Girl Scout Wine Pairing Party

I can't believe this post got a little lost! It's been almost a MONTH since my tasting party, but still worth sharing. 

It was a rainy rainy day. I had really hoped we'd be able to hang outside by the fire pit so we could also enjoy s'mores made with Girl Scout Thanks-a-Lots. But it was not to be. The rain let up by the time my friends arrived, but a wet backyard is not my idea of fun!

The sink is STILL my favorite ice bucket -- no mess!

Here are the official pairings. J Lohr Chardonnay with Lemonades. Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin with both Peanut Butter Patties and Peanut Butter Sandwiches (mostly because I didn't have a chance to pre-taste), J Lohr Reisling with the Cranberry Crisps. We also tried the Gnarly Head with the Thin Mints and I must say, again, Wow. I never would have dreamed that Thin Mints would pair well with wine and now I have 2! We all enjoyed the Thin Mint & red blend pairing as well as the Shortbread and Moscato d'Asti. 

Overall, I would drink any of these again, but I think my favorite was the Cranberry Citrus Crisps and the Riesling were my favorites. They balanced together well, bringing out some sweetness in each one.

Wine Club Red Wonderful @winc

I still love a good red blend. A good blend will bring out the best of the grapes used. This red blend Wonderful was really nice, and more so on the 2nd day with a little O2 to round out the flavors. [I kind of wish I had saved this for the wine & Girl Scout cookie pairing as it was pretty good with the Peanut Butter Sandwich cookie!]

A smooth, deep red blend. Hints of strawberry. A nice jammy blend. This could become my next go-to jammy wine

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.

The Naked Grape Red Harvest Blend

Another Cardbourdeaux! This is a great blend: juicy raspberries and plums come out in the flavor and aroma. A robust blend, medium bodied, a beautiful deep burgundy color, I think this would be great with pizza or with a steak.

I love The Naked Grape boxes! Colorful with fun quotes and, well, someone has a great job getting to be clever from the quote! I think I need to "collect" them all. 

The Naked Truth # 3: Being free is nice. Living free is better!" 

From the box: 

Here's the deal – naked is freedom. The freedom to be you while you're singing at the top of your voice in the shower or when you're playing a rockin' air drum solo to your favorite song. In freedom, there's no conforming, no hiding, and no pressure. Take The Naked Grape Harvest Red Blend for example; its unrestrained character is celebrated with smooth raspberry and robust red plum flavors. This Harvest Red toasts the freedom to blend to the beat of our own drum. So let's raise a glass to being free together – honest, real, wonderfully Naked. Bare it all.

Best part? I can enjoy another glass tonight, and another next week, and another the following week!

Outcast, Steele Wines

This is a beautiful red blend: 51% Syrah,23% Zinfandel, 11% Petite Sirah, 7% Merlot, 5% Malbec 3% Petite Verdot and is brimming with black raspberry, cherry and plummy fruit with hints of mocha, cedar-y perfume and black pepper spice. The final pepper spice gives it a short finish, which of course, begs you to reach for your glass again. I have enjoyed this on it's own and with beef nachos. It was perfect.

 

This was a gift from my wonderful friend Diane (and I wish I could have enjoyed it with her!), so I know it's a splurge. However, it is definitely worth the splurge and I plan to add another bottle to my cellar soon.

 

Steele Winery is located in Lake County California, which is an area of great wines and few tourists! As they do not see as many people as other northern Califonia wine areas, they are the "Outcasts." Pretty sure this would be on my must visit lists!

Mestis, Mustiguillo Winery

This wine is one of my last from the Simply Wine Club. And while I will miss Sue's selections, I'm happy I was able to get this last one!

 

A Spanish red blend from Bodega Mustiguillo, it has a strong spicy aroma which greeted me when I opened the bottle. The wine is so smooth and balanced, I enjoyed sipping it throughout the evening. Definite hints of a variety of berries and maybe some lingering coffee flavors.

 

I also love the label -- fun and artsy. I'm sure this is going to be even more enjoyable this evening.

 

As this was part of the wine club, I'm sure it's a splurge, but well worth it. I'm definitely keeping an eye out for this one!

Oh We Got Trouble!

As a going away present, our good friends gave us 2 bottles of wine. As I'm still trying to save my "good" wine, I debate before opening the bottles I have left (we don't get paid until the end of September, so it's not like I can run out & pick up more!) Yet, last night, the Troublemaker called to me. Perhaps it was because Diane had opened a bottle earlier this week and posted about it on Pinterest. Perhaps it was because I wanted to share with my Mother in Law and her sister. Perhaps it was to celebrate my first week at my new job. Whatever the reason, I certainly enjoyed it!

This is a great red blend from Austin Hope & Hope Family Wines. I've enjoyed wines from them in the past (their Liberty line). This does not disappoint. Fruity, full bodied and a grape-y finish, even my mother in law liked it (she's more of a sweet wine drinker). This is mostly Syrah and Grenache, with Mourvèdre, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah for balance.

The 2nd glass was a little better as the wine had a chance to breathe.

As this was a gift, I'm more than certain it is a splurge. But definitely worth it. I plan to look for this once we are settled!

Red Velvet

One of my favorite, go to wines. I enjoy Cupcake wines so much that I made my 40th birthday party Cupcake Wine themed! This is a red blend, very smooth, velvety like an Elvis print.  Red Velvet combines Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. I actually hadn't pick it up in some time, but it was in sale at Albertson's for $7.77 so I had to pick up a bottle. This wine is consistently under $10, so is a list purchase when I can. I really need to stock up again as it is the perfect Tuesday night-watching "Cougar Town" wine.

 

 

Check out my other posts about my love affair with Cupcake Wines here and here.

Caparzo Sangiovese Toscana

Final wine from the February wine club. This is one could have been kept for a while, but I forgot about that part until I opened it! This is a nice Italian red blend, mostly Sangiovese, blackberry aroma and taste. Slightly dry finish. Much better the 2nd day. I believe Simply Wine sells this for $14.99, so this is a splurge, but worthwhile. I'd probably keep the next one for a couple of years, just to see ...

Middle Sister Wine Tasting Party

Last evening, my friend Chris hosted a Middle Sister wine tasting party. I saw the idea on the Middle Sister Facebook page. They have it all lined up for you: wines to get, food to serve, tasting notes. The full list if all 12 Middle Sister wines aren't available in Billings, so we did what we could!

 

We started with Drama Queen Pinot Grigio. A beautiful yellow-green, we could really taste the apples and pears. Chris heard about putting your hand over your glass and swirling before smelling or tasting, which really brought out the aroma of those crisp fruits. Tori brought a wonderful appetizer of Gorgonzola, pears, and thyme that went beautifully with the Grigio!

 

Next we moved to the Reds. We blinded the reds as many tend to dismiss the reds thinking they don't like one grape or another.

Our first red was Forever Cool Merlot. We decided this is a "gateway" Merlot. With The taste of summer berries and a hint of vanilla, the clean finish pleased most everyone. This was one of my favorites of the night and is definitely on the purchase again list.

The 2nd red was my top pick for the evening, and it really didn't surprise me as I do love blends. Rebel Red is a blend of 4 grapes: Zin, Merlot, Cab, and Syrah. The fruity taste was similar to the Merlot, but The peppery finish gave it enough oomph to take over the Merlot for me.

 

Our final red of the evening was the Mischief Maker Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a pretty burgundy color with a jammy aroma and dry finish.

 

We ended the evening with the Sweet & Sassy Moscato. This is a typical moscato, sweet and thick with a long finish. I'm not sure the end of the evening was the best time for the moscato as most of us felt it was too sweet at that point. Not sure when would have been the right time for it. I think I would enjoy it more on its own on a hot summer afternoon. We did get a chance to see some great moscato legs though!

The best part about these wines is they retail between $9.99 - $11.99 and can be found at Target and Wal-Mart. Target has the best selection in Billings.

We all had a great time trying the different wines and coming up with the words to describe what we were smelling, tasting and feeling. We learned a more about how to taste and most of us decided that we prefer to just drink wine while enjoying the snacks and great company!

 

Chicken & Turkey, a Red Blend

A great way to get a good deal on wine is to join a club. Clubs will do the selecting for you and there is usually some cash savings involved. Here in Montana, laws prevent you from shipping wine to an individual so you have to look locally. I've written about the Simply Wine store and club on my family blog. Sue has 3 options and I've always gone for the Simply Wine club which is 3 bottles for $29.95. The bottles on their own typically range in price from around $8-9 up to $15-18, depending on what Sue is able to get. I like that I'm able to try wines I probably wouldn't otherwise and am able to afford to do so.

February's selections are 2 reds and a white. The white is a Riesling, which I think I'm going to save for when my mother-in-law is in town as she enjoys sweeter wines. Pacific Rim Organic Riesling is organic and runs $9.99 at Simply Wine. The first red is Caparzo Sangiovese Toscana, and runs around $14.99 at the store. Per Sue's notes, this is one to keep for a couple of years. At $14.99, this is definitely a splurge so might be worth holding on to for a while.

The 2nd red I opened last night and is, yes, Chicken & Turkey, called thusly because it goes well with poultry. So, of course, I had it with pizza. This is a red blend and was much better today after getting a little air. I've really started to enjoy blends and this is a blend of 2 of my favorites: Syrrah and Grenache. This is a beautiful dark red with a touch of purple. Sue's notes mention bing cherry, tobacco and licorice, which is probably the bit of spice I'm getting. On it's own, a bottle is $11.99, so just above my limit. I've enjoyed this one, but not sure I'd go out of my way to get another bottle.