Girl Scout Cookie Pairing #2

When I started thinking about doing this pairing, I thought shortbread would be easiest: a nice buttery Chardonnay seemed the obvious choice. And while that is a good pairing, I saw a recommendation to pair with a sparkling white. I chose Cupcake's Moscato d'Asti.  While very sweet, pairing with the Shortbread takes a bit of the edge off the sweetness. It brought out the peachy flavor to the sparkling wine that was nice, not too overbearing. The sparkling added some fun to the shortbread.

I'm thinking this could be made into a fun dessert with fresh peaches!

Thin Mint & Wine Pairing

For the past couple of years, since joining Pinterest, I've seen memes featuring wine & Girl Scout cookie pairings. Most feature a particular grape recommended but not a label or vintage. I've wanted to host my own wine & cookie pairing but was a little overwhelmed at the prospect of inviting friends over and hoping the pairing will work. Now I realize that some of the fun in these pairing is finding the ones that work, but I didn't want to take the chance that none of them would or one would be a busy merely because I picked the wrong Chardonnay or Merlot. So of course, this means I MUST try them first. I am attempting to keep the wines affordable and easy to find in a small town like this.

I assumed the Thin Mint would be the most difficult. After all, the Thin Mint has a strong minty taste and smell and could easily overpower or clash with a wine. Most memes suggested a Merlot, which I thought might be tricky. After all Merlot has quite the range -- light to heavy, and lots of pairing options. 

Then Diane decided to try the Clos du Bois Red Blend with her own Thin Mints. She said the pairing worked so I decided to look for the wine in town. And I was able to find it at the Brookings Liquor store for $11.99. The liquor store had quite a few different Clos du Bois wines.

On its own, this is a nice blend. Some black cherry and vanilla to sweeten. It would be nice with pizza or on a quiet afternoon. But adding the Thin Mint takes this wine to the next level. The cookie brings out the vanilla in the wine and the wine brings out the chocolate in the cookie. The pairing also gives the wine a nice mouth feel, not too dry, lengthening the finish of the wine.

I'm very happy with this first pairing attempt and can't wait to share it with my friends at my live pairing!

I think my next attempt will be the Shortbread with a New Age Rose.

Cameron Hughes Chardonnay

I love Cameron Hughes wines and am disappointed that I'm unable to find more in my neck of the woods. [and yes, I have made suggestions at the wine stores I frequent]. It won't be long and I'll be able to have wine shipped directly to me and you can bet I'll be signing up for their wine club once those SD laws go into effect (January 1, 2016)

I saw this bottle at the Brookings Liquor Store and I was happy to see something different -- typically they have the Lodi Red Blend, which I enjoy, but I've been on a white kick lately, looking for the bright fruity flavors but leaning more towards the creamy, buttery finishes in the Chardonnays.

This is a great Chardonnay. Light, fruity, honey suckle, vanilla, hints of grapefruit or other tart fruit. Loving the creamy finish. 

This was around $16 for the bottle, which is a great value for this complex chardonnay. Definitely keeping my eye out for this one again as it seems like one that would be good to always have on hand.

Carnivor Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a new favorite, one of the last from the wine club in Sioux Falls. I found it at the Brookings Liquor Store for right at $11. This is a deep dark red, almost black with thick legs. Dark fruits, dark coffee, dark chocolate flavored roll around and end in a smooth finish that practically stains your teeth and glass.

This was a perfect match for our t-bones, the grill and a cool evening. This might be one to keep on hand at all times.

Wine Walk at Epcot, Disney World

One of the things I was looking forward to on our recent trip to Disney World was Epcot and trying out some of the wines. In my research, I found one old post about the World Showcase Wine Walk. I was unable to find anything that would confirm it still existed. So you can imagine my delight when I saw it advertised in Les Vins De France, a wine shop in France. For $20, you get 2-2 oz tastings of pre-selected wines in France, Italy and Germany Pavilions.

Starting in France with a Chardonnay and red blend:
Georges Deboeuf Pouilly Fuisse: Bright flavors of pear, red apples and citrus are balanced in this classic French expression of Chardonnay from Burgundy. This was my favorite of the 2.
Chateau Tour de Segur: From the right bank of the Gironde river originates the vineyards of this structure red Bordeaux. Predominately blended with Merlot, this full bodied wine displays flavors of black currants, black cherries and generous oak spices.

In Germany, 2 wines, both on the sweet side and both white, from the same vineyard/label Valckenberg Madonna. These were available at Weinkeller.
Spatlese, or Reisling. Due to riper grapes than those from the main harvest, this Spatlese, or late harvest, has expressive fruitiness, very outgoing intensive floral bouquet, delicate sweetness and rather soft acidity.
Liefraumilch: A harmonious ensemble of rich fruitiness, a delicate sweetness, backed by a mild acidity and a lush seductive bouquet.

I can't remember which of these was my favorite, though I was leaning towards the sweeter wines this hot afternoon. With 2 white wines, I wasn't sure which was which once I got back to the table with Rocky & the girls. I would definitely try both again.

Italy had my favorite, the rose pictured below. It was a perfect match for the hot afternoon! Italy's wine sale was an Enoteca Castello:
Castello Banfi San Angelo Pinot Grigio An elegant wine of pale-straw color with an intense fruity aroma followed by a clean rich, refreshing taste.
Rosa Regale, Piedmont DOCG A unique red sparkling wine. Aromatics with a hint of rose petals and raspberries, this is delightfully vivacious and festive.

All tasting notes are from the Wine Walk receipt and most likely the wine maker's notes. I tried to find links to the wines/ wineries and some were a bit difficult!

I would definitely do this walk again, even if it was the same wines! The only thing I would do differently is to be sure to have had enough to eat before taking on 6 glasses of wine (even if they were only 2 oz each, that's still a LOT of wine)!

The Crusher: Viognier

A lovely combination of fruits: Green apple, pear, apricot, a touch of honey and pineapple. Crisp, almost sharp taste with a short finish.

This was a lovely rainy Saturday afternoon pick and one from the wine club. The winery is near Sacramento and one that might be worth a visit, if we ever make a trip to the Napa area.

On a sad note, my wine club is no more. I received an email stating they have decided to stop offering. The good news is South Dakota has decided to offer the ability to have wine shipped to the consumer starting in January 2016. By that time, I should be able to start locating a variety of wineries who are willing to ship to SD. 

Côtes du Rhône

I've been following @NormalWine on Twitter for some time and have recently started listening to their podcasts when I'm on the treadmill or track. It passes the time better than TV and I usually feel like I've learned something.

Earlier this year, they had a podcast on Côtes du Rhône, which I had heard of but never paid attention to. The podcast was funny and informative -- I learned that this is a blended wine [which I love] so I put the wine in the back of my head, just in case I spotted it ... somewhere ... I really didn't expect to find what I think of as a specialty wine here in SD. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find it at Little Wine Cellar. I couldn't remember labels that were mentioned as part of the podcast, so I bought it and hoped!

Yellow, mellow, fresh & fruity with a hint of sweet. I really enjoyed this more the 2nd day. It's amazing what a little O2 can do for wine. I enjoyed this with chicken and on its own! 

I will definitely pick this up again.

You can learn more about this winery, E. Guigal, just remember to select the English language version. I wasn't able to do that on my phone and was a little frustrated with my lack of French language skills (though to be fair, it has been over 20 years since my last French class!)