bottle, it should last a couple of days. Fortified wines can last a bit longer. But if you have several bottles open and you just can't finish them, then pour the wine into ice cube trays and freeze them. When frozen, empty the ice cube trays and store in a ziploc bag. These "wine cubes" are excellent to add to all your favorite recipes.

Cheers!